The Underscore
February 26, 2010, 03:35 AM
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393 The Burnout Inferno
Hey there everyone, welcome to a brand new Bleach review by yours truly. Thanks to a holiday I’m actually able to squeeze in a Friday review this week and after a long wait for this week’s chapter I really wanted to write this ASAP. These may have been the two longest weeks I’ve had in ages and not having a new Bleach chapter certainly did add to this problem. But luckily Kubo’s had his time to rest and came back with chapter 393. But was this chapter worth the wait? Let’s see what happened in this week’s chapter using the Mangastream/Binktopia scanlation, but not before going over the two polls from the last review of course.
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After two long weeks and 123 votes, we get the first chapter rating based on your votes. So with no further ado:
Bleach chapter 392, The Breaking Glaciers, gets a:
6.2 Average
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The previous chapter gave us more poll results, in the form of the Bleach Best Bout results. But the host of the show, Kon, somehow didn’t even manage to make it to the top 10 with so many epic fights he’s had throughout the story. Feeling for my favorite perv in Bleach, there was only one thing I could do: List some of the more epic fights Kon has partaken in and have you chose which one you thought was the best. And here are the results!
Of the eight more specific battles I mentioned, two options tied at the eighth place. Each with two votes, we have Karakura Rizer vs. Sunflower Hollow (extra pages starting from chapter 243, probably better known for the anime episodes) and Kon vs. Tatsuki and Orihime (chapter 26 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/26/09/)). A hard pick indeed between the superhero that blows up unless he makes embarrassing poses as demanded by Urahara and the humble pervert who just wanted to go to the valley of the boobs only to be caught up in a new game of base-soccer…
Moving on we have another tie in sixth place, with three votes each. Kon vs. Hollow (chapter 16 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/16/07/)) and Kon vs. wall (chapter 26 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/26/05/)), two battles which were almost as awesome as the previous two. Chapter 16’s fight showed us Kon’s more gentle side while he almost destroyed Ichigo’s body in order to protect three kids and an ant colony, while Kon vs. wall in chapter 26 was a battle that other people may have experienced as well, though they didn’t escape quite as unscathed as Kon.
Coming in fifth, with four votes, was the battle suggested by Rukia and Ichigo when the Bleach Best Bout was announced, Kon vs. Yuzu! (chapter 26 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/26/15/)) Sure, it ended in total defeat for our perverted hero Kon as he was forced to run away wearing a dress after receiving a title forced on him by the victor (Boss Tuff), but there are probably more people who ended up in similar situations…
Next we have one of Kon’s more dire fights in fourth place, Kon vs. Grand Fisher (chapters 185 and 186 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/186/12/)) chosen by 6 of the voters. The battle against the murderer of Ichigo’s mother who revealed himself after having become an Arrancar was escalating to the point that Isshin had to step in before Kon became serious…ly hurt… One of Kon’s finest moments indeed…
Coming to the top three, you will notice that the fights Kon has fought are the same fights common people face every day, of which the third place may just be another fine example. Coming in third, with eight votes, is a fight Kon keeps fighting. This is an occurrence we see 3 out of 4 chapters -give or take- Kon appears: Kon vs. women’s feet! Just take any random chapter where Kon appears and odds are you’ll see his -or Ichigo’s- face stuck to a woman’s shoe. But Kon shows us that we should not give up, that we should pursue our dreams no matter what the cost, even if it ends up in the same result time and time again. For if you persevere, you may be able to achieve something beautiful, as seen here (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/17/08/).
In spite of the magnificent message behind Kon’s battles against women’s feet, the second place fight may be one that everyone probably experienced to some extend - minus being taped to the back of the toilet… I hope. Possibly Kon’s harshest battle where he came closer to death than any other battle: Kon taped to the crapper vs. Isshin taking a dump! (chapter 53 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/53/09/)) Ten voters believed this battle to be Kon’s most epic fight of all. One can only imagine the true horrors Kon faced in this battle, which is probably why we all should be glad that scanlation groups take so much time to clean the chapters for us -we can all remember to at least use the thank you button for the scanlations we read, I’m just as guilty :darn-.
But then we have twenty voters who would fail as reporters (same as this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9037r59l1-E)) as they felt that words can’t describe Kon’s battles. They somehow couldn’t express the awesomeness of Kon’s battles into words, which is ridiculous as it can be done easily……… :sweatdrop… In fact it is so easy that I don’t even feel like I should have to bother! That’s how easy it is!... So let’s go to the chapter! (Completely denies the fact that the majority of these voters may not care for Kon or his fights at all)
Aizen the merciful
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If this is him being merciful, I don’t want to see him being cruel…
After all Aizen did last week with his Kyouka Suigetsu, he used it to attack four of his opponents in an instant at the end of the previous chapter. Where it seemed to be a few shallow cuts for all captains and a destroyed wing for Daiguren Hyourinmaru, it turns out that Hitsugaya drew a far shorter straw. Where Harribel failed to cut Hitsugaya in two, Aizen came pretty darn close. Cutting off Hitsugaya’s left arm and lower leg, Aizen showed no mercy for the youngling. Whether more limbs were flying around or not can’t be said based on the frames with Kyouraku, Soi-Fon, and Shinji, but they too seem to have been dealt rather devastating blows. Just when everything seems to go down the crapper -Kon battle reference, had to get it out of my system- Aizen reveals that he has no intention of killing the four combatants (yet). Hitsugaya almost sees this as a last chance opportunity to attack Aizen, but the loss of his limbs makes him lose the strength in his body as he and the other three captains fall to the ground due to the damage taken. Aizen then acknowledges his opponents strength -to some extend- as he tells them that they are strong enough to stay alive and conscious with those wounds. The reason he wants them to stay alive and conscious is also made clear: he wants attention. Or rather, he wants them to witness the battle’s outcome. While saying this we see a single drop of blood dripping down Kyouka Suigetsu’s blade, showing off Kubo’s sense of drama in doing so, as it starts falling to the ground. But rather than signaling an ending, it signals a beginning.
Infernal blaze
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The sun is falling from the sky!
The drop of blood didn’t even get to fall down to the ground as all of a sudden a humongous pillar of fire rises up from behind Aizen. With humongous I mean, HUUUUMONGOUS as a great part of fake Karakura town is incinerated by the flames of this pillar -a diameter of give or take 14 apartment buildings, so humongous- which created enough heat to possibly evaporate the drop of blood that fell from Aizen’s blade. As if that wouldn’t be enough to make people cry out in fear, the tower actually starts moving towards its intended target. But Aizen doesn’t seem too preoccupied by all of this as he turns around to find the only person capable of creating such an inferno without breaking a sweat -literally-: Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryuusai. Standing in the middle of the pillar of flames, the look on Genryuusai’s face tells us that he’s planning to do which we/I’ve been hoping for quite some time: Incinerate Aizen and the entire battlefield in order to do so.
But Aizen wouldn’t be Aizen if he didn’t have something to say about this event as he tells Genryuusai that he is far too late. Aizen tells him it only makes sense that Genryuusai steps up to the plate, as he is the only captain at this time that can be counted as man-power. Aizen is so lucky that Unohana is busy healing people right now…
Aizen even goes so far as to say that once Genryuusai falls, the Gotei 13 will fall with him. The fact that he only appears now, after all other fighters have fallen -Ichigo is being ignored by Aizen completely- only makes his last stand that more useless to the point he should have just stayed away. After what we’ve seen Aizen do in the last few chapters, one would expect Genryuusai to acknowledge his opponents strength as worthy, but this old hot-head begs to differ.
ORLY?
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That darned whippersnapper should know his place!
Genryuusai doesn’t even bother giving an actual response to Aizen’s nonsense. Instead he tells Aizen that he should stop being so pretentious as the snot nosed punk really should stop dreaming, thinking he can cut down Genryuusai with only that much power… :blink. Now here’s a nice surprise. Aizen single-handedly took out a small army of captain level Shinigami using extraordinary strength and speed, and Genryuusai refers to that as that much power. Perhaps this was a liberal translation made by the translator, but nonetheless Genryuusai is clearly telling Aizen that he isn’t impressed. Seeming as how Aizen has been so kind as to show everyone who doubts his power that they shouldn’t, he doesn’t really mind Genryuusai’s words. Not only that, Aizen isn’t just thinking about cutting Genryuusai down, he’s certain that he will do just that, or rather, that he already did. Genryuusai’s hotheadedness shows once more as he angrily strikes at Aizen. Aizen then uses his Sonido to appear behind Genryuusai. But before Genryuusai can turn around to block the attack, Aizen strikes at the Commander-General. At first Aizen cares as little about this victory as any other, that is until he notices two things. First off is the fact that he can’t seem to be able to pull Kyouka Suigetsu out, which would only happen if all the blood on its blade would have caused it to degrade rapidly. Second, though more important than the stuck blade, is the creepy smile Genryuusai has on his face…
Death Incarnate
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Aizen… I. Am. Your… former colleague Kenpachi’s father!
Rather than feeling any concern at the fact that there’s a rather sharp object protruding his abdomen, Genryuusai is rather content at the fact that he has finally caught Aizen. Aizen, however, makes a good point as he asks Genryuusai what he thinks he’s accomplished as, for all he knows, he probably caught an illusion. Genryuusai, however, begs to differ as he’s got a gut feeling that he’s caught the real Aizen. Even though Aizen is able to manipulate Genryuusai’s sense of sight and touch to the point of making him think he was stabbed, the illusion would have to be created with Kyouka Suigetsu through the use of Reiatsu. But the only true source of Reiatsu Genryuusai feels of this nature is the blade stuck in his stomach, as he points out to Aizen.
You can say all you want about Genryuusai taking his sweet time to get to the battle, but seeing him here sacrificing his body to ensure he can capture Aizen really is impressive. Not only that, he remains surprisingly calm in spite of Kyouka Suigetsu sticking out of him. This would be prove of Genryuusai being someone who would happily get himself hurt in order to defend Soul Society as well as a very good explanation as to why he has so many scars over his body. Why if anything this even explains how Genryuusai was able to have Kenpachi behave himself as they almost seem to share this little trait of self mutilation. All I can say is that I’m really impressed by the Commander-General and he’s not even done yet.
As Genryuusai holds Aizen’s arm, he gets back to Aizen’s prattle on losing his opportunity along with his allies. Apparently Aizen couldn’t have been more wrong about this than he is now. Why Genryuusai would say that is made perfectly clear as he unleashes Ryuujin Jakka’s Ennetsu Jigoku.
The roofs are on fire
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Where’s the sunscreen when you really need it?
As several pillars of fire surround Genryuusai and Aizen, we learn that everything has been set up by Genryuusai while everyone else was fighting Aizen. Judging by the amount of fire pillars and their size it is obvious Genryuusai has been rather diligent. Aizen then tells Genryuusai that he is cunning for using his allies and subordinates as a distraction while he set up his hell. But Genryuusai doesn’t mind as he intends to die along with Aizen in the inferno, something Aizen doesn’t seem to appreciate all too much. But before Genryuusai sacrifices himself for the future, he turns to the youngest person around gets to safety as he tells Ichigo to go away.
The only reason for Genryuusai to tell Ichigo to leave is that he isn’t part of the Gotei 13 and never was, meaning he has no reason to die along with him, Aizen, and the others. But all Ichigo heard at this time was that Genryuusai would sacrifice himself while he had to go away. Otherwise his reaction would be far out of place as I doubt Ichigo would run away while he lets everyone else burn to a crisp while they shouldn’t have to. If anything I’d expect Ichigo to get pissed and start getting people out of there. Rather than Ichigo realizing his friends are about to turn to ashes, it is Aizen who points out this little issue with Genryuusai’s strategy. But Genryuusai knows his students as he tells Aizen they are prepared to die as they are Shinigami who are supposed to defeat evil even if it means their death.
Peek-A-Boo
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Wonderweiss seems to be into Rorschach tests
Just as Genryuusai decides to wrap things up, we suddenly see a resurrected Wonderweiss showing up behind him. With this we learn that his fight with Kensei is apparently over already, which is rather disappointing as it would have been great to see Kensei going all out with his Bankai. Though what I’m honestly more curious about at this moment, however, is how in heavens name Wonderweiss used his Resurrección even though he is hardly able to form a single word. Even after releasing it seems that Wonderweiss didn’t change one bit, with the exception of the new appearance that is. With Wonderweiss appearing behind Genryuusai, it would seem that he would once more destroy his opponent with a single attack from behind. Luckily Genryuusai is more than capable enough to notice this back attack as he immediately turns around with Ryuujin Jakka blazing. But not only does Wonderweiss manage to stop Genryuusai’s attack with one hand, he actually manages to stop Ryuujin Jakka’s flames as well, much to Genryuusai’s surprise. Though him being thrown away all of a sudden is probably a lot more surprising than that as he is thrown through one of the pillars of fire that suddenly breaks down as well. Genryuusai then gets up immediately on guard as he wonders how such a massive pillar of fire suddenly disappeared. The answer once more lies with Aizen.
A walking wet towel
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I always thought Wonderweiss was as bright as a wet candle
Here’s where the chapter gets really interesting. In spite of all that Aizen managed to do and all he still has up his sleeve -Bankai, Hollowfication, and Resurrección- he somehow acknowledges that Genryuusai would be able to beat him if it were a fair fight. One reason for this is Ryuujin Jakka. So what better way to defeat an opponent stronger than you than to take out one of his most powerful abilities? Enter Wonderweiss. Wonderweiss already showed signs of nullifying abilities, of which the most recent example would have to be Mashiro, and apparently it was tied in with this. Aizen modified Wonderweiss in order to oppose Ryuujin Jakka and made it the only modified Arrancar in order to give it enough power to ensure it would work. Now some of you may recall that Szayelaporro also modified Hollows and had Aizen turn them into Arrancar. My guess is that those Hollows served as guinea pigs for Aizen’s own modified Arrancar. The result is Wonderweiss with his Resurrección named Extinguir -extinguish-, a rather peculiar shaped resurrección. If anything Wonderweiss actually looks more like an object than he does a human shaped Hollow, though that’s probably due to Aizen’s experiments. As Wonderweiss towers over Genryuusai, Aizen bids his farewell to his former leader as he feels certain that this is the end of things. With a down to earth Aizen who actually admitted that Genryuusai is stronger than he is, a walking fire extinguisher in the form of a Resurrected Wonderweiss, and Genryuusai who lost one of his trump cards, things are looking grim for Soul Society.
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Truthfully, I found this chapter to be just good in spite of all that happened here. First we got Aizen saying he wants to keep his opponents alive just so they can witness his victory, which is something many people already saw coming. Not that it is a bad thing as it explains why he hasn’t mercilessly slaughtered everyone yet, but I don’t see why he then even bothered sending out the Espada to fight Soul Society. Was it to test whether they are worthy of becoming spectators of his glory? But with everyone taken out other than Ichigo -though I don’t remember Omaeda being taken out- only a few more options were left of which one was Genryuusai. Enter Genryuusai in his towering inferno. Apparently he had been preparing his own version of hell in order to incinerate Aizen along with everything else around him, which I did imagine him doing, though I didn’t expect him to throw his life away so easily. What I really enjoyed in this chapter was the fact that Genryuusai told Aizen he was weak compared to him and that Aizen didn’t even deny it, but even went as far as to admit this. Aizen, staying in character, did take this into account as he shows his counter for Genryuusai and the strongest Zanpakutou in existence, Wonderweiss. Somehow I’m a bit disappointed by the fact that Wonderweiss suddenly appeared in his Resurrected state in spite of his battle with Kensei, though this was a pretty nice twist which I didn’t see coming (yet). But some of these things just felt a bit rushed in my opinion and somehow I feel Genryuusai could have done a lot more to Aizen than just wait for his trap to spring. Because of this I don’t find this chapter quite as good as the last one, though I still liked it nonetheless.
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This week’s chapter revealed that Wonderweiss’ sole purpose was to counter Genryuusai’s Ryuujin Jakka, though that made me wonder about something. If you look back at the time Wonderweiss first came to Karakura town, you’ll notice he was more interested in butterflies than fighting until Urahara showed up. And when he showed up with Fura he only attacked Ukitake willingly while all of his other fights were provoked by his opponents. So here’s something for you guys to think about for yourselves:
[I] Why would Wonderweiss attack Urahara and Ukitake so willingly while he should only be focusing on Genryuusai when he’s using Ryuujin Jakka?
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Let’s see, everyone has been taken out or is occupied while Genryuusai is facing two opponents of which one is able to negate his Zanpakutou’s abilities… Somehow strawberries come to mind… Why if anything Ichigo could fight Wonderweiss while Genryuusai focuses on Aizen again, though that would be too obvious wouldn’t it?
Something does tell me someone will show up to take care of Wonderweiss for Genryuusai. Like I said the most obvious solution would be Ichigo as Genryuusai has proven to be capable of fighting Aizen in spite of Kyouka Suigetsu’s hypnosis. That’s not to say Genryuusai would be able to get another chance as great as he had this week as Aizen will be on guard, but at least with Ryuujin Jakka working on at least some scale Genryuusai should be able to make Aizen sweat a bit until Wonderweiss is beaten and Ryuujin Jakka can be fully utilized again.
But no one ever said Kensei had been beaten (yet) as for all we know Wonderweiss just stopped mid-fight in a response to Ryuujin Jakka’s release. There’s still a chance that Kensei is now standing in amazement at the fact that his opponent just up and left him, possibly getting pissed as he’s known to be in several occasions as he rushes towards Wonderweiss to finish their battle. Kensei could join the fray instead of Ichigo resulting in a similar situation as described above. But then there’s another wild-card on the field by the name of Gin. It is possible Gin could join the fight as well -though I somehow doubt it- in order to make sure Wonderweiss is left alone by whoever will be fighting him.
Then there’s the possibility of this becoming a 2 on 2 battle, where one other person joins the fray. That person (e.g. Ichigo or Kensei) will try to fight Wonderweiss, who will try to fight Genryuusai, who will try to fight Aizen, who will try to take out the person who is trying to fight Wonderweiss. That could make for a rather confusing fight I’d say :amuse.
Of course, as Genryuusai is more powerful than Aizen, it is possible he won’t need his Ryuujin Jakka to take care of Wonderweiss. Maybe he’ll show off a combination of Kenpo, Shunpo, and Kidou to make easy pickings of Wonderweiss.
Well, that’s it for this week’s review. I hope you guys enjoyed the Friday review. I think I’ve covered about everything I noticed about this chapter, though I feel a bit rusty to be honest. But if I overlooked something, I’m sure you guys know where to find the reply button ;). Be sure to let me know what your thoughts are on this week’s chapter and/or review, give any theories that you may have and to vote in this week’s poll. Don’t forget to rate this week’s chapter! I’ll see you guys again next week!
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo70/Underscore_07/ChapterRating.png (http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2761112/)
Click on the picture above to rate this week’s chapter, and as a reminder here’s what the ratings are:
1.0: Abysmal
1.1 - 3.4: Awful
3.5.-5.4: Bad
5.5-6.9: Average
7.0-8.9: Great
9.0-9.9: Awesome
10: Perfect
393 The Burnout Inferno
Hey there everyone, welcome to a brand new Bleach review by yours truly. Thanks to a holiday I’m actually able to squeeze in a Friday review this week and after a long wait for this week’s chapter I really wanted to write this ASAP. These may have been the two longest weeks I’ve had in ages and not having a new Bleach chapter certainly did add to this problem. But luckily Kubo’s had his time to rest and came back with chapter 393. But was this chapter worth the wait? Let’s see what happened in this week’s chapter using the Mangastream/Binktopia scanlation, but not before going over the two polls from the last review of course.
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After two long weeks and 123 votes, we get the first chapter rating based on your votes. So with no further ado:
Bleach chapter 392, The Breaking Glaciers, gets a:
6.2 Average
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The previous chapter gave us more poll results, in the form of the Bleach Best Bout results. But the host of the show, Kon, somehow didn’t even manage to make it to the top 10 with so many epic fights he’s had throughout the story. Feeling for my favorite perv in Bleach, there was only one thing I could do: List some of the more epic fights Kon has partaken in and have you chose which one you thought was the best. And here are the results!
Of the eight more specific battles I mentioned, two options tied at the eighth place. Each with two votes, we have Karakura Rizer vs. Sunflower Hollow (extra pages starting from chapter 243, probably better known for the anime episodes) and Kon vs. Tatsuki and Orihime (chapter 26 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/26/09/)). A hard pick indeed between the superhero that blows up unless he makes embarrassing poses as demanded by Urahara and the humble pervert who just wanted to go to the valley of the boobs only to be caught up in a new game of base-soccer…
Moving on we have another tie in sixth place, with three votes each. Kon vs. Hollow (chapter 16 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/16/07/)) and Kon vs. wall (chapter 26 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/26/05/)), two battles which were almost as awesome as the previous two. Chapter 16’s fight showed us Kon’s more gentle side while he almost destroyed Ichigo’s body in order to protect three kids and an ant colony, while Kon vs. wall in chapter 26 was a battle that other people may have experienced as well, though they didn’t escape quite as unscathed as Kon.
Coming in fifth, with four votes, was the battle suggested by Rukia and Ichigo when the Bleach Best Bout was announced, Kon vs. Yuzu! (chapter 26 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/26/15/)) Sure, it ended in total defeat for our perverted hero Kon as he was forced to run away wearing a dress after receiving a title forced on him by the victor (Boss Tuff), but there are probably more people who ended up in similar situations…
Next we have one of Kon’s more dire fights in fourth place, Kon vs. Grand Fisher (chapters 185 and 186 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/186/12/)) chosen by 6 of the voters. The battle against the murderer of Ichigo’s mother who revealed himself after having become an Arrancar was escalating to the point that Isshin had to step in before Kon became serious…ly hurt… One of Kon’s finest moments indeed…
Coming to the top three, you will notice that the fights Kon has fought are the same fights common people face every day, of which the third place may just be another fine example. Coming in third, with eight votes, is a fight Kon keeps fighting. This is an occurrence we see 3 out of 4 chapters -give or take- Kon appears: Kon vs. women’s feet! Just take any random chapter where Kon appears and odds are you’ll see his -or Ichigo’s- face stuck to a woman’s shoe. But Kon shows us that we should not give up, that we should pursue our dreams no matter what the cost, even if it ends up in the same result time and time again. For if you persevere, you may be able to achieve something beautiful, as seen here (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/17/08/).
In spite of the magnificent message behind Kon’s battles against women’s feet, the second place fight may be one that everyone probably experienced to some extend - minus being taped to the back of the toilet… I hope. Possibly Kon’s harshest battle where he came closer to death than any other battle: Kon taped to the crapper vs. Isshin taking a dump! (chapter 53 (http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/53/09/)) Ten voters believed this battle to be Kon’s most epic fight of all. One can only imagine the true horrors Kon faced in this battle, which is probably why we all should be glad that scanlation groups take so much time to clean the chapters for us -we can all remember to at least use the thank you button for the scanlations we read, I’m just as guilty :darn-.
But then we have twenty voters who would fail as reporters (same as this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9037r59l1-E)) as they felt that words can’t describe Kon’s battles. They somehow couldn’t express the awesomeness of Kon’s battles into words, which is ridiculous as it can be done easily……… :sweatdrop… In fact it is so easy that I don’t even feel like I should have to bother! That’s how easy it is!... So let’s go to the chapter! (Completely denies the fact that the majority of these voters may not care for Kon or his fights at all)
Aizen the merciful
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If this is him being merciful, I don’t want to see him being cruel…
After all Aizen did last week with his Kyouka Suigetsu, he used it to attack four of his opponents in an instant at the end of the previous chapter. Where it seemed to be a few shallow cuts for all captains and a destroyed wing for Daiguren Hyourinmaru, it turns out that Hitsugaya drew a far shorter straw. Where Harribel failed to cut Hitsugaya in two, Aizen came pretty darn close. Cutting off Hitsugaya’s left arm and lower leg, Aizen showed no mercy for the youngling. Whether more limbs were flying around or not can’t be said based on the frames with Kyouraku, Soi-Fon, and Shinji, but they too seem to have been dealt rather devastating blows. Just when everything seems to go down the crapper -Kon battle reference, had to get it out of my system- Aizen reveals that he has no intention of killing the four combatants (yet). Hitsugaya almost sees this as a last chance opportunity to attack Aizen, but the loss of his limbs makes him lose the strength in his body as he and the other three captains fall to the ground due to the damage taken. Aizen then acknowledges his opponents strength -to some extend- as he tells them that they are strong enough to stay alive and conscious with those wounds. The reason he wants them to stay alive and conscious is also made clear: he wants attention. Or rather, he wants them to witness the battle’s outcome. While saying this we see a single drop of blood dripping down Kyouka Suigetsu’s blade, showing off Kubo’s sense of drama in doing so, as it starts falling to the ground. But rather than signaling an ending, it signals a beginning.
Infernal blaze
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The sun is falling from the sky!
The drop of blood didn’t even get to fall down to the ground as all of a sudden a humongous pillar of fire rises up from behind Aizen. With humongous I mean, HUUUUMONGOUS as a great part of fake Karakura town is incinerated by the flames of this pillar -a diameter of give or take 14 apartment buildings, so humongous- which created enough heat to possibly evaporate the drop of blood that fell from Aizen’s blade. As if that wouldn’t be enough to make people cry out in fear, the tower actually starts moving towards its intended target. But Aizen doesn’t seem too preoccupied by all of this as he turns around to find the only person capable of creating such an inferno without breaking a sweat -literally-: Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryuusai. Standing in the middle of the pillar of flames, the look on Genryuusai’s face tells us that he’s planning to do which we/I’ve been hoping for quite some time: Incinerate Aizen and the entire battlefield in order to do so.
But Aizen wouldn’t be Aizen if he didn’t have something to say about this event as he tells Genryuusai that he is far too late. Aizen tells him it only makes sense that Genryuusai steps up to the plate, as he is the only captain at this time that can be counted as man-power. Aizen is so lucky that Unohana is busy healing people right now…
Aizen even goes so far as to say that once Genryuusai falls, the Gotei 13 will fall with him. The fact that he only appears now, after all other fighters have fallen -Ichigo is being ignored by Aizen completely- only makes his last stand that more useless to the point he should have just stayed away. After what we’ve seen Aizen do in the last few chapters, one would expect Genryuusai to acknowledge his opponents strength as worthy, but this old hot-head begs to differ.
ORLY?
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That darned whippersnapper should know his place!
Genryuusai doesn’t even bother giving an actual response to Aizen’s nonsense. Instead he tells Aizen that he should stop being so pretentious as the snot nosed punk really should stop dreaming, thinking he can cut down Genryuusai with only that much power… :blink. Now here’s a nice surprise. Aizen single-handedly took out a small army of captain level Shinigami using extraordinary strength and speed, and Genryuusai refers to that as that much power. Perhaps this was a liberal translation made by the translator, but nonetheless Genryuusai is clearly telling Aizen that he isn’t impressed. Seeming as how Aizen has been so kind as to show everyone who doubts his power that they shouldn’t, he doesn’t really mind Genryuusai’s words. Not only that, Aizen isn’t just thinking about cutting Genryuusai down, he’s certain that he will do just that, or rather, that he already did. Genryuusai’s hotheadedness shows once more as he angrily strikes at Aizen. Aizen then uses his Sonido to appear behind Genryuusai. But before Genryuusai can turn around to block the attack, Aizen strikes at the Commander-General. At first Aizen cares as little about this victory as any other, that is until he notices two things. First off is the fact that he can’t seem to be able to pull Kyouka Suigetsu out, which would only happen if all the blood on its blade would have caused it to degrade rapidly. Second, though more important than the stuck blade, is the creepy smile Genryuusai has on his face…
Death Incarnate
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Aizen… I. Am. Your… former colleague Kenpachi’s father!
Rather than feeling any concern at the fact that there’s a rather sharp object protruding his abdomen, Genryuusai is rather content at the fact that he has finally caught Aizen. Aizen, however, makes a good point as he asks Genryuusai what he thinks he’s accomplished as, for all he knows, he probably caught an illusion. Genryuusai, however, begs to differ as he’s got a gut feeling that he’s caught the real Aizen. Even though Aizen is able to manipulate Genryuusai’s sense of sight and touch to the point of making him think he was stabbed, the illusion would have to be created with Kyouka Suigetsu through the use of Reiatsu. But the only true source of Reiatsu Genryuusai feels of this nature is the blade stuck in his stomach, as he points out to Aizen.
You can say all you want about Genryuusai taking his sweet time to get to the battle, but seeing him here sacrificing his body to ensure he can capture Aizen really is impressive. Not only that, he remains surprisingly calm in spite of Kyouka Suigetsu sticking out of him. This would be prove of Genryuusai being someone who would happily get himself hurt in order to defend Soul Society as well as a very good explanation as to why he has so many scars over his body. Why if anything this even explains how Genryuusai was able to have Kenpachi behave himself as they almost seem to share this little trait of self mutilation. All I can say is that I’m really impressed by the Commander-General and he’s not even done yet.
As Genryuusai holds Aizen’s arm, he gets back to Aizen’s prattle on losing his opportunity along with his allies. Apparently Aizen couldn’t have been more wrong about this than he is now. Why Genryuusai would say that is made perfectly clear as he unleashes Ryuujin Jakka’s Ennetsu Jigoku.
The roofs are on fire
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Where’s the sunscreen when you really need it?
As several pillars of fire surround Genryuusai and Aizen, we learn that everything has been set up by Genryuusai while everyone else was fighting Aizen. Judging by the amount of fire pillars and their size it is obvious Genryuusai has been rather diligent. Aizen then tells Genryuusai that he is cunning for using his allies and subordinates as a distraction while he set up his hell. But Genryuusai doesn’t mind as he intends to die along with Aizen in the inferno, something Aizen doesn’t seem to appreciate all too much. But before Genryuusai sacrifices himself for the future, he turns to the youngest person around gets to safety as he tells Ichigo to go away.
The only reason for Genryuusai to tell Ichigo to leave is that he isn’t part of the Gotei 13 and never was, meaning he has no reason to die along with him, Aizen, and the others. But all Ichigo heard at this time was that Genryuusai would sacrifice himself while he had to go away. Otherwise his reaction would be far out of place as I doubt Ichigo would run away while he lets everyone else burn to a crisp while they shouldn’t have to. If anything I’d expect Ichigo to get pissed and start getting people out of there. Rather than Ichigo realizing his friends are about to turn to ashes, it is Aizen who points out this little issue with Genryuusai’s strategy. But Genryuusai knows his students as he tells Aizen they are prepared to die as they are Shinigami who are supposed to defeat evil even if it means their death.
Peek-A-Boo
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Wonderweiss seems to be into Rorschach tests
Just as Genryuusai decides to wrap things up, we suddenly see a resurrected Wonderweiss showing up behind him. With this we learn that his fight with Kensei is apparently over already, which is rather disappointing as it would have been great to see Kensei going all out with his Bankai. Though what I’m honestly more curious about at this moment, however, is how in heavens name Wonderweiss used his Resurrección even though he is hardly able to form a single word. Even after releasing it seems that Wonderweiss didn’t change one bit, with the exception of the new appearance that is. With Wonderweiss appearing behind Genryuusai, it would seem that he would once more destroy his opponent with a single attack from behind. Luckily Genryuusai is more than capable enough to notice this back attack as he immediately turns around with Ryuujin Jakka blazing. But not only does Wonderweiss manage to stop Genryuusai’s attack with one hand, he actually manages to stop Ryuujin Jakka’s flames as well, much to Genryuusai’s surprise. Though him being thrown away all of a sudden is probably a lot more surprising than that as he is thrown through one of the pillars of fire that suddenly breaks down as well. Genryuusai then gets up immediately on guard as he wonders how such a massive pillar of fire suddenly disappeared. The answer once more lies with Aizen.
A walking wet towel
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I always thought Wonderweiss was as bright as a wet candle
Here’s where the chapter gets really interesting. In spite of all that Aizen managed to do and all he still has up his sleeve -Bankai, Hollowfication, and Resurrección- he somehow acknowledges that Genryuusai would be able to beat him if it were a fair fight. One reason for this is Ryuujin Jakka. So what better way to defeat an opponent stronger than you than to take out one of his most powerful abilities? Enter Wonderweiss. Wonderweiss already showed signs of nullifying abilities, of which the most recent example would have to be Mashiro, and apparently it was tied in with this. Aizen modified Wonderweiss in order to oppose Ryuujin Jakka and made it the only modified Arrancar in order to give it enough power to ensure it would work. Now some of you may recall that Szayelaporro also modified Hollows and had Aizen turn them into Arrancar. My guess is that those Hollows served as guinea pigs for Aizen’s own modified Arrancar. The result is Wonderweiss with his Resurrección named Extinguir -extinguish-, a rather peculiar shaped resurrección. If anything Wonderweiss actually looks more like an object than he does a human shaped Hollow, though that’s probably due to Aizen’s experiments. As Wonderweiss towers over Genryuusai, Aizen bids his farewell to his former leader as he feels certain that this is the end of things. With a down to earth Aizen who actually admitted that Genryuusai is stronger than he is, a walking fire extinguisher in the form of a Resurrected Wonderweiss, and Genryuusai who lost one of his trump cards, things are looking grim for Soul Society.
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Truthfully, I found this chapter to be just good in spite of all that happened here. First we got Aizen saying he wants to keep his opponents alive just so they can witness his victory, which is something many people already saw coming. Not that it is a bad thing as it explains why he hasn’t mercilessly slaughtered everyone yet, but I don’t see why he then even bothered sending out the Espada to fight Soul Society. Was it to test whether they are worthy of becoming spectators of his glory? But with everyone taken out other than Ichigo -though I don’t remember Omaeda being taken out- only a few more options were left of which one was Genryuusai. Enter Genryuusai in his towering inferno. Apparently he had been preparing his own version of hell in order to incinerate Aizen along with everything else around him, which I did imagine him doing, though I didn’t expect him to throw his life away so easily. What I really enjoyed in this chapter was the fact that Genryuusai told Aizen he was weak compared to him and that Aizen didn’t even deny it, but even went as far as to admit this. Aizen, staying in character, did take this into account as he shows his counter for Genryuusai and the strongest Zanpakutou in existence, Wonderweiss. Somehow I’m a bit disappointed by the fact that Wonderweiss suddenly appeared in his Resurrected state in spite of his battle with Kensei, though this was a pretty nice twist which I didn’t see coming (yet). But some of these things just felt a bit rushed in my opinion and somehow I feel Genryuusai could have done a lot more to Aizen than just wait for his trap to spring. Because of this I don’t find this chapter quite as good as the last one, though I still liked it nonetheless.
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This week’s chapter revealed that Wonderweiss’ sole purpose was to counter Genryuusai’s Ryuujin Jakka, though that made me wonder about something. If you look back at the time Wonderweiss first came to Karakura town, you’ll notice he was more interested in butterflies than fighting until Urahara showed up. And when he showed up with Fura he only attacked Ukitake willingly while all of his other fights were provoked by his opponents. So here’s something for you guys to think about for yourselves:
[I] Why would Wonderweiss attack Urahara and Ukitake so willingly while he should only be focusing on Genryuusai when he’s using Ryuujin Jakka?
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Let’s see, everyone has been taken out or is occupied while Genryuusai is facing two opponents of which one is able to negate his Zanpakutou’s abilities… Somehow strawberries come to mind… Why if anything Ichigo could fight Wonderweiss while Genryuusai focuses on Aizen again, though that would be too obvious wouldn’t it?
Something does tell me someone will show up to take care of Wonderweiss for Genryuusai. Like I said the most obvious solution would be Ichigo as Genryuusai has proven to be capable of fighting Aizen in spite of Kyouka Suigetsu’s hypnosis. That’s not to say Genryuusai would be able to get another chance as great as he had this week as Aizen will be on guard, but at least with Ryuujin Jakka working on at least some scale Genryuusai should be able to make Aizen sweat a bit until Wonderweiss is beaten and Ryuujin Jakka can be fully utilized again.
But no one ever said Kensei had been beaten (yet) as for all we know Wonderweiss just stopped mid-fight in a response to Ryuujin Jakka’s release. There’s still a chance that Kensei is now standing in amazement at the fact that his opponent just up and left him, possibly getting pissed as he’s known to be in several occasions as he rushes towards Wonderweiss to finish their battle. Kensei could join the fray instead of Ichigo resulting in a similar situation as described above. But then there’s another wild-card on the field by the name of Gin. It is possible Gin could join the fight as well -though I somehow doubt it- in order to make sure Wonderweiss is left alone by whoever will be fighting him.
Then there’s the possibility of this becoming a 2 on 2 battle, where one other person joins the fray. That person (e.g. Ichigo or Kensei) will try to fight Wonderweiss, who will try to fight Genryuusai, who will try to fight Aizen, who will try to take out the person who is trying to fight Wonderweiss. That could make for a rather confusing fight I’d say :amuse.
Of course, as Genryuusai is more powerful than Aizen, it is possible he won’t need his Ryuujin Jakka to take care of Wonderweiss. Maybe he’ll show off a combination of Kenpo, Shunpo, and Kidou to make easy pickings of Wonderweiss.
Well, that’s it for this week’s review. I hope you guys enjoyed the Friday review. I think I’ve covered about everything I noticed about this chapter, though I feel a bit rusty to be honest. But if I overlooked something, I’m sure you guys know where to find the reply button ;). Be sure to let me know what your thoughts are on this week’s chapter and/or review, give any theories that you may have and to vote in this week’s poll. Don’t forget to rate this week’s chapter! I’ll see you guys again next week!
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Click on the picture above to rate this week’s chapter, and as a reminder here’s what the ratings are:
1.0: Abysmal
1.1 - 3.4: Awful
3.5.-5.4: Bad
5.5-6.9: Average
7.0-8.9: Great
9.0-9.9: Awesome
10: Perfect