Yes he is. Lol. He's an anomaly character that can break the rules of the universe. Aka He's as strong as the story wants him to be i.e Bankia destroyed his body...he has no limit
Yama wasnt one of the 5 War potential characters..Zaraki was...along with Aizen & others..I told you I was a fan boi..you must want to get troll'd lmao, I wasnt kidding lol
Speaking of Aizen-tiachou. He's easily under ichibei for 3rd overall strongest character in the series..
Yeah no, Zaraki is not beating Yamamoto. The guy can literally punch things out of existence. Dude, even Ywach and Aizen were like nope when it came to facing Yamas bankai... The dude is OP as shit. Fists aside, his sword is literally, I touch you and you cease to exist.
Zaraki is an anomaly yes, but so is Yama.
In terms of ranking the top 5, having Ichibei above Ichigo doesn't make sense either.
Realistically speaking ichibei is the only shinigami that might have a shot against gerard... Since he can outright write of his strength. But gerard might also be the heart of the soul king so who knows if ichibei could overwrite that. And I maintain my point that lile and pernida were pretty much immortal and never properly defeated by shinigami.
Sure, but for whatever reason gerard's miracle ability did not come into play at the time. Byakuya, hitsugaya and kenpachi did far worst to gerard than nimaiya did to no effect. Most of juhabach's elite guard seemed mostly immortal... Gerard was straight up shattered iirc and he got back up. Pernida died because of super cancer and was otherwise just multiplying endlessly. Lile became many bird like things rather than die after taking the blunt of shunsui's bankai.
Sure, but for whatever reason gerard's miracle ability did not come into play at the time. Byakuya, hitsugaya and kenpachi did far worst to gerard than nimaiya did to no effect. Most of juhabach's elite guard seemed mostly immortal... Gerard was straight up shattered iirc and he got back up. Pernida died because of super cancer and was otherwise just multiplying endlessly. Lile became many bird like things rather than die after taking the blunt of shunsui's bankai.
Nimaiya killed Gerrard before his ability could activate, in the same way he killed Lille without him having a chance to open his eye. He literally blitzed them to death.
The difference is, by the time these guys were causing damage to the Elite SRs, their abilities had time to activate. Thats why Hitsugaya had to completely freeze Gerrard and stop his power from activating, something Nimaiya did too quickly.
Nimaiya killed Gerrard before his ability could activate, in the same way he killed Lille without him having a chance to open his eye. He literally blitzed them to death.
The difference is, by the time these guys were causing damage to the Elite SRs, their abilities had time to activate. Thats why Hitsugaya had to completely freeze Gerrard and stop his power from activating, something Nimaiya did too quickly.
You know what I never understood about the Hueco Mondo arc. The rankings for each Espada. Ulqiorra was clearly stronger than someone like Harribel or Barragan but his ranking is not reflective of that.
Yammy jumps from 10-0 in his released state but Cifer doesn't.
Plus, Stark was easily the most over-hyped Espada given his #1 ranking but didn't show that power.
You know what I never understood about the Hueco Mondo arc. The rankings for each Espada. Ulqiorra was clearly stronger than someone like Harribel or Barragan but his ranking is not reflective of that.
Yammy jumps from 10-0 in his released state but Cifer doesn't.
Plus, Stark was easily the most over-hyped Espada given his #1 ranking but didn't show that power.
Yeah, I agree the Espadas were a mess, my understanding was that Ulquiorra was easily the strongest given his segunda etapa. IIRC all other Arrancar released in Hueco Mundo but Ulquiorra was the only one that had to release above the dome. IMO that was him standing above every other arrancar in a literal sense.
Stark had probably one of the worst match ups he could have wished for. 2 shunko specialists, 2 shikais that counter him and a CC level opponent to boot. The only people who could have done as well are probably Yama or Shinji (before Urahara and co turned up). He was also the only Arrancar who was not after power but companionship.
Man thinking about Stark makes me sad... such a great character wasted.
Edit: Just reread the fight and realised Stark fought 4 captains and almost pushed Kyouraku into using Bankai. He never liked fighting... I love this guy.
Unfortunately kubo never elaborated on what segunda etapa is... The framing, naming and context suggested it was a new stage of resurrecion which he never showed to aizen but unfortunately kubo never touched it again. Add to that, later on normal resurreccion was referred to as equivalent to bankai which puts a further stage to resurreccion in a weird spot as it doesn't really fit anywhere regarding what we know about zampakuto (specially what we learned with nimaiya).
Yeah, I agree the Espadas were a mess, my understanding was that Ulquiorra was easily the strongest given his segunda etapa. IIRC all other Arrancar released in Hueco Mundo but Ulquiorra was the only one that had to release above the dome. IMO that was him standing above every other arrancar in a literal sense.
Stark had probably one of the worst match ups he could have wished for. 2 shunko specialists, 2 shikais that counter him and a CC level opponent to boot. The only people who could have done as well are probably Yama or Shinji (before Urahara and co turned up). He was also the only Arrancar who was not after power but companionship.
Man thinking about Stark makes me sad... such a great character wasted.
Edit: Just reread the fight and realised Stark fought 4 captains and almost pushed Kyouraku into using Bankai. He never liked fighting... I love this guy.
Yamamoto definitely would have taken all 10 espada by himself... even aizen, who was weaker, gave the gotei 13 a a run for their money before the hyoguku kicked in.
I agree with you, they are a weird bunch to scale. Shinji apparently has a weird Bankai but he really has never stood out. Rose if he keeps his mouth shut is quite dangerous but that's all we know so far.
Whats your thoughts on Ichibei vs Yama or Ichibei vs Hitsugaya (matured Bankai). I think Ichibei would lose against both but keen to hear peoples thoughts.
Ichibei takes it IMO. He's faster since he blitzed Yhwach and controls anything that's black. He was able to use Yhwachs clothes. Yama's bankai is going to be a problem but Ichbei high diff.
Unfortunately kubo never elaborated on what segunda etapa is... The framing, naming and context suggested it was a new stage of resurrecion which he never showed to aizen but unfortunately kubo never touched it again. Add to that, later on normal resurreccion was referred to as equivalent to bankai which puts a further stage to resurreccion in a weird spot as it doesn't really fit anywhere regarding what we know about zampakuto (specially what we learned with nimaiya).
It really isn't the only thing Kubo conveniently forgot to elaborate on. This series, to me, was so incredibly disappointing. It had such a compelling universe and lore to it and you can just tell how lazy and uninterested Kubo got in the latter half of the series. So much stuff should have been explained through deep exposition and flashbacks - but never were. I am hoping the anime will fill these gaping holes as it resumes (or is it!?).
I think Segunda Etapa is Ulquiorra's version of what Byakuya did with his Bankai. Basically using a lesser version of it and keeping it's true form hidden.
It really isn't the only thing Kubo conveniently forgot to elaborate on. This series, to me, was so incredibly disappointing. It had such a compelling universe and lore to it and you can just tell how lazy and uninterested Kubo got in the latter half of the series. So much stuff should have been explained through deep exposition and flashbacks - but never were. I am hoping the anime will fill these gaping holes as it resumes (or is it!?).
Yeah when Bleach started it was great, it simply devolved into transcending and transcending and followed heavily the shounen trope. I genuinely miss the days where there was the whole collective ideology vs individual ideology, family vs THE family (most of this explored in the seretei arc).
He was unfortunately rushed and probably didn't have the freedom he had wanted.
If I was a billionaire, I would ask Kubo to redo Bleach and not even put deadlines on him.
The ending was as disappointing as how How I met your mother ended. Pure regression.
I think Segunda Etapa is Ulquiorra's version of what Byakuya did with his Bankai. Basically using a lesser version of it and keeping it's true form hidden.
Senkei was more a concentration of his Bankai into a singular form. I think Segunda Etapa, given the fact that this was an arc about reaching higher planes, is similar to what Ichigo and Aizen went through, just the hollow version.
The new Bleach game revealed new Arrancar releases, which I think means all were capable of this but not many actually achieved it in the story. Its like if you look at White (hollow Ichigo), his transformation over each appearance is different. The final form I think is what we saw against Ulquiorra but he never looked like that before. He even looked different than his original Vasto lorde form from the flashbacks (I think he was a Vasto).
--- Double Post Merged, ---
My question for the bump would be - what do you think was Bleachs biggest failing? What Arc did you start to see it go downhill but stayed due to loyalty/nostalgia.
Mine would be the ending of Karakura town Arc. I feel the damage that was caused by the Quincy should have been caused a little bit by the Arrancar. There were barely any lessons learnt from the Fake Karakura town onwards.
The fullbring Arc was probably the deepest arc as it attempted to tackle trauma and paranoia etc but was never given the attention it deserved.
Senkei was more a concentration of his Bankai into a singular form. I think Segunda Etapa, given the fact that this was an arc about reaching higher planes, is similar to what Ichigo and Aizen went through, just the hollow version.
The new Bleach game revealed new Arrancar releases, which I think means all were capable of this but not many actually achieved it in the story. Its like if you look at White (hollow Ichigo), his transformation over each appearance is different. The final form I think is what we saw against Ulquiorra but he never looked like that before. He even looked different than his original Vasto lorde form from the flashbacks (I think he was a Vasto).
Senkei was stated to be Senbonzakura Kageyoshi's true form way back when during Ichigo and Byakuya's first fight. Even in the final arc, Byakuya made mention of it basically forgetting about the technique when he was talking about his Zanpakuto to As Nodt, saying he needed to step away to assess what it was really capable of or something like that.
The Bleach Mobile game was actually just What-If versions of the Espada being powered up with the Hogokyou. Ulquiorra had his own form showing it off too.
His Segunda Etapa from also looked similar to his true Vasto Lorde form. Having the similar wings and tail, which his R1 form lacked.
My question for the bump would be - what do you think was Bleachs biggest failing? What Arc did you start to see it go downhill but stayed due to loyalty/nostalgia.
Mine would be the ending of Karakura town Arc. I feel the damage that was caused by the Quincy should have been caused a little bit by the Arrancar. There were barely any lessons learnt from the Fake Karakura town onwards.
The fullbring Arc was probably the deepest arc as it attempted to tackle trauma and paranoia etc but was never given the attention it deserved.
I actually agree with you that it's failing started back around FKT. Ironically, I think it lost it's step with the conclusion of Ulquiorra's fight. The way that fight was resolved just wasn't satifisfying. From Orihime's breakdown, to Super Hichigo, to the very end. It just seemed off. It just felt like the series went off the track from there.
I think if the Fullbring Arc was allowed to run it's course as a sort of reboot arc, so to speak, things would've turned out better in the long run. Especially since we know that that arc was supposed to play heavily into the world building for the final arc.
As for the major failings? Basically too many character and no actual overarching "story". There was some sembleance of plot, but there wasn't really any end point or goal we were headed too.
Yeah when Bleach started it was great, it simply devolved into transcending and transcending and followed heavily the shounen trope. I genuinely miss the days where there was the whole collective ideology vs individual ideology, family vs THE family (most of this explored in the seretei arc).
He was unfortunately rushed and probably didn't have the freedom he had wanted.
If I was a billionaire, I would ask Kubo to redo Bleach and not even put deadlines on him.
The ending was as disappointing as how How I met your mother ended. Pure regression.
--- Double Post Merged, , Original Post Date: ---
Senkei was more a concentration of his Bankai into a singular form. I think Segunda Etapa, given the fact that this was an arc about reaching higher planes, is similar to what Ichigo and Aizen went through, just the hollow version.
The new Bleach game revealed new Arrancar releases, which I think means all were capable of this but not many actually achieved it in the story. Its like if you look at White (hollow Ichigo), his transformation over each appearance is different. The final form I think is what we saw against Ulquiorra but he never looked like that before. He even looked different than his original Vasto lorde form from the flashbacks (I think he was a Vasto).
--- Double Post Merged, ---
My question for the bump would be - what do you think was Bleachs biggest failing? What Arc did you start to see it go downhill but stayed due to loyalty/nostalgia.
Mine would be the ending of Karakura town Arc. I feel the damage that was caused by the Quincy should have been caused a little bit by the Arrancar. There were barely any lessons learnt from the Fake Karakura town onwards.
The fullbring Arc was probably the deepest arc as it attempted to tackle trauma and paranoia etc but was never given the attention it deserved.
Senkei was stated to be Senbonzakura Kageyoshi's true form way back when during Ichigo and Byakuya's first fight. Even in the final arc, Byakuya made mention of it basically forgetting about the technique when he was talking about his Zanpakuto to As Nodt, saying he needed to step away to assess what it was really capable of or something like that.
The Bleach Mobile game was actually just What-If versions of the Espada being powered up with the Hogokyou. Ulquiorra had his own form showing it off too.
His Segunda Etapa from also looked similar to his true Vasto Lorde form. Having the similar wings and tail, which his R1 form lacked.
I actually agree with you that it's failing started back around FKT. Ironically, I think it lost it's step with the conclusion of Ulquiorra's fight. The way that fight was resolved just wasn't satifisfying. From Orihime's breakdown, to Super Hichigo, to the very end. It just seemed off. It just felt like the series went off the track from there.
I think if the Fullbring Arc was allowed to run it's course as a sort of reboot arc, so to speak, things would've turned out better in the long run. Especially since we know that that arc was supposed to play heavily into the world building for the final arc.
As for the major failings? Basically too many character and no actual overarching "story". There was some sembleance of plot, but there wasn't really any end point or goal we were headed too.
Thanks for the info about the games forms, didn't realise they were what ifs.
Im not sure Kubo really knew where to take Ichigo at that point. From that point onwards, there was never a moment where you actually felt scared for Ichigo, I think some fans probably got more hyped for him to die so that an actual cooler version of him appeared. The only arc that had some form of consequence was the final arc and even then, it was handled very poorly.
Hmm, on the characters, I feel Kubo did some of them justice and some of them were just thrown by the wayside. I feel Kubo tried to tackle some heavy issues but as you said, there were too many characters and there wasn't much he could have done given he was rushed. Bleach would have been better off not a shounen tbf.
I don't even think Ichigo ever got character development, yeah he accepted all sides of his powers but its not like he ever held anything against anyone. He was such a rollercoaster of a character and I can't really pinpoint a moment where I thought this is Ichigo growing for the long run.
I didn't like the whole idea of it. Fullbringer powers were kinda cool but Ginjo as a character wasn't. Plus it feels like a transition filler arc between Aizen and TYBW.
Oh and TYBW. I'll never forgive Shounen for screwing Kubo over.
I didn't like the whole idea of it. Fullbringer powers were kinda cool but Ginjo as a character wasn't. Plus it feels like a transition filler arc between Aizen and TYBW.
Oh and TYBW. I'll never forgive Shounen for screwing Kubo over.
Thats understandable though I disagree, the fullbring powers seemed somewhat hinted at with Chad and Orihime (unless I am misremembering the concept). Whats your thoughts on the themes then? If you were to choose an arc where the theme really stuck with you, which would you pick?
On the last arc, its pretty well accepted that it had the potential to be amazing had Kubo been given the time. What actually was the problem?
IMO only Murata is at the level of Kubo in terms of character design and art. Would have been great for Bleach to have taken a slower pace and properly flesh out the characters. Even then, there were so many loose ends for characters or things introduced way back when.
