sahugani's Bleach Review 274

sahugani · May 12, 2007

Sahugani’s Bleach Review 274

I'll try to get back to using DA artwork, but for now i'll use art that Kubo supplied alongside his latest color spread

Golden Week is finally over and we once again have new chapters of Bleach. Being that midterms were over and I had a lot of spare time during Golden Week, I thought I’d be more prepared this week to get my reviews done quickly, but circumstance once again reared its ugly head and both put off me starting my reviews and left me without a cover WP from DA. Oh well, its done now so lets continue. The pics this week were supplied by the scan from blood-Edited Mangas.

The Vanishing Arrow

technically, wouldn't he still have the wound

In true Bleach fashion, we were left last week with a cliffhanger as Ishida fired a seemingly unavoidable seele-schneider directly at a distracted Zaerapollo (his new spelling is too hard to get used to for now, so maybe next week). This week, the first three pages are used to show the arrow fly and pierce the heart of the Octava Espada before watching it shatter while imbedded in his chest. The mad scientist bursts out in laughter at Ishida’s presumption that the attack would work. He ironically insults the stupidity of the most intelligent and analytical member of the rescue forces due to the fact that he didn’t predict what would happen. This is clearly going to be a match of which of the two has this fight planned out better. Zaerapollo tells Ishida that he has already analyzed his Quincy powers, which just goes to show the speed with which he can use this intelligence to create a counter. Since he was able to disintegrate the arrow, he must have already set up some contraption to nullify its effects in a similar manner to Renji’s bankai block. As this train of thought is continued in the end of the chapter, I’ll return in greater depth in that section.

AAAARRRGGHHH!!!

Another more minor matter was also revealed in this first section, the true Romanized spelling of the Octava Espada’s name, Szayelaporro. Normally, the spelling of one’s name is as trifling a matter to me as celebrity relationships. I just don’t care 99% of the time. In this case though, the spelling just irks me as I’m sure it has others. Maybe I’ll get used to it in time, but for now it seems like Kubo is just trying to create as awkward a Romanized spelling as possible by adding in extra letters that don’t change pronunciation and using R’s instead of L’s for the latter half of the name (which was probably based on Apollo, the Greek god). All in all, it will take a bit of getting used to if and when I start using the official spelling.

The Vastness of Inoue’s Power

i can heal you with my mind

We once again return to Orihime and Grimmjow and witness the aftermath of Grimmjow’s rampage in her room. As this story starts back up again, we first see Loly and Menoly alone in the room as Menoly wakes up unharmed by Grimmjow’s cero and Loly is curled up against the wall. Loly reveals Orihime’s actions after the events of last week. After Grimmjow made his request, he told her to heal her own face. Instead, she ran over and undid the damage to Loly’s leg even after Loly once again hit her. After that, she displays the greatest application of her abilities yet as she returns Menoly to normal after having become half a corpse. Without a doubt, Aizen knew what he was talking about when he said that her abilities had the potential to rival the power of God. We have already seen her undo the damage to Grimmjow’s arm, in which case the original material had already long since been destroyed, but in this case, she has actually revived the recently dead (there is no chance that Menoly could have been alive in any sense after that much damage). This brings up the question of whether or not her ability to revive the dead is limited to the recently passed away such as Menoly or if she could do the same for any corpse. There seems to be no limit to the amount of damage she could repair. This makes me wonder about her other abilities and how much they have grown. At this point, her powers seem highly unbalanced as the story has concentrated on her healing abilities. Her attacking power has been foiled every time besides her first use and her defensive power was last seen as the reason she could penetrate the Vizard’s barrier, but since Aizen’s use for her is based on her healing abilities, they have received the most attention. It is safe to assume that her other abilities have received just as much of a boost, but we have not seen these applied yet. My guess is that near the end of this arc, we may finally see the result of these powers as she attempts to protect her friends. Her defensive power will be strong enough to block a released Espada and her attack may even kill one. If that is the case though, I fear it may be in a self-sacrificing moment and she may die directly afterwards.

i love this woman

While these were still spoilers, most assumed that this healing was at Grimmjow’s command as a way to avoid punishment. If that was the case, it would have seemed strange to me as Grimmjow is not the type to worry about consequences unless pointed out expressly to him by Aizen. The way Orihime chose to help them of her own will seems much more fitting in my opinion and speaks louder to me than her displaying her level of power. She is without a doubt the most selfless character in the entire series and is exemplified most in this scene. Even after the two intruders came in and started beating her around, she did not retaliate and instead decided to heal the wounds Grimmjow inflicted on them. Loly even struck her again for coming near her and Orihime continued to heal them. After the events are over, Loly calls her a monster as that kind of selflessness has never been seen in Heuco Mundo before. Orihime has been extremely hard on herself and is having a hard time as her friends have been falling left and right in their attempts to rescue her. She feels responsible for their pain and can’t stand the thought of others suffering because of her. Even in this case, she feels responsible for Loly and Menoly as Grimmjow hurt them to pay his debt to her. If this attitude of hers continues, it could lead to a self-sacrificing moment in an attempt to save all those who have been hurt because of her.

Mind of Man and Heart of Beast

oh fuck

After venturing into Orihime’s story, we once again return to the fight between Zaerapollo and Ishida/Renji. The Espada has decided to use his minions to fight instead of himself and Ishida’s arrows dissolve before they reach their targets. After that, Zaerapollo even dissolves Ishida’s bow. This brings up a few questions regarding Zaerapollo’s science. He said before that the room itself was set up to block Renji’s use of bankai. Now that the same thing seems to be happening to Ishida’s abilities, it is safe to assume that the same technique is being used. I looked back and noticed a few things that have occurred during the time Zaerapollo has been fighting that may have something to do with the speed with which the room adapts. There are three things he has removed from his person: his zanpakuto, an earpiece, and a device from his collar (not to mention Dondo Chakka). The earpiece was removed just before his fight with Renji, the device was shattered to summon the Fraccion, and the zanpakuto seemed to disappear at the same time as the device. To me it is pretty clear that removing the earpiece was what triggered the bankai block in the room at the start of the fight. There is also a clear significance to the Fraccion appearing from the walls instantaneously when the device broke as well as the mysterious disappearance of the zanpakuto. I will still need more information though before I can come up with a clear theory on this matter.

i still think a Chad/Renji combo would be cooler

Anyways, after loosing his bow, Ishida is left open to an attack from the gigantic Fraccion, but the attack is blocked by Renji as he protects his ally. Renji recognizes that Ishida’s intelligence may still be enough to pull off a victory against the Espada and puts his faith in the now weaponless Quincy. Fortunately, Ishida already seems to have a plan in mind. This is why I say that this fight is mostly about Zarapollo and Ishida’s planning abilities. While Zaerapollo mocked Ishida’s earlier presumption that the seele schneider attack would work, I think it was just Ishida testing his theory. He most likely did take notice that Zaerapollo had knowledge of his fight with Chirruci and the mad scientist nature of his opponent. He has also witnessed the summoning of the Fraccion, so he watched as Zarapollo broke the device and the zanpakuto disappeared (even if we did not see that), so he has already figured out Zaerapollo’s technique and knows how to remove it. I just hope more than anything that once he does dispel it, Renji and Hihou Zabimaru are the ones that get to kill him and not Ishida.

Overall

I somewhat liked this chapter. The part I loved was the scene with Orihime. I know a lot of people are a bit irked by the extreme overpowering of her abilities, but for me that aspect was overshadowed by the deep level of development of her character as she refused to let her attackers die. Up until now, I have felt for her as she has had to endure so much so far, but this chapter made me love her more than any female character in any series I’ve seen. Other than that, the Zaerapollo fight gave me a lot of questions to which I don’t have enough information to make an educated guess, which irked me a bit. It also seemed to stick with the Bleach theme for fights about only one or two major twists actually occurring in each chapter. Finally, the real spelling of Szayelaporro is a bit of a pain in the ass. Hopefully, Kubo saves my opinion of this fight next week with some major twist.

Luckas · May 12, 2007