I can see why Viz released 40/41 in the same span because they pretty much cover the same stuff and the same fights; they might as well be the same volume, in a way. It's more of a 3.5 star book but I'll acquiesce long enough to give it a 4, because the end of Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra always gives me a bad case of FEELINGS, especially for Ulquiorra and Orihime.

(I wrote an Ulquiorra/Orihime fanfic once; it was an AU that spun off from the end of this battle. It was pretty okay. Some ask why did they bone in that fic, and I ask why not? Fanfiction was made so that characters can bone. Have I said bone enough? Bone bone Peter Bone.)

Also, it gets a 4 because the preview makes it look like this frakking series will finally get out of its rut and do something, which is always a plus. And Yammy's powered-up berserker upgrade was pretty cool too. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite Espadas. So, you know, one of three.

Harshly side-eying the local Krogers for not having volumes 42/43 in their stores the last time I visited. Y'all need to feed my shonen manga need much better than this! ( )

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