Bleach, Volume 43

Bleach #43

by Tite Kubo

Kingdom of Hollows
The battle against Aizen's Espadas continues as the Soul Reapers search for a way to defeat Barragan's terrifying abilities. Meanwhile, Shunsui will need every trick in his bag to compete against Stark.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Shonen, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Action

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 4, 2010

About the author

Noriaki Kubo, known professionally as Tite Kubo ( 久保帯人), is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. His manga series Bleach (2001–2016) had over 130 million copies in circulation as of 2022.

Reviews

[Sana⁷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Humans die... Birds and beasts die... Plants... Even Soul Reapers die. But before all these things die, they grow old. And if men's creations grow old... then the Kido of the Soul Reapers too. There may be a kido spell that lasts a thousand years, but not Kido endures for all eternity. And it's no surprise because the concept of eternity is an absurdity torn out of the fear of aging. Now perish." [Barragan]

The previous volume ended with the appearance of the Vizards in the Karakura Town. The forces seem to be equal now, for a little while at least. Hiyori and Lisa joined Hitsugaya in the fight against Hallibel, Hachi appeared beside Soi Fon and Omaeda in front of Barragan, and Rose with Love stood up against Stark. All three treacherous captains are free, but for now it's only Tousen who's ready for a fight.

"It's been a while... Captain Tousen. I've come here to thank you."
"You've grown wise. Or are you being sarcastic?"
"I'm grateful for all your teachings. With everything I've learned from you... I will open your eyes and pull you back to the Soul Society."
"Open my eyes? You? Open my eyes? You haven't changed. Hisagi, I thought I told you, those who don't know fear have no right to fight. You haven't changed at all. Even those words of yours... there wasn't a hint of fear lurking in them."

Hisagi's in a bad shape, but he still found the strength to stand up against his former captain. I understand his need to do so, but I don't understand the naivety of thinking that he can bring him back to the Soul Society's side. Tousen is a TRAITOR, he was a traitor for at least a hundred of years, betrayed everyone and there stands Hisagi, saying that he wants to pull him back to the Soul Society? I love Hisagi with all my heart and I admire him for such strong feelings for his former captain, but c'mon, mu guy, we need to be wise here. He's standing up against Tousen, the guy who was his mentor for years, but also the guy who had painfully betrayed the guy who saved his life as a child. There are things that can be forgiven, sure, but there are also things that shouldn't ever be forgiven.

P.S. It pains me that Kensei didn't get his chance for revenge on Tousen, but I understand that it were Komamura and Hisagi that had the right to bring justice.

"Know your place! I am the great emperor! Barragan Luisenbarn! The god of Hueco Mundo!"

I must admit, I find the fight against Barragan with Hachi on the board quite ridiculous. It's not Hachi's fault, but Soi Fon's. After Hachi had shown up, it seems like Soi Fon decided to leave everything to him. She absolutely refused to move a finger until she personally gained something from that. The way she acted was truly painful to see. I was never a fan of hers and her behaviour here is one of the reasons why. It was Hachi who went full on against Barragan and it was Hachi who had to beg Soi Fon for help. Soi Fon acted like the weight of the world wasn't at stake in this fight. Like she didn't give a flying f about the end result. She only acted when she got something from that. That shocked me when I watched it in the anime and it shocked me while reading the manga.

"In the Soul Society there are no gods except the Soul Reapers. That's why we can't fathom the meaning of your words. Please forgive our impertinence, god of Hueco Mundo."

Letting go of Soi Fon's topic, I really liked the visuals of Hachi's battle against Barragan. It shown how amazingly powerful Hachi is and how dangerous of an opponent Barragan was. There wasn't any other way to beat him than make a sacrifice. And Hachi made a great one.

"A battle after the loss of a friend is a battle of revenge."
"Yeah? But he doesn't seem like the type."
"That's what makes it so scary."

With Kyoraku and Ukitake down, it was up to Rose and Love to stand up against Stark. The situation seemed much more dangerous after the defeat of Barragan, but, surprisingly, Stark wanted to let go. It was only because of Lilinette's reprimand that made Stark go full power against the two Vizards. Both were dangerous opponents, but didn't stand a chance against Stark. If it wasn't for someone's great comeback, Stark wouldn't have been defeated.

And Aizen wouldn't suddenly act. And Hallibel wouldn't be so easily defeated either.

"That's enough, Gin. Let's end this."

After such a long time of doing absolutely nothing, it seems like Aizen got impatient. With all three strongest Espadas finally down, it's time for Aizen, Gin and Tousen to step into the battle. Tousen seems busy against Komamura and Hisagi. Gin and Aizen are up against everyone else. But no one is willing to attack first.

"What's there to fear? You all died that night a hundred years ago."

Obviously Aizen knew what words to use to bring the Vizards to their limits of control. He never does anything without calculating the results. He knew who will act and when will act. All he had to do was to tease a little. Gin did the rest. Things ended up with Shinji's desperate cries for help...

"ICHIGO!! WHEN WILL ICHIGO BE COMING?! ICHIGO!!"

Things doesn't look good for our heroes. Most of them are down. The three treacherous captains are in their best shape, all mighty and powerful. Ichigo's still not present in the Karakura Town, being stuck in Hueco Mundo alongside his friends and four other captains. Will he come back in time to save everyone or will Aizen win?



Some of my thoughts while reading:

~ Tousen is in no position to judge anyone, truly. Dude, just shut up.
~ I'm surprised that in the manga there was no flashback of Hallibel's time as a Hollow and no conflict between her and Barragan that was stopped by Aizen's intervention.
~ There wasn't any Hiyori speech about the dangerous lives of the Soul Reapers and about her feelings regarding the incident that turned her and the other Vizards into Hollows. That upset me.
~ The Hitsugaya and Hiyori interaction was short, but hilarious! It's so funny that Hitsugaya could control himself most of the time, but absolutely lost it when Hiyori called him "shorty" 😂 I also find hilarious that Hiyori's best insult is to call everyone "baldy" 😂
~ Kyoraku's Zanpakuto's powers are incredibly impressive. I can't wait to see his Bankai!
~ I am so sorry for Stark. All he wanted was to not be lonely 😔
~ Kensei saving Mashiro despite her pissing him off 24/7 shows how much he cares for her. I wish he could stand up against Tousen, but Wonderweiss needs to be enough for me, I guess.
~ Shinji's devastated face expression after he realized that Hachi cannot help in his situation and that the only help is still in Hueco Mundo... The situation seems to be tough, but things will be alright. We just need more time!

[Kate (Reading Through Infinity) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

This volume was SO TENSE and I've never loved Soi Fon more. Seriously though, if any of my favourite characters die I WILL RIOT.

[Nike Linarto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Battle between King Barragan and Hachigen is real genius! Love the old man Hachigen :)
The end of Starrk is really disappointing :( how could he be Primera Espada after all?
I don't like that mute boy, Wonderweiss, always screaming "aaaahhh, ooohhh" without say anything but his expression is so creepy >.<

[William Bainbridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a strange rating/review to have to give. On the one hand it was super entertaining and full of awesome fights that had no dull chapters but on the other hand the characters of Barragan and Stark seem so horribly misused throughout their entire spans in the series. Their both incredibly cool and strong and yet neither of them really did...anything at all. Neither of them got a single win to their name before leaving. Seems like a big mishandling by Kubo for me in terms of their characters. Volume was awesome though, Shunsui with the best moment, God he is so strong it's absurd, even his Shikai has ridiculous hax. Love also had a really good volume here and no one can deny that he just is cool. Aizen seems to be stepping up to play now and he had an incredibly cold entrance. (I miss my goat Urahara, can't wait for what I know is coming soon.)

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The battle with the King of Hueco Mundo Baraggan has finally come to an end and the remaining Espadas have also been defeated except for Wonderweiss. Now it’s Vizards and Soul Reapers vs Aizen and things are not looking good right now, and they need Orihime’s healing powers. I wonder how they plan to defeat Aizen and survive. Let’s see if we’ll find out in the next volume.

[Agnese Rosengren · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'unico motivo per il quale ho lasciato quattro stelle anziché cinque è che mi ero quasi dimenticata dell'esistenza di Ichigo, ed essendo il protagonista non è il massimo.
Cioè, a dirla tutta mi stavo quasi abituando alla sua assenza e non va bene, ecco.
Per il resto, gli scontri sono sempre sensazionali, sono uno più bello dell'altro.

[mari ✮⋆˙⟡ ⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
aight

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good volume, focusing on the fight between Esparadas and the captains and llike the battle is quick this time which is good, like we have Barragan vs Soifon and Hacchin and the way they use their ability here together is awesome. But then Stark one was quick, for someone whose no 1 his fight should have lasted a little longer and not gotten over so soon. so that was disappointing. Seems like Aizen much like the readers got bored of waiting and started to attack everyone in his way and taking down his own people and they fight! And what he did to Hiyori...that was brutal! The big war with Aizen starts now and Ichigo coming! This volume was filled with some quick fights, that should have lasted a little longer as it was the big 3 esparadas but got over so soon but still okay next arc vs Aizen should last awhile!

[Colin Mcclusick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manga monday?? Not gonna lie its been a while since I read one of these. I started to fall off on interest a little. I just think that right now the story arc is all about the tertiary characters which is kinda lame...

Summary:
Soi fai teams up with a vizard to take down the skeleton king espada. The vizard sacrifices his arm to kill the arrancar. Captain Shunsui takes down the prima espada. Aizen kills the last espada and challenges all the vizards and the captains of the 13 court guard companies. Hiyori gets cut in half by gin

[Angela Auten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come eventually!

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly EPIC fight against the Hollow King

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hachi! Lmao Soi Fon wanting him to imprison Urahara for a month 🤣
Stark and Lilinette :(

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please bring out Gin more

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleach, Vol. 43 continues where the previous tankōbon left off and contains the next ten chapters (368–377) of the on-going manga series.

Despite Suì-Fēng's reluctant for his help, Hachigen Ushōda makes a deal to trap Kisuke Urahara in a barrier for a month if she helps him by using her Bankai to hit Baraggan Louisenbairn. Baraggan survives, but furious that half of his face has been destroyed as he unleashes his Respira as it comes in contact with Hachi's right hand.

However, in a gambit on the nature of their opponent's defense, Hachi removes his hand using a barrier and transports it inside Baraggan's body where the Espada begins to suffer his own power. In his final moments, remembering how he was once the ruler of Hueco Mundo until dethroned by Sōsuke Aizen, Baraggan makes a final attempt on Aizen.

Though Coyote Starrk's victory seems assured as Baraggan's death stirred him to take the fight seriously, Starrk is unexpectedly killed by Shunsui Kyōraku. Meanwhile, Wonderweiss Margela gets the upper hand against Mashiro Kuna before Kensei Muguruma steps in to save her and takes her place. In a turn of events, having deeming the Espadas are too weak to serve him after witnessing Starrk and Baraggan's deaths, Aizen decides to join the battle after dispatching Tier Harribel and leaving her for dead. Despite Shinji Hirako's warning not to let Aizen's words get to them, Hiyori Sarugaki loses it and finds herself badly injured by Gin Ichimaru when she made an impulsive rush towards Aizen.

This tankōbon is written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. It continues Sōsuke Aizen incursion into Karakura Town, the Shinigami from Soul Society are joined by the Vizards, whom they rejected a century earlier to fight against the Espada. Initially, their presence was rejected, but eventually needed as Baraggan Louisenbairn and Coyote Starrk's deaths were assured. Concluding that the Espanda was too weak to serve him, Sōsuke Aizen steps into the battle.

All in all, Bleach, Vol. 43 is a wonderful continuation to a series that seems intriguing and I cannot wait to read more.

[M.D. Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given that Manga, and especially Shonen is split up into bigger arcs as composed to volumes I will be analyzing and reviewing this by Arc. I also reread this manga over the span of 2 months, some days reading as much as 100 chapters a day. It would be quite tedious for me to review each 7-8 chapter volume. So this will be copy and pasted throughout all of the 72 manga volumes. That being said, if you're looking at this without having viewed the series...spoiler warning. I don't recap anything, but I also mention things that happen. If you want me to answer the question "Should I pick this up?" Yes. Even if you stop at the end of the Soul Society Arc. It's worth it.

Karakura Town Arc - Chapters 1-56 - Rating: 7/10
(The official page lumps this in with the Soul Society Arc however I feel as if they are two very separate arcs with two very separate themes)
- A fun introduction.
-An interesting premise on the idea of ghosts and demons (Hollows)
-Does a good job of introducing the characters and I especially enjoyed the love for characters like Chad, Orihime and Uryu as these characters would later lose more and more spotlight as the series went on.
-It is a bit of a monster of the week. When it works, like with Chad's introduction story. It works. But Characters like Don Kanonji felt superficial and very gimmicky. Which, fair. I didn't enjoy them as much.

Soul Society Arc - Chapters 57-182 - Rating: 10/10
-The height of Bleach
-Establishes an afterlife seemingly perfectly. Later on revealed to be full of plot holes and never fleshed out but hey! That's not an issue in THIS arc. The fights are top tier, the themes of Ichigo owing a life debt to Rukia and his passion and determination to rise above literally God's army is inspiring and to this day is why I love Ichigo so much. He doesn't have some grandiose plan. He doesn't have a major goal to accomplish. He is a protector by heart, losing his mother has made him sour to failing to protect those he cares about and he'll do anything in his power never to feel that helpless again. Very powerful stuff.
-The twist near the end of this arc is revolutionary and would make waves for the next 200 chapters onward. A perfect ending and set up for the forthcoming arc.
-The only issues I have for this arc would be Ichigo's lightning speed progression. The guy goes from being able to barely defeat a third seat to besting multiple captains in roughly 100 or less chapters. I get that that is the point and him defeating captains was more of a struck of luck, but progression and pacing wise it feels very unearned and a factor of "for the plot he needed to be this strong" It only seems as fast as it is because Ichigo's progression slows drastically down for the rest of the story moving foreword so it's only now that I make that criticism.
-Also, and this will be an issue in most Shonen. There are 13 Captains with 13 Vice Captains and seats that branch all the way to 10 I believe? Regardless, there's a fudge ton of characters that are introduced here and it can get a little jarring at times. Luckily, Kubo does a great job at making their designs and characters unique despite such a large cast.

Hueco Mundo Arc - Chapters 183-423 - Rating 7/10
-This is another arc where personally I would split it up into two separate arcs. But for the sake of this review I will simply refer to the first half of the arc and the later half of the arc. First Half 9/10. Second Half. 5/10.
-The first half of this arc is a great continuation of the last. Ichigo now struggles with his inner demons and it affects his ability to protect the ones he loves. We are also introduced to a deadly unknown new villains. The Arrancars/Espada to this day remain one of my favorite villain factions in all of manga enemies.
-Just so you're aware I would say the first half of this arc ends right around the point of Ichigo vs Grimmjow. Grimmjow is one of the first Arrancar that Ichigo faces. And he's also one of two Espada that he faces three times. The conclusion of that fight shows Ichigo conquering his inner demons. Where Grimmjow is very much fighting to establish himself. Grimmjow has to fight Ichigo to prove to his fallen comrades that he is as good as he says he is. He doesn't care about Aizen, he doesn't care about the rest of the Espada. It is very personal for him. For Ichigo, Orohime is within his grasp of saving and he views this as his "final" battle. It's my favorite fight in all of Bleach.
-However, this is where things start to take a bit of dip in quality in my opinion. We had a goal and we were striving towards that goal. Each character of the original cast coming to repay the debt they made to their friend who had risked her life to save them in the Soul society arc. But somewhere along the way it seems we just had a fighter fest. Captains would face enemies with no themes or character revelations. The Espadas got a little light but nothing that made their fights compelling. You almost just feel bad for the Espada as they were monsters turned into a military force by an unstoppable tyrant. But even that wasn't enough to make half of the fights interesting. Now, that's with knowing the outcome. These fights played little importance in the larger scheme of things. Where at least in the Hueco Mundo fights each match up had the protagonists striving for a goal. Rukia to defeat Aaroneiro to free her former superiors soul. Byakuya to defend Rukia. Renji and Uryu teamwork. Nel to protect Ichigo and get revenge on Nnoitra. Whereas Stark fought Kyoraku.....cause.....and Hitsugaya fought Halibel because Water vs Ice would be cool.
-This leaves me to the end. I won't say it wasn't satisfying that Ichigo was able to defeat Aizen. And yes, I do feel like his new power was earned. 3 months of training. But this was clearly a last minute decision to save Aizen for a later date and the show must go on. I do feel like it wasn't as satisfying as 200+ chapter buildup needed to be.

The Fullbring Arc - Chapters 424-479 - Rating: 8/10
-A very underrated arc. And yes, I acknowledge that rating wise I think the Fullbring arc is superior to the Hueco Mundo arc. That is mostly true. Though I like the first half of the Hueco Mundo Arc more than the Fullbring arc. The end of the HM arc really brought it down for me. The Fullbring Arc is much more concise and is actually the shortest arc in the series and works as a glorified Ichigo getting his powers back arc. But that doesn't mean its bad.
-When I read it originally back when it was coming out in 2010. (Cause I'm Old) It wasn't phenomenal. In fact, I hated it. But wouldn't you? It took just short of a year to get to the point that we were at. But upon rereading it, it gave much deserved love to the characters who hadn't been shown love in quite some time. The original cast. It was a very character focused arc. Ichigo never seemed more human. And despite me hating it before for taking so long, reading weekly can sometimes hurt these mystery based arcs. The twist is heavily foreshadowed and I really appreciated it.
-That being said, the end was super rushed. This was a big bummer for me. The villains this time around were humans. And the ones who had the most exposure and relations with these characters were the original cast who again....were humans. So to have the soul reapers, who have no connection to the fullbringers show up and basically no diff most of the fullbringers felt very forced and fanservicey to me. This very well could have not been Kubo's call. As the community was very vocal about their dislike for this arc as it was going on. But I appreciate it now much more as I appreciate character and story over big sword fights. Lol.

The Thousand Year Blood War Arc - Chapters 424-689 - Rating: 5/10
-And we're finally here. The final and largest arc within the Bleach story. And man...does it not stick the landing.
-That being said, this arc has phenomenal moments. Kenpachi's Shikai and Bankai. Ichigo's double swords. Renji's true Bankai. Rukia's Bankai. And many more. However, they are put together against the most break neck speed arc that I have ever read. Kubo was very ambitious when he introduced 26 new villains. However, most of them got barely any screen time and a lot of them even got off screened by higher level captains. This was unlike the Espada who each got a full double page spread for their Resurrections.
-Yhwach himself was a phenomenal villain but was dealt with swiftly and imo dirty. They did him dirty.
-There was just something off. The mood changed and it was very apparent. The villains had random powers instead of the powers reflecting their personalities or needs. The finale felt so underwhelming.
-Ichigo gets to be the strongest he's ever been....but he doesn't defeat a single person besides the main villain despite being in several fights.
-It isn't a good arc. In fact, I would say it's the worst. Hopefully the anime does a better job with this already mammoth of a story. 260 chapters is no joke.

This gives the story of Bleach an Overall rating of 7.4/10. Which to me is above average. It has it's ups and downs. It's not perfect. But when it's high, it's peak shonen. But when it's low, it's very forgettable.

[Larissa Modean · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 (Review is for the series as a whole and does not contain spoilers)

Ichigo Kurosaki is a high school student who can see ghosts. When an evil spirit, called a hollow, attacks his family, he meets Rukia, a soul reaper tasked with fighting against hollows. But when Rukia is injured, Ichigo must make the decision to take over the role of soul reaper to help fight against hollows to save his hometown.

Bleach is a classic manga and one of the more popular options for those starting out in the genre/format. It features themes of friendship, growing up and changing, and never giving up. One of the most enjoyable elements of this series is watching the progression as the characters learn and evolve. Ichigo has a tendency to be really cocky, especially at the start of the series, but as time goes on and he learns more about the world he’s in, he changes and becomes more willing to listen to the advice given to him by other characters. His friends also continue to grow and progress along with him. Additionally, there is a change in the art style of the characters as the story progresses, which makes it easy to see how they have changed as they all get older. There were two elements about this series that I disliked. The first was that I felt the ending was a bit rushed, and there were some things that I was a bit confused about. However, I recognize that the author was sick and so that attributed to the way things ended. The other element that I disliked was the sheer number of characters in the series by the end. Many of the characters that I thought were dead or gone ended up coming back, and I had to try and remember who they all were. I definitely think I needed to make myself a character sheet with information about each character to help me remember everyone in the end. In terms of assessing age appropriateness for this series, I would say that it’s an okay series for middle school and up. A couple of considerations to keep in mind when deciding if it’s right for you: 1. There is some violence (which is common for shonen mangas), including some elements of body horror, but it’s not too bad. 2. There is no sexual content, although many of the women are drawn disproportionately (which is common in manga written by men). 3. The main character is fifteen years old at the start of the series and only gets older as it progresses. And 4. The themes are a bit mature in that they require some deeper level thinking in order to fully understand them all. Overall, I enjoyed this series for its interesting premise, and would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy the traditional shonen manga.

[Julie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s sad when former comrades become enemies. Such is the case now, with Tosen face-to-face with Komamura and Hisagi. Hisagi is determined to make Tosen “see” the light and come back to Soul Society. Tosen’s reply to that is “I thought I told you… those who don’t know fear have no right to fight.”

When Hachigen joins Soi Fon and Omaeda in their fight against Berrigan, Soi Fon denies knowing Hachigen. The Berrigan seems invincible, since as he says “Everything decays.” As fast as Hachigen builds barriers, Berrigan destroys them. But Hachigen is shrewd, and he has a cunning plan.

Love and Rose attack Stark, who sics the wolves on them. But just when things seem to be bleak, Shunsui makes an unexpected reappearance, and his fight with Stark is on again, as he explains just how his weapons work. Aizen steps in to stop the fight against Halibel, ending it in an unexpected way. Has Wonderweiss met his match?

And where is Ichigo?

The battles continue in the fight for Karakura Town. I enjoyed seeing the backstories of Stark and Berrigan. What a colossal ego Aizen has, but no one can be surprised at that. The Visoreds fight side by side with the Soul Reapers, mostly through necessity than a spirit of camaraderie, as that is definitely lacking in their relationship. Not surprising considering how Soul Society treated the Visoreds all those years ago for something not of their doing.

I loved watching Shunsui fight, and his techniques are amazing (I may be a little biased lol).

Still, in the end, it’s Ichigo we are all waiting for. Surely his arrival can’t be far off now? Good volume, looking forward to the next one.

[Lksreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t imagine how sick it must’ve been to read this weekly back in the day. The battles in Fake Karakura Town and Hueco Mundo been going off for like 100+ chapters now and it’s still climbing. This arc is so tuff.

This is a textbook “rule of cool” section. Fights on fights in fights, power-ups and magic and ability reveals galore. The Visored’s finally make their grand entrance and start whipping every ass in sight. Hell yeah. Shunsui and Ukitake are the best bro’s in Bleach (sorry Ichigo x Chad fans) and they fight a 2v2 against full-release Stark and Lillinette. Hell yeah. The Soul Reapers are stunned and don’t know how to feel about seeing Shinji and company again. Hell yeah? Aizen and his team make their first real move and the Soul Reapers don’t know how to feel fighting their former comrades. Hell yeah?? Aizen confidently proclaims that everyone in attendance is already dead… Hell yeah???

Side-notes: I don’t get the Toshiro love. Dude does absolutely nothing ever and is a favorite for what? Aizen is such a great villain and it overshadows how well Gin and Tosen play their roles too. Halibel gets done wrong. Only criticism I have is how the Soul Reapers respond to Grand hollows like they’re legit threats - let’s not forget a completely untrained Ichigo and Uryu clapped them like chapter 10. It’s okay for fodder enemies to be fodder enemies.

[Hafeez · Rating 5 out of 5]

VOLUME 43: CHAPTER 368-377
Arc 9: Arrancar: Downfall

Shūhei joins Komamura to fight Tousen. Hachi put a barrier around Barragan and Suí-Féng used her Bankai to blow him inside the barrier. Barragan is still alive eventhough he is heavily injured. He attacks Hachi but Hachi severed his right hand and transported it to Barragan's abdomen along with a barrier that destroyed his body. Barragan, a self-proclaim god of Hueco Mundo is dead.

Rōjūrō released his Shikai: Kinshara and Love released his Shikai: Tengumaru to fight Stark. Stark summoned a pack of wolves which are a fragment of his souls. Suddenly, Stark was stabbed from behind. Kyouraku appears from Stark's shadow after he used Kage Oni. He then used Iro Oni where if he or the enemy cut the same place with what colour they said, they will received extra damaged. Kyouraku managed to cut Stark and Stark was defeated.

Aizen interfered with the fight between Halibel against Lisa, Hiyori and Toushiro. Aizen cut down Halibel. All the Espadas have fallen. Mashira who is fighting Wonderweiss getting the upperhand. Suddenly, her mask wear off and she was hit by Wonderweiss. Shinji faced Aizen before Hiyori interfered. Gin cut Hiyori's body into two.

[Geoffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the showdown between Hisagi, Komamura and the former Captain Tōsen. I loved the showdown between Shunsui and Starrk, and I love how Shunsui’s shadow ability mirrored Starrk and Lilynette’s origin and how they are two halves (or shadows) of a whole powerful Hollow who split apart so it wouldn’t be lonely. I love how Shunsui and Starrk both admired one another and didn’t truly want to fight each other, but both knew that they’d be forced to kill the other even though they could have easily been friends in another life. I loved how Starrk and Lilynette’s flashback made me empathize with them and their story so much more, and I loved how they died together and realized they were no longer alone in this world. I was surprised to see Kensei use his Bankai here since he didn’t in the anime. I loved this decision and how the Visoreds appear to be much more fleshed out here than in the anime. I liked how Halibel is cut down by Aizen and how two of the top Espadas turn on him in their final moments of battle. Hiyori being cut down by Gin was so surprising because it was so much more brutal than the anime depiction.

[Geo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the showdown between Hisagi, Komamura and the former Captain Tōsen. I loved the showdown between Shunsui and Starrk, and I love how Shunsui’s shadow ability mirrored Starrk and Lilynette’s origin and how they are two halves (or shadows) of a whole powerful Hollow who split apart so it wouldn’t be lonely. I love how Shunsui and Starrk both admired one another and didn’t truly want to fight each other, but both knew that they’d be forced to kill the other even though they could have easily been friends in another life. I loved how Starrk and Lilynette’s flashback made me empathize with them and their story so much more, and I loved how they died together and realized they were no longer alone in this world. I was surprised to see Kensei use his Bankai here since he didn’t in the anime. I loved this decision and how the Visoreds appear to be much more fleshed out here than in the anime. I liked how Halibel is cut down by Aizen and how two of the top Espadas turn on him in their final moments of battle. Hiyori being cut down by Gin was so surprising because it was so much more brutal than the anime depiction.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the Captains fight more of the Arrancars we get something rare to Bleach... A GOOD ENDING TO A FIGHT! Not just overpowering someone completely, or pulling a new ability out of nowhere, or "haha I'm actually much stronger than you thought" one-shotting the enemy. No, the fight between Barragan and Hachi & Soi Fon has some actual strategy in it that fits all of their characters well. Though the series is a little too late to give backstory to the Arrancars, it's still appreciated to see how Aizen began courting them to join his side. Unfortunately the back half of this volume with Kyoraku had some weird powers that kept changing and weren't clear enough to give a good fight. This volume starts off incredibly strong, then gets disappointing quickly. Though with most of the fights concluding it looks like the main plot will continue shortly which gives me some relief.

[Armin safa · Rating 4 out of 5]

و اینم از جلد چهل و سوم مجموعه مانگاbleach....
این جلد به مراتب از جلد قبل بهتر بود و با اینکه یک دونه از فایت هاش رو بیشتر دوست نداشتم وبه همین خاطر به علاوه پایان هیجان انگیزش یک نمره بهش اضافه کردم و بهش نمره چهار رو دادم...
بلیچ مجموعه ای هست که از اشتباهات در تصمبم گیری مانگاکا در خط داستانی پر شده و کلا مانگاکا فقط دنبال فایت های بیشتر بوده و ۶۰٪فایت ها خوب هستند و اون ۴۰٪دیگه واقعا مزخرفن و این یک اشکال اساسی در خط داستانی بلیچ هست....
آرت نسبتا خوبی داشت با اینکه خیلی تکنیک های جالبی نداشت(مخصوصا تکنیک های اسپادا اول که اصلا خفن نبودن)ولی این جلد باز هم می گم از جلد قبل بهتر بود...
اگر میخواید مانگایی اکشن بخونین و روی موضوعات مختلف خیلی حساس نیستین بلیچ میتونه یک انتخاب خوب براتون باشه...

[LaShana Claude]

Vol. 43: Kingdom of Hollows
As seen on adult swim

Ichigo "sTRAWBERRY" kUROSAKI NEVER ASKED FOR THE ABILITY TO SEE GHOSTS- HE WAS BORN WITH THE GIFT. wHEN HIS FAMILY IS ATTACKED BY A hOLLOW- A MALEVOLENT LOST SOUL-iCHIGO BECOMES A sOUL rEAPER DEDICATING HIS LIFE TO PROTECTING THE INNOCENT AND HELPING HIS LIFE TO PROTECTING THE INNOCENT AND HELPING THE TORTURED SPIRITS THEMSELVES FIND PEACE. fIND OUT WHY tITE kUBO'S bLEACH HAS BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL MANGA SMASH-HIT!

tHE BATTLE AGAINST aIZEN'S eSPADAS CONTINUES AS THE sOUL rEAPERS SEARCH FOR A WAY TO DEFEAT bARRAGAN'S terrifying abilities. Meanwhile, Shunsui will need every trick in his bag to compete against Stark!
VIZ MEDIA

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is Tite Kubo going to give you a moment to catch your breath? Short answer: Not in this volume! The King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan, finally is utterly defeated! The Espadas...crushed with one singular exception....Wonderweiss! While the battle is seeming at least not one sided, Aizen is far from worried and Orihime has never been more important to a battle! I love the art as well as the pacing of the battles. Each one feels unique and choreographed in a way that is a real treat to the reader. You'll be searching for volume 44 before you even reach the last page!

[Ericka Joestar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stark's death was sad. I really liked him. He didn't deserve to die. Tbh some of the Espada were just trying to vibe and the Soul Reapers are dicks for just wiping them out. The real asshole here is the narcissist Aizen. The man is a godamn menace. The ego he has on him. Geez. Also, truly epic fight against the Hollow King too. I like how humanized some of the Espada are. It makes me empathize with them more.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The battle with King Barragan continues and comes to an end in an epic and creative fashion. While this gave the battle a refreshing touch, the second half saw Aizen finally budge but ruined one of the villain's arc in the process.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[RJ Penate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3 stars. Cool to see some of the visored powers. The way the king of Hueco Mundo died seemed like ot happened too fast. Hiori dying. Being cut in half was something I didn’t expect. Seeing the espadas die one by one also was too fast I feel like they could have dragged out the fight between espada 1 and 2.
Cool powers in this volume. Just felt like a build up volume.

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

riassunto di questo volume: ELLAMADONNA!!!

Lo scontro con Baraggan è bellissimo, lui personaggio incredibile, avrei voluto più flashback ma pazienza.
Bellissimo anche lo scontro con Starrk, pure lui personaggio pazzesco.
Gin il solito ratto infame, però quell'ultima tavola mi fa pensare bene quindi volo a mettere le zampe sul prossimo volume per vedere come va a finire.

[DonutKnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is getting epic!! Also I Hirako is so cool- he looks out for his teammates like a captain should. Again, I cannot stress enough how amazing it is to know the stuff it takes to be a soul reaper captain.

Whew! And Kensei *heart flutters just awesome 👌👌