The Underscore's Bleach review, 425: A Day Without Melodies

[The Underscore]

425 A Day Without Melodies

Hey there, welcome to a new Bleach review. This week, we get another day in the normal life of Ichigo. Much like last week, the chapter's feel is a lot more relaxed than it has been during the Deicide arc. Last week I didn't think the pacing was good enough, but now I realize it just had to do with the fact that we didn't have any Bleach in the two weeks before that . This week's chapter just keeps on moving, preparing us for the true purpose of this new arc. I have to say, these chapters sure make me wonder what'll happen. Let's get to this week's review to see what possible hints we got this week. This week I'm using the Mangastream/Binktopia scanlation again, so thanks go out to them for their hard work. Especially for bringing the chapter so soon!

Bleach chapter 424, The Lost Agent, rated by 37 voters gets an average score of:

7.3

Great

The grease-head at the end of last week's chapter with the Shinigami representative badge certainly was a surprise. While it is obvious he'll be an antagonist, it may not be so obvious at all. We've seen plenty of characters that started out looking like an antagonist, but turned out to be good guys (e.g. Renji and Shinji). Then again, Bleach used that plot-device so often that it would only make sense for this guy to actually be an antagonist. But enough on future alliances, let's judge this book by his cover. Here's what you guys made of this new guy:

No one felt it was love at first sight with this guy. All I can say is that I agree, but I already dedicated enough time bashing the filler-like appearance of the new guy that I'll get to the next option.
One voter saw the fillerness dripping off the new character and decided it to be hate at first sight. Or maybe it's something else (s)he doesn't like about the new guy, who knows?
Three other voters hate the looks, but think his story should be interesting. To be honest I'm leaning towards this option myself.
Six voters didn't make anything of this new guy. Quite frankly, there's little to say about him any way.
Eight voters expressed their thoughts on this new guy quite exquisitely. Their thoughts on the guy: 'Meh...'. It brings a tear to my eyes thinking of the beauty behind this description .
Eleven voters are still rooting for Aizen as they can't help but wonder whether the new guy is supposed to replace the God-like Shinigami. I too can't help but wonder whether there's anyone who would be able to take Aizen's place.
Sixteen voters decided to be reasonable by not judging the new guy too soon. Geez, you guys should learn to judge people based on the first impression they give and not wait to see what they're really like! Wait, what?
But the majority of the voters decided the new guy looks interesting enough. With 24 voters not really caring about the new guy up to this point, we can only wait and see what'll happen.

Morning call

That's the same excuse I use when I throw people out of second store windows...

Shadows call out to Ichigo, telling him to wake up. From a silhouette of Renji, Byakuya(?), and Rukia telling Ichigo to open his eyes, we get to Isshin giving his usual morning call. Ichigo immediately react with his Shinigami reflexes as he makes his father fall out the window. But Isshin manages to hold on as he reprimands his son for almost causing him to fall down two stories. He tries to emphasize how serious this is by asking Ichigo what would happen if Isshin had died (says the man who tries to wake his son by kicking him in the face in the morning). Ichigo casually says that his dad would probably end up in Soul Society if he died, to which Isshin responds in an interesting manner. He points out that this is (most likely) the first time Ichigo mentioned Soul Society in over a year.

Ichigo only gets angrier at those words as he confronts his father with a couple of facts. First, his father wouldn't die from falling two stories. Second, his dad caused him to have weird dreams. After Ichigo stops trying to cause his father to fall out the window, Isshin is curious to hear about the weird dream. But Ichigo then realizes that he already forgot what it was about.

With all that happened in these first couple of pages, we can conclude that Ichigo's powers will be awakening soon. The three shadows telling Ichigo to wake up and Isshin coming when he did are too much of a coincidence. Something tells me that Isshin knew what Ichigo was experiencing and that was the reason he came in. The days that Isshin wakes Ichigo up are often related to Ichigo's Shinigami life. Perhaps Isshin sensed that Ichigo's Shinigami powers are reawakening and wanted to check out what was going on... by flying out the window. But with Ichigo not being aware of what's going on, Isshin drops the matter. Hopefully for Isshin, Ichigo didn't do the same to him here.

Awesomeness for Hire

Get your own Ichigo at a Karakura town near you!

The scene suddenly changes to Ichigo asking a student "how much?", to which he hears 5000 yen. Ichigo then throws the student away as he tells him it's ridiculous to get 5000 yen a week. He then moves on to another student form the Football club -Soccer for the American readers, but John Cleese can explain why I chose Football in spite of the scanlation -. We then learn that school clubs are trying to hire Ichigo so he will help them out. Judging from the judoka Ichigo just threw away singlehandedly, that club can really use his help. But apparently Ichigo isn't into the clubs for the sports as much as it is for the money. As Ichigo starts up negotiations, Mizuiro shows up.

Mizuiro is then greeted by Keigo, who tells him that Ichigo is busy negotiating again. Mizuiro isn't surprised by this as much as that the rental period from the basketball club has ended. Keigo then starts complaining how Ichigo doesn't have time for him anymore and how he has nothing better to do than to bother Ichigo at work. Mizuiro already knows exactly what's what as he ignores Keigo for his phone. While negotiations are taking place in the background, Mizuiro and Keigo explain that Ichigo has been asking for money from clubs for quite some time. Mizuiro figures he does it for the money, as Isshin wouldn't give his son any money (99.99999% chance it all goes to his daughters anyway ) even if Ichigo uses it to move out of the house. Keigo is surprised to hear that Ichigo is thinking of moving out of the house. But Mizuiro figures that Ichigo needs the money to do what he wants either way, though something tells me he's wrong about that . But more on that later as Ichigo just agreed to join the Football club!

It seems that the football club managed to make the right offer as Ichigo agreed to become their goalkeeper. Apparently, they asked Chad before they asked Ichigo, but he had other (better paying) work to do. Thus Ichigo ends up on the field preparing for practice. Tatsuki then comes to Ichigo as she asks him what he's doing away from the Basketball club. Notice how two girls in the background are awfully impressed with Tatsuki? They should be, considering she's now an assistant instructor at her dojo. Ichigo then tells her he's glad he stopped when he did as he'd hate to call her his Sensei. As Tatsuki prepares to show Ichigo who's boss, the scene changes to someone else.

The School's Idol

Just when you thought her boobs couldn't get bigger...

Orihime is humming while walking through the hallways as three boys talk about how much of an idol she is to the school. Compared to the other stalkers she's had in the past, these boys may not be too big of an issue. But apparently just a picture of her face is enough for boys to go wild over. But Orihime ignores it completely as she's too busy humming her tune. after seeing Tatsuki and Ichigo outside, she immediately screams out to them and uses the drainpipe to slide down from the second floor -don't you just feel silly now, Isshin?- completely ignoring the fact that it is dangerous and exposes her panties. Same as the others we've seen up till now, Orhime's changes aren't too drastic. Besides her boobs getting bigger (which has been predicted by plenty of you out there) her hairstyle changed as well. The curious thing, however, is that her hairpins are missing...

I have two theories on that. The first one is that Orihime lost her abilities around the same time that Ichigo lost his powers. Her abilities were awakened by Ichigo's powers, so it's possible that without Ichigo's powers existing she can't use them anymore. But this is unlikely. Thus the second theory: Orihime decided to stop wearing her hairpins for Ichigo. She probably thought Ichigo would be reminded of his time as a Shinigami every time he'd see her hairpins and she doesn't like the way he looks when he's thinking about that. To make sure Ichigo wouldn't be uncomfortable around her, she probably decided not to put on her hairpins. Perhaps she has them close, but I can't see them in her hair at this time.

Raising Orihime

Let mommy and daddy fight things out Orihime...

Tatsuki practically cracks open Orihime's skull as she reprimands her for pulling the stunt she did. Ichigo tells her she's overreacting as Orihime's just fine. Tatsuki gets angry at that comment as she tells Ichigo to stop lecturing her. As they bicker about Orihime's upbringing at Tatsuki's hand, Orihime tries to explain why she was in such a rush. Just when it seemed like she actually had a serious issue to discuss, we find out it's just normal Orihime rambling.

Apparently she's been humming her life's tune lately (as opposed to singing it) because she can't decide whether "do" should stand for skull gang or unrefined booze. In the single page where Orihime explained her issues, Ichigo and Tatsuki spoke my mind. From asking about what she means with "perfect position" to how she can make her eyes look like three's, and saying both of the options presented being just as bad. This shows that Orihime is still Orihime, I guess.

Tatsuki then remembers that both she and Orihime have to get to their jobs. As Ichigo mocks her for being in a hurry for work, she reminds him that he has work too. She then reminds him of what happened the last time he didn't call in for work and how his manager chewed him out for not calling in. Tatsuki then tells him that she won't remind him anymore, though I get the feeling she came to Ichigo for that explicit reason. For some reason, Ichigo starts to panic as he leaves practice to make a phone call.

Part time work

Yes. On some level, yes.

Ichigo gets his manager angry as Ichigo is calling off for work again. The manager tells Ichigo that he has to get to work today or he'll lose his job and that no apology will help him. But just when Ichigo agrees to quit his job, as he can't come in right now, his manager suddenly makes a quick 180. Ichigo tells his boss it's better that he quit as he's a flighty guy who doesn't do his work. The manager then starts begging Ichigo to think it over as his jack-of-all-trades shop is only starting to get interesting. But Ichigo ignores the manager -I'm really curious who this could be- as he hangs up. The jack-of-all-trades shop also brings me to the point that Mizuiro was wrong about.

Not to say that Ichigo wouldn't want to move out on his own, but I doubt that Ichigo is doing all of this for the money. The fact that he offers his services to whoever pays him enough and the job he had (until five seconds ago) suggest that Ichigo is a bit indecisive. Personally, I think that Ichigo is doing a variety of things here to make up for the variety in his work as a substitute Shinigami. When he was a substitute Shinigami (and before that) he helped lingering spirits to move on and got to face off against a variety of Hollows with unique abilities and appearances (minus the Gillian Menos). But without any spirits he can help, he really only had homework. He probably was loitering around the school after that and was asked to help at a club in exchange for a reward. This inspired him to keep up that business as it gave him some money and something to do. He now uses the excuse of money to cover up the fact that he was just bored and looking for something to fill in the void left by his former powers. The jack-of-all-trades shop was probably just a step up after that, as it offers a bigger variety of jobs when school clubs don't need him.

Even though Ichigo is now spending his time doing odd jobs, there's still one thing that won't change. Ichigo is still a living target for scum as he tends to beat them up. Which brings us to the next part of the chapter.

Antagonists?

Even Hollows look better than these guys

A couple of morons gather at the school's gate looking for Ichigo. The guy Ichigo knocked out last week had some friends who are looking out for him. The poor thief lost seven teeth at Ichigo's hand, which are five more than his Aniki allows to get knocked out in a single blow. This merry band of Yankees seem to enjoy doing things old-school as they threaten to block the gates unless Ichigo comes out to fight them. Ichigo is far from concerned by this development or the lack of style. But if there's anyone in Karakura high who dislikes a lack of style, it's Ishida Uryuu.

Ishida tells the gang that they should go away as they are just being silly right now. He then tells them they must be friends of Ichigo's (being Yankees and all) but that they should be smart enough to know they should just leave. One of the punks then asks if Ishida is Ichigo, which wasn't so smart. The guy immediately gets knocked out as Ishida asks him how he resembles Ichigo. With a temper and attitude like that, all he has to do is dye the hair orange, get rid of the glasses and the two could be twins if you ask me, but what do I know?

We then get a closer look at Ishida than we did last week. Now we see that Ishida did change a bit in the past year and a half. Changing his glasses and his hairstyle (the hair reminds me a bit of Szayelapporo for some reason, I dunno), the ace student is still finicky when it comes to rules. Especially when it comes to his personal rules . With these punks having insulted him, by thinking he's Ichigo, he decides to take matters into his own hands and to teach them a lesson.

Ichigo sees these developments and rushes to stop Ishida from beating the guys up before he makes matters worse. At this moment, Ichigo is their sole target, so things are easier to handle. But if Ishida gets involved as well this situation could spread to the entire school. There we were, thinking Ichigo would have an easy life at this time, just being a normal high school student. With Ichigo and Ishida now facing off against a couple of Yankees, another shadow appears at the end of the chapter. Is this the leg of an ally, or yet another threat? We'll find out next week in a new chapter of Bleach!

A decent chapter. Hints at Soul Society needing Ichigo soon, combined with the father/son routine was a good way to start this week's chapter. Seeing what Ichigo has been doing with his "normal" life was interesting to see as well. Learning that most of Ichigo's friends have gotten a job outside of school explains some things. Orihime in this week's chapter was just what we would expect from her in a Bleach chapter. The new look is another minor change, same as we saw last week with Mizuiro, Keigo, and Tatsuki. The hints of Ichigo's part time job as a jack-of-all-trades was an interesting thing to see. With last week's developments having an impact on this week's chapter as well (I doubt the dream Ichigo had at the start of this chapter was unrelated to last week's encounter) we can see that Kubo is easing his way into the new arc. He got back to the basic formula Bleach had at the start, where we get some goofing off in everyday life as the new arc is set up. Ishida appearing at the end of the chapter to beat up the gang that has a grudge against Ichigo was interesting as well. To think Ishida would bother to even confront scum like them. Whatever peace Ichigo was hoping to find as a normal student, I'm not convinced he actually found any. Though still nothing stellar, the chapter certainly was fun to read. At first glance it seems like things are just as normal as it could be, but behind everything we saw in this chapter we can find a deeper truth. Perhaps there's a couple of things that are exactly what they look like, but most of the other things can be had some fun speculating with. With these everyday chapters going on, I'm just hoping to see the return of my favorite everyday prop in all of Bleach soon.... the table for joke purposes only.

At the start of this week's chapter we saw a couple of shadows which undeniably belong to Shinigami. Three different voices told Ichigo to wake up already, before Isshin crashed in that is. So here's the headspinner on that matter:

Are the Shinigami in Ichigo's dream a representation of his Shinigami powers telling him to get back or is it a subliminal message sent to him by his old comrades?

Basically what I want you to think about is whether Ichigo's desires are being manifested in the form of those three Shinigami, or whether those Shinigami are actually in need of him for some reason.

The heavy duty footstep at the end can only mean one thing! Someone will be standing there next week!
Last time we saw such a footstep it turned out to be Don Kanonji, so for all we know it is him again. This time he might be there to deliver a message to Ichigo (wouldn't that be hilarious, Soul Society having to rely on Don Kanonji to deliver a message? ).
Personally I'm hoping it's Chad. I'd love to see him beat up those punks for Ichigo. But odds are that it's that grease-head from last week. This time he'll probably go for the "hey, I'm a good guy that wants to repay you for what you did for me yesterday, beating seven teeth out of a thief's mouth, by doing the same for you"-routine so he can get into good graces with Ichigo. He'll then spend the rest of the chapter sticking to Ichigo and befriending him, causing Ichigo to have more dreams where he sees Rukia and the others.

Another possibility is that it's Ichigo's boss, running to Ichigo's school so he can stop Ichigo from quitting his job .

That’s it for this week’s review. Nothing spectacular this week, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. 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!

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

[slmcknett]

Good review again, Underscore. I really liked your theories on why Ichigo is taking jobs at school and why Orihime doesn't wear her hair pins anymore. It sounds just like them to do that. ^_^

Although, I would like to contribute 2 things:
1) I think Uryu's hair looks more like Nanao's now, but maybe that's just me...
and
2) I'm hoping for Ichigo's boss to be Kisuke. Something about that "jack-of-all-trades store" line just sounds like something Kisuke would say. After all, he does love that store of his. XD And since everybody's asking Ichigo to help them out, it would make sense that having Ichigo at his store would garner a lot of publicity with the local kids.

[Baromirek]

Great review Underscore I liked the insights about Orihime and Ichigo and etc.
Couple things about this chapter.

At first I thought the chapter was a bit rushed...almost scatterbrained. But then I realized that Kubo is trying to show as much of Ichigo's life as possible now while he can, before the true purpose of the arc becomes clear...whatever it is.

As for the shadows in Ichigo's dream, I think that they are most likely his memories haunting him or dormant powers re-awakening inside him. The latter would make the most sense because Rukia, Renji, and Byakuya (i'm pretty sure it's him) were the first shinigami he ever met (besides Urahara) and therefore would have a deeper connection to his shinigami side, and are the only ones I could think of that his subconsious would show him to try to get him to "open his eyes"...other than Zangetsu/Hollow Ichigo. Hope that makes sense :S


About Ichigo's manager, anyone else think it's Kon? I thought Urahara might be a possibility, but somehow I don't think that he would constantly remind himself of his "old" life as a shinigami by working for a shinigami. (albeit a former one) I think that Kon somehow got a Gigai and is on his own, and Ichigo worked for him a while with whatever he's doing, which explains the 180 when he said he'd quit. But I could be wrong.

Lastly, about the foot. Going off of the other threads, if you compare the pics from when Kubo did this before, the foot is almost exactly the same looking...but idk how Don Kanonji would fit in here. Chad is most likely in my opinion, but having someone from SS (including Vizored) or even one of the surviving arrancar (nel) would be cooler.

BTW how did Ishida knock one of the thugs out from a distance? It kinda looks like he punched him, but it didn't show the actual punch...

[slmcknett]

BTW how did Ishida knock one of the thugs out from a distance? It kinda looks like he punched him, but it didn't show the actual punch...

It looked like a karate chop to the face or something to me, since Uryu's hand was in a chop-stance in the next frame.

[SaintSheik]

Good chapters all around, and they came early too! Thanks as always for the review, Underscore. Just so you know, the second person in the dream isn't too clear to me either but I'm leaning towards Byakuya given who the other two obviously were. Personally, I feel that deep down Ichigo's shinigami life runs through his mind more than he cares to admit.

Maybe, like with most dreams, the 'wake up' portion of the dream was due to the fact that Isshin was probably shouting it halfway through the house. Then again, "wake up" reminds me of something an inner spirit would say, no? I agree that Ichigo's job juggling is really Ichigo trying to figure out himself. Even before being a shinigami, Ichigo has been a protector but with the threats apparently gone and his family and friends moving on, what's his purpose?

Just to throw this out there, Mizuiro seems like a pretty shady guy. It seems that all he really does is use Keigo to get information about Ichigo. Anything he says is either a question or confirmation, then he fiddles with the cell. That and his interactions with Aizen weren't all that normal but I digress.

Nice observations on Inoue. Honestly, I found her slide down too funny and her 'dilemma' too distracting to notice what you did Though, Kubo is pulling something that I didn't see coming: Making us look forward to seeing Chad again...Talk about a 180. Maybe if we see more of him, it will make Inoue's lack of hairpins much clearer. I like Ishida's semi-new look. Maybe it was due to the dream but it reminded me of Mr. Byakuya! Still, it looks like Ishida's trying to hard to impress people, especially compared to how he was earlier on in the series.

The chapter ended in a way that I can't go too crazy about. After all, if it turned out to be Kanoji like it was in the Deicide Arc, then that wouldn't be too much fun. Underscore, are you among those who believe that Ichigo may consider working at the Urahara shop for a middle ground with the whole finding yourself and embracing what you are sort of deal? Time will tell, I suppose..

If there was ever a time to consider doing Naruto reviews, this week would've been it (without giving too much away but total Robo-Luffy look especially towards the end)

EDIT: Unrelated but my computer crashed while typing this reply. Translation: Technology is literally stepping in to reduce my typing..The fate of a writer, I guess. I'm sure you've had moments like these as well

That and I know you hardly have any free time to speak of, but I would highly recommend you try picking up Yu Yu Hakusho. It's a little under 200 chapters if I recall and is considered as a shonen classic of sorts. I say this because you're bound to get even more comparisons to the series as this new arc continues to develop. Of course, I wouldn't recommend it unless it was a good read, so check it out!

[The Underscore]

Good review again, Underscore. I really liked your theories on why Ichigo is taking jobs at school and why Orihime doesn't wear her hair pins anymore. It sounds just like them to do that. ^_^

Although, I would like to contribute 2 things:
1) I think Uryu's hair looks more like Nanao's now, but maybe that's just me...
and
2) I'm hoping for Ichigo's boss to be Kisuke. Something about that "jack-of-all-trades store" line just sounds like something Kisuke would say. After all, he does love that store of his. XD And since everybody's asking Ichigo to help them out, it would make sense that having Ichigo at his store would garner a lot of publicity with the local kids.

Thanks.
I guess Ishida's hairstyle does make him look a like Nanao on some level... Guess the only reason I thought Szayelaporro was because I was looking for something in one of the Bleach chapters and I came across him.
Urahara being Ichigo's boss would be funny, but (sadly) highly unlikely. With Ichigo aiming to be the king of Denial, I'd doubt he'd go to Urahara where he'd be reminded of his Shinigami past over and over again. Still, it would make sense for Urahara to lure people with Ichigo...

Great review Underscore I liked the insights about Orihime and Ichigo and etc.
Couple things about this chapter.

At first I thought the chapter was a bit rushed...almost scatterbrained. But then I realized that Kubo is trying to show as much of Ichigo's life as possible now while he can, before the true purpose of the arc becomes clear...whatever it is.

As for the shadows in Ichigo's dream, I think that they are most likely his memories haunting him or dormant powers re-awakening inside him. The latter would make the most sense because Rukia, Renji, and Byakuya (i'm pretty sure it's him) were the first shinigami he ever met (besides Urahara) and therefore would have a deeper connection to his shinigami side, and are the only ones I could think of that his subconsious would show him to try to get him to "open his eyes"...other than Zangetsu/Hollow Ichigo. Hope that makes sense :S


About Ichigo's manager, anyone else think it's Kon? I thought Urahara might be a possibility, but somehow I don't think that he would constantly remind himself of his "old" life as a shinigami by working for a shinigami. (albeit a former one) I think that Kon somehow got a Gigai and is on his own, and Ichigo worked for him a while with whatever he's doing, which explains the 180 when he said he'd quit. But I could be wrong.

Lastly, about the foot. Going off of the other threads, if you compare the pics from when Kubo did this before, the foot is almost exactly the same looking...but idk how Don Kanonji would fit in here. Chad is most likely in my opinion, but having someone from SS (including Vizored) or even one of the surviving arrancar (nel) would be cooler.

BTW how did Ishida knock one of the thugs out from a distance? It kinda looks like he punched him, but it didn't show the actual punch...

Thanks. Glad you liked it.
It is hard at times to remember that Kubo is displaying Ichigo's "normal" life during these couple of chapters. Heck, three chapters ago Ichigo had just defeated the world's most powerful being by becoming an even more powerful being, only to become completely powerless. Then there was the 17 month time skip which is rather hard to grasp as the only obvious changes are hairstyles. But Kubo is building towards the arc's purpose little by little, so he's getting there soon enough.

What you said on the headspinner does make sense (to me). But with the policy on the headspinners being that I let your head spin, I can't say anything else .

Somehow it does make sense for Ichigo's boss to be Kon... the way he yelled at Ichigo, the quick 180... That would be fun to see. Still, same as with Urahara, I'd say Ichigo would try to keep away from Shinigami related people/beings as he's trying to deny the fact that he misses the Shinigami life. Hopefully Kon will just show up in next week's chapter. Either as the owner of that leg we saw at the end, or showing up in Ichigo's room because he's bored .

It looked like a karate chop to the face or something to me, since Uryu's hand was in a chop-stance in the next frame.

With the way Ishida's hand was in and the damage to the guy's face, I'd go with a facepalm attack . A quick thrust to the nose using the palm, that is.

Good chapters all around, and they came early too! Thanks as always for the review, Underscore. Just so you know, the second person in the dream isn't too clear to me either but I'm leaning towards Byakuya given who the other two obviously were. Personally, I feel that deep down Ichigo's shinigami life runs through his mind more than he cares to admit.

Maybe, like with most dreams, the 'wake up' portion of the dream was due to the fact that Isshin was probably shouting it halfway through the house. Then again, "wake up" reminds me of something an inner spirit would say, no? I agree that Ichigo's job juggling is really Ichigo trying to figure out himself. Even before being a shinigami, Ichigo has been a protector but with the threats apparently gone and his family and friends moving on, what's his purpose?

Just to throw this out there, Mizuiro seems like a pretty shady guy. It seems that all he really does is use Keigo to get information about Ichigo. Anything he says is either a question or confirmation, then he fiddles with the cell. That and his interactions with Aizen weren't all that normal but I digress.

Nice observations on Inoue. Honestly, I found her slide down too funny and her 'dilemma' too distracting to notice what you did Though, Kubo is pulling something that I didn't see coming: Making us look forward to seeing Chad again...Talk about a 180. Maybe if we see more of him, it will make Inoue's lack of hairpins much clearer. I like Ishida's semi-new look. Maybe it was due to the dream but it reminded me of Mr. Byakuya! Still, it looks like Ishida's trying to hard to impress people, especially compared to how he was earlier on in the series.

The chapter ended in a way that I can't go too crazy about. After all, if it turned out to be Kanoji like it was in the Deicide Arc, then that wouldn't be too much fun. Underscore, are you among those who believe that Ichigo may consider working at the Urahara shop for a middle ground with the whole finding yourself and embracing what you are sort of deal? Time will tell, I suppose..

If there was ever a time to consider doing Naruto reviews, this week would've been it (without giving too much away but total Robo-Luffy look especially towards the end)

EDIT: Unrelated but my computer crashed while typing this reply. Translation: Technology is literally stepping in to reduce my typing..The fate of a writer, I guess. I'm sure you've had moments like these as well

That and I know you hardly have any free time to speak of, but I would highly recommend you try picking up Yu Yu Hakusho. It's a little under 200 chapters if I recall and is considered as a shonen classic of sorts. I say this because you're bound to get even more comparisons to the series as this new arc continues to develop. Of course, I wouldn't recommend it unless it was a good read, so check it out!

You're welcome.
I only went with Byakuya because I saw Renji and Rukia and the way it said 'Kurosaki Ichigo', which sounds like Byakuya. But the dream in itself, followed by the chapter's events certainly make it obvious that Ichigo feels some thing's missing.

As for what you threw out about Mizuiro, I actually noticed how quickly he grabbed his cell phone once he found out that Ichigo's time with the Basketball club ended . But with Mizuiro waiting this long to strike (if he ever intended to), I'm putting my "Mizuiro is a spy" theory to the side for the time being.

Orihime's appearance was pretty random, but that's who she truly is. The first thing I looked for when she came into the story was whether she had her hairpins with her or not . I was hoping for a sign that she might have actually decided to take up a part of Ichigo's work as a substitute Shinigami in his place. But this is Orihime we're talking about.
But with Ishida reacting the way he did to being compared to Ichigo, I'd say he is sticking out more because of the responsibility he feels. Before, he could leave things to Ichigo or acting Shinigami. But now he feels he's the only one that can take over for Ichigo. But I can't say for sure.

As for Ichigo working at Urahara's shop to fill in the hole left by his former Shinigami life, I don't think so. Yes, I could be wrong -as is shown by most of my predictions-, but like I said, Ichigo is going for the title of King of Denial. We all know Ichigo is stubborn enough not to go to Urahara to ask for a job there. Then again, if Urahara were to ask him a couple of times, he'd agree .

As for reviewing Naruto, I may do a chapter one day. But I have to get a couple of things on track before I can spend my Sundays on a second review . Reading Yu Yu Hakusho, however, should be manageable as I could read at least 20 chapters in the time I write a review (unless Yu Yu Hakusho has tons of panels and developments in a single chapter, of course) .

[Astray]

My theory about Orihime's boobs has come true ^_^ I'm willing to bet that challenger that just appeared is probably Chad since we haven't seen him yet, though if I recall that footstep thing is used quite frequently with new characters that we don't really know that well with the exception being Don Kanonji so it could be Mr. Slickback.

Also, great catch on Orihime's missing hair pins; I hadn't even noticed that. And I also agree with you on Ishida's new look which I thought screamed Szayel Apporo (http://mangastream.com/read/bleach/19401614/19 vs. http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/File:Szayelaporro.png)

[LordZet]

It all makes sense now...Aizen used his bankai on Ichigo. I'm half expecting the next chapter to end with Aizen smiling and saying "when were you under the impression you earned a happy ending?".

[slmcknett]

Urahara being Ichigo's boss would be funny, but (sadly) highly unlikely. With Ichigo aiming to be the king of Denial, I'd doubt he'd go to Urahara where he'd be reminded of his Shinigami past over and over again. Still, it would make sense for Urahara to lure people with Ichigo...

This is true, however it could be why Ichigo's looking for new jobs now. Like, Kisuke begged him to work for him for the publicity (or whatever), but Ichigo doesn't like going there, so he's just rounding up money at the school just to find excuses not to go there anymore.

I mean, he did sound pretty relieved when he "quit" this chapter.

But, who knows. It could just be one of those things that Kubo's never gonna bring up again. Like Grimmjow, or Nel...

[The Underscore]

My theory about Orihime's boobs has come true ^_^ I'm willing to bet that challenger that just appeared is probably Chad since we haven't seen him yet, though if I recall that footstep thing is used quite frequently with new characters that we don't really know that well with the exception being Don Kanonji so it could be Mr. Slickback.

Also, great catch on Orihime's missing hair pins; I hadn't even noticed that. And I also agree with you on Ishida's new look which I thought screamed Szayel Apporo (http://mangastream.com/read/bleach/19401614/19 vs. http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/File:Szayelaporro.png)

I wonder how many people challenged that theory of yours . The fact that you missed the lack of hairpins might have to do with you testing that theory so thoroughly . The footstep will probably be something so completely obvious we just wrote off as too obviously silly (I had the same with Don Kanonji, it was one of the people that crossed my mind but I just couldn't believe it ).

It all makes sense now...Aizen used his bankai on Ichigo. I'm half expecting the next chapter to end with Aizen smiling and saying "when were you under the impression you earned a happy ending?".

When I first saw slickback, I thought he could be Kyouka Suigetsu, with Aizen's powers having left him and all. But then he showed his Shinigami representative badge, so that theory flew out the window. But ending this arc with the bombshell that Ichigo's been under Aizen's hypnosis for the past 17 months would be interesting to see . Maybe that's why the people in his dreams tell him to wake up?

This is true, however it could be why Ichigo's looking for new jobs now. Like, Kisuke begged him to work for him for the publicity (or whatever), but Ichigo doesn't like going there, so he's just rounding up money at the school just to find excuses not to go there anymore.

I mean, he did sound pretty relieved when he "quit" this chapter.

But, who knows. It could just be one of those things that Kubo's never gonna bring up again. Like Grimmjow, or Nel...

Keeping himself busy so he can avoid Urahara wouldn't be a conscious decision if you ask me. Keeping himself busy and making it so he can only get fired wouldn't be something Ichigo wouldn't do.

But something tells me Ichigo's new boss is a new character that takes after Ichigo's father. Ichigo's desire to talk to his father is manifested by working for someone who acts just as silly when it comes down to it. The only difference is that his father knows about Ichigo's Shinigami life, which Ichigo apparently didn't mention anything about until his father was hanging out the window.

But this being another mystery like (e.g.) Grimmjow, Nel, and Kensei wouldn't be too surprising either.

[Baromirek]

It all makes sense now...Aizen used his bankai on Ichigo. I'm half expecting the next chapter to end with Aizen smiling and saying "when were you under the impression you earned a happy ending?".

xD that made my day. That would be the best plot twist/troll Kubo's ever pulled off...but somehow I don't think that he would go so far as to show Aizen's setencing, Yamamoto, and the new villan (?), which are unrelated to the Ichigo slice of life manga we have now if it were all a form of supreme hypnosis. But that would explain why we haven't filled the plotholes (Kensei, Nel, Grimm, Komamura)...and the idea of Ichigo actually defeating his own series' villan seems pretty tempting lol. Yeah FGT was cool and pwnd Aizen (he was split down to the waist, after all) but Urahara shouldn't have interfered in my opinion. He should have found a way to counter the Hogyoku on his own or not lost his powers.