Barbelith Underground > Comic Books

So are we about to get backstory on Ulquiorra Schiffer? He's one of the main characters who I'm desperate to know more about. On a surface level everything he says to Orihime in 317 is couched in threats of violence, but the subtext is that he's absolutely fascinated by her, nearly to the point at which he's consumed by his interest. He's been impressed by her from the start, but here he's almost desperate to know what gives her certainty, and is fixated on understanding what she means when she talks about her shared heart with her nakama. The irony of Ulquiorra is that his all-seeing eye is absolutely blind to his own motives as much as it is blind to hers. He's far beyond a detached adherence to his duty now.

And what in the blue hell is going on here with the absence of Yammi? I know you probably all think I'm obsessing about this, but there are pretty good reasons for me being so suspicious. He's previously been portrayed as very matey-matey with Schiffer, and next to Grimmjow is probably The Espada Least Likely To Stay In His Bedroom Like He's Told By Daddy. In narrative terms he is now functionally redundant by the received wisdom of Professional Bleach Analysts: he is the Tenth Espada, supposedly the weakest of the lot, kept in reserve until a point in the narrative at which his superiors Nine through Five are all either dead (Aaroniero Arrureurie, Szayel Aporro Granz, Zommari Leroux, Nnoitra Jiruga) or seemingly neutralised (Grimmjow Jeagerjaques). He's been defeated and humiliated in every major confrontation he's had. He's a boring, lumbering lunkhead. According to the Bleach Standards of Escalating Threat we should have expected him to be cannon fodder in the opening chapters of the Hueco Mundo invasion, third to bite the bullet after Iceringer and the Privaron Espada. Why is he being kept back like some kind of secret weapon?

I guess it's my hope that Yammi will turn up next issue as another obstacle for Ichigo to overcome. Ishida's also curiously M.I.A. in 317, strange considering he's the fastest of the Karakura Gang... he's bound to turn up in the rescue attempt but chances are won't be offered a huge rescue role, and the also absent Wonderwice would probably make a good opponent for him. If Yammi were to turn up then it could go one of two ways; either he restrains Orihime while Ulquiorra and Ichigo fight; or Yammi delays Ichigo, leaving Inoue to face off against Schiffer herself. The latter is the much preferred option round at chez El Directo, mainly because it would be something utterly unprecedented in Bleach and would give Orihime some stunning material and the chance for an outcome that couldn't possibly be predicted.

Enough speculation. Lots of good things about 317. Lots and lots. The art is a thing of beauty and so many of the amazing moments rely on its pace and peerless sense of movement. The sequences of Ichigo charging across the desert interior of Las Noches move at Space Harrier velocity and his expression of determination is wonderfully composed. This is something that Kubo will always have over an artist like Frank Quitely: nuance and characterisation in facial expression. What he lacks in background detail he more than makes up in the personalities of his people. Nowhere is that better displayed than in Ichigo's reunion with Chad and Rukia. Ichigo's face here shows a cry of astonishment and gratitude that we've never seen from him before, yet it looks totally in keeping with the moment and his personality. Yet somehow even this is bettered by the longer shot of Rukia's face after their eyes meet and she releases Ichigo to fight Ulquiorra. It was these moments that bought a tear to my eye. So much passes between them in these panels that you feel as though these are real character actors given the best material of their careers rather than black and white drawings on a page. That quality of expression keeps up in Rukia's bad ass facing down of Rudobon, two panels that are pregant with the expectation of a great showdown between the two.

The use of the Exequias here is also nicely judged. I rather liked Cirucci and Dordonii, and now we know why Kubo killed them so callously by these vultures... he wanted us to hate the fuckers for wasting two characters who had rather a lot of potential. They've been barely touched upon in the story to the extent that they're easily forgotten, and suddenly appearing as a small army as a last line of defense gave me a tiny LOTR-style thrill, almost as if Rukia and Rudobon were Eowyn and the Witch King respectively.

I think many of these moments would be impossible without the scale and pace of Kubo's writing. Ichigo, Chad, Rukia and Renji haven't seen each other since issue 248. That's nearly eighty issues ago, or about a year and a half for the reader who's been at this week-in, week-out! They all swore to live through what was to come and meet each other again... one of the benefits of such a long-form format is that when Renji and Ishida are being tortured by Szayel, or Rukia has been taken to hell and back and left for dead, you really are left in the ringer worrying about them for weeks, sometimes months on end, not knowing how things will turn out. Yes, Kubo is resistant to killing or permanently scarring his heroes, but he really pushes that expectation to near breaking point. 317 really felt like a huge pay-off for so much of this storyline, somehow made all the better by the pace never letting up for a second.

Pause for breath. I will stop now.

Bleach (Manga)