Review: Everything But The Rain (Bleach #60) by Tite Kubo

Title: Everything But The Rain

Series: Bleach #60

Author: Tite Kubo

Genre: YA, manga, fantasy

Publication date: April 2014

Published by: VIZ Media

Source: Borrowed from Library

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Synopsis: As the rain falls in Karakura Town, Isshin faces off against a mysterious Black Hollow. But when a familiar face joins the fight, Isshin will need all the help he can get. Ichigo's dark past is revealed, but can he recover from the shock of finally learning the truth?!

My rating: ★★★★★
It’s been a hot minute since I last reviewed one of these volumes, so I think I should mention that since then, it has been announced that this last arc of Bleach IS being adapted into an anime! 🤗 I am so happy! It’s actually been some years since the last season was released, but I am glad that we will be able to watch this arc on TV because I really enjoyed it!


All that being said, spoiler warning for previous volumes in the series! Spoilers for this volume, volume 60, will be in spoiler tags.

After having my suspicions confirmed in the last volume that Ichigo’s mom was indeed a Quincy 😱, I was beyond excited to dive into this volume and learn more about Ichigo’s parents and their past... and boy did we ever!

This volume starts off with a flashback. So we know that Ichigo’s dad is a Soul Reaper, well back in the day he went to the world of the living to investigate some suspicious activity. Meanwhile, Ichigo’s mom, Masaki, is living with Uruyu’s dad and his family because they’re friends but also set to be freaking married! 😱 Anyway, they also feel this weird energy and go out to investigate. So things happen, they fight an Arrancar thing and Ichigo’s dad saves Masaki.

I really liked Ichigo’s mom—she’s very kind and has this sense of responsibility for the lives of everyone out there and she just wants to help wherever she can. I can totally see where Ichigo gets it. Oh and when Ichigo’s parents finally meet... it was super cute! 🥰

Uruyu's dad (Ryuken), Ichigo's mom (Masaki), and Ichigo's dad (Isshin)

During the fight with the creature, something happens to Masaki, that messes with her Quincy powers. Basically, she runs the risk of Hollowfying and the only solution is for a strong conflicting power to help stabilize her (i.e. a Soul Reaper who can turn human via a gigai AKA Isshin because apparently humans are the opposite of hollows 🤷‍♀️). The down side to this is that if Isshin agress, he won't be a Soul Reaper anymore. It is such a big commitment and yet he agrees to help this girl he barely knows! It’s pretty incredible. So in order to stabilize her, he basically had to be around her to pretty much keep her alive. And all of this was with the help of Urahara, of course. Anyway, then they fell in love and it was very cute. So during all this time, Isshin was forced to be a normal, human guy. It wasn’t until after Masaki died that he was able to be a Soul Reaper again.

So because there was a Hollow inside her when Ichigo was conceived and born, Ichigo basically inherited it which is where his Hollow self comes in. It makes a lot of sense!

At the very beginning of the show (and manga, I presume) we learn what happened to Ichigo’s mom and how she died, but it turns out that there’s more to it! It was all Yhwach’s doing! He just went and killed off a bunch of Quincies... a consecration is what he called it 🙄 So her death was all his doing.

In this volume we also find out what Uruyu has been up to, because I’ve sure been curious... and omg... WTF dude! He’s been doing things and I just cannot 😩 And speaking of Uruyu, we also find out the reason why Uruyu’s dad, Ryuken, is so cold and why he left his Quincy family.

First of all, them Quincies are a bunch of dicks. Second, after what happened to Masaki he didn't feel like he could protect other Quincies, he felt like he’d failed her, so he just left.

As for the rest of the Reapers in the present day, well a bunch of them have lost their Bankai, so they’re training in other ways to make up for it. And Ichigo is back at the palace still trying to get a new Zanpakuto, and boy do things get interesting...

First of all, no more Zangetsu for Ichigo because his new Zanpakuto is a freaking Hollow! 😱 But also because apparently Zangetsu is a FAKE! When Yhwach first appeared he seemed familiar to me... I thought it was just a coincidence BUT NO! In this volume we find out that the guy we thought was Ichigo’s partner was actually Yhwach this whole fluffing time!! Well, kinda. Apparently Zangetsu was not Ichigo’s Soul Reaper power, he was Ichigo’s Quincy power this whole time!! And that is the cliffhanger we are left with in this book!

I just cannot believe the revelations we are getting left and right in these last couple of volumes! But everything makes so much sense now! Ichigo’s past, his powers... everything! Wow 😳 Man, I am impressed at the amazing storytelling and—it’s just so good! There wasn’t much action in this one which I was totally okay with because the character development in this and the revelations were WOW. I really enjoyed the mythos in this volume regarding the Hollows, Soul Reapers, Quincies, and even humans. It took me like two read through to get it 😅, but when I did I found it fascinating! Great volume all around!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊