Beginning of a new arc (Bleach 424 & 425) (Massive Spoilers)

Once again, if you haven't finished the series up to the fight with Aizen, watch out. I'm going to ruin the story for you. I'll take a second for you to look away; take your time.



Ok, now that everyone is caught up, here's the scoop. Ichigo has lost all of his Shinigami powers after defeating Aizen to save Karakura Town from ultimate destruction. Now he can finally enjoy life as a normal high school student. No spirits, no missions, no Hollows, no problems. Right?

Wrong! While Ishida has taken over the duties of protecting the town from Hollows, it seems as if Ichigo still can manage to find some trouble to get himself tangled into.



424 opens with Ichigo, a senior now, getting ready for school, while sidestepping various obstacles at home. He does note that Karin's powers have gotten stronger, which might be an interesting plot development in the future. After arriving at school, he meets up with Mizuiro, Keigo and Tatsuki. Tatsuki asks him t return her copy of Tekken so that she can practice for the next one, (I assume she's gotta be talking about Tekken Tag 2(>.<)b) when Ichigo notices that he still has Shinigami Representative Badge from the Soul Society. I'm going to break off for a sec, and speculate about some shit. From what I remember, no one without a significant amount of spiritual energy can see the Seal of Approval. (See Chapter 183) Sooooo we have to assume at this point that Ichigo hasn't lost all of his powers, they just have diminished significantly. Back to 424; While Ichigo reflects on his time as a Shinigami, Ishida rushes out of the room, presumably to confront a Hollow, (my have the turned tables) and later we see Ichigo sulking on the roof with Keigo contemplating his future and of what became of Rukia. Poor little lover boy. He acts tough, but he's a big softy on the inside. On the way home from school, Ichigo beats the crap out of some street punk that steals a mans bag. Ichigo walks away after he returns the bag, telling the man to not say anything about it, when we see a Seal of Approval slip out of this mysterious strangers bag. DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!!!!! Moving on to 425: Ichigo has a strange dream of Renji, Byakuya and Rukia telling him to wake up. (creepy!) Upon waking, Ichigo must defend himself from another one of Isshin's surprise attacks. When he tells him about he weird dream, he immediately forgets what it was about.

Back at school, Ichigo is screening different clubs to make a little extra money so that he move out of his dad's place once he graduates. Tatsuki shows up, and tells him of her new job as an assistant of a dojo that they both attended as children. Orihime stops by, making a flashy entrance.

As Tatsuki runs off to work, she reminds Ichigo of his other job, which he has completely forgotten. Blowing off soccer practice, Ichigo calls his employer and pretty much gets himself fired. Responsibility WTF!

As he hangs up, a gang representing the dude that Ichigo beats up in 424 crashes the school gate, looking for revenge. Before Ichigo can get involved, Ishida sticks his d*%k into the situation. Ichigo rushes in to help his best frenemy, a shadowy figure stands off in the distance, watches as sh!t goes down.

An with that the new arc begins. Obviously Ichigo will be getting his powers back at some point, he just need to awaken to them. The real question is how. Is this mysterious man an ally or enemy? Will Shinji and the Visored make a comeback to help a fallen ally? (I hope so because Mashiro is the sh!t) When will we see Rukia again! Will Kon ever have a three-way with Orihime and Rukia? Probably no change on that last one every happening, but they rest will be seen with time I guess.