Volume 23, “Mala Suerte,” is early in the third story arch of the Bleach series. All the soul reaper captains that had made appearances previously in the series have returned to help protect Ichigo and his friends from the appearances of the powerful Arrancars—evolved Hollows with their masks removed and access to soul reaper abilities. After Ulquirra and Yammy returned from their initial attack on Chad and Orihime, they made their report to their leader. Grimmjow, another Arrancar, openly called the pair weak for not killing all those that opposed them on sight.
Mala Suerte is full of action compared to the previous volume of Bleach. Grimmjow has gathered a small band and entered the living realm, bent on attacking and killing anyone, Ichigo and the others included, that has even a vestige of spiritual ability. The two prime fights shown are between Rukia and an Arrancar named D-Roy, and Madarame and Edorado. More emphasis is given on Madarame’s fight, since it is noted that it’s the first time he’s fought with a worthy opponent in a very long time.
Presentation:
Bleach 23’s cover is a simple illustration of Madarame, since his fight becomes the bulk of half of the volume, and the stylized typefaces and logos that are prevalent in the entire manga series. Tite Kubo’s art is as unique as his characters. It’s detailed artwork, but the fights remain easy to follow and uncluttered with excessive use of details. Also, at intervals between chapters, the artist treats you with omake (extra) comic material featuring Kon, which can prove to be a needed comic relief at times.
Overall: Bleach is currently, to me, the cream of the crop as far as popular shonen manga goes. It’s still built around the age-old shonen formula of boy + power = lots of fighting, but Bleach sets itself apart because of it’s developed characters and their various personalities and histories. Even though at its core Bleach’s action is formulaic, its exciting story and artwork is not and that makes it a worthy addition to any collection.
