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B.L.E.A.C.H
Hello and welcome to my massive, massive Bleach thread which pretty much contains most of what I know and expect from Tite Kubo’s Bleach. In case you were wondering, B.L.E.A.C.H stands for absolutely nothing. This is a product of way too much time on my part and an attempt at putting a lot of thoughts and ideas in the air for debate and discussion.
So just to make it clear off the bat: This’ll be a bit lengthy but for the sake of not boring you all half to death, I’ll try to be brief so please excuse my poor attempt at humor at addressing things. Seeing how there’ll be a lot to cover, I plan on posting and updating consecutive posts so I hope the double-post/ TL; DR rule could be overlooked here.
Introduction
Before having you read all of this, I figured it would only be right to introduce myself and how I got into the series in question. This is a bit redundant so like the majority of the thread, it should only be read if you have as much as I did making this-which is pretty unlikely.
I go by a couple of names on forums like these (Danny Glover, Black Cero, Tite Kubo, etc.) but RICKisBOSS is what I usually use.
I was, and for the most part still, not much of a manga reader when I picked up Bleach with Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho being the only exceptions worth mentioning. It was late 2006 and I heard about Bleach through a friend who started his own site about it called Soul Society EX.
The site itself wasn’t too big but it had its fair share of information for anyone who didn’t know anything about the series. At the time, the manga was on the site and I was almost immediately turned off by Kubo’s early drawing style.
I was so familiar with judging based off of the visuals that I didn’t really give the story a chance despite the fact that I liked the theme surrounding death and swordsmanship (not to mention it was billed as DBZ with swords).
Even though I dropped the manga early on, I decided to give the anime a try and unlike most that got into it around the time Byakuya and Renji were introduced, I was pretty much hooked after watching the pilot episode but the episodes that covered Ishida introduction was where it really stuck.
Now before I go on, I have to reiterate the fact that I Soul Society EX (SSEX) was a small fan site with most of the fans still being crunk for Ichigo vs. Kenpachi and the opening and closing credits.
So once I finished the Soul Society arc, I just kept watching. For those of you who gave the anime a chance, you’ll know that the atrocity known as the “Bount Arc" takes place after Aizen’s defection from Soul Society.
Not knowing what was filler and what wasn’t, I watched the entire arc and as I did, I noticed the decline in the story overall. I mean, there was a time, like a split second to be exact, when I actually believed that Gin was the major antagonist of the story (I know right) and when watching the filler arc, I was left wondering what happened to that level of suspense within series.
**I should wrap this up because this is pretty much the filler of this thread which is fitting since we’re talking about the arc surrounding vampires and Pokemon which was filler in every sense of the word.**
Anyway, I was tired of watching episodes on YouTube or Veoh or whatever so the same friend who made SSEX told me about another Bleach site. I decided to check it out and I joined the forums around March 2007. My time there was really interesting and at times, came off as a saga itself but I really got a better idea about the series after hearing the opinions of other fans. I ended up kicking myself after seeing where the story really was.
Just imagine: Watching filler for who knows how long and then reading the manga to see Yammy pimp slapping a school girl? We need more of this in print. Anyway, Bleach, in my opinion, was hitting a dry-spell around that summer with the endless Syazel Chapters and the theories left and right about which Espada was strongest, what their release would be, and the near-universal face-palm at Grimmjow’s release at first glance.
With all of that going on, discussions went from seeing the difference in opinions to downright criticizing the story and author itself and most of the forum activity was based around making characters of the members that were worth mention.
Funny story aside, I got ban-, no, let’s say exiled from the forums around Fall 2007 which was around the time the captains underwent the rescue mission in Hueco Mundo.
From there, I really started analyzing the series. What I should’ve mentioned earlier was that in case you couldn’t tell is that I like to write and at the time, I wanted to write a series of my own with Bleach being one of its core influences. It was practically the first ongoing series that I followed and I really wanted to see how the story would play out.
As it stands, I’m not as critical on the series as I was before but at the same time, I have a couple of words (or thousand) on the series itself. If you’re still awake after all of that, then please feel free to proceed. If not, then damn, go back to One Piece or something ;D
Overview
Here’s a quick rundown on Bleach.
Based off of my tone, you’ll get an idea on how much I know about the series or not.
The story follows Kurosaki Ichigo, a teenager who acquires powers from Kuchiki Rukia, a shinigami (death god). The earlier portion of the series followed the misadventures of the two while introducing concepts surrounding death, demons, fallen souls, and Chad but the story really kicks in once Rukia is taken back to Soul Society. Ichigo and his friends, through the help of Urahara Kisuke, are able to enter Soul Society to rescue her which kicks off the “Soul Society Arc”.
Not too long after, the group enters Seireitei where members of the Gotei 13 reside. Among these members stand the seated shinigami, lieutenants, and needless to say, the Captains who are revered as the most powerful entities within Soul Society.
Ichigo and the others are separated early on and through a series of events, more insight is revealed while the (un)thinkable happens: Aizen Sosuke, a shinigami captain, is murdered leaving Ichigo and the others as the chief suspects.
The arc itself has a series of battles and developments that finally lead up to Ichigo battling Rukia’s adoptive brother, Kuchiki Byakuya, with Ichigo coming out as the victor. This ends Ichigo’s plot but unveils the core of the series: Aizen, the aforementioned captain, turned out to the mastermind behind the events that took place with his goal being the Hogyoku, which breaks the line between shinigami and hollow, creating the ultimate hybrid which was something that Ichigo showed signs of throughout the series.
Aizen’s true goal is to essentially become god and with the orb in hand, he leaves Soul Society with two other captains at his side. Ichigo and the others head back to the real world but soon after, Aizen dispatches arrancar there as well. The “Hybrid Theory” is very much in play once Arrancar and Vizards are fully-introduced to the series.
Inoue Orihime, a close friend of Ichigo’s, is captured by Aizen due to her exceptional abilities and Ichigo and the others venture to Hueco Mundo, where Aizen and the other hollow reside, to rescue her (similar to the Rukia’s rescue).
This would be considered the “Hueco Mundo Arc” where Ichigo and the others battle several powerful arrancar but reach their limit until a group of captains arrive to assist the group. It turns out that Aizen used Inoue as bait to cut his opposition in half so that he could attack the real world.
The remnants of the Gotei 13 are able to intercept him and engage in what is known as the “Winter War”.
While things looked in Soul Society’s favor, Aizen had tricks up his sleeve and his opponents seemed to be at his mercy, that is, until the Vizards, a group of former shinigami entered the battle. Their role, to date, has yet to be explained but they are ready to battle Aizen. This seems like a fair enough place to stop the overview right?
General Comments
Well to my own admission, the overview was extremely brief but at the same time, I feel I really covered the bases.
We’re looking at weekly manga that was initially shut down for being too much like Yu Yu Hakusho.
The plot is pretty much cut and dry but Bleach’s fanbase is anything but. Speaking for myself, I think the main drawing points of the series with the obvious being first Kubo’s story telling and art style and the questions that have yet to be answered.
I think the simplest way of going about with this thread would be by breaking down information by groups. The graphics are courtesy of Lucid-Art. Not a plug, just giving credit where it’s due. In case you haven’t already joined, don’t just do it today-do it now ;D (Preferably after going through this thread)
I figured the easiest way to go about with this here thread would be to break up sections in groups which are in no particular order.
The Main Characters
It was that or Team Ichigo…only because Team Heroes or ‘The Invincible Ones’ didn’t look as good.
I’m pretty much talking about the five who came to Hueco Mundo as well as the one who they were aiming to rescue.
Kurosaki Ichigo
What can be said here, he’s the main character who is a hit or miss with most readers. It’s hard not to like him unless you’re too focused on him having so many advantages but which shonen main character doesn’t? Dealing with what I expect with Ichigo, I really can’t say too much.
He’s a core character in a series that’s hard to predict and with so many aces up his sleeve, I guess we’ll just have to see how things play out. I’d like to see his powers expand. I’d like to see him overcome battles without an inner hollow. I’d like to see him defeat Aizen sometime before 2020. I can go on and on but let’s keep it moving…
Inoue Orhime
She’s easily one of the more interesting characters within the series. Fan pairings aside, she has so much potential but I think that’ll be revealed later down the line. For one, her name roughly translates to “princess” and with the aspect of her having god-like powers, I think her character could overturn the series in many ways. But like many characters in Bleach, there are a lot of questions surrounding her.
We know that she received those hairpins from her brother who turned out to be a hollow, right? Once Ichigo served as the “activator” to her abilities, I really started comparing her power development to Chad’s. It got more complex once Bleach moved towards the Hueco Mundo and the comments made by Grimmjow and Ulquiorra came off as foreshadowing to what was to come.
Ishida Uruyu
Ishida, in my opinion, is pretty much Bleach’s Sasuke (they have the same JPN voice actor if I remember) and there isn’t much to complain about there. With characters as reckless as they are, it’s refreshing to see a strategist every now and then.
The Quincies as a whole don’t interest me but I’d really like to see how Isshin and Ryuuken’s relationship came to be [pause] to see how it’ll reflect the main story. Out of the few characters that’ll die-die in Bleach, there’s a chance that Ishida may be one of them but that’s for us to see.
Sado “Chad” Yasutora
Chad. Sado. Whatever. I’m not the biggest fan of his but after seeing his powers develop in Hueco Mundo, I figured he’d pretty much have a physical upgrade much like the original Megaman would.
Seeing how he and Inoue had their powers awakened through Ichigo, he’s the external poster-child of what Inoue may or may not be going through as far as I’m concerned. I wanted him to have his moment by finally defeating Yammy but boy-oh-boy, that’s not gonna happen. Information on his ancestry and how it relates to hollows would be interesting but not in the grand scale of things in my opinion.
Kuchiki Rukia
Lol
Kuchiki Rukia (Con’t)
Okay, okay I have to say something so let me get it over with: I’m (really) not the biggest fan of Rukia but she’s pretty much the second main character of the series. Her persona is what really draws people to and from her: She’s prone to barking orders more often then she could hold her own in battle.
For as many complaints about Ichigo and Hitsugaya, Rukia has proven to have more lives than a Yoruichi and for the sake of bankai still being something to be revered; I hope that she doesn’t achieve it anytime soon. I don’t care for pairings but yeah I’m not trying to be e-assassinated so we’ll leave it at that.
Abarai Renji
I truly believe that Renji is the Yamcha of Bleach: No matter how hard he tries, he will forever be dusty. We’re at the point where the only thing that he can do to benefit the story is die to empower his allies.
The same argument could be said about Rukia but she still has room for bankai whereas Renji has everything…but not enough power to back it up. His purpose revolves around Byakuya, Rukia, and Ichigo but the interactions between Chad and especially Ishida are what make him an all-around character.
The Vizards
The Vizards as a whole aren’t easy to talk about given the little we know about them but what I will say is that as a whole, they’re one of the most diverse groups in the series. A friend of mine pointed out a rather simple observation: The Vizards are the thin line in Bleach and in a world that’s black (Shinigami) and white (Arrancar), I find it very interesting that the Vizards are the only characters of color within the series.
Working off what I’ve seen so far, I can only speculate with the vizards and where they’ll stand in the series. First off all, they were all at least Captain or Vice-Captain level shinigami before becoming vizards, so they are all capable in their own right.
You’d think that after 100 or so years as well as the hollow-power augmentation, they’re the strongest force within the series, right? Well, yes and no…Yoruichi was away from battle around the same time and was admittedly weaker than in her prime.
For all we know, the vizards didn’t have to lift a finger in the meantime aside from suppressing their inner hollow which leads to my thoughts on their power as a whole. Assuming that Aizen currently has recently arrancarnized menos on his side, fighting over half a dozen vizard would be overkill but I’m really starting to think that the hollow power diminishes the shinigami power.
Let’s say you can only handle so much energy as a shinigami. With another force within you, it would be extremely hard to maintain both sides. So I figure, the power it takes to suppress the hollow side is the power the user had as a shinigami. What I’ve noticed is that the current vizards have opted to use their masks which does not make too much sense. If English was your native tongue, why would you prefer speaking a foreign language on occasion?
Ichigo is probably the best example to give here. Even though his hollowification was unique from the methods that were shown, his shinigami side fell apart as his hollow side grew. In fact, his inner hollow introduced itself as Zangetsu which implies that Ichigo’s hollow powers are more powerful than his shinigami side. Ichigo has a grand total of one special attack which is the black Getsuga Tensho - The attack that his inner hollow created.
In the current story, Ichigo’s at a point where he has to be in bankai to even be considered a factor and even in bankai, he needs to use the mask to even be considered a threat to the Espada. After that clash with Ulquiorra, I think there will be much more to be explained with shinigami turned hollow.
Individually, there aren’t too many expectations: Obviously, Shinji has beef with his former vice captain as does Kensei (and possibly Mashiro) does with Tousen. Love and Rose seem to be like an offshoot Ukitake & Shunsui in terms of personality. Lisa’s reaction to seeing a fallen Shunsui could be interesting or in the event that we see the battle carry onto Soul Society, maybe we’ll (finally) see Nanao again.
I'm really no fan of the vizard show-off chapter with the menos. There is an eight on eight between the vizards and Aizen's forces if you include the massive hollow and seeing Shinji take off his mask only to strike Aizen seems rushed and not to mention bizarre.
All and all, with the vizards suddenly arriving at the battlefield Kubo has a lot of ‘splain to do…
The Exiled
Ryuuken& Isshin
I’m talking about these two together because they seem like such swell guys. No really: Seeing them, or not seeing enough of them for that matter, is what makes them so interesting. I remember thinking that they’d make a timely appearance during the “final” battle with Ulquiorra but it didn’t turn out as expected.
Out of all of the characters in the series, I expect another gaiden especially detailing their past and affiliation with Urahara. Ryuuken’s position is to show the potential that the Quincy have to show that his son has long way to go. Isshin, however, is much more complicated. Speaking in a theory state of mind, I believe that Isshin was probably the former 11th division captain.
This is mainly because Kubo deliberately decided not to show the 11th division captain during the Pendulum Gaiden…Even during an Emergency meeting. I’m thinking the name Kurosaki didn’t ring bells because Isshin probably went by another alias once he decided to stay in the real world.
This came to mind when Ryuuken called Isshin ‘Kurosaki’ and seeing how the two were already on a last name basis, it sounds as if Isshin was surprised that Ryuuken would call him by his (new) name more than anything else.
I definitely think there is some sort of affiliation with Isshin and the Shiba clan but that’s yet to be seen…The roles his daughters will play are definitely out of the radar for a while if ever as far as I’m concerned but I’ll be another reader who believes that Mama Kurosaki was in fact the former 12th division captain, Kirio Hikifune.
I’m basing it off of when the Grand Fisher said Ichigo was a “pure blood” and how both characters shared a similar personality. It’s not a lot sure but it’s not a far out idea either. If you want to go a bit further, during Urahara’s first day as captain, there was a seated member with an uncanny resemblance to Isshin. It goes without saying that Kubo would try to avoid such distinctive features with a stand-in character that’d resemble someone like Isshin…unless he was just throwing a bone.
Shihoin Yoruichi
The dark-skinned cat lady! What can be said? I don’t think that her transformation ability is something worth mentioning but her role in the series is pretty much to be Urahara’s ride or die. She was more than wiling to defect from Soul Society to help out homeboy so there’s no telling what kind of sacrifice she’ll be wiling to put on the table if the time comes.
Not gonna go too much on her Zanpaktou and all of that but considering that the Vizard have arrived to battle Aizen and the remaining Espada, I think that she’ll be among the few who battle in Hueco Mundo or possibly alongside other Soul Society inhabitants.
We know that she’s affiliated with Kuukaku and if the battle gets out of hand, I’m sure we’ll see some familiar faces before the story is over. Expecting a bit more with Soi Fon but hey, that was pretty much settled when they fought one another.
Urahara Shop
Being the former head of Kidou Corps., Tessai has a lot to offer. Before the gaiden, I was under the impression that he was Urahara’s Vice Captain due to his expertise in demon magic but now that his past was explained, we know that he’s a vital member in the war against Aizen. Normally I’d write him off as the most powerful kidou master but Hachi arguably holds that title now.
This is mainly speculation so I’ll move onto those two kids, Jinta and Ururu. Yeah, definitely mod souls. Urahara has a thing for inventing some pretty far out stuff. And with no indication of them in the past story and no explanation as to why they are so well-versed in combating hollow and even arrancar, I think its more than likely that they are mod souls that Urahara made on the side. Only other point of interest concerning them is Mayuri opening Syazel’s Mysterious Door of Mystery that didn’t leave us with too much to work with. Oh well…
Saving the best for last, we come to Urahara himself. There is so much to be said about the guy so I decided to go on the far end in saying that he’s the sociably acceptable Aizen. Now before you go WTF or ask if this is “for the lulz,” let me just say that a lot of his actions have been brushed aside because he’s seen as a “good” guy but have ultimately benefited Aizen.
Whether it’s intentional or not, let’s look at Urahara and the things that he has done or could have done and how it affected the majority of the events in the story:
Kuchiki “I got that Hogyoku on lock” Rukia is on duty in Karakura Town where Urahara resides…coincidently where the battleground for the winter war would take place. He could’ve easily defeated the two low-level hollow that Rukia was after but, and I’m using my conspiracy tone here, what if he sent out those hollow in the first place?
It’s not a weird phenomenon seeing how Ishida himself used hollow bait but Urahara made a timely appearance in giving Rukia that gigai which proved to be instrumental in the events that would later play out. Same could be said with allowing the commotion to raise Soul Society’s interest…Almost as if he was baiting Aizen into seeking out the Hogyoku.
Now we come to a point where Urahara voluntarily puts Ichigo in fighting form against the strongest members of the 6th division and when Ichigo miraculously survives, Urahara goes about that dangerous method to recover Ichigo’s powers. Now here is where it gets tricky: I’m sure he knew what he was doing and the risks that would follow but a chance like
that doesn’t come often so Urahara decided to chance it with Ichigo.
As it turned out, Ichigo recovered his powers out of sync allowing his newly born hollow side to stay dormant within his shinigami one…for a short while. We later find out Aizen was making moves towards the Hogyoku, an item that Urahara himself created, which was later used to make Aizen an even more powerful adversary.
Urahara greenlit Ichigo and the others going to Hueco Mundo which was pretty much a suicide mission. Soul Society's captains were sent as reinforcements which worked in Aizen's favor.
All in all, I think Urahara has his own agenda and even though I'm not necessarily saying he's evil, I'm saying he's not exactly as good as he lets on.
The Gotei Thirteen
Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni
…The strong, stern leader. Typical in most stories but different in that Bleach’s resident powerhouse is in the form of old man Yama. I’m no fan of the “by the books” approach which seems to be emulated by Byakuya, Soi Fon, and even loosely with Hitsugaya but as the commander-general of the Gotei 13, you’d expect Yama’s conservative mindedness to ensure things run smoothly.
His position is an interesting one because he leads the shinigami, whose original purposes was explained as protecting souls and eliminating hollows but with the Aizen’s situation, we know that they have to protect Kakakura Town and the King’s Realm.
That said, I started looking at Yamamoto’s role differently and realized that he was definitely expandable. Don’t get me wrong, I know he’s very powerful and dread the thought of him being cast aside just because the elders are usually the first to go but in war, the Generals have to make crucial decisions in the event that they underestimate the opposition.
Seeing how Yamamoto currently executes orders in the absence of the Office of the 46, there will be too much lost if he’s killed off and the thought of a successor only brings a handful of names to mind. As for Yama himself, I expect him to have a shot against Aizen because he’s just aching to kill.
I think he was overreacting when Shunsui and Ukitake and even recently with Shinji. I mean this is the first time you see a guy for about one-hundred years and you interrogate for a few minutes just to unsheathe his blade? Relax man, you’ll live longer…hopefully.
Ukitake Jushiro & Kyoraku Shunsui
I really appreciate how Kubo laid these two out and because of that, among other reasons, they’re two of my favorite captains and characters as a whole. Bleach is a series that rides on its hype and unanswered questions but with that in mind and knowing that these two are capable. There’s a lot more to captains than bankai and we’ve seen the two showing a good balance in and out of battle which is really appreciated.
In the recent story, we finally got a better idea about their abilities instead of relying on just their releases or what video games have based out of them. I think the Starrk / Lilynette matchup was perfect for the duo but I don’t like how it ended out. It was almost as if Starrk released just to give us an idea on their shikai and nothing else.
Wonderweiss is a saga all by himself but to see Shunsui survive a point blank-cero from Starrk was extremely impressive showing that while Ukitake may pull a Grimmjow for the time being, Shunsui may step back in battle…if Lisa gives him the chance to anyhow >_>
Zaraki Kenpachi
Kenpachi’s a pretty interesting character. He’s probably one of the most powerful captains on top of the fact that he fights without shikai or bankai. To me, the fight between Noitora and Kenpachi was a countdown to finally seeing an upgrade but fortunately, he didn’t need one. The kendo thing probably works out best in the long run because any other upgrade would be out of his character.
Speaking of his character, there’s a lot of debate surrounding where his, as well as his Vice Captain’s, power lies and at this point, it really doesn’t matter. I think there’s a reason that Kubo didn’t have Inoue heal Kenpachi before the fights continued. If Kenpachi was in fighting shape, he’d more than likely take on Ulquiorra and/or Yammy which would definitely end badly for Ken fans. We got quite a bit of fanservice in his fight with the fifth espada which should be more than enough for now.
In the event another set of opponents are introduced, I’d love to see Kenpachi fight again but as it stands…he’s good where he is now. I could care less if his Yachiru fights or if Ikkaku proves to be less than an idiot by showing his power and the same could be said about Yumichika. As it stands, the eleventh division has the most known shinigami in and out of there in the current story but at the same time, ranks are out of wack with at least one of the seated members being captain level. Meh.
Unohana Retsu
Aside from Yamamoto, Unohona is the only captain that I really want to see go all out. She’s painfully underestimated because she leads the division that specializes in medicine despite her tenure as a captain. If anything, she should be revered for her medical background and tenure and it would be so fitting if she were to fight Yammy in Hueco Mundo. Seeing how she’s the only captain in Hueco Mundo who hasn’t fought yet, it would be cool to finally see her and her vice captain’s shikai abilities with Unohona’s bankai being the ultimate bonus.
Hitsugaya Toshiro
…Last but not least, I’ll wrap up this bit with Hitsugaya. Yeah, you’d expect a rant or two on the kind of priority he gets and all of that but I have no ill-will towards the little captain. It’s been interesting seeing how position in the Soul Society and how we saw his power develop as arrancar were introduced.
Kubo has done a really good job in showing the ups and downs his developmental stages have been but the turnout during the Winter War and after hearing the comment made by Shunsui, I’m looking forward to what’s next with Hitsugaya in the long run.
The Villains
Aizen Sosuke
… Aizen is...Aizen? He's pretty much made out to be not only pure evil, but unstoppable as well. Aizen's appeal is his mysteriousness but unlike Urahara, the moves he's made to get where he is are the main reasons why I don't like the character. He's almost too perfect to be a villain and in such a flawed series, it's really underrates so many otherwise good characters.
There isn't enough to work with but if he is a shinigami who wants to be god just because then that would be way too cut and dry. If there was a much deeper motive, then Aizen could truly be an interesting character.
I can't give the guy credit mainly off of his haxx of a ability and how he could only brag about defeating weaklings and those who are already down which makes him more of a coward than a mastermind in my opinion. His linkage to Gin seems to be the only bit of color in his otherwise drab facade.
I would like to see Aizen's true face exposed which includes that the Espada were nothing more than expendable muscle. If I could give another movie comparison, I'll bring up Training Day with Aizen being Alonzo Harris, someone once on top of their game who shows his true colors as his power and influence is stripped from him.
I could go on about his history with characters like Shinji or Urahara or even a possible Aizen being the anti-Ichigo, but the thought of Aizen saying, "King Kong ain't got nothing on Me" has me laughing something fierce.
Ichimaru Gin & Kaname Tousen
As it stands, Gin is my favorite villain in Bleach. He comes off as a twisted kid that Aizen caught an interest in. Even though he’s this cold-blooded psycho, he’s at least funny with it and to me, more accessible than Aizen. Depending on how long Kubo wants to milk the series, we may or may not see why Gin the way he is.
As great as his abilities are, I'd rather see him as more than just an opportunist like Tousen. Ah, Tousen...you let me down so. It’s sad to know that when he was a fifth seat he had bankai but even with that much potential, he turned out to be ones of the biggest hypocrites in the series.
I mean, “The Path with the least bloodshed” sounds noble, sure, but Tousen comes off as more of a coward than anything else. It’s clear to me that Aizen is evil and I’m sure Tousen is only taking advantage of the situation.
Unlike Gin who probably doesn’t give a damn either way, Tousen has shown an ounce of humanity and hopefully, the two ex-captains will at least do what's good for the sake of characters like Matsumoto, Hisagi, and others instead of for themselves.
Szayel Aporro Granz
Even though I have a bit on the fallen Espada, I really think Syazel was one of the better ones mainly because he defied Bleach logic: A villain that refuses to die.
Oh okay, that can apply for every other character but still even though his character was dragged out a bit, he was every bit a fighter as the current arrancar are. That and his saving grace is that underground preservation chamber made him all the more interesting.
The Remaining Espada
Starrk was a favorite Espada by default. All of the others pretty much lost the appeal that they had once they decided to go all out with their opponents. If anything, Starrk is interesting because he’s not giving his all until he sees what his opponents can do which makes sense.
Of the few Espada that I don’t see dying, I think Starrk is one of them. As it stands, I believe that the Espada are Aizen’s muscle and once they realize this, they’ll probably do their own thing. This, of course, depends on how they fare against the Vizards if there’ll be a fight at all.
The Yammy situation is a weird one. Even though Rialgo (love that last name) is billed as the strongest Espada, we heard this through Yammy himself. Not to mention that we're talking Yammy here and going on the fact that ranks are broken in Bleach, it's safe to say Yammy is more like a sponge than anything else.
I mean just as soon as we see something big, Kubo switches the story over. Major battle(s), Espada "twist", release, and switch to Kakakura/Hueco Mundo. That's pretty much what has happened since this war started but I'm sure that once it goes back to Hueco Mundo, we'll see Yammy fall and hopefully a new threat as opposed to Ichigo and the others heading to Earth so soon.
Wonderweiss Margera
Why did Kubo turn him to Kid Buu? Anyway, WW being a beast was a given early (full name and espada level reiatsu out of the blue anyone) but was made more obvious in recent chapters. I’m going to go out on a limb in saying that he’s the only Vasto Lordes Aizen has within his current ranks.
I used to think that the top four (1-4) were Vasto Lordes but basing my opinion off of what we’ve seen with their releases and how WW’s power without even releasing, I could only imagine how strong he’d be once he releases.
That big nasty-ass hollow thing, who I’ll call Superchunky for now, is pretty much Aizen’s wartime tank in that whenever he needs to pull out of an otherwise sticky situation. I mean the thing saves Aizen whenever he’s in trouble and spews Gillian level menos, which for some reason, are still a big deal to seated members of the Gotei 13 named Soi Fon.
Anyway, Menos summoning hollow is one thing but for WW to be the guy looking over the superchunky project is something all in its own. Even though I’m referring to him as SuperChunky, I’d like to avoid the scenario of him being from hell for the time being.
Instead, I’d rather focus on how he was able to not only throw Urahara, the only character whose come the closest to injuring Aizen, off guard, impale Ukitake, and shatter Hitsugaya’s ice prison with a scream alone. Creep ass.
Other Characters
The Elites
There are a handful of non-captains that are still very interesting. I personally enjoyed the Pillar Fights even though the fraccion were designed to make their opponents look good. I really liked the turn out with Ikkaku’s fight because, well, he’s an idiot, I could care less for re-do of that match he had with Edrad.
The Pillar fights showed that you don’t really have to resort bankai: There’s still swordplay and kidou and…okay then the eventual release but still, characters like Kira, Hisagi, and even Yumichika earned points from being a interesting despite being canon-filler.
I think vice captains and seated members as a whole are underrated. If there are characters that don’t have a lot of power to back themselves up in battles, we should expect some variety in their battles.
When the dust settles, depending on who survives and who stands with Gotei Thirteen, I’d like to see some of these characters being promoted to a captain level. The bankai requirement shouldn’t be such a factor seeing how they should be taking what they have now.
Shiba Clan
Not gonna lie-This section is mainly about Kuukaku. Seriously now, I think we'll be seeing a lot more of her if the story goes back to the Soul Society.
As a member of a noble clan, there's still a bit of potential for her as well as Ganju. On top of that, I think there's a link between Ichigo and the Shibas and in the event that we get another gaiden, I think it'll make it more obvious.
The Fallen Espada
I think it’s safe to compare the top five (0-4) Espada to Bleach’s Captains whereas the bottom five (5-9) are like the lieutenants. Looking at the Espada as a whole Yammy, Starrk, Barragan, Harribel, Ulquiorra and even Wonderweiss are the only arrancar who matter in the series.
Aaroniero Arruruerie was designed for Rukia to gain points and settle an age old problem. Syazel, who was mentioned earlier, was introduced earlier on in the Hueco Mundo Arc and it felt like his character was stretched out for way too long and with as many advantages as he had, his defeat was all too soon.
LeRoux was the biggest disappointment when it comes to the Espada. I mean he had a really good ability but only proved that the sooner you move in the series, the sooner you die...if you're an arrancar not named Nel and possibly Grimmjow.
Speaking of Grimmjow, he really turned out to be the next Renji which is really disappointing. Don't get me wrong, he's an all-around arrancar but in the long scheme of things, he pretty much ended when he was defeated by Ichigo.
Nnoitra...Well, I think he was cool up until the point when he fought Kenpachi. It was almost too lame because it was so expected and for what it's worth, his rank as the fifth Espada was mainly to give an understandable gap between Grimmjow and Ulquiorra. That and to throw another decent Kenpachi match but all it really did was confirm that the ranks are all out of wack.
After seeing that whole deal with Ulquiorra holding back that second form from Aizen, I'm sure that the 0-9 we've seeing aren't in exact order. To date, Ulquiorra is the most powerful arrancar we've seen within the series. In my opinion, Starrk, Wonderweiss, and Ulquiorra are the top three espada.
Barragan and Harribel are pretty good characters but their abilities really clashed with how they executed them. I mean given their opponents and how they didn't defeat them any time sooner, you'd wonder why characters like Syazel and LeRoux didn't have higher ranks. All and all, the former Espada have served their purpose but looking at them now, it only makes those remaining look even more promising.
Kakakura Civilians
Sad to say, but I'm sure characters like Keigo and Mizuiro will be seen again. Will they develop powers of their own? Unlikely but all and all, it wouldn't matter. Characters like Tatsuki, the Kurosaki sisters, and even Kon still have room to have some sort of impact in the story.
In my opinion, its a little too late for a new league of characters and the only part of the series that would benefit from that would be the anime filler.
My Predictions
Hmmm… Predictions and expectations are two different things so I’ll go with the latter. I expect Kubo to show that Aizen’s ambition isn’t as cut and dry. I expect the age-old mentality of Soul Society to change for the better. I expect a lot of closure with what is seen as random and not thought out.
It’s sad to say but even though we’re close to 400 chapters into a series, there’s really no telling where the series will go. Honestly, I’m pretty much waiting until Naruto finishes because I figure Bleach’ll end a year or so afterwards. I’d use One Piece as a standpoint as well but Oda looks like he’s trying to outdo the bible so I’ll just go with Kishi’s story for the time being.
You could see what I expect in the series from the characters that I touched upon but all in all, I expect some sort of final clash between Ichigo and Aizen. I’m sure given Ichigo’s current level, there’ll be a lot more development on his part before the concept could even come to mind but it’s bound to happen.
For Bleach’s sake, there is one thing I dread more than a “Hell Arc” and that would be some sort of turn of event that shows that Aizen isn’t the primary antagonist of the series. It would really take away from his character and would be extremely anti-climatic. And ghey. Very, very ghey.
My Rants
You thought I was bitching and moaning before? You, ladies and gentlemen, have no idea ;D
Here are the rants…More or less, the junk of the thread and like a lot of things on the internet, I’m doing it for the lulz.
Bragging Rights
Bragging rights are the number one reason why most people post in forums. It’s the reason why people still follow a series even after bashing it senselessly for being less than perfect. In fact, this thread is one massive pile of bragging rights. To justify following Bleach so long, or any series for that matter, you want to at least sound like you know what you’re talking about.
A great example of this is a theory I had not too long ago dealing with Soi Fon being the current wielder of Yoruichi’s Zanpaktou and that Soi Fon herself didn’t master anything past shikai. This, of course, could be tossed aside seeing how we’ve seen Son Fon’s bankai, right? Never! As far as I’m concerned, Soi Fon’s bankai was more like a high-level kidou than a second release.
E-pen aside, a lot of fans like to take credit for calling the obvious. For example, I was one of the first who called Starrk’s rank. How? Well once Barragan decided to open his mouth, it gave it away. If he was really number one, he’d make it a point to say it any chance he got. That and he made it a point to speak down to Harribel (#3) and not Starrk (#1).
Oh and surrounding himself by all of those minions was a giveaway too. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t always done in such a humble way. Anytime a fan prediction is right, Kubo is written off as predictable. Anytime it is off, Kubo is criticized for not knowing how to write his own story? Funny isn’t it?
Manga Releases
There is some series ho-business going on. It’s 2009. I don’t see how a magazine can come out on Tuesday and we don’t see what happens until Friday. Don’t get me wrong: I understand scan teams like Maximum 7 or Franky-House do great work making sure their scans come out as good as the original print if not better.
But why is it that someone living in Japan can’t simply get an issue, scan it, and let those who can interpret it provide accurate translations that day.
Instead, we usually get some two or three lines of this half-assed, Babel-Fish looking explanation which is usually so/so at best.
Only thing more annoying is that knowing for every Bleach spoiler, there are at like seven for One Piece. All glossy and clean and smelling like a white woman and on top of that, whenever you expect another Bleach one, it’s a Portuguese one of the same thing we saw days ago. I mean…can’t you just update one post? Please…Please?!
One last note on manga releases…Not too long ago, Bleach has a pretty interesting chapter and in record time, not only raws were available but the chapter was translated less than a day later.
Don’t get me wrong, everyone and their mother released some scans that were horrible in quality but the fact is that, we can see chapters earlier depending on what’s going on. So if you’re in Japan or whatever, take a picture or two on the day of a release. Hell, steal an issue if you feel reckless.
Point is, we’re all out to enjoy the same thing here and most, see most, of us due purchase the actual product once its available (never said I was one of them) so from a fan-to-fan: Keep it out there for everyone to enjoy.
Fan Pairings
Ugh. Fucking ugh man. I mean to each their own but how did swords and demons become some busted ass haven for crack pairings. I mean, Ulquiorra x Inoue? Nell x Ichigo? Chad x Success? If you follow a series, you’re going to be grouped along with other fans.
So yeah…I’m not a cosplay, collecting toys, looking up ******, etc. etc. kinda Bleach-fan but the general consensus is that majority of fans like Rukia, love/hate Hitsugaya, and believe in hollows and shinigami. I’d rather not be a part of that group…Bitching on a forum or three, sure, but I can do without that other baggage.
That and there’s almost an underlying rule where primary Bleach fans can’t enjoy Naruto or One Piece as much and it’s an interesting cycle and while it’s a matter of opinion, I’ll just go out and say its not far from the truth.
I doubt “hardcore” fans could see all three as equal and closing out the fan pairing rant, Kubo intentionally ups the ante but introducing characters with bigger chests than the last…Not that I’m complaining but…>_>
The Name Game
Nell. Noitora. Halibel. M.Bison. I, like many of you, depend on translators to interpret the story. I cannot and will not be bothered to remember characters by their new-Romanized names. I mean hell, I can hardly say half of these names aloud. For example: I call Ulquiorra ‘Sting’ because he reminds me of the wrestler and I call Shunsui Jesus because he reminds me of a popular lord and savior, and I cry at the thought of saying “Hogyoku” out loud.
I’m no fan of being used to saying Stark for well over two years only to be WRONG within a week of his release…Same could be said about Halibel. I mean it was a nice name…hard to make fun of but no- Harribel? No wonder she’s mad. Er Barragan was known as “Old Guy” or John McCain for the longest time so we won’t go there…Just sayin’…
This kind of deals with why I go with that last name, first name method because I’m used to reading translations and all of that but I won’t go out of my way to correct someone if they do things the other way around.
Same deal with terms like Vaizard/Vizard to Visored but after seeing names like Halibel and Stark re-introduced way down the line, I won't bother getting used to a lot of these fan-induced names until the story is finished.
Character-Bashing / Character-Hyping
If you’ve ever said Shiro-chan then…No I can’t say that…Lemme just say that I don’t rely on the anime or data books or things like that…Seeing how this is an ongoing series, a lot can change so I base what I know off of what we’ve seen and from there, try to figure out what’s coming up next. Needless to say that that rationale fails.
It’s because of that very reason that I don’t have too many favorite characters within the series. I mea sure, you got your Ichigos and your Ukitakes and your Kuukaku’s, but all in all there is too much going on right now to zero in on a particular character. Obviously, there are some characters that are more interesting than others due to their mysteriousness but I’d rather not favor one character over another because it leads to some needless bashing.
Let’s take Hitsugaya for example. It’s easy to say that he should’ve died or that Kubo writes around killing him off but with that aside, let’s look at the truth: Kubo made the story in the first place. When and how he chooses to execute a character is up to him to benefit his own story or not. Just as easily as he could give characters like Hitsugaya or Ichigo unseen advantages, you can move onto other title even easier.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m not focusing on Hitsugaya just to take up space because you gotta see where he is in the story now and how that benefits it way more than him being killed off at an earlier time. Just let the events play out…it’s literally the least that you could do. Complaining about a character or the story itself before its finished is like saying a joke fails before you hear the ending…Neither makes much sense.
General Bitch-Ass-Ness
What else…what else…Oh when you try to avoid spoilers but someone tells you everything aside from the last line….That’s unforgivable…Or expecting the Bounts to join the Winter War…Uhm…Right! People not named Tite Kubo who act like the series belongs to them. You know who you are.
I’m looking up how to spell half of these terms on sites like Wikipedia or Bleach-Wiki and all of a sudden, I see this fan nonsense and tomfoolery. Who the hell lockdowns a page about a series that they don’t own? Knowing damn well with your mother looks like 808-Kanye…We’re all fans either way…Maintaining a website about it won’t make a difference.
The next thing that comes to mind if filler. Filler is filler for a reason: To fill up time and/or make some money. Personally, I think Bleach anime would be interesting if it was off the air until the manga was finished.
From there, they could start from the beginning with consistent animation and plot…much like Yu Yu Hakusho. The last episode I bothered watching was the last fight with Grimmjow and from there, it’s gone way down hill.
I’m sure fans wouldn’t mind re-runs instead of another oblivious appearance by the Kakakura Superheroes. You’d think with Bleach and Naruto being in such holes when it comes to anime that they’d just release some sort of Cross-Epoch jump off but no…Ulquiorra virtually being Bleach’s Nagato in terms of personality was close enough
What else, what else…Right: Senna will not be in the story. She’s as canon as Piccolo getting a driver’s license. While it’s interesting to see characters like Ashido take form knowing that Kubo himself had a hand in it, some of the filler/movie material should stay as is.
Generally speaking the movies follow the same formulaic plot that revolves around Ichigo getting beat in his home town, half of Soul Society running around, the other have being too busy to crush the antagonist with little effort, and Ichigo pulling through with his bankai and a J-Pop finish.
There’s little to no plot to be had in that aside from seeing certain characters shine when they normally wouldn’t…Until Bleach gets out of its current plot that keeps details surrounding stronger characters in the dark (sometime around never), the filler and OVAs and all of that are bound to be the same.
Hmm… On a forum tip, this rant is for novel posters like myself who take at least four seconds to think about what we’re gonna type only to see a two-three word response that has close to NOTHING to do with the topic. I mean I talk Bleach and then there’s a ramen discussion? ‘Hell kinda childhood did you have?
Closing Notes
Well that’s pretty much it. The end of the line…with the B.L.E.A.C.H thread at least. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did putting it together. I figured I might as well put this out now before I go on vacation.
I may be away for a while so hopefully in that time, a lot of what I touched on will be expanded upon for the better. Anyway have fun discussing, debating, and dissecting this. I plan on updating this when more information comes around but I can’t promise anything. That’s all. ;D
© 2009. Ho-Business / General Foolishness
