The wound lies deep, like the ocean floor.

The sin is red, growing paler in death.

Previously in Bleach:

Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, Rukia, and Renji have made it into traitor Aizen's fort; Hueco Mundo.  The first challenge the team faces forces them to split up, and face the first wave of opponents.  So far, Ichigo has defeated his opponent, Uryu, as well.  Chad's battle has come to a climax.  

Bleach Volume 30: There Is No Heart Without You, starts off with Chad fighting his opponent.   In no time, Chad wins, but by using a large  amount of energy, leaving him pretty vulnerable.  This is when Nnoitora (Espada #5) shows up, ready for some serious killing.  He first comes across Chad, and Chad's second battle begins…

Meanwhile, Orihime (the "princess" in distress) is still stuck in her room, with her only form of company being the nihilistic Ulquiorra.  Finally, Orihime gets fed-up with Ulquiorra's lack of emotion, and his downcasting of her true love (Ichigo).  She gets up real close to Ulquiorra, and…smacks him clean across the face. Ooooh, he just got his by a girl!  Well, Ulquiorra doesn't seem to care, but, Orihime starts to gain some confidence, which she lacked when she was "kidnapped".

Then the major battle of this volume is Rukia's first encounter.  Rukia is traveling alone when, OH NO! An Espada! Gasp.  The Noveno Espada (#9), Aaroniero is waiting for her.  He manages to get Rukia to follow him into a dark, vast room, where he takes off his mask.  Under the mask is the face of her old instructor that Rukia loved, and killed, Kaien Shiba (See the cover image). 

Well, an epic battle ensues, with twists, turns, and shocking revelations.  After the battle, our attention is brought back to Renji, who also encounters his first in this volume, and, once again, it's an Espada, Szayelaporro.  After the formal introduction between Szayelaporro and Renji, the story goes right back to Ichigo.  Why? Because the mystery man himself is standing in Ichigo's way, Espada #4, Ulquiorra Cifer!  How will this vicious rivalry play out? 

Orihime Hits Ulquiorra

Overall

I've said it before, and it doesn't look like I'll stop saying it, I LOVE BLEACH!  Bleach has been the only series, so far, that has kept my interest for 30 volumes.  Tite Kubo has done other works, all top notch, but, Bleach is undoubtedly his best.  I have never had any serious problems with this series.  In fact, I've only really found things that were amazing and excellent.  Volume 30 keeps to that trend.  

A lot about the world of the Hollows and the high ranking beings that rule it is revealed in this volume.  So far, Ichigo's time in Hueco Mundo has been battle after battle, but this volume wasn't just about the good guys getting in their practice.  Yes, the battles were physical, but they were actually mostly meant to strengthen the main characters' mental strength.  Bleach is one of those series that has several million characters (exaggeration).  However, Kubo does an excellent job of revealing the characters at the right moments, and then developing them in clear, easy, and creative ways.  Take a look at the Espadas.  There are ten of them (not including Aizen, Gin, and Kaname who are actually Hollows).  Each one represents a different aspect of death (or why one died), such as greed, despair, anger, intoxication, etc.  Each Espada's character is built off of those aspects.  Ulquiorra, who represents ultimate apathy (nihilism), walks, talks, breathes that characteristic, so Kubo doesn't really need to stop plot progression to explain his character.  It's brilliant!

I was actually surprised at how much I like this volume.  Honestly, I didn't expect it to become my favorite volume thus far.  I will say that there was a bit of an extended flashback, which, really, who likes to read/watch flashbacks that you already have seen.  That was the only problem I had with this volume, but it is so insignificant that it's not worth worrying about.  

If you still can't tell how much I like this series and this volume, I'll give you one last clue.  In reality, I could keep talking about this series and volume, but, I'm thinking I might start scaring people away.  Bleach is must have for anyone 14 and up, and for anyone who is a guy, a lady, into horror, action, romance, you name it!  Whenever anyone asks me "What's a great manga series to read?" I say "Bleach".  If this is your first experience with Bleach, then start at the beginning, or else you will have one heck of a hard time understanding my love, but you will eventually get it.  Right now, I hope Tite Kubo keeps the awesomeness coming in future volumes!

ComicsOnline gives Bleach, Volume 30: There is No Heart Without You, 5 out of 5 Slaps To The Face, OOOOH!

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