Bleach Chapter 289

The battle continues on in Hueco Mundooooooooooo between Ichigo and Espada #5 while Orihime is held back.

Oooh, pretty color pages this week.  So Ichigo and Nnoitra still battle but Nnoitra has the upper hand as he is able to stop Ichigo’s bankai with just his hand.  Orihime wants to help but is restrained by Tesla, one of Nnoitra’s subordinates.  He knows she wants to attack but he is under orders from Aizen not to damage Orihime’s powers.  Tesla detect’s Nell’s presence and uses some magic power to get her out of hiding.  Nnoitra recognizes Nell for her mask pattern.

Uryuu and Dondochakka are struggling to evade their clones.  Dondo reveals to Uryuu that they have to save Nell before she goes too far into Las Noches.  Then we go back to the Ichigo battle and Nnoitra reveals not only Nell’s real name (some long-ass name that I am not even going to attempt to transliterate into English) but also her former status—a former Espada.

Opinion & Rating: 3.9 out of 5.  The revelation at the end was a surprise, for sure.  But this is another way for Kubo to drag this arc and battle out even longer by devoting a chapter or two to Nell’s past.  I have this feeling someone is going to sacrifice her life to save Ichigo: either Orihime or Nell, or perhaps a third character who comes out of nowhere?