Bleach, Vol. 20

Tite Kubo, Bleach: End of Hypnosis (ViZ, 2007) End of Hypnosis, the twentieth installment of Bleach, contains the mother of all plot twists, and it's a testament to how well Kubo's planned this thing out that it works as well as it does. There's really no way to go into a plot summary without major spoilers (since the plot twist comes almost at the beginning of the volume), so I'll have to forgo that here and just say that if you're not already reading Bleach-- a series that has already had two volumes (Memories in the Rain and Night of Wijnruit) flirting with inclusion in my twenty-five best reads of the year list-- you should be. This is a fantastic series, and if you've not yet discovered manga, it's an excellent introduction. End of Hypnosis is, so far, its best volume, and that's saying a great deal. **** ½

Bleach volume 20 is a must have for any Bleach fan! mostly everything is revealed in BEACH 20, why Aizen died, who Gin is working for and who wanted Rukia dead. it's a real page turner

After the climatic battle between Ichigo and Byakuya and the cliffhanger ending of the last volume we finally reach the conclusion of the nearly two-year Soul Society arc. I won't spoil the ending for those who haven't read it yet, but a lot of questions are answered about what has been going, especially behind the scenes while Ichigo and friends have been running around trying to stop Rukia's execution. As a whole this volume really was a chance to show ***spoiler*** power and set up for the next arc. It also ends the pivotal arc of Bleach (so far) with a bang. The Soul Society arc did drag a times in the beginning, but now that's over it has successfully set the series off into a new direction after the introduction/monster-of-the-day stories of the first few books. Highly recommended if you've been following the story from the first book. If haven't, why are you here? This is two-thirds of the way through an ongoing story. Go start at volume 1.