I really recommend this series. A teenage boy helps direct souls in the afterlife to soul society where they can live peacefully. Only Hollows (corrupted souls) get in the way and even harm innocent souls. Ichigo relies on friends and family to fight for what is right. ( )

Volume 19 of "Bleach" focuses on Ichigo's battle with Byakuya. A few pages are given to resolve Soi Fon and Yoruichi's battle, as well as Ikkaku and Tetsuzaemon Iba "battle" (remember, they ran off at the end Volume 17 or so?).

The fight between Ichigo and Byakuya doesn't disappoint. Ichigo reveals his bankai and, like Ichigo's career as a Soul Reaper, it defies shinigami conventions (as Byakuya notes).

But the fight is memorable in that it provides Byakuya with some hint of humanity. A noble man who has buries his heart to better serve the law of the Soul Society, Byakuya reveals himself to be an honorable man of considerable power. The volume does much to elevate him past that stiff, cardboard cut of out of a "villain" he was previously being depicted as.

(As a side note: It would've killed Viz to print pages 67-86 in color? I would've happily paid the extra cost for a chance to see Ichigo's final release in color.) ( )