Gold Knight's Ten Comments (Bleach 244)

Gold Knight · Sep 25, 2006

Weird place... there's even text in the sky...! O:

Hello there again. Here you go, Bleach comments first again this weekend.

Incidentally, since I've been talking about M7 needing more help recently, I'm pleased to say that they do seem to be back on track again with producing HQ Edited Mangas. They're still looking for more people, though, so be sure to contact them at Max7staff@gmail.com if you're interested in helping. Binktopia's is still nice as well, but I did prefer M7's Edited Manga this week.

And finally, we've acquired another fantastic Bleach-lovin' translator in Winterlion so be sure to say hi to her here! :fan

Anyway, Bleach fans have a lot to be pleased about these days, so keep it up guys! :thumbs

* * * Gold Knight's Ten Comments on Bleach Chapter 244: Born from the Fear. * * *

That's what he gets for calling my momma ugly.

1. A Giant, Indeed. Well, we start off with a typical shonen scene: good guy beats up bad guy and then coolly walks away while his opponent falls ungracefully in the other direction, vanquished.

I'm somewhat surprised that it ended right there and then, though, as I had half-expected Chad to continue pummelling on poor Demoura in order to demonstrate the improvements of his "new arm" further. Oh well, guess Tite's saving it up for another fight. Not much else to say here. Note that his "arm" dissipated immediately as it's no longer needed. Chad's a cool customer, that's for sure.

I suppose I'll throw in some more thoughts about Chad's arm while I still can. Some have said that Chad's arm may be that of a Hollow's, much like Ichigo has a Hollow-like mask. Judging by the new tattoo-like design on his "Giant's Arm," yeah, I'd say it looks far more likely now.

So I'm wondering if Chad, as well as Ichigo, had attracted some sort of lingering Hollow energy from Hueco Mundo by not only having enormous spiritual presence but also because of their respective early sufferings in their childhood. Ichigo's sadness due to his mother's death, and Chad's loneliness due to his appearance. (I also wonder if the Quincys made all this possible by inadvertently causing the Spirit World to seep into the material world...)

That'd be ironic since they're using the "powers" of the Hollows against Hueco Mundo now...! But now mixed with more positive energies, perhaps...

And by the way, my daddy's better than yours, too!

2. Big Talk... Time to Back It Up! Did anybody get the feeling that Ishida is being a little too childish here? Yes, he's got tremendous pride in being a Quincy and he wants to bring glory back to his people. I realize that. All the same, Ishida was being a little too cheeky here. Sometimes at times, I think Ichigo's actually more reserved than Ishida!

Well, in a way Ishida is right here. Aizen should fear him more than a Shinigami - but not necessarily because they're more powerful. The Quincy ARE more dangerous to the "balance of the worlds," as their arrows tend to lead to the outright destruction of ghosts and Hollows, instead of bringing their souls over to the Soul Society. (Or to 'Hell,' which I've still wanted to learn a bit more about...) Putting everything out of balance and causing some nasty problems...

Anyway, we'll see whether Ishida will back up his words or not. Something tells me Ishida won't be the one facing Aizen at the end, though, and like usual, it'll be Ichigo again. So, in this case, I think his bark is worse than his bite. Ah, well.

So who'll foot the bill for the property damage this time?

3. Cavein' In. Just a quick comment... yeah, Ichigo, but even if it hadn't been *purposefully* designed by the Arrancar to crumble as a last resort, at least there was a way out from the cave-in there in that chamber. Much better than being caught in a narrow passageway where you had initally wanted to fight them. Quit yappin' and get outta there.

(It's moments like this which make me understand why I never did really consider including Ichigo anywhere in my top 50 favorite characters. I don't think I would have gotten along with him at all, if I knew him in real life. XD )

...except lima beans, right?

4. Follow the Fearless! I suppose Iceringer's words make perfect sense regarding their devotion to Aizen. Of course, who wouldn't want to follow somebody who not only fears nothing but also seems to be an invulnerable leader? Pretty convenient!

Of course, that will only last as long as the Arrancar feel that Aizen truly has their best interests in mind... (ie. They don't feel like he is manipulating them towards their own disaster.)

But anyway, yeah, I can definitely understand how the Hollows/Arrancar, who were all incredibly afraid spirits to begin with, could find Aizen's presence so comforting. And their confidence in Aizen hasn't been too unfounded to this point either - Aizen really hasn't shown any fear at all, yet. And Aizen himself knows that he has to remain that way, because the Arrancar, like dogs, can and will smell fear and if they ever did, they would probably turn on him in an instant. Grimmjow, for instance...

But until then, as Iceringer and Demoura demonstrated here, these aren't any ordinary Hollows that Ichigo and company will have to battle, simply because they've been encouraged and empowered by the boldness of their leader.

No wonder the Espada will be so tough.

Hey, did we remember to bring any water?

5. A Barren World. So it wasn't the gooey, gross world that Ichigo had imagined it as, but still a desolate hell all the same. No wonder most of these Hollows are so stark mad, trying to find any entertainment in the physical world while they can if they've gotta go back to *that* wasteland.

Plantlife made of quartz? Hmm, strange. If anybody has any thoughts concerning why Tite went with quartz I'd be happy to hear it. Seems to me a rather interesting feature of the land, though. Maybe there's something special about quartz in this world.

Hmm... compensating for something?

6. Aizen's Playground. Ohh. A place that looks like a nuclear power plant, exactly what we need as proof that Aizen is one of the baddest villains around. He's probably got enough stuff in there to blow up America if he felt like it, except he's just too lazy at the moment, perhaps...

Alright, I'm joking. But anyway, quite a factory in the middle of nowhere. I got the impression at first that Las Noches might have been somewhat inspired by the Guggenheim Museum in Barcelona too, but I'm not too sure of that. Either way, certainly a forbidding structure. May not seem all that impressive, but it's perfect for a place like Hueco Mundo. Who knows, this is what the world might look like someday if we're not too careful.

Maybe it IS a needle...

7. Screwy Perspectives! Not sure Tite really accomplished too much here in his art because I didn't initially get that same feeling of confusion that Chad and the others seemed to be going through while looking at Las Noches.

But, despite what Ishida and Chad said about how it was probably good that they saw it from the outside so that they wouldn't get discouraged while running around inside, I think they're in for a unpleasant surprise. The interior of Las Noches from what we've seen so far in the series looks like it's even bigger than how it looks from the outside in the above scene. The result may be that Chad and Ishida might find it even more tedious because they were so confident in the structure's proportions while going in.

I don't think Ichigo cares much, though. In this case, probably for the best.

Is this where the tea party is...?

8. Meeting in the Darkness...! When the Espada all gathered together for the first time to the readers here, I definitely got that same feeling of Déjà vu from when we once saw all the Soul Society captains standing before Gin.

There's a very similar sense of wonder that goes with this scene. I'm left being very curious about each one of these "Ten Swords", what their personalities are like, and so forth. This time, though, unlike the Gotei 13, we know these guys are all out to make trouble. But knowing Tite Kubo, I'm sure he'll still try to incorporate some unique set of characteristics in each one of them regardless.

Even though we haven't seen their tattooes yet with the exception of Grimmjow, I now believe that Ulquiorra is indeed Primero Espada.

Look at the way they're seated, especially where Grimmjow and Yama (we know him as the 10th Sword, or Décimo Espada) are on the right side. That's 6 to 10, probably. And on Ulquiorra's side, he's number 1, and the last guy in that row is probably number 5. Anyway, going by that assumption, I'll be commenting on them each here.

Primero Espada: Well, this is of course Ulquiorra - definitely the Byakuya of the group. Acts almost exactly the same. In fact, I'm hoping he'll show something a little different soon...
Segundo Espada: This one is interesting, a little like Shunsui in that he seems almost bored with the whole affair and would have rather just slept somewhere else.
Tercero Espada: We couldn't see his face, but we know he's got an "umbrella hat" of some kind. He also appeared in that scene where we saw Luppi for the first time, too. Segundo was also in that one.
Cuarto Espada: This is the one referred as HAG by some fans: "Hot Arrancar Girl," apparently because she's so well-endowed. I wonder if she's all that beautiful, though. Also first appeared in that spread, too.
Quinto Espada: Seems a little mysterious. Reminds me a bit of "Mind Flayers."
Sexta Espada: Of course, Grimmjow. Looks the most calm I've ever seen him being, actually. He must be very content, and well, no wonder. He just got his position back, after all.
Séptimo Espada: Hmm, big burly black dude, eh? Looks like a weightlifter who was sent into the jungle to learn how to hunt, and came out a silent and pissed savage.
Octavo Espada: Looks like he was a former hacker at some time. Definitely got a brain on him by the looks of him, and perhaps a charmer as well.
Noveno Espada: Heh, the dwarf. Looks tactiurn.
Décimo Espada: Of course, Yama. 'Nuff said.

All hail the leader...!!!

9. Here Come the Three Backstabbers! Well, for the first time, we see Aizen, Gin, and Tousen all together post-Rukia Rescue storyarc. Not much to say here, except I liked that at least Tite designed all of their uniforms differently.

I'm not too keen on Gin's new wardrobe though - hey, he looked cooler in a white haori and the typical Shinigami captain uniform, but oh well. But Aizen and Tousen are lookin' stylish here for sure.

Who wants some cream?

10. Time for Tea! Now I'm almost expecting Orihime to appear and bemusedly being offered tea by Aizen and the rest of these kooks, just like Alice in Wonderland.

Anyway, that was one serious moment of bad-assness. Aizen just won some more points for landing a higher spot on my list of best villains of all time. But at the same time I couldn't help but think comedic things. Such as the following scenario...

Ulquiorra: (Raises hand) I want some tea, please.
Gin: (Hands cup of tea to Ul) Here you go *gg*
Tousen: (To Grimmjow) No tea for you!
Grimmjow: :wtf

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars. Very nice chapter, but could have included more story. We got Ichigo and company going from point A to point B but nothing else, except finding out what Hueco Mundo and Las Noches looked like on the outside. The Espada were definitely the highlight of the chapter, but we didn't learn too much else about them. Still a very nice chapter though that promises more fun to come.

Predictions: We'll probably find out exactly why Aizen has called a meeting. I don't think it's about Ichigo and company thought, as they all acted like it was almost an afterthought.

Credits: Good job by M7 this week on their Edited Manga. It was a pleasure to use their images.

Hope you enjoyed, and looking forward to seeing what you think!

Finally got to the end! Comment! <3

destinator · Sep 25, 2006