Manga: Bleach 542 - Blade is Me

There are some twists in a story that are hard to swallow for a fan.  Bleach started with a mystery in that Ichigo Kurosaki was far more powerful than the Soul Reaper that gave him power, Rukia.  This latest chapter had a feeling of disappointment at first in that all we had known before was going to be changed or altered to irrelevance.

Instead we see that Ichigo is much more wise about his origins and what the true nature of his Zanpakuto and his relationship with Zangetsu truly is.  Instead of losing the past, we see it in a new light and how it will now go forward.

We finally see Ichigo accept that he will stand on his own, perhaps no longer as a Substitute Soul Reaper, but a true Soul Reaper.  I look forward to his next steps and I wonder what his Bankai will be now that his true sword is revealed.  It has been a long journey but we are finally getting the answers to all that is odd about Ichigo and why he seems so different from everyone's expectations.