The Underscore
February 16, 2009, 08:21 AM
The Underscore’s
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345 The Sloth
And here we are again with another review for Bleach. In my last review I forgot The Sloth as a chapter, and wouldn’t you know it, it turns out to be the name of this week’s chapter… Yet strangely if we look at the prediction I made last week on this week’s chapter (which I guessed would be The Wrath) I wasn’t that far off!
The Wrath: Ulquiorra’s release is shown and we get an idea of how powerful he really is when Ichigo gets pushed around by his incredible power. We’ll possibly see the former captains mention that Ulquiorra has released or maybe those fighting at the tower down in Las Noches will mention something about the developments. The chapter could then end with Ichigo asking Ulquiorra if he is a Vasto Lorde or not.
So let’s see if I can make an even more accurate prediction for next week shall we. But before we get to that point I’ll have to review this chapter first (obviously). I have a lot to mention this week, and little time to do so, so let’s get to it! The pictures for this review are once again from the Maximum7 scanlation.
Destruction through Creation
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This guy has some serious skeletons in his closet
The chapter starts off with one of the Exequias being killed by Rukia. But it seems this one of the many she has destroyed. Rudobon’s release, Arbola, seems to be giving Rukia some problems due to its ability which is referred to as the creator’s power. This ability allows Rudobon to create an infinite amount of so called Calaveras (skulls); soldiers who execute any order given by Rudobon in spite of the consequences.
Good thing for Rukia that her Sode no Shirayuki has been restored, or else she’d be in even more trouble. The thing I’m wondering about is how her Zanpakutou was restored. Zanpakutou are able to restore themselves (e.g. Zabimaru) but the time and conditions required for this restoration are unknown (I think). Seeming as how a Zanpakutou is a part of the Shinigami the obvious guess would be that as soon as a Shinigami has recovered the same will apply to the Zanpakutou. Or maybe Isane is able to restore Zanpakutou as well, being lieutenant of the fourth division and all. But this is just something that came to mind when I saw Rukia fighting here.
Rudobon then continues to summon more Calaveras, and states that Rukia seems to be troubled by Rudobon’s ability. Though with Rukia’s experience facing several Hollows at once (Aaroniero) and those with the ability to create minions (Shrieker, chapters 8-12) I would think that she is trying to think of a way around this seemingly infinite supply of Calaveras based on that experience. From what I’m guessing, this infinite supply is about as finite as Rudobon’s Reiatsu, though with his tree themed Resurrección it could be possible that he is able to take Reiatsu from Hueco Mundo through his roots like trees do with water. So maybe the key to defeating him and his ability lies in cutting off the roots, but who knows.
As the story continues Rudobon, being confident about his ability, lets us know that he had been modified by Aizen in order to receive this ability. So it would seem that Rudobon has at least undergone two modifications by Aizen, one where he was turned into an Arrancar and one where he gained this power (Though his Arrancar state can only be deduced by his human(oid) appearance). So Aizen still seems to be busy with the modification of Hollows, but in spite of this he hasn’t been able to create an Espada candidate Hollow as far as we know. Rudobon admits that he wasn’t able to become an Espada in spite of the modifications made by Aizen, so this could mean that Aizen is still busy with his research or maybe Rudobon has been around for a long time and is part of Aizen’s first experiments. But in spite of him not being able to become an Espada, Rudobon doesn’t seem to hold a grudge towards the Espada as much as he idolizes them. As he tries to give an explanation on how insignificant Rukia and the other invaders are in comparison to the Espada he gets distracted by last week’s developments.
Audience
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Where are my binoculars?
Rudobon noticed that Ulquiorra was the one who broke through the dome of Las Noches, and guessing from his reaction he has a good grasp of what is to follow. The next few panels then follow Rudobon’s gaze up the tower only to stop at Ishida and Orihime. Orihime probably went to the hole so that she can try to witness the battle up the tower in one way or another. Ishida on the other hand seems to be more concerned about Orihime if you look at his expression. My guess is that Orihime was healing herself until she noticed that Ulquiorra and Ichigo went to the top of Las Noches and stopped her healing because of this. That is the only explanation I can come up with which explains why she seems somewhat better than last week but still has torn clothes as well as Ishida’s look in this frame. But who knows what really happened here. Besides, there are more interesting things happening at the top of the tower. And so the chapter progresses towards the top of the dome.
Pointing out the facts
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Here’s looking at you Ichigo
So we have two things that are forbidden under the dome of Las Noches. The Gran Ray Cero and the release of Espada’s ranking fourth or higher. Both are apparently so powerful that they could destroy Las Noches. Perhaps these powers disrupt the spirit particles that maintain the structure of Las Noches just by using them, or maybe they both affect such a huge area that an attack from either of these things can level Las Noches. Something notable here is that these are apparently the only restrictions that were put on the Espada. It would be obvious that there should be more rules in Las Noches such as never being allowed to take actions which could harm Aizen and his plans or something along those lines. But it seems that the Espada are free to do whatever they want outside of these two restrictions. This explains why Nnoitra was actually able to be promoted all the way up to the Fifth Espada in spite of having disposed of the previous Third Espada, or why Grimmjow was kept as an Espada in spite of his obvious dislike towards Aizen. Perhaps this means that Aizen doesn’t care what happens as long as it is within his plans and expectations and that he actually is able to predict the behavior of his Espada and other Arrancar.
But with Ulquiorra being outside of Las Noches, all of this doesn’t really matter. Ulquiorra then proceeds where he left off last week, with his chant. Using the command “Bind Murciélago” he summons a huge wave of black (?) fluids which rain down on Ichigo who is standing under the pillar where Ulquiorra was standing. Though with the bat named release this could also be a red bloodlike substance. In the meantime Ichigo, who is standing in this mysterious rain, keeps looking up at the place where Ulquiorra was standing. We then see Ichigo’s surprise as his eyes are getting bigger due to the silhouette standing in the moon.
Batman 4 now
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Holy smokes Batman!
And thus we are introduced to a released Ulquiorra. Batwings casting a shadow down by the moonlight bringing fear and judgment to those who bring injustice and… OK so I was talking about Batman, I couldn’t help but think of him when I saw this spread… Good thing Ulquiorra doesn’t look that much like Batman as we are led to believe here. And with this Ulquiorra has finally released his Murciélago, though I honestly wasn’t impressed at first. Perhaps it was because I had been anticipating this release for such a long time that the result couldn’t possibly live up to the expectations I had. Thank goodness the chapter didn’t end with just this, because Ulquiorra’s actions after this played a large part in my opinion of his release.
But let’s take a look at Ulquiorra’s release before we look at his actions. With a release chant like Bind, you would expect something like a prison theme and with him possibly being a Vasto Lorde you could expect him to have a more mythical release other than a bat. If you look at his release (picture below) you can see that he hasn’t even changed that much in appearance. His mask hasn’t been restored much. The top of his mask has been restored and with the earlike horns you can see some bat ears while a part on the side is missing. The coat he is wearing is somewhat similar to his previous one other than the fact that his legs aren’t as free as they were before. His hair seems to have gotten a bit longer and we can see some featherlike hair coming from the base of his wings, which are the most noteworthy aspect of his release.
If you look at his release in comparison to Ichigo’s Bankai, you can see how much these two characters differ from each other. Ichigo’s Bankai gives Ichigo a black coat while Ulquiorra’s Resurrección gives him a white coat. The Hollow parts of Ulquiorra are black (his wings) while Ichigo’s Hollow part is white (his mask (with the exception of the black stripes)). If you look at their actual weapons as well you can see that Ulquiorra’s release is like the polar opposite of that of Ichigo, which makes me appreciate it more than when I first saw it.
Another thing I have to note is that this explains how Ulquiorra’s eye works. Just as how a bat works with sound waves to take in images, Ulquiorra’s eye is able to store this information in a similar fashion. This way he is able to project the situation as he had witnessed it as he did after his return from Karakura town.
Nonetheless Ichigo seems to be very impressed by Ulquiorra’s release, almost making him lose his composure. And Ulquiorra noticed this as well.
Released at last
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Ulquiorra finally gets to spread his wings
As Ulquiorra looks down on Ichigo (not just literally I guess) he starts to give him some instructions. His instructions are pretty basic: don’t be shocked, keep your stance, stay sharpen your senses, and don’t lose your focus. Fighting 101 I’d say. But Ulquiorra seems to have a good reason to tell Ichigo this. His confidence in his abilities is clearly showing in this part while Ichigo’s confidence in his abilities seems to have toned down a bit. While Ichigo prepares himself mentally to face this (apparently) overwhelmingly powerful enemy, Ulquiorra gathers his reiatsu to form what seems to be a small dagger. Ichigo only saw this when all of a sudden Ulquiorra strikes at him.
Peek-a-boo
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Did you see this coming Ichigo?
What seemed to be a small dagger just a second ago turned out to be a sword and was moved to Ichigo’s neck in a split second by Ulquiorra. Ichigo reacts immediately and counters with a Getsuga Tenshou. An explosion ensues and we see that Ichigo is still standing, though with some blood falling down.
So Ulquiorra turns out to be more powerful than Ichigo from what we can see from both of their reactions and seems to be faster than him as well for the moment. If you combine these facts with Ulquiorra’s appearance, the odds of him being a Vasto Lorde seem to rise. If he used to be a batlike Adjuchas, his Resurrección would probably have more bat traits than he has at the moment I guess. The fact that he is able to form a blade out of Reiatsu seems to imply that it is the ability of his Resurrección. Bats may be mammals, but they sure don’t have hands to hold swords. But seeming as how we have never seen a Vasto Lorde before and have little to go on other than them being ridiculously powerful and human sized we can’t say it’s more than a possibility that he is a Vasto Lorde. Though the fact that he is the first of four who is deemed so powerful that he isn’t allowed to release in Las Noches gives us even more reason to believe he is a Vasto Lorde.
But as the blood keeps flowing from Ichigo, we get to see another rare event. Ulquiorra is actually giving something that seems to be a compliment to Ichigo. While this is the second one he has given to Ichigo directly (the first one being his ability to block Ulquiorra’s Cero by calling his mask for an instant), this one seems to be a bit more taunting. He commends Ichigo on his reflexive use of his Getsuga Tenshou for a reason which becomes clear from the last page.
The Tables have Turned
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Ulquiorra wants you to FACE him Ichigo
So Ichigo was able to use a Getsuga to prevent his head from being cut off. His mask on the other hand wasn’t as lucky. With almost half of his mask cut off Ichigo seems to be very troubled with some things other than almost having his head cut off (though almost having your head cut off will do this on it’s own). Perhaps Ichigo is troubled because of this sudden turn of events. Why, only a few minutes ago he was pushing Ulquiorra around like it was nothing and now the opposite situation is at hand. Even his speed doesn’t seem to be quite enough to dodge Ulquiorra’s attack entirely, so this is a good reason to be troubled even if it isn’t the best time. Though it seems that Ulquiorra was somehow anticipating this with the instructions he had given Ichigo. With Ulquiorra telling Ichigo that he did well in guarding against his attack it seems that Ulquiorra is also expecting a good fight from Ichigo. And with this situation the chapter ends, leaving us to await the next chapter.
Overview
So we have a chapter which looked somewhat as I predicted it last week (with the exception of the title), showing us Ulquiorra’s (at first glance disappointing) Resurrección. This chapter wasn’t as spectacular as I hoped and the title of this chapter doesn’t really come out too well at first. It did however remind me that I still haven’t given my view on speed in the Bleach Universe which I may have to do in order to defend Ichigo’s Bankai. So I’ll give a very quick explanation at the end of this review in the spoiler text. As for the title of this chapter, The Sloth, I think that it probably refers to Ulquiorra. While my first thought of Sloth is one of laziness, I looked it up and came across the following on wikipedia (not the most reliable source but still):
Current interpretations are therefore much less stringent and comprehensive than they were in medieval times, and portray sloth as being more simply a sin of laziness or indifference, of an unwillingness to act, an unwillingness to care (rather than a failure to love God and his works). For this reason sloth is now often seen as being considerably less serious than the other sins, more a sin of omission than of commission.
Indifference does seem to fit Ulquiorra in my opinion. But if you guys have a better explanation for the title, feel free to let me know.
So other than Rukia’s situation, Ulquiorra’s release and Ichigo being pushed around, this hasn’t been a very eventful chapter. But with the pace of the last few chapters it is probably important to take it down a notch so that the fight between Ichigo and Ulquiorra can be drawn out nicely. But this chapter already looked very good (especially the facial expressions made by Ichigo and Ishida) so depending on what Kubo has in store for us; he should consider to pick up the pace in the upcoming chapters a little bit.
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Predictions
So this time we DO only have two sins left; wrath and lust. And with my almost correct prediction from last week I’m fired up to make another prediction! Or at least I’ll give it another shot…
The Lust: We get to see how Ichigo recovers from Ulquiorra’s attack. Maybe he does so by accepting his Hollow side even more and with it his lust for battle (MAX_COLA_POWER! mentioned something along these lines I think). Maybe this will push Ichigo to the point where he loses control to Shirosaki once more for losing his calm during battle and relying on him too much. Ichigo probably felt that something like this could happen which could explain why he didn’t want to take his mask out around Orihime. But the chapter may end with him having lost control leaving us in suspense.
The Wrath: Shirosaki goes all out against Ulquiorra battling on equal grounds while Ichigo meets up with Shirosaki and/or Zangetsu for a little pep talk. Ulquiorra then ends the chapter by displaying a power which Shirosaki can’t handle. This will result in Ichigo having to take control of both his Hollow and Shinigami abilities in a different manner resulting in a power which Aizen has been looking for all this time during his research(!).
I’ll admit I’m pushing it with these predictions this time (especially the last one). But with the current developments and these chapter titles I could only think of this. I even thought up a second scenario for The Wrath but it’s based on someone else’s thoughts and I can’t remember who it was, so I’d prefer not to use that for now. Unless I’m right about the next chapter of course, then I’ll have to look it up to use it for next week’s prediction.
And with this I end this week’s review unless you are going to read my bit on speed in the Bleach Universe. I hope you guys enjoyed the review. Be sure to let me know what your thoughts are on this chapter and/or this review. So if you’re done reading, I’ll see you again next week! As for those interested in my ideas behind speed in Bleach, keep on reading!
Making haste
I’ll have to rush this part a bit, so I may overlook some bits or give some bad explanations and examples and make even more bad sentences than usual. But be sure to ask questions here if you don’t get where I’m going with this. And remember, this is my interpretation of this subject with little facts to support it. So by no means does this mean I’m right.
Speed pre-Soul Society
In the first part of Bleach the concept of Reiatsu was explained. The higher the soul’s Reiatsu, the greater it’s strength and speed. Ichigo had a Reiatsu which was so great that his Zanpakutou’s size was plenty times bigger than that of the average Shinigami. While battling Hollow’s in Karakura town he had shown that with greater control over his Reiatsu/abilities, his speed and strength improved as well. He even told some Hollows they were slow in his eyes due to this difference in Reiatsu. As long as Ichigo’s Reiatsu was higher than that of his opponents, he was faster. He was even able to keep up with Grand Fisher to some extend though he was a very powerful Hollow. We then were faced with Byakuya and Renji. Renji told Ichigo he was slow and toyed with him using his Shikai. When Ichigo was down he suddenly powered up (which I think is in a way which will play a larger part in the story eventually) and got so fast that he thought that Renji was standing still. Of course Byakuya (being a lot more powerful than Ichigo at this time) then interfered using Shunpo.
Speed in Soul Society
When Ichigo and the others went to Soul Society we got to see two new things which affect speed: Shunpo and Ichigo’s Bankai. Shunpo is a technique which increases the movement range and movement speed of a Shinigami. The better the Shunpo of a Shinigami is, the more he can increase his speed (and movement range). Two factors affect the Shunpo ability from what I’ve seen: the base speed (based on Reiatsu) and the control over the Shunpo.
So if Shinigami A and B have an equal amount of Reiatsu, they have equal speed. But if Shinigami A is better at Shunpo that Shinigami B, he/she will be faster than Shinigami B. On the other hand if Shinigami B has a higher Reiatsu level than Shinigami A it could still be possible that both have an equal speed.
Then we have Ichigo’s Bankai. Ichigo’s Bankai breaks this rule of higher power equals higher speed to a certain extent. At the time when he faced Byakuya using his Bankai he had about the same amount of power. Byakuya on the other hand had a much greater control of his Shunpo than Ichigo meaning that he should have been faster. Ichigo’s Bankai however allowed him to bypass this and still be faster. So all Ichigo’s Bankai does with his speed is bypass the Shunpo ability and even the Reiatsu requirement to a certain extend.
Speed post-Soul Society
After Ichigo returned from Soul Society, he was faced with the Arrancar. These Hollows had powers surpassing that of Ichigo at the time (due to the imbalance between his Hollow and Shinigami side). The difference in power was so great that even his Bankai couldn’t help him out in speed (also due to the Sonido ability). Most of the fights where Ichigo lost in speed in this part of the story were against opponents who also had more power than Ichigo. The problem with this explanation is that we don’t know how Reiatsu affects speed. We do know that Shinigami’s Reiatsu can be classified (e.g. the explanation on Kaien’s progress as a Shinigami up to the lieutenant seat given in chapter 83) but I haven’t the faintest what these levels imply.
I’m afraid I have to end this here, I ran out of time. I hope you got the gist of my view on this matter. It got especially sloppy at the end, I know, but this is all I can do for today. Be sure to ask me questions on this if you want to know more on what I think on this or give me your own take on this matter.
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345 The Sloth
And here we are again with another review for Bleach. In my last review I forgot The Sloth as a chapter, and wouldn’t you know it, it turns out to be the name of this week’s chapter… Yet strangely if we look at the prediction I made last week on this week’s chapter (which I guessed would be The Wrath) I wasn’t that far off!
The Wrath: Ulquiorra’s release is shown and we get an idea of how powerful he really is when Ichigo gets pushed around by his incredible power. We’ll possibly see the former captains mention that Ulquiorra has released or maybe those fighting at the tower down in Las Noches will mention something about the developments. The chapter could then end with Ichigo asking Ulquiorra if he is a Vasto Lorde or not.
So let’s see if I can make an even more accurate prediction for next week shall we. But before we get to that point I’ll have to review this chapter first (obviously). I have a lot to mention this week, and little time to do so, so let’s get to it! The pictures for this review are once again from the Maximum7 scanlation.
Destruction through Creation
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This guy has some serious skeletons in his closet
The chapter starts off with one of the Exequias being killed by Rukia. But it seems this one of the many she has destroyed. Rudobon’s release, Arbola, seems to be giving Rukia some problems due to its ability which is referred to as the creator’s power. This ability allows Rudobon to create an infinite amount of so called Calaveras (skulls); soldiers who execute any order given by Rudobon in spite of the consequences.
Good thing for Rukia that her Sode no Shirayuki has been restored, or else she’d be in even more trouble. The thing I’m wondering about is how her Zanpakutou was restored. Zanpakutou are able to restore themselves (e.g. Zabimaru) but the time and conditions required for this restoration are unknown (I think). Seeming as how a Zanpakutou is a part of the Shinigami the obvious guess would be that as soon as a Shinigami has recovered the same will apply to the Zanpakutou. Or maybe Isane is able to restore Zanpakutou as well, being lieutenant of the fourth division and all. But this is just something that came to mind when I saw Rukia fighting here.
Rudobon then continues to summon more Calaveras, and states that Rukia seems to be troubled by Rudobon’s ability. Though with Rukia’s experience facing several Hollows at once (Aaroniero) and those with the ability to create minions (Shrieker, chapters 8-12) I would think that she is trying to think of a way around this seemingly infinite supply of Calaveras based on that experience. From what I’m guessing, this infinite supply is about as finite as Rudobon’s Reiatsu, though with his tree themed Resurrección it could be possible that he is able to take Reiatsu from Hueco Mundo through his roots like trees do with water. So maybe the key to defeating him and his ability lies in cutting off the roots, but who knows.
As the story continues Rudobon, being confident about his ability, lets us know that he had been modified by Aizen in order to receive this ability. So it would seem that Rudobon has at least undergone two modifications by Aizen, one where he was turned into an Arrancar and one where he gained this power (Though his Arrancar state can only be deduced by his human(oid) appearance). So Aizen still seems to be busy with the modification of Hollows, but in spite of this he hasn’t been able to create an Espada candidate Hollow as far as we know. Rudobon admits that he wasn’t able to become an Espada in spite of the modifications made by Aizen, so this could mean that Aizen is still busy with his research or maybe Rudobon has been around for a long time and is part of Aizen’s first experiments. But in spite of him not being able to become an Espada, Rudobon doesn’t seem to hold a grudge towards the Espada as much as he idolizes them. As he tries to give an explanation on how insignificant Rukia and the other invaders are in comparison to the Espada he gets distracted by last week’s developments.
Audience
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Where are my binoculars?
Rudobon noticed that Ulquiorra was the one who broke through the dome of Las Noches, and guessing from his reaction he has a good grasp of what is to follow. The next few panels then follow Rudobon’s gaze up the tower only to stop at Ishida and Orihime. Orihime probably went to the hole so that she can try to witness the battle up the tower in one way or another. Ishida on the other hand seems to be more concerned about Orihime if you look at his expression. My guess is that Orihime was healing herself until she noticed that Ulquiorra and Ichigo went to the top of Las Noches and stopped her healing because of this. That is the only explanation I can come up with which explains why she seems somewhat better than last week but still has torn clothes as well as Ishida’s look in this frame. But who knows what really happened here. Besides, there are more interesting things happening at the top of the tower. And so the chapter progresses towards the top of the dome.
Pointing out the facts
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Here’s looking at you Ichigo
So we have two things that are forbidden under the dome of Las Noches. The Gran Ray Cero and the release of Espada’s ranking fourth or higher. Both are apparently so powerful that they could destroy Las Noches. Perhaps these powers disrupt the spirit particles that maintain the structure of Las Noches just by using them, or maybe they both affect such a huge area that an attack from either of these things can level Las Noches. Something notable here is that these are apparently the only restrictions that were put on the Espada. It would be obvious that there should be more rules in Las Noches such as never being allowed to take actions which could harm Aizen and his plans or something along those lines. But it seems that the Espada are free to do whatever they want outside of these two restrictions. This explains why Nnoitra was actually able to be promoted all the way up to the Fifth Espada in spite of having disposed of the previous Third Espada, or why Grimmjow was kept as an Espada in spite of his obvious dislike towards Aizen. Perhaps this means that Aizen doesn’t care what happens as long as it is within his plans and expectations and that he actually is able to predict the behavior of his Espada and other Arrancar.
But with Ulquiorra being outside of Las Noches, all of this doesn’t really matter. Ulquiorra then proceeds where he left off last week, with his chant. Using the command “Bind Murciélago” he summons a huge wave of black (?) fluids which rain down on Ichigo who is standing under the pillar where Ulquiorra was standing. Though with the bat named release this could also be a red bloodlike substance. In the meantime Ichigo, who is standing in this mysterious rain, keeps looking up at the place where Ulquiorra was standing. We then see Ichigo’s surprise as his eyes are getting bigger due to the silhouette standing in the moon.
Batman 4 now
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Holy smokes Batman!
And thus we are introduced to a released Ulquiorra. Batwings casting a shadow down by the moonlight bringing fear and judgment to those who bring injustice and… OK so I was talking about Batman, I couldn’t help but think of him when I saw this spread… Good thing Ulquiorra doesn’t look that much like Batman as we are led to believe here. And with this Ulquiorra has finally released his Murciélago, though I honestly wasn’t impressed at first. Perhaps it was because I had been anticipating this release for such a long time that the result couldn’t possibly live up to the expectations I had. Thank goodness the chapter didn’t end with just this, because Ulquiorra’s actions after this played a large part in my opinion of his release.
But let’s take a look at Ulquiorra’s release before we look at his actions. With a release chant like Bind, you would expect something like a prison theme and with him possibly being a Vasto Lorde you could expect him to have a more mythical release other than a bat. If you look at his release (picture below) you can see that he hasn’t even changed that much in appearance. His mask hasn’t been restored much. The top of his mask has been restored and with the earlike horns you can see some bat ears while a part on the side is missing. The coat he is wearing is somewhat similar to his previous one other than the fact that his legs aren’t as free as they were before. His hair seems to have gotten a bit longer and we can see some featherlike hair coming from the base of his wings, which are the most noteworthy aspect of his release.
If you look at his release in comparison to Ichigo’s Bankai, you can see how much these two characters differ from each other. Ichigo’s Bankai gives Ichigo a black coat while Ulquiorra’s Resurrección gives him a white coat. The Hollow parts of Ulquiorra are black (his wings) while Ichigo’s Hollow part is white (his mask (with the exception of the black stripes)). If you look at their actual weapons as well you can see that Ulquiorra’s release is like the polar opposite of that of Ichigo, which makes me appreciate it more than when I first saw it.
Another thing I have to note is that this explains how Ulquiorra’s eye works. Just as how a bat works with sound waves to take in images, Ulquiorra’s eye is able to store this information in a similar fashion. This way he is able to project the situation as he had witnessed it as he did after his return from Karakura town.
Nonetheless Ichigo seems to be very impressed by Ulquiorra’s release, almost making him lose his composure. And Ulquiorra noticed this as well.
Released at last
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Ulquiorra finally gets to spread his wings
As Ulquiorra looks down on Ichigo (not just literally I guess) he starts to give him some instructions. His instructions are pretty basic: don’t be shocked, keep your stance, stay sharpen your senses, and don’t lose your focus. Fighting 101 I’d say. But Ulquiorra seems to have a good reason to tell Ichigo this. His confidence in his abilities is clearly showing in this part while Ichigo’s confidence in his abilities seems to have toned down a bit. While Ichigo prepares himself mentally to face this (apparently) overwhelmingly powerful enemy, Ulquiorra gathers his reiatsu to form what seems to be a small dagger. Ichigo only saw this when all of a sudden Ulquiorra strikes at him.
Peek-a-boo
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Did you see this coming Ichigo?
What seemed to be a small dagger just a second ago turned out to be a sword and was moved to Ichigo’s neck in a split second by Ulquiorra. Ichigo reacts immediately and counters with a Getsuga Tenshou. An explosion ensues and we see that Ichigo is still standing, though with some blood falling down.
So Ulquiorra turns out to be more powerful than Ichigo from what we can see from both of their reactions and seems to be faster than him as well for the moment. If you combine these facts with Ulquiorra’s appearance, the odds of him being a Vasto Lorde seem to rise. If he used to be a batlike Adjuchas, his Resurrección would probably have more bat traits than he has at the moment I guess. The fact that he is able to form a blade out of Reiatsu seems to imply that it is the ability of his Resurrección. Bats may be mammals, but they sure don’t have hands to hold swords. But seeming as how we have never seen a Vasto Lorde before and have little to go on other than them being ridiculously powerful and human sized we can’t say it’s more than a possibility that he is a Vasto Lorde. Though the fact that he is the first of four who is deemed so powerful that he isn’t allowed to release in Las Noches gives us even more reason to believe he is a Vasto Lorde.
But as the blood keeps flowing from Ichigo, we get to see another rare event. Ulquiorra is actually giving something that seems to be a compliment to Ichigo. While this is the second one he has given to Ichigo directly (the first one being his ability to block Ulquiorra’s Cero by calling his mask for an instant), this one seems to be a bit more taunting. He commends Ichigo on his reflexive use of his Getsuga Tenshou for a reason which becomes clear from the last page.
The Tables have Turned
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Ulquiorra wants you to FACE him Ichigo
So Ichigo was able to use a Getsuga to prevent his head from being cut off. His mask on the other hand wasn’t as lucky. With almost half of his mask cut off Ichigo seems to be very troubled with some things other than almost having his head cut off (though almost having your head cut off will do this on it’s own). Perhaps Ichigo is troubled because of this sudden turn of events. Why, only a few minutes ago he was pushing Ulquiorra around like it was nothing and now the opposite situation is at hand. Even his speed doesn’t seem to be quite enough to dodge Ulquiorra’s attack entirely, so this is a good reason to be troubled even if it isn’t the best time. Though it seems that Ulquiorra was somehow anticipating this with the instructions he had given Ichigo. With Ulquiorra telling Ichigo that he did well in guarding against his attack it seems that Ulquiorra is also expecting a good fight from Ichigo. And with this situation the chapter ends, leaving us to await the next chapter.
Overview
So we have a chapter which looked somewhat as I predicted it last week (with the exception of the title), showing us Ulquiorra’s (at first glance disappointing) Resurrección. This chapter wasn’t as spectacular as I hoped and the title of this chapter doesn’t really come out too well at first. It did however remind me that I still haven’t given my view on speed in the Bleach Universe which I may have to do in order to defend Ichigo’s Bankai. So I’ll give a very quick explanation at the end of this review in the spoiler text. As for the title of this chapter, The Sloth, I think that it probably refers to Ulquiorra. While my first thought of Sloth is one of laziness, I looked it up and came across the following on wikipedia (not the most reliable source but still):
Current interpretations are therefore much less stringent and comprehensive than they were in medieval times, and portray sloth as being more simply a sin of laziness or indifference, of an unwillingness to act, an unwillingness to care (rather than a failure to love God and his works). For this reason sloth is now often seen as being considerably less serious than the other sins, more a sin of omission than of commission.
Indifference does seem to fit Ulquiorra in my opinion. But if you guys have a better explanation for the title, feel free to let me know.
So other than Rukia’s situation, Ulquiorra’s release and Ichigo being pushed around, this hasn’t been a very eventful chapter. But with the pace of the last few chapters it is probably important to take it down a notch so that the fight between Ichigo and Ulquiorra can be drawn out nicely. But this chapter already looked very good (especially the facial expressions made by Ichigo and Ishida) so depending on what Kubo has in store for us; he should consider to pick up the pace in the upcoming chapters a little bit.
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Predictions
So this time we DO only have two sins left; wrath and lust. And with my almost correct prediction from last week I’m fired up to make another prediction! Or at least I’ll give it another shot…
The Lust: We get to see how Ichigo recovers from Ulquiorra’s attack. Maybe he does so by accepting his Hollow side even more and with it his lust for battle (MAX_COLA_POWER! mentioned something along these lines I think). Maybe this will push Ichigo to the point where he loses control to Shirosaki once more for losing his calm during battle and relying on him too much. Ichigo probably felt that something like this could happen which could explain why he didn’t want to take his mask out around Orihime. But the chapter may end with him having lost control leaving us in suspense.
The Wrath: Shirosaki goes all out against Ulquiorra battling on equal grounds while Ichigo meets up with Shirosaki and/or Zangetsu for a little pep talk. Ulquiorra then ends the chapter by displaying a power which Shirosaki can’t handle. This will result in Ichigo having to take control of both his Hollow and Shinigami abilities in a different manner resulting in a power which Aizen has been looking for all this time during his research(!).
I’ll admit I’m pushing it with these predictions this time (especially the last one). But with the current developments and these chapter titles I could only think of this. I even thought up a second scenario for The Wrath but it’s based on someone else’s thoughts and I can’t remember who it was, so I’d prefer not to use that for now. Unless I’m right about the next chapter of course, then I’ll have to look it up to use it for next week’s prediction.
And with this I end this week’s review unless you are going to read my bit on speed in the Bleach Universe. I hope you guys enjoyed the review. Be sure to let me know what your thoughts are on this chapter and/or this review. So if you’re done reading, I’ll see you again next week! As for those interested in my ideas behind speed in Bleach, keep on reading!
Making haste
I’ll have to rush this part a bit, so I may overlook some bits or give some bad explanations and examples and make even more bad sentences than usual. But be sure to ask questions here if you don’t get where I’m going with this. And remember, this is my interpretation of this subject with little facts to support it. So by no means does this mean I’m right.
Speed pre-Soul Society
In the first part of Bleach the concept of Reiatsu was explained. The higher the soul’s Reiatsu, the greater it’s strength and speed. Ichigo had a Reiatsu which was so great that his Zanpakutou’s size was plenty times bigger than that of the average Shinigami. While battling Hollow’s in Karakura town he had shown that with greater control over his Reiatsu/abilities, his speed and strength improved as well. He even told some Hollows they were slow in his eyes due to this difference in Reiatsu. As long as Ichigo’s Reiatsu was higher than that of his opponents, he was faster. He was even able to keep up with Grand Fisher to some extend though he was a very powerful Hollow. We then were faced with Byakuya and Renji. Renji told Ichigo he was slow and toyed with him using his Shikai. When Ichigo was down he suddenly powered up (which I think is in a way which will play a larger part in the story eventually) and got so fast that he thought that Renji was standing still. Of course Byakuya (being a lot more powerful than Ichigo at this time) then interfered using Shunpo.
Speed in Soul Society
When Ichigo and the others went to Soul Society we got to see two new things which affect speed: Shunpo and Ichigo’s Bankai. Shunpo is a technique which increases the movement range and movement speed of a Shinigami. The better the Shunpo of a Shinigami is, the more he can increase his speed (and movement range). Two factors affect the Shunpo ability from what I’ve seen: the base speed (based on Reiatsu) and the control over the Shunpo.
So if Shinigami A and B have an equal amount of Reiatsu, they have equal speed. But if Shinigami A is better at Shunpo that Shinigami B, he/she will be faster than Shinigami B. On the other hand if Shinigami B has a higher Reiatsu level than Shinigami A it could still be possible that both have an equal speed.
Then we have Ichigo’s Bankai. Ichigo’s Bankai breaks this rule of higher power equals higher speed to a certain extent. At the time when he faced Byakuya using his Bankai he had about the same amount of power. Byakuya on the other hand had a much greater control of his Shunpo than Ichigo meaning that he should have been faster. Ichigo’s Bankai however allowed him to bypass this and still be faster. So all Ichigo’s Bankai does with his speed is bypass the Shunpo ability and even the Reiatsu requirement to a certain extend.
Speed post-Soul Society
After Ichigo returned from Soul Society, he was faced with the Arrancar. These Hollows had powers surpassing that of Ichigo at the time (due to the imbalance between his Hollow and Shinigami side). The difference in power was so great that even his Bankai couldn’t help him out in speed (also due to the Sonido ability). Most of the fights where Ichigo lost in speed in this part of the story were against opponents who also had more power than Ichigo. The problem with this explanation is that we don’t know how Reiatsu affects speed. We do know that Shinigami’s Reiatsu can be classified (e.g. the explanation on Kaien’s progress as a Shinigami up to the lieutenant seat given in chapter 83) but I haven’t the faintest what these levels imply.
I’m afraid I have to end this here, I ran out of time. I hope you got the gist of my view on this matter. It got especially sloppy at the end, I know, but this is all I can do for today. Be sure to ask me questions on this if you want to know more on what I think on this or give me your own take on this matter.