Was that a little jab at Kishimoto at the end there
Springtime author, you sly dog
Was that a little jab at Kishimoto at the end there
Springtime author, you sly dog
That last page is so sad for me to laugh
Me too.
Kishi doesn't like Lee. He is all over that Sasuke bitch.
This page literally had me rolling. Sweet jesus.
http://mangastream.com/read/rock_lee/32865992/3
That smile.
How on earth did Tenten get an invitation? But then again… she's done more in this war than Lee has.
@Cyan:
We're more angry at Kishi revisiting a minor background thing like the One Tails's name a good few hundred chapters later just all out of the blue.
What? They can talk and have personality, they would have name. How is a revelation make you angry.
Ch. 3!!
! Chapter 3: Kon Vs. That Stuffed Pig Guy
! The day before the tournament
! The dim lights of the former Xcution base of operations flickered while Riruka played with her official Soul Society Shinigami Tournament hell butterfly, perched on her fingers, as she waited for that stuffed pig guy to pick up.
! Click. “Hello?”
! “Greetings, stuffed pig guy.”
! “Hey, that’s Mr. Pork to you!! Wait…”
! “I hope you know that the time it takes you to answer my calls counts towards your fifteen minutes,” she threatened. “Now get your ass over here.”
! “But, but I can’t come over, oyabun_’s orders—“_
! “If you don’t then I’m going to have to stuff you into an even cutesy wootsier little stuffy wumpkins, and then wouldn’t your oyabun find that interesting. Oh, and bring donuts.” Riruka hadn’t become quite as enamored with donuts as Ginjou was with ramen, but Orihime was determined to addict her. “We’ll have two glazed and a… what is it a girl like you eats? Creatine donuts?”
! “Tell me again why I’m supposed to like her?” Tatsuki sighed.
! “Don’t doubt my tried and true Friendification process! You’ve seen how Harribel’s been undergoing some outstanding behavioral therapy!”
! “You basically just had Ichigo convince her to eat Hollows instead of human souls,” said Tatsuki.
! And boy was Ichigo grateful he’d pulled that one off.
! “And when we invite Harribel over for some Dance Dance at the arcade everybody seems to have trouble taking their eyes off her.”
! The fat yakuza guy arrived at the dank Fullbringer HQ in record time, skidding to a halt on a stolen scooter.
! “I got three glazed, I even added sprinkles!” he breathed, rushing in with bag in hand.
! “You think ours are figures that can support eating sprinkles!?” Riruka seethed, swinging her hips to the side. “Tell him Orihime!”
! “Thank you so much for coming!” Orihime gave the yakuza a bow.
! Mr. Pork was so taken aback by Orihime’s genuine niceness he almost forgot to have an erection, but Tatsuki’s roundhouse to the gut soon assured him that his nethers had indeed sprung to attention.
! “Oh thanks, you saved me from a spot of bother,” said Riruka. “Won’t have to bear his squeals.” She flicked her heart power at the fat drooling thug, shrinking him down and infusing him into the pig plushy.
! “A marked improvement, I should think.”
! “Why do we need to bring this creep again?” asked Tatsuki, a bit nauseated by the whole affair.
! “When Ginjou discovered his badge was a monitoring device, Soul Society tried a different direction.” Riruka explained at length.
! “You’re kidding. Fluoridated water!?” Tatsuki looked aghast. All those conspiracy theories were still off the mark, but their only miscalculation was the perpetrator.
! “A single solitary sip and Seireitei’s science department’s got you in their sights for days,” said Riruka. “Why do they want this little dude?” Riruka gave poor Mr. Pork a squeeze squeeze.
! “Because he’s secretly a robot from the future.” Orihime nodded sagely.
! “…No. Because this shinigami tournament has been repurposed as a PR stunt, with a focus on entertainment value. And if I don’t go… well, let’s just say Soul Society isn’t exactly tripping over themselves to absolve criminals.”
! As if on cue, in came Rukia (in her gigai so Tatsuki could see her better), also with donuts. “I’m baaack,” she called, slinging her coat over her shoulder. Ever since Ichigo had regained the ability to see her, she’d enjoyed spending time on Earth with her friends immensely. Though she couldn’t for the life of her understand what Orihime saw in Riruka, she was willing to let the lion’s share of her animosity towards Riruka if it meant more arcades and karaoke—the finest friendship venues Japan had to offer. “Oh, are we all ready to head off so soon?”
! Rukia couldn’t help it, her expression turned sour. It was maybe not the best afterlife when good old Earth was preferable in every way.
! “It won’t be all bad,” smirked Riruka unsettlingly. “It’s the law of the jungle. We special people are in the minority, so we’re weak. And of course Soul Society is keeping an eye on us, to keep us down. But if I manage to stow away as many shinigami into dolls as possible, that’s the power balance shifted, isn’t it?”
! “That’s sick,” said Rukia—sure, the shinigami corps in general were not a shining beacon of ethical integrity, but she had plenty of shinigami friends as well.
! However, Orihime seemed okay with this plan. Rukia suspected she just wanted to see Ichigo in doll form.
! “Don’t worry, I’ll be the one keeping an eye on her_,” said Tatsuki, giving Riruka a vigorous noogie._
! “HEY!” Riruka would rather die than be disheveled for more than a few seconds (on the whole she rather overestimated her own cuteness), so Tatsuki would prove herself quite the effective counter to Riruka’s diabolical plan.
! “Arisawa-san, are you certain you’re ready to handle Soul Society?” Rukia had to ask.
! “If an airhead like Orihime can survive, I sure as hell can,” Tatsuki grinned.
! Rukia’s smile returned. “All right then. Off to Urahara’s.”
! The hell butterfly landed on Rukia’s head.
! *__
! Where had Kon been during the entire Fullbringer arc? Why, where else: chillaxing in Soul Society. He was no longer needed on Earth, and here he could amble freely through the streets, staring up as many skirts as was feasible.
! Unfortunately for Kon, there were no upskirts when one was dueling to the death. Though, it had to be said, what Kon dreaded most was not his almost certain demise, but Charlotte’s commentary.
! “And now for a face-off for the ages!” Charlotte announced. “Aizen-sama, your lordliness, if you could sound the gong?”
! Aizen did so, never for a second tearing his line of sight from Ichigo, who was shifting in his seat over in the stands. Ichigo gulped.
! START THE FIGHTING!!, screamed the gong.
! “If you think you’re gonna make me kiss the pavement, you’ve got another thing coming, pal!”
! Mr. Pork landed a solid uppercut on Kon’s gob, and it would have hurt like a motherfucker but for the fact that both our combatants were far too soft and cuddly to inflict any actual damage.
! Kon pondered his options. He could maybe sweep the pig’s legs and pin its neck so he could try twisting his adorable plushy head off. Perhaps a double chop to the abdomen followed by a dropkick, or a seismic toss suplex and a claw to each eye?
! Upon careful consideration, Kon chose his shrewdest course of action and executed his master plan as Mr. Pork loomed bigger and meaner before him.
! It was time to start digging. How long would it be before he fell through the vortex of existence back to Earth? He hoped he landed on some boobs.
! Mr. Pork lifted Kon up by the legs and shook him, like a true yakuza. To the Porkster’s surprise, a little pill rolled out of the lion’s mouth.
! “Uhh… he stopped moving. Does that mean I win?”
! Say yes say yes say yes say yes, thought the pill desperately.
! “Aizen-sama, your call!” announced Charlotte.
! “The soul remains, inside the pill,” said Aizen. “And anyone whose soul hasn’t been obliterated still has a chance at a comeback, at REVENGE, don’t they? Kurosaki Ichigo.”
! Aizen’s hair tendril swung to a point and accused Ichigo.
! “I’ve known about you since the day you STARTED TO SUCK!” Ichigo jeered, cupping his hands.
! “Sit back down!” said Rukia. “You’re disturbing everyone!”
! “HE’S disturbing everyone!” Ichigo shot back.
! “Look, you knocked this poor lady’s popcorn out of her hands, you oaf,’ said Rukia.
! “Thass not popcorn, cutey. Them’s my teefs!” gummed the old lady contentedly.
! “…Oh.” Rukia blushed.
! “You okay, grandma?” asked Hitsugaya.
! Meanwhile, Mr, Pork picked up the pill, and, unable to put a dent in it, ate it.
! What ensued was an epic clash of two intelligences over a single… intelligences? Ha.
! The pig doll danced spastically as their souls wrestled for control. (Charlotte misinterpreted this as the pig trying to commit suicide from grief, but that didn’t stop him from playing up the cutesiness of it all).
! I’ve got so much to live for! the yakuza wept. I was supposed to meet for tea with my oyabun’s daughter today! Do you know how fine that ass is!?
! Kon was overwhelmed by the yakuza’s plaintive perversion, and could not fight on against such a noble character. The pig doll spat up his pill once again.
! Mr. Pork pumped his fist to the azure sky, his first true victory in life.
! Then Giriko’s timer ticked down to the zero mark and Mr. Pork turned into a pot roast, devoid of life.
! “God is great!” Giriko exclaimed, sitting with the rest of the Fullbringers (sans Tsukishima) in the stands. “What? I was hungry.”
! ROUND 3: MR. PORK WINS, BUT THEN DIES ANYWAY!!
! Aizen pushed the modsoul pill back in Kon’s mouth, as was his duty as officiator.
! “Later, you’re going to tell me about what it’s like being in Ichigo’s body,” he whispered.
! But Kon knew he had chips in this negotiation. “Only if you tell me the whereabouts of one Tear Harribel.”
! __*
! The yakuza woke up as a bona fide soul in one of Rukongai’s dingier hovels.
! He raised his head weakly and looked around, but he was having trouble making out his surroundings due to the buzzing swarm of hell flies.
! “Fuck.”
! **__
! Editor-sensei chomped on his cigar and stared blankly at the “name” sketch of the chapter.
! “Kubo,” he said at last. “When I told you that a tournament arc would let you use every character, that doesn’t mean you HAVE to use every character. Kon versus the pig guy? Really?”
! “It’s a gag chapter,” said Kubo, fingers steepled confidently.
! Editor felt like blurting out that every chapter from he received Kubo was a fucking gag chapter, but he was better than that. No–With his next cigar, he would be better than that.
! “Okay, fine, Kubo, fine. Just keep in mind that the anime team can fully realize matches you might like to skip in canon! Save some characters for the studio to play with.”
! “So you mean the next chapter shouldn’t be Rikichi versus Umesada Toshimori?”
! “Next chapter, I want you to be a ratings whore.”
! NEXT ROUND: HITSUGAYA VERSUS BARRAGAN
“Later, you’re going to tell me about what it’s like being in Ichigo’s body,” he whispered.
lol Aizen is such a creeper. god I can't wait for the next chapter.
Still taking requests, but please no repeats of characters I'm already doing matches for (see post some pages back) until the prelims are over
I read that some people were upset the Nine-Tails got "humanized" with a name. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the One-Tail called Shuukaku?
My issue is with Authors using the same mythology to take tidbits from. I get that Japan is proud of their mythologies, even the weird stuff. But there's other myths to use a similar themed name from. Also I find it an odd choice to use a name that gets used too much or his notable in other manga. I was more disappointed in the name Goku being chosen rather than Kurama. Although I have to really question why he chose that name since what I read about it, it has nothing to do with a fox, just a powerful Tengu. Maybe he chose it just cause it's similar in their trickester ways, although Naruto's Kurama doesn't really seem to play tricks. He just destroys. No posing as a woman to lure men away or anything lol.
Perhaps the Nine-Tails was jovial in his youth. He clearly has a case of Uchiha*-induced PTSD and has good reason now to be bitter and spiteful.
*My spell-check seems to think Uchiha = Chihuahua
I was more disappointed in the name Goku being chosen rather than Kurama.
I thought his name was "hoo hee hurr ha haa"?
http://archive.foolz.us/a/thread/58940125/#58940125
goodness no….It can't be true how will Kubo keep Bleach going for 10 years?
@kubo:
Aizen is going to reappear in the next arc.
Good god, with Kubos current writing skills and his reappearance, Bleach could become a black hole of storytelling. Also lol at 10 years, two arcs. But noone should be surprised, since the "short arc" is 55 chapters long.
I am fashionably late for the party courtesy of christmas traditions, but I cannot bring myself to ignore this chapter any longer. This is a veritable treasure trove of ineptitude, a magnificent Christmas present of complete fail to a pedantic cynic such as myself. This…”climax” may be the worst thing I’ve ever seen Kubo write, not only for piling on even more stupidity at the last minute, but for failing to follow up on basically every single thing in this arc. It’s amazing how little is explained to us. I don’t think I have enough adjectives to throw at this thing, so let the dissection begin- beware, this’ll be lengthy!
! * The first thing we get is Tsukishima running around bawwing over Ginjo. Wheres the flashback Kubo? No explanation of Ginjos backstory or motivation at all, beyond some stupid as shit “Dr. Shinigami Freud” swordplay psychoanalysis? Where have I heard that before…
! * How do you expect me to feel any empathy when I have no idea what the relationship between these guys is, and when the last Ginjo said on the subject of Tsukishima was “he’s dead and I don’t care?” Ginjo was a sadistic asshat, through and through. Tsukishima was a sadistic asshat, through and through. You can’t just make me pretend that wasn’t so, and feel sad for these dipshits Kubo. At least it looks like Shishigawara will give Shuu-chan what he deserves.
! * Why is Yukio walking around, unsupervised? I know Shrimpo made a deal with him a few weeks back. That was moronic. Why are you letting him walk away like that? This little shit deserves to rot in jail.
! * Jackie waltzes around almost unscathed. Sigh. First off, how the hell did Renji miss that? Her body is obviously intact, yet he claims he couldn’t find her! Second, why is her fullbring gone? Self-destruction just does that somehow? For fucks sake. THIRDLY, and this is just really weird to me: Yukio looks at Jackie in her normal outfit, same as when she got introduced, obviously lacking any exhaust pipes or SM hat. Normal, fullbring switched-off Jackie. Yet one glance at her boots is enough to make him conclude that OMG YOUR FULLBRING IS GONE FOREVER?! Rather than, you know, it was just deactivated.
! * Jackie was the only one who hated her powers. Stop right fucking there and think about that. What was Jackies past again? Her father was in debt, and some gangsters shot him and her family. What does that have to do with her fullbring again? Ab-so-fucking-lutely nothing. Is there anything at all indicating that her fullbring ever inconvenienced her, and made her life worse? Ab-so-fucking-lutely none. Kubo, couldn’t you just attempt to give a shit?
! * “I feel like the only thing that linked us was our fullbrings”. No! Really Jackie? You really think so? That by joining an organization made specifically for fullbringers, by a fullbringer, with the intent of using Fullbring powers, you’d make acquaintances based on the common interest of not stamp collections, but fullbring? That’s some insightful dialog raight tharr. Especially considering Yukio pretty much said the exact fucking thing a few weeks ago.
! * Yukio will assemble the fullbringers again in 3 years. Simple question: Why? Seriously, why? What are you going to accomplish? Is he plotting to restart Ginjos noble work (whatever that was) mere seconds after getting released from the soul police? And why the fuck are you telling Jackie? You just said it yourself. Her fullbring is gone. The hell is she going to contribute?
! * It’s finally official: as if all the color spreads and her bullshit not-quite-turnaround in the arc weren’t hints enough, Perona joins the Ichigos friend/jobber brigade. And Chad and Ishida don’t even appear in this chapter. Whoop-de-friggin do. Why is no one angry with her? Why is Orihime crying? Surely people have told her the truth about Xcution? Even if Perona covered for ichigo, she still fought and almost killed Rukia seconds earlier! Shiiiiiit I am not looking forward to this bitch being a main character.
! * Urahara is missing. Even though it’s his goddamn shop, and even though he stated he was heading for the action some chapters ago. Can you believe we once, long ago, thought this arc would be about Isshin and Urahara?
! * This scene also contains the funniest part of the chapter for me:
! * Aaaaaand Tsukishima is not dead. Yeah, I know Perona cries, but really, the last scene starts off with Tsukishima waking up from a bad case of chesthole induced fatigue. Even for Kubo, having him wake up only to kill him 4 pages later…I don’t believe it. Not till I see it.
! * Also, I call fucking foul on Punk Kid forgiving his beloved Shuu Chan. Don’t you remember him threatening to kill you for little to no reason? Don’t you remember the whole damn speech Ikkaku made, the point of which was that Tsukishima was an asshole not worth following? You’re just going to ignore all that? Fine. Fucking fine. You have shit for brains, you two deserve each other.
! * But that doesn’t excuse Tsukishimas remark of “Now I understand. I was never alone!”
! * Ah, the glorious meme inducing sunset. I’ll just echo what everyone else here has said: leaving out the backgrounds can be an effective way of adding oomph to a moment, and making it stand out. However, having ALL your emotional moments-and most of the series-use that trick makes it real unimpressive real fast.
But that’s just all the superficial stuff. This chapter is so much worse than that…
I love you so much Daz.
Even worse, with Bleach's longevity, it'll be included on any number of "highest selling manga ever" lists which will just perpetuate its popularity further.
@The:
Good god, with Kubos current writing skills and his reappearance, Bleach could become a black hole of storytelling. Also lol at 10 years, two arcs. But noone should be surprised, since the "short arc" is 55 chapters long.
I am fashionably late for the party courtesy of christmas traditions, but I cannot bring myself to ignore this chapter any longer. This is a veritable treasure trove of ineptitude, a magnificent Christmas present of complete fail to a pedantic cynic such as myself. This…”climax” may be the worst thing I’ve ever seen Kubo write, not only for piling on even more stupidity at the last minute, but for failing to follow up on basically every single thing in this arc. It’s amazing how little is explained to us. I don’t think I have enough adjectives to throw at this thing, so let the dissection begin- beware, this’ll be lengthy!
! * The first thing we get is Tsukishima running around bawwing over Ginjo. Wheres the flashback Kubo? No explanation of Ginjos backstory or motivation at all, beyond some stupid as shit “Dr. Shinigami Freud” swordplay psychoanalysis? Where have I heard that before…
! * How do you expect me to feel any empathy when I have no idea what the relationship between these guys is, and when the last Ginjo said on the subject of Tsukishima was “he’s dead and I don’t care?” Ginjo was a sadistic asshat, through and through. Tsukishima was a sadistic asshat, through and through. You can’t just make me pretend that wasn’t so, and feel sad for these dipshits Kubo. At least it looks like Shishigawara will give Shuu-chan what he deserves.
! * Why is Yukio walking around, unsupervised? I know Shrimpo made a deal with him a few weeks back. That was moronic. Why are you letting him walk away like that? This little shit deserves to rot in jail.
! * Jackie waltzes around almost unscathed. Sigh. First off, how the hell did Renji miss that? Her body is obviously intact, yet he claims he couldn’t find her! Second, why is her fullbring gone? Self-destruction just does that somehow? For fucks sake. THIRDLY, and this is just really weird to me: Yukio looks at Jackie in her normal outfit, same as when she got introduced, obviously lacking any exhaust pipes or SM hat. Normal, fullbring switched-off Jackie. Yet one glance at her boots is enough to make him conclude that OMG YOUR FULLBRING IS GONE FOREVER?! Rather than, you know, it was just deactivated.
! * Jackie was the only one who hated her powers. Stop right fucking there and think about that. What was Jackies past again? Her father was in debt, and some gangsters shot him and her family. What does that have to do with her fullbring again? Ab-so-fucking-lutely nothing. Is there anything at all indicating that her fullbring ever inconvenienced her, and made her life worse? Ab-so-fucking-lutely none. Kubo, couldn’t you just attempt to give a shit?
! * “I feel like the only thing that linked us was our fullbrings”. No! Really Jackie? You really think so? That by joining an organization made specifically for fullbringers, by a fullbringer, with the intent of using Fullbring powers, you’d make acquaintances based on the common interest of not stamp collections, but fullbring? That’s some insightful dialog raight tharr. Especially considering Yukio pretty much said the exact fucking thing a few weeks ago.
! * Yukio will assemble the fullbringers again in 3 years. Simple question: Why? Seriously, why? What are you going to accomplish? Is he plotting to restart Ginjos noble work (whatever that was) mere seconds after getting released from the soul police? And why the fuck are you telling Jackie? You just said it yourself. Her fullbring is gone. The hell is she going to contribute?
! * It’s finally official: as if all the color spreads and her bullshit not-quite-turnaround in the arc weren’t hints enough, Perona joins the Ichigos friend/jobber brigade. And Chad and Ishida don’t even appear in this chapter. Whoop-de-friggin do. Why is no one angry with her? Why is Orihime crying? Surely people have told her the truth about Xcution? Even if Perona covered for ichigo, she still fought and almost killed Rukia seconds earlier! Shiiiiiit I am not looking forward to this bitch being a main character.
! * Urahara is missing. Even though it’s his goddamn shop, and even though he stated he was heading for the action some chapters ago. Can you believe we once, long ago, thought this arc would be about Isshin and Urahara?
! * This scene also contains the funniest part of the chapter for me:
- “we only found you. All the others were missing”
- I cannot in text convey the sheer hilarity of that one sentence to me; suffice to say I laughed. A lot. Just thinking about it makes me smile from ear to ear. Just go back one week, and where were we left off? Tsukishima and Perona are mourning Ginjos corpse. Ichigo, Rukia and the other shinigami are right next to them. Yet somehow, come this week, Tsukishima just – teleported away from the scene! In front of their very eyes, gone without a trace! Marvelous! Yukio too – one moment he’s handcuffed and in shinigami custody, the next, no one knows where he is! Shishigawara is somehow missing too, despite Ikkakus best efforts to restrain him, by letting him walk away! In addition, all the fullrbingers have found a way to make the shinigami forget that reiatsu can be traced! They’re like some kind of ninjas, fooling the SS like that!
- Again, I reiterate: WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE GOING FREE. It would take zero effort to restrain them, and they all bloody deserve it, they’re all Ginjos accomplices, all guilty of attempted murder, and both Yukio and Tsukishima have some extremely violent and psychopathic tendencies! These people are NOT blameless!
! * Aaaaaand Tsukishima is not dead. Yeah, I know Perona cries, but really, the last scene starts off with Tsukishima waking up from a bad case of chesthole induced fatigue. Even for Kubo, having him wake up only to kill him 4 pages later…I don’t believe it. Not till I see it.
! * Also, I call fucking foul on Punk Kid forgiving his beloved Shuu Chan. Don’t you remember him threatening to kill you for little to no reason? Don’t you remember the whole damn speech Ikkaku made, the point of which was that Tsukishima was an asshole not worth following? You’re just going to ignore all that? Fine. Fucking fine. You have shit for brains, you two deserve each other.
! * But that doesn’t excuse Tsukishimas remark of “Now I understand. I was never alone!”
- WHAT
- No really, WHAT
- How long have you known this Kid Tsukishima? A week? Two? Everything so far in this arc has indicated that Punk Kid was an outsider to the rest of the group, someone they just picked up for this gig and proceeded to brainwash the fuck out of. Theres no way he’s not brainwashed; first he’s fighting with Tsukishima against Ginjo and targeting Orihime, then he’s fighting alongside Orihime and Xcution against Ginjo, then He fights alongside Ginjo in the end…jesus, I can’t imagine what this arc has looked like from his POV.
- So appearantly, this kid, whom he hardly knows, means that in all Tsukishimas life he was “never alone”. And now, they’re going to be the best of soul mates. Even though their friendship is founded on deception and manipulation of Punk Kid, and screwing with his mind. I don’t know about you guys, but when I see Tsukishima getting a friendship speech from what is likely another mind slave, I don’t think “uplifting”, I think disturbing as fuck.
! * Ah, the glorious meme inducing sunset. I’ll just echo what everyone else here has said: leaving out the backgrounds can be an effective way of adding oomph to a moment, and making it stand out. However, having ALL your emotional moments-and most of the series-use that trick makes it real unimpressive real fast.
But that’s just all the superficial stuff. This chapter is so much worse than that…
I knew the latest chapter would be extraordinary material for this thread, but…
! thank you.
So basically this is the entire Fullbringer Arc in a nutshell.
@The:
Good god, with Kubos current writing skills and his reappearance, Bleach could become a black hole of storytelling. Also lol at 10 years, two arcs. But noone should be surprised, since the "short arc" is 55 chapters long.
I am fashionably late for the party courtesy of christmas traditions, but I cannot bring myself to ignore this chapter any longer. This is a veritable treasure trove of ineptitude, a magnificent Christmas present of complete fail to a pedantic cynic such as myself. This…”climax” may be the worst thing I’ve ever seen Kubo write, not only for piling on even more stupidity at the last minute, but for failing to follow up on basically every single thing in this arc. It’s amazing how little is explained to us. I don’t think I have enough adjectives to throw at this thing, so let the dissection begin- beware, this’ll be lengthy!
! * The first thing we get is Tsukishima running around bawwing over Ginjo. Wheres the flashback Kubo? No explanation of Ginjos backstory or motivation at all, beyond some stupid as shit “Dr. Shinigami Freud” swordplay psychoanalysis? Where have I heard that before…
! * How do you expect me to feel any empathy when I have no idea what the relationship between these guys is, and when the last Ginjo said on the subject of Tsukishima was “he’s dead and I don’t care?” Ginjo was a sadistic asshat, through and through. Tsukishima was a sadistic asshat, through and through. You can’t just make me pretend that wasn’t so, and feel sad for these dipshits Kubo. At least it looks like Shishigawara will give Shuu-chan what he deserves.
! * Why is Yukio walking around, unsupervised? I know Shrimpo made a deal with him a few weeks back. That was moronic. Why are you letting him walk away like that? This little shit deserves to rot in jail.
! * Jackie waltzes around almost unscathed. Sigh. First off, how the hell did Renji miss that? Her body is obviously intact, yet he claims he couldn’t find her! Second, why is her fullbring gone? Self-destruction just does that somehow? For fucks sake. THIRDLY, and this is just really weird to me: Yukio looks at Jackie in her normal outfit, same as when she got introduced, obviously lacking any exhaust pipes or SM hat. Normal, fullbring switched-off Jackie. Yet one glance at her boots is enough to make him conclude that OMG YOUR FULLBRING IS GONE FOREVER?! Rather than, you know, it was just deactivated.
! * Jackie was the only one who hated her powers. Stop right fucking there and think about that. What was Jackies past again? Her father was in debt, and some gangsters shot him and her family. What does that have to do with her fullbring again? Ab-so-fucking-lutely nothing. Is there anything at all indicating that her fullbring ever inconvenienced her, and made her life worse? Ab-so-fucking-lutely none. Kubo, couldn’t you just attempt to give a shit?
! * “I feel like the only thing that linked us was our fullbrings”. No! Really Jackie? You really think so? That by joining an organization made specifically for fullbringers, by a fullbringer, with the intent of using Fullbring powers, you’d make acquaintances based on the common interest of not stamp collections, but fullbring? That’s some insightful dialog raight tharr. Especially considering Yukio pretty much said the exact fucking thing a few weeks ago.
! * Yukio will assemble the fullbringers again in 3 years. Simple question: Why? Seriously, why? What are you going to accomplish? Is he plotting to restart Ginjos noble work (whatever that was) mere seconds after getting released from the soul police? And why the fuck are you telling Jackie? You just said it yourself. Her fullbring is gone. The hell is she going to contribute?
! * It’s finally official: as if all the color spreads and her bullshit not-quite-turnaround in the arc weren’t hints enough, Perona joins the Ichigos friend/jobber brigade. And Chad and Ishida don’t even appear in this chapter. Whoop-de-friggin do. Why is no one angry with her? Why is Orihime crying? Surely people have told her the truth about Xcution? Even if Perona covered for ichigo, she still fought and almost killed Rukia seconds earlier! Shiiiiiit I am not looking forward to this bitch being a main character.
! * Urahara is missing. Even though it’s his goddamn shop, and even though he stated he was heading for the action some chapters ago. Can you believe we once, long ago, thought this arc would be about Isshin and Urahara?
! * This scene also contains the funniest part of the chapter for me:
- “we only found you. All the others were missing”
- I cannot in text convey the sheer hilarity of that one sentence to me; suffice to say I laughed. A lot. Just thinking about it makes me smile from ear to ear. Just go back one week, and where were we left off? Tsukishima and Perona are mourning Ginjos corpse. Ichigo, Rukia and the other shinigami are right next to them. Yet somehow, come this week, Tsukishima just – teleported away from the scene! In front of their very eyes, gone without a trace! Marvelous! Yukio too – one moment he’s handcuffed and in shinigami custody, the next, no one knows where he is! Shishigawara is somehow missing too, despite Ikkakus best efforts to restrain him, by letting him walk away! In addition, all the fullrbingers have found a way to make the shinigami forget that reiatsu can be traced! They’re like some kind of ninjas, fooling the SS like that!
- Again, I reiterate: WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE GOING FREE. It would take zero effort to restrain them, and they all bloody deserve it, they’re all Ginjos accomplices, all guilty of attempted murder, and both Yukio and Tsukishima have some extremely violent and psychopathic tendencies! These people are NOT blameless!
! * Aaaaaand Tsukishima is not dead. Yeah, I know Perona cries, but really, the last scene starts off with Tsukishima waking up from a bad case of chesthole induced fatigue. Even for Kubo, having him wake up only to kill him 4 pages later…I don’t believe it. Not till I see it.
! * Also, I call fucking foul on Punk Kid forgiving his beloved Shuu Chan. Don’t you remember him threatening to kill you for little to no reason? Don’t you remember the whole damn speech Ikkaku made, the point of which was that Tsukishima was an asshole not worth following? You’re just going to ignore all that? Fine. Fucking fine. You have shit for brains, you two deserve each other.
! * But that doesn’t excuse Tsukishimas remark of “Now I understand. I was never alone!”
- WHAT
- No really, WHAT
- How long have you known this Kid Tsukishima? A week? Two? Everything so far in this arc has indicated that Punk Kid was an outsider to the rest of the group, someone they just picked up for this gig and proceeded to brainwash the fuck out of. Theres no way he’s not brainwashed; first he’s fighting with Tsukishima against Ginjo and targeting Orihime, then he’s fighting alongside Orihime and Xcution against Ginjo, then He fights alongside Ginjo in the end…jesus, I can’t imagine what this arc has looked like from his POV.
- So appearantly, this kid, whom he hardly knows, means that in all Tsukishimas life he was “never alone”. And now, they’re going to be the best of soul mates. Even though their friendship is founded on deception and manipulation of Punk Kid, and screwing with his mind. I don’t know about you guys, but when I see Tsukishima getting a friendship speech from what is likely another mind slave, I don’t think “uplifting”, I think disturbing as fuck.
! * Ah, the glorious meme inducing sunset. I’ll just echo what everyone else here has said: leaving out the backgrounds can be an effective way of adding oomph to a moment, and making it stand out. However, having ALL your emotional moments-and most of the series-use that trick makes it real unimpressive real fast.
But that’s just all the superficial stuff. This chapter is so much worse than that…
You know what ? If next chapter it's not revealed that Isshin went to check on the pair of his previously brainwashed daughters being the only reason he's not even there, I'm gonna flip. And even more so if Ichigo just doesn't fucking ask him about the big secret he promised to reveal 1.5 year ago, and that Isshin and Urahara were showing down our throats this whole arc.
But anyways, fantastic post, as always.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Even worse, with Bleach's longevity, it'll be included on any number of "highest selling manga ever" lists which will just perpetuate its popularity further.
Weeeeeeell, it has been losing volume sales in the millions in the past few years, so, not sure about that.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Inspired by Daz, I finaly did that one Blog post I was considering to make for the longest time.
http://theappliedlogic.blogspot.com/2011/12/reflections-on-chapter-475-or-why-hell.html Not as good as Daz but I hope you'll still like it.
@No:
Weeeeeeell, it has been losing volume sales in the millions in the past few years, so, not sure about that.
Bleach's numbers are bad, but it's still one of Jump's top sellers. Kochikame is on that list through sheer longevity (40 years now?), I'm sure Bleach outsells it.
Kind of a dubious accomplishment, but it's the fault of the readers anyway.
@No:
You know what ? If next chapter it's not revealed that Isshin went to check on the pair of his previously brainwashed daughters being the only reason he's not even there, I'm gonna flip. And even more so if Ichigo just doesn't fucking ask him about the big secret he promised to reveal 1.5 year ago, and that Isshin and Urahara were showing down our throats this whole arc.
But anyways, fantastic post, as always.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Weeeeeeell, it has been losing volume sales in the millions in the past few years, so, not sure about that.
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Inspired by Daz, I finaly did that one Blog post I was considering to make for the longest time.
http://theappliedlogic.blogspot.com/2011/12/reflections-on-chapter-475-or-why-hell.html Not as good as Daz but I hope you'll still like it.
Good stuff. Yeah, taking on 5 SS elites all at once when all you can do is a white GT? Not gonna happen dude. And what the hell happened to "he knows all your techniques"?
I guess I should mention that I threw out a recently edited Blog post as well; You can see it just below No Maams.
That does it. Punk Kid and NotAizen are now the Burt and Ernie of this manga.
@The:
Good stuff. Yeah, taking on 5 SS elites all at once when all you can do is a white GT? Not gonna happen dude. And what the hell happened to "he knows all your techniques"?
Well…..doesn't he ? :ninja:
@No:
Well…..doesn't he ? :ninja:
DOHOHO you Funny.
http://archive.foolz.us/a/thread/58940125/#58940125
goodness no….It can't be true how will Kubo keep Bleach going for 10 years?
Is there a reliable source on that stuff?
If so, isn't this the first confirmation that Grimmjow is dead? I remember Kubo implying it once with "Haribel survived" (in the databooks I think), but not explicitly confirming it.
With Bleach's current dwindeling popularity, I doubt Kubo could last 10 years.
@The:
Good god, with Kubos current writing skills and his reappearance, Bleach could become a black hole of storytelling. Also lol at 10 years, two arcs. But noone should be surprised, since the "short arc" is 55 chapters long.
I am fashionably late for the party courtesy of christmas traditions, but I cannot bring myself to ignore this chapter any longer. This is a veritable treasure trove of ineptitude, a magnificent Christmas present of complete fail to a pedantic cynic such as myself. This…”climax” may be the worst thing I’ve ever seen Kubo write, not only for piling on even more stupidity at the last minute, but for failing to follow up on basically every single thing in this arc. It’s amazing how little is explained to us. I don’t think I have enough adjectives to throw at this thing, so let the dissection begin- beware, this’ll be lengthy!
! * The first thing we get is Tsukishima running around bawwing over Ginjo. Wheres the flashback Kubo? No explanation of Ginjos backstory or motivation at all, beyond some stupid as shit “Dr. Shinigami Freud” swordplay psychoanalysis? Where have I heard that before…
! * How do you expect me to feel any empathy when I have no idea what the relationship between these guys is, and when the last Ginjo said on the subject of Tsukishima was “he’s dead and I don’t care?” Ginjo was a sadistic asshat, through and through. Tsukishima was a sadistic asshat, through and through. You can’t just make me pretend that wasn’t so, and feel sad for these dipshits Kubo. At least it looks like Shishigawara will give Shuu-chan what he deserves.
! * Why is Yukio walking around, unsupervised? I know Shrimpo made a deal with him a few weeks back. That was moronic. Why are you letting him walk away like that? This little shit deserves to rot in jail.
! * Jackie waltzes around almost unscathed. Sigh. First off, how the hell did Renji miss that? Her body is obviously intact, yet he claims he couldn’t find her! Second, why is her fullbring gone? Self-destruction just does that somehow? For fucks sake. THIRDLY, and this is just really weird to me: Yukio looks at Jackie in her normal outfit, same as when she got introduced, obviously lacking any exhaust pipes or SM hat. Normal, fullbring switched-off Jackie. Yet one glance at her boots is enough to make him conclude that OMG YOUR FULLBRING IS GONE FOREVER?! Rather than, you know, it was just deactivated.
! * Jackie was the only one who hated her powers. Stop right fucking there and think about that. What was Jackies past again? Her father was in debt, and some gangsters shot him and her family. What does that have to do with her fullbring again? Ab-so-fucking-lutely nothing. Is there anything at all indicating that her fullbring ever inconvenienced her, and made her life worse? Ab-so-fucking-lutely none. Kubo, couldn’t you just attempt to give a shit?
! * “I feel like the only thing that linked us was our fullbrings”. No! Really Jackie? You really think so? That by joining an organization made specifically for fullbringers, by a fullbringer, with the intent of using Fullbring powers, you’d make acquaintances based on the common interest of not stamp collections, but fullbring? That’s some insightful dialog raight tharr. Especially considering Yukio pretty much said the exact fucking thing a few weeks ago.
! * Yukio will assemble the fullbringers again in 3 years. Simple question: Why? Seriously, why? What are you going to accomplish? Is he plotting to restart Ginjos noble work (whatever that was) mere seconds after getting released from the soul police? And why the fuck are you telling Jackie? You just said it yourself. Her fullbring is gone. The hell is she going to contribute?
! * It’s finally official: as if all the color spreads and her bullshit not-quite-turnaround in the arc weren’t hints enough, Perona joins the Ichigos friend/jobber brigade. And Chad and Ishida don’t even appear in this chapter. Whoop-de-friggin do. Why is no one angry with her? Why is Orihime crying? Surely people have told her the truth about Xcution? Even if Perona covered for ichigo, she still fought and almost killed Rukia seconds earlier! Shiiiiiit I am not looking forward to this bitch being a main character.
! * Urahara is missing. Even though it’s his goddamn shop, and even though he stated he was heading for the action some chapters ago. Can you believe we once, long ago, thought this arc would be about Isshin and Urahara?
! * This scene also contains the funniest part of the chapter for me:
- “we only found you. All the others were missing”
- I cannot in text convey the sheer hilarity of that one sentence to me; suffice to say I laughed. A lot. Just thinking about it makes me smile from ear to ear. Just go back one week, and where were we left off? Tsukishima and Perona are mourning Ginjos corpse. Ichigo, Rukia and the other shinigami are right next to them. Yet somehow, come this week, Tsukishima just – teleported away from the scene! In front of their very eyes, gone without a trace! Marvelous! Yukio too – one moment he’s handcuffed and in shinigami custody, the next, no one knows where he is! Shishigawara is somehow missing too, despite Ikkakus best efforts to restrain him, by letting him walk away! In addition, all the fullrbingers have found a way to make the shinigami forget that reiatsu can be traced! They’re like some kind of ninjas, fooling the SS like that!
- Again, I reiterate: WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE GOING FREE. It would take zero effort to restrain them, and they all bloody deserve it, they’re all Ginjos accomplices, all guilty of attempted murder, and both Yukio and Tsukishima have some extremely violent and psychopathic tendencies! These people are NOT blameless!
! * Aaaaaand Tsukishima is not dead. Yeah, I know Perona cries, but really, the last scene starts off with Tsukishima waking up from a bad case of chesthole induced fatigue. Even for Kubo, having him wake up only to kill him 4 pages later…I don’t believe it. Not till I see it.
! * Also, I call fucking foul on Punk Kid forgiving his beloved Shuu Chan. Don’t you remember him threatening to kill you for little to no reason? Don’t you remember the whole damn speech Ikkaku made, the point of which was that Tsukishima was an asshole not worth following? You’re just going to ignore all that? Fine. Fucking fine. You have shit for brains, you two deserve each other.
! * But that doesn’t excuse Tsukishimas remark of “Now I understand. I was never alone!”
- WHAT
- No really, WHAT
- How long have you known this Kid Tsukishima? A week? Two? Everything so far in this arc has indicated that Punk Kid was an outsider to the rest of the group, someone they just picked up for this gig and proceeded to brainwash the fuck out of. Theres no way he’s not brainwashed; first he’s fighting with Tsukishima against Ginjo and targeting Orihime, then he’s fighting alongside Orihime and Xcution against Ginjo, then He fights alongside Ginjo in the end…jesus, I can’t imagine what this arc has looked like from his POV.
- So appearantly, this kid, whom he hardly knows, means that in all Tsukishimas life he was “never alone”. And now, they’re going to be the best of soul mates. Even though their friendship is founded on deception and manipulation of Punk Kid, and screwing with his mind. I don’t know about you guys, but when I see Tsukishima getting a friendship speech from what is likely another mind slave, I don’t think “uplifting”, I think disturbing as fuck.
! * Ah, the glorious meme inducing sunset. I’ll just echo what everyone else here has said: leaving out the backgrounds can be an effective way of adding oomph to a moment, and making it stand out. However, having ALL your emotional moments-and most of the series-use that trick makes it real unimpressive real fast.
But that’s just all the superficial stuff. This chapter is so much worse than that…
No one can break Bleach's stupidity down like you can Daz. Bravo, and I really mean it.
Daz was born to hate Bleach.
@The:
Good god, with Kubos current writing skills and his reappearance, Bleach could become a black hole of storytelling. Also lol at 10 years, two arcs. But noone should be surprised, since the "short arc" is 55 chapters long.
I am fashionably late for the party courtesy of christmas traditions, but I cannot bring myself to ignore this chapter any longer. This is a veritable treasure trove of ineptitude, a magnificent Christmas present of complete fail to a pedantic cynic such as myself. This…”climax” may be the worst thing I’ve ever seen Kubo write, not only for piling on even more stupidity at the last minute, but for failing to follow up on basically every single thing in this arc. It’s amazing how little is explained to us. I don’t think I have enough adjectives to throw at this thing, so let the dissection begin- beware, this’ll be lengthy!
! * The first thing we get is Tsukishima running around bawwing over Ginjo. Wheres the flashback Kubo? No explanation of Ginjos backstory or motivation at all, beyond some stupid as shit “Dr. Shinigami Freud” swordplay psychoanalysis? Where have I heard that before…
! * How do you expect me to feel any empathy when I have no idea what the relationship between these guys is, and when the last Ginjo said on the subject of Tsukishima was “he’s dead and I don’t care?” Ginjo was a sadistic asshat, through and through. Tsukishima was a sadistic asshat, through and through. You can’t just make me pretend that wasn’t so, and feel sad for these dipshits Kubo. At least it looks like Shishigawara will give Shuu-chan what he deserves.
! * Why is Yukio walking around, unsupervised? I know Shrimpo made a deal with him a few weeks back. That was moronic. Why are you letting him walk away like that? This little shit deserves to rot in jail.
! * Jackie waltzes around almost unscathed. Sigh. First off, how the hell did Renji miss that? Her body is obviously intact, yet he claims he couldn’t find her! Second, why is her fullbring gone? Self-destruction just does that somehow? For fucks sake. THIRDLY, and this is just really weird to me: Yukio looks at Jackie in her normal outfit, same as when she got introduced, obviously lacking any exhaust pipes or SM hat. Normal, fullbring switched-off Jackie. Yet one glance at her boots is enough to make him conclude that OMG YOUR FULLBRING IS GONE FOREVER?! Rather than, you know, it was just deactivated.
! * Jackie was the only one who hated her powers. Stop right fucking there and think about that. What was Jackies past again? Her father was in debt, and some gangsters shot him and her family. What does that have to do with her fullbring again? Ab-so-fucking-lutely nothing. Is there anything at all indicating that her fullbring ever inconvenienced her, and made her life worse? Ab-so-fucking-lutely none. Kubo, couldn’t you just attempt to give a shit?
! * “I feel like the only thing that linked us was our fullbrings”. No! Really Jackie? You really think so? That by joining an organization made specifically for fullbringers, by a fullbringer, with the intent of using Fullbring powers, you’d make acquaintances based on the common interest of not stamp collections, but fullbring? That’s some insightful dialog raight tharr. Especially considering Yukio pretty much said the exact fucking thing a few weeks ago.
! * Yukio will assemble the fullbringers again in 3 years. Simple question: Why? Seriously, why? What are you going to accomplish? Is he plotting to restart Ginjos noble work (whatever that was) mere seconds after getting released from the soul police? And why the fuck are you telling Jackie? You just said it yourself. Her fullbring is gone. The hell is she going to contribute?
! * It’s finally official: as if all the color spreads and her bullshit not-quite-turnaround in the arc weren’t hints enough, Perona joins the Ichigos friend/jobber brigade. And Chad and Ishida don’t even appear in this chapter. Whoop-de-friggin do. Why is no one angry with her? Why is Orihime crying? Surely people have told her the truth about Xcution? Even if Perona covered for ichigo, she still fought and almost killed Rukia seconds earlier! Shiiiiiit I am not looking forward to this bitch being a main character.
! * Urahara is missing. Even though it’s his goddamn shop, and even though he stated he was heading for the action some chapters ago. Can you believe we once, long ago, thought this arc would be about Isshin and Urahara?
! * This scene also contains the funniest part of the chapter for me:
- “we only found you. All the others were missing”
- I cannot in text convey the sheer hilarity of that one sentence to me; suffice to say I laughed. A lot. Just thinking about it makes me smile from ear to ear. Just go back one week, and where were we left off? Tsukishima and Perona are mourning Ginjos corpse. Ichigo, Rukia and the other shinigami are right next to them. Yet somehow, come this week, Tsukishima just – teleported away from the scene! In front of their very eyes, gone without a trace! Marvelous! Yukio too – one moment he’s handcuffed and in shinigami custody, the next, no one knows where he is! Shishigawara is somehow missing too, despite Ikkakus best efforts to restrain him, by letting him walk away! In addition, all the fullrbingers have found a way to make the shinigami forget that reiatsu can be traced! They’re like some kind of ninjas, fooling the SS like that!
- Again, I reiterate: WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE GOING FREE. It would take zero effort to restrain them, and they all bloody deserve it, they’re all Ginjos accomplices, all guilty of attempted murder, and both Yukio and Tsukishima have some extremely violent and psychopathic tendencies! These people are NOT blameless!
! * Aaaaaand Tsukishima is not dead. Yeah, I know Perona cries, but really, the last scene starts off with Tsukishima waking up from a bad case of chesthole induced fatigue. Even for Kubo, having him wake up only to kill him 4 pages later…I don’t believe it. Not till I see it.
! * Also, I call fucking foul on Punk Kid forgiving his beloved Shuu Chan. Don’t you remember him threatening to kill you for little to no reason? Don’t you remember the whole damn speech Ikkaku made, the point of which was that Tsukishima was an asshole not worth following? You’re just going to ignore all that? Fine. Fucking fine. You have shit for brains, you two deserve each other.
! * But that doesn’t excuse Tsukishimas remark of “Now I understand. I was never alone!”
- WHAT
- No really, WHAT
- How long have you known this Kid Tsukishima? A week? Two? Everything so far in this arc has indicated that Punk Kid was an outsider to the rest of the group, someone they just picked up for this gig and proceeded to brainwash the fuck out of. Theres no way he’s not brainwashed; first he’s fighting with Tsukishima against Ginjo and targeting Orihime, then he’s fighting alongside Orihime and Xcution against Ginjo, then He fights alongside Ginjo in the end…jesus, I can’t imagine what this arc has looked like from his POV.
- So appearantly, this kid, whom he hardly knows, means that in all Tsukishimas life he was “never alone”. And now, they’re going to be the best of soul mates. Even though their friendship is founded on deception and manipulation of Punk Kid, and screwing with his mind. I don’t know about you guys, but when I see Tsukishima getting a friendship speech from what is likely another mind slave, I don’t think “uplifting”, I think disturbing as fuck.
! * Ah, the glorious meme inducing sunset. I’ll just echo what everyone else here has said: leaving out the backgrounds can be an effective way of adding oomph to a moment, and making it stand out. However, having ALL your emotional moments-and most of the series-use that trick makes it real unimpressive real fast.
But that’s just all the superficial stuff. This chapter is so much worse than that…
Woah. There's so many inconsistencies here I didn't even think of and it's only between this chapter and the previous one. I thought it was an okay chapter, but no, it isn't.
Woah. There's so many inconsistencies here I didn't even think of and it's only between this chapter and the previous one. I thought it was an okay chapter, but no, it isn't.
Bleach.. where no opinion or plot thread is safe.
@The:
Yukio will assemble the fullbringers again in 3 years. Simple question: Why? Seriously, why? What are you going to accomplish? Is he plotting to restart Ginjos noble work (whatever that was) mere seconds after getting released from the soul police? And why the fuck are you telling Jackie? You just said it yourself. Her fullbring is gone. The hell is she going to contribute?
Lol. He's not bringing them together for battle purposes. He's making them into a family. That wasn't too hard to read.
Oh, so he wants to employ them in his company, I see. I read it as if he wanted to expand the company of fullbringers, and assume leadership. Yeah, I misinterpreted that, but still, if Xcution is supposed to be a family…what exactly is stopping Yukio from employing them now? He'd already filthy rich, at least enough to support several Xcution hideouts at once. And really, it totally undermines whatever the hell Xcutions goal was supposed to be if the members escape the authorities scot free, and decide that "maybe we should just get regular jobs anyway". And the one to suggest it all is Yukio, who was the one who talked about how little they knew each other, and how he wouldn't mind seeing Perona die? As far as I know he never even got lectured, so he's had a pretty big mental turnaround offscreen I guess.
@No:
Well…..doesn't he ? :ninja:
Even though it'd have made no sense, I'd at least have suspected Ginjo to put on a mask at some point. Or that it'd be a mirror-image fight, where Ichigo only won because he knew his own techniques better than Ginjo. Instead, it was never mentioned again after the Milky GT shot. Dropped like so many other things this arc
Daz was born to hate Bleach.
I'm beginning to suspect so myself, though at this point it's Love-Hate I think. It's a good thing Bleach was born to be abysmal! I'd be sorely dissapointed if stopped being awful, and just settled in mediocrity.
@The:
Good god, with Kubos current writing skills and his reappearance, Bleach could become a black hole of storytelling. Also lol at 10 years, two arcs. But noone should be surprised, since the "short arc" is 55 chapters long.
I am fashionably late for the party courtesy of christmas traditions, but I cannot bring myself to ignore this chapter any longer. This is a veritable treasure trove of ineptitude, a magnificent Christmas present of complete fail to a pedantic cynic such as myself. This…”climax” may be the worst thing I’ve ever seen Kubo write, not only for piling on even more stupidity at the last minute, but for failing to follow up on basically every single thing in this arc. It’s amazing how little is explained to us. I don’t think I have enough adjectives to throw at this thing, so let the dissection begin- beware, this’ll be lengthy!
! * The first thing we get is Tsukishima running around bawwing over Ginjo. Wheres the flashback Kubo? No explanation of Ginjos backstory or motivation at all, beyond some stupid as shit “Dr. Shinigami Freud” swordplay psychoanalysis? Where have I heard that before…
! * How do you expect me to feel any empathy when I have no idea what the relationship between these guys is, and when the last Ginjo said on the subject of Tsukishima was “he’s dead and I don’t care?” Ginjo was a sadistic asshat, through and through. Tsukishima was a sadistic asshat, through and through. You can’t just make me pretend that wasn’t so, and feel sad for these dipshits Kubo. At least it looks like Shishigawara will give Shuu-chan what he deserves.
! * Why is Yukio walking around, unsupervised? I know Shrimpo made a deal with him a few weeks back. That was moronic. Why are you letting him walk away like that? This little shit deserves to rot in jail.
! * Jackie waltzes around almost unscathed. Sigh. First off, how the hell did Renji miss that? Her body is obviously intact, yet he claims he couldn’t find her! Second, why is her fullbring gone? Self-destruction just does that somehow? For fucks sake. THIRDLY, and this is just really weird to me: Yukio looks at Jackie in her normal outfit, same as when she got introduced, obviously lacking any exhaust pipes or SM hat. Normal, fullbring switched-off Jackie. Yet one glance at her boots is enough to make him conclude that OMG YOUR FULLBRING IS GONE FOREVER?! Rather than, you know, it was just deactivated.
! * Jackie was the only one who hated her powers. Stop right fucking there and think about that. What was Jackies past again? Her father was in debt, and some gangsters shot him and her family. What does that have to do with her fullbring again? Ab-so-fucking-lutely nothing. Is there anything at all indicating that her fullbring ever inconvenienced her, and made her life worse? Ab-so-fucking-lutely none. Kubo, couldn’t you just attempt to give a shit?
! * “I feel like the only thing that linked us was our fullbrings”. No! Really Jackie? You really think so? That by joining an organization made specifically for fullbringers, by a fullbringer, with the intent of using Fullbring powers, you’d make acquaintances based on the common interest of not stamp collections, but fullbring? That’s some insightful dialog raight tharr. Especially considering Yukio pretty much said the exact fucking thing a few weeks ago.
! * Yukio will assemble the fullbringers again in 3 years. Simple question: Why? Seriously, why? What are you going to accomplish? Is he plotting to restart Ginjos noble work (whatever that was) mere seconds after getting released from the soul police? And why the fuck are you telling Jackie? You just said it yourself. Her fullbring is gone. The hell is she going to contribute?
! * It’s finally official: as if all the color spreads and her bullshit not-quite-turnaround in the arc weren’t hints enough, Perona joins the Ichigos friend/jobber brigade. And Chad and Ishida don’t even appear in this chapter. Whoop-de-friggin do. Why is no one angry with her? Why is Orihime crying? Surely people have told her the truth about Xcution? Even if Perona covered for ichigo, she still fought and almost killed Rukia seconds earlier! Shiiiiiit I am not looking forward to this bitch being a main character.
! * Urahara is missing. Even though it’s his goddamn shop, and even though he stated he was heading for the action some chapters ago. Can you believe we once, long ago, thought this arc would be about Isshin and Urahara?
! * This scene also contains the funniest part of the chapter for me:
- “we only found you. All the others were missing”
- I cannot in text convey the sheer hilarity of that one sentence to me; suffice to say I laughed. A lot. Just thinking about it makes me smile from ear to ear. Just go back one week, and where were we left off? Tsukishima and Perona are mourning Ginjos corpse. Ichigo, Rukia and the other shinigami are right next to them. Yet somehow, come this week, Tsukishima just – teleported away from the scene! In front of their very eyes, gone without a trace! Marvelous! Yukio too – one moment he’s handcuffed and in shinigami custody, the next, no one knows where he is! Shishigawara is somehow missing too, despite Ikkakus best efforts to restrain him, by letting him walk away! In addition, all the fullrbingers have found a way to make the shinigami forget that reiatsu can be traced! They’re like some kind of ninjas, fooling the SS like that!
- Again, I reiterate: WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE GOING FREE. It would take zero effort to restrain them, and they all bloody deserve it, they’re all Ginjos accomplices, all guilty of attempted murder, and both Yukio and Tsukishima have some extremely violent and psychopathic tendencies! These people are NOT blameless!
! * Aaaaaand Tsukishima is not dead. Yeah, I know Perona cries, but really, the last scene starts off with Tsukishima waking up from a bad case of chesthole induced fatigue. Even for Kubo, having him wake up only to kill him 4 pages later…I don’t believe it. Not till I see it.
! * Also, I call fucking foul on Punk Kid forgiving his beloved Shuu Chan. Don’t you remember him threatening to kill you for little to no reason? Don’t you remember the whole damn speech Ikkaku made, the point of which was that Tsukishima was an asshole not worth following? You’re just going to ignore all that? Fine. Fucking fine. You have shit for brains, you two deserve each other.
! * But that doesn’t excuse Tsukishimas remark of “Now I understand. I was never alone!”
- WHAT
- No really, WHAT
- How long have you known this Kid Tsukishima? A week? Two? Everything so far in this arc has indicated that Punk Kid was an outsider to the rest of the group, someone they just picked up for this gig and proceeded to brainwash the fuck out of. Theres no way he’s not brainwashed; first he’s fighting with Tsukishima against Ginjo and targeting Orihime, then he’s fighting alongside Orihime and Xcution against Ginjo, then He fights alongside Ginjo in the end…jesus, I can’t imagine what this arc has looked like from his POV.
- So appearantly, this kid, whom he hardly knows, means that in all Tsukishimas life he was “never alone”. And now, they’re going to be the best of soul mates. Even though their friendship is founded on deception and manipulation of Punk Kid, and screwing with his mind. I don’t know about you guys, but when I see Tsukishima getting a friendship speech from what is likely another mind slave, I don’t think “uplifting”, I think disturbing as fuck.
! * Ah, the glorious meme inducing sunset. I’ll just echo what everyone else here has said: leaving out the backgrounds can be an effective way of adding oomph to a moment, and making it stand out. However, having ALL your emotional moments-and most of the series-use that trick makes it real unimpressive real fast.
But that’s just all the superficial stuff. This chapter is so much worse than that…
Late, but this is…..brilliant, Daz.
It reminds me of the fact that the AP nominations for worst Bleach moment is coming up. Too bad we can't nominate this entire arc....or can we?
I couldn't possibly pick just ONE worst moment. and I love how the AP Awards has now cut out the 'best bleach moment' category from last year.
@The:
I'm beginning to suspect so myself, though at this point it's Love-Hate I think. It's a good thing Bleach was born to be abysmal! I'd be sorely dissapointed if stopped being awful, and just settled in mediocrity.
Watch this next arc be the best thing you've ever read and all you've dreamed of in a manga. Then you must wander around directionless.
I couldn't possibly pick just ONE worst moment.
Not this guy.
If I had to pick just one awful moment this year, it'd defintely be Orihime's and Chad's mental breakdown (before Urahara and Isshin knocked them out). You know, when their faux memories began to unravel? Because not only was it unpleasant to view art-wise, our favorite healer and hollow-based fighter were deemed worthless in the grand scheme of things in a whole new low.
In the end, AGOG was right.
Perona did join a crew.
It just happened to be Ichigo's crew.
Not this guy.
If I had to pick just one awful moment this year, it'd defintely be Orihime's and Chad's mental breakdown (before Urahara and Isshin knocked them out). You know, when their faux memories began to unravel? Because not only was it unpleasant to view art-wise, our favorite healer and hollow-based fighter were deemed worthless in the grand scheme of things in a whole new low.
Yeah, thanks for reminding me. I wanted to strangle the pair of them.
The worst moment this year was the Byakuya vs Tsukishima fight, the point when Tsukishima cut him.
There are many, MANY plotholes in this whole arc. There are many things that seem really dumb in the whole execution of Ginjous plan, the actions of pretty much any characters and some fights. But the thing is, for most of those you CAN argue that it makes sense within the universe, somehow. There is an actual kind of reasonable explanation on the whole fullbring thing on the Bleach wikia. Some previous plotholes were later "fixed". Some things are just overly complicated (Ginjous whole plan) and bad writing, but in themselves they do not really post a huge plothole or idiot ball moment in the arc. Hell, even Tsukishima changing the memories of objects does make kind of sense considering it was stated before that objects have souls in the Bleach universe.
But when Tsukishima cut Byakuya and then made him just be his teacher instead of doing THE EXACT SAME THING HE DID TO EVERYONE BEFORE, THUS HIM BASICALLY BEING HIS MINDSLAVE, is just stupid beyond belief. You can NOT reason for that, and if anyone on that asylum ever tried I would really love to see that abomination of a post. It's basically like Aizen didn't use his powers to switch places with characters but instead made them think they eat candy while they are actually eating his shit and then is like "Haha fooled you!".
The difference to Ginjou's actions, especially, is that we did not see Ginjou using simpler means to archive his plans before, and even if he did, he was mindfucked at that time, which theoretically could explain everything about his character. On the other hand, Tsukishima cut Chad and Orihime before, both who were actively defending Tsukishima afterwards AND not intervening when Ichigo was attacked. This clearly shows that he has the power to make them fight for HIM. Why he didn't do the same to Byakuya and fought him instead is just illogical bullshit.
Mostly I just facepalm at Bleach or laugh about it, but that was just rage-inducing. It is basically the reason he lost the fight and just stupid beyond belief.
^I almost forgot about the Byakuya vs Tsukishima and the amounts of rage it gave me…..out of the Fullbring fights, that was easily the worst. Well, in my opinion.
I also like how at the end of the fight it's said "Byakuya discovered the joy of combat!!"
Wonderful, that's what we really needed
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The worst moment of the Fullbringer arc, eh? That's gotta be the disappointment of Ginjou not having a ramen-centric fullbring power.
Oh man…so hard to pick. I think one of the most pointless parts was when they left the town and wound up in the virtual version of the town...Although that whole situation was messed up. They were in the middle of the town on a roof, then a forest...then virtual town.
Hmm...Sunrise is pretty close too.
Oh and staging problems, disappearing characters and the like.
The Captains apparently getting different orders. "Hahah I kill you nub." to "We won't kill humans."
For me, one of the worst moments was Ichigo finding Tsukishima inside his house, proceeding to jump out the window and run around town. That was pretty bad.
The worst moment of the Fullbringer arc, eh? That's gotta be the disappointment of Ginjou not having a ramen-centric fullbring power.
Ginjou's ramen obsession was weird. I bet he'd be BFFs with Wanze if they were in the same manga.
Watch this next arc be the best thing you've ever read and all you've dreamed of in a manga. Then you must wander around directionless.
Well, our beloved Butterflaizen is stated to make a combat, add that to Fullbring Arc levels of writing, and who knows, negative and negative might make a positive.
Awards eh? Neat to see that they're official this time, and not conifined to the thread alone. I too find it tempting to just nominate this entire damn arc because borderline everything doesn't work, but if I had to single out something specific…
Though I am tempted to go with the incredibly lazy justification of Xcutions plothole-generating brainwash scheme (It'll make things more interesting! Really, I thought this twist up from the beginning, I swear!), I think I'll go with the zenith of the arc:
After months of Ichigo running around like a headless, bloodlusted chicken, and suffering a mental breakdown courtesy of having everyone he knows become mindless zombies...
He becomes a shinigami again. Just like that. No hard work required, no lessons learned, he doesn't ask for it, he doesn't notice it, and he sure as hell doesn't deserve it. Seconds after crying his eyes out on that rooftop he's smug as all hell, like he's king of the afterlife, and we're kindly asked to not wuestion why the shinigami are showing up now of all times, and decided not to spare Ichigo this whole terrible ordeal.
It's a good thing Bleach doesn't have a theme, because that scene might have killed it. Instead, it settled for tying a concrete block to Competent Storytelling and throwing it into the harbor.
Ginjou's ramen obsession was weird. I bet he'd be BFFs with Wanze if they were in the same manga.
It's more my obsession than his lol
Ginjo liked ramen? I totally forgot about that. What happened to Ichigo's boss too? I thought they were going somewhere with adding her…
Ginjou x Naruto is my new OTP.
Nah, remember that scene where Ginjou trollishly offered to give Ichigo some ramen after he promised to supply Ichigo some info about his dad,? I just love blowing that out of proportion into a supposed mania for ramen lol
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Ginjou x Naruto is my new OTP.
It'll be like the famous Lady and the Tramp scene
Nah, remember that scene where Ginjou trollishly offered to give Ichigo some ramen after he promised to supply Ichigo some info about his dad,? I just love blowing that out of proportion into a supposed mania for ramen lol
Who knows, maybe it was just really good ramen. :ninja:
!
Who knows, maybe it was just really good ramen. :ninja:
! http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/014/1/a/manly_as_fuck_page_50_by_marik248-d364iyn.png
But when Ginjou pulls that savory ramen away, you can bet that Ichigo will be on all fours wailing.
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Ch. 4:
! Chapter 4: Hitsugaya vs. Barragan
! Many moons past, on the naked sands of fear
! Scores of Adjuchas knelt before their invincible liege as the King of Hueco Mundo proclaimed each his knight, charging them with the momentous duty of direct worship and due tribute.
! The Vasto Lorde sampled ever more magnanimous names aloud, clacking his skull-like mask to their sound. “Barragan the Eternal Sovereign, perhaps? No, too wordy,” he concluded as he received from Choe Neng Poww, a whale Adjuchas who in the future would be his Fraccion, a few threads of his soul-baleen (and, by breaking off a piece of himself, thereby ensuring he could never evolve further apart from Arrancarification).
! “How about simply: Barragan the Ageless?” While most old souls were at least a little self-conscious about their age, Barragan proclaimed his supremacy over fickle “time” far and wide.
! An insect Adjuchas genuflected and Barragan snapped off its bulbous, hollow, hornlike protrusion (presumably a crest for sound attacks). The king’s touch immediately aged the Hollow and reduced it to its pathetic, infantile end, but Barragan was too busy attaching the baleen strings to the horn to register he’s accidentally killed one of his subjects.
! Barragan strummed the strings of the weird instrument he’d irreverently slapped together from the willingly sacrificed appendages of his fearful subjects.
! As the crowned spectral skeleton held the instrument and felt its power coursing though his bones, he knew what his name would be, and breathed it with abyssal frost:
! Barragan, the SOUL KING.
! *__
! “Kubo.”
! “Yes, sensei?” he replied innocently.
! “Kubo, this time I want you to tell me what’s wrong here.”
! Kubo flipped through the name draft absently. “Too little white space, shouldn’t have wasted so much ink,” he guessed. He had run up quite the tab at art supply stores on just ink.
! Editor put out his cigar in the ashtray; had Kubo been wearing sunglasses, Editor might not have resisted the urge to put it out in Kubo’s eye.
! “Let’s put it this way, my friend. I love ya to death.” Editor surreptitiously bit his lip. “But don’t you think that new development’s just a mite… plagiarismy?”
! Kubo blinked, but behind those shades his look of umbrage was lost. “What are you talking—“
! “How long did it take you to timeskip after Oda timeskipped?”
! “What? Are you insinuating—“
! “How long?”
! “About a month, but—“
! “And what came of that timeskip? What did that timeskip contribute to the plot that couldn’t have happened, say, a mere week after Aizen was defeated?”
! “That sword that gave Ichigo his powers back took that long to prepare!”
! “You wrote that after the fact,” Editor fired back. “How long after Hody Jones took too many steroids and morphed into a white-haired monster did it take for Ginjou to become a white-haired freak?”
! “This is ridiculous, those are just coincidences,” said Kubo. “I’m not cribbing from One Piece!”
! “Look, I’m not saying you’re plagiarizing on purpose, it’s just, I think you’re too impressionable and you sort of semi-consciously incorporate aspects of other series into your work. It happens to the best of us, but you have to check yourself. I don’t want to police your every decision, and I sure as hell don’t want you to end up having to take marching orders from your editor. I want you to blaze your own path, and work hard on infusing your brainchild with something unique, content that can only come from within you.”
! “I may have let outside influences creep into the story recently,” he admitted, flattered that his editor believed his inner self had what it took. He sounded excited, as though he were finally trusted to pull the series along by his own skill. “I know, I’ll start putting in more band names and references as abilities—“
! “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,” Editor reminded him.
! “And maybe I’ll introduce another former substitute shinigami—“
! “Yu Yu Hakusho.”
! “Why don’t I come back to you on what my inner self thinks.”
! __*
! As Barragan (in unreleased mustachioed Mexican geezer form) toted his giant axe onto the battlefield, the Rukongai residents cheered—finally, someone they could root for.
! Charlotte prostrated himself before his erstwhile Espada master. Aizen may have removed Charlotte’s mask and revealed his gorgeous, sensational face to all, but his first loyalty would always be to the highest king, Death incarnate. There was beauty in darkness.
! Barragan, meanwhile, mocked Aizen openly. “Hey Aizen, did you misplace your key? Didn’t you say you were going to unlock the realm of the Soul King!? The only Soul King YOU’RE ever going to lay eyes on, is ME! Aren’t you lucky!”
! But Aizen didn’t care. His primary objective at the moment was to shoot glances at Hinamori (still frozen), then back at Hitsugaya, then make subtle stabbing motions with his (much loved) index finger.
! “Nope, not gonna happen,” said Hitsugaya serenely, applying yet another depressant-patch to his arm (next to its seven neighbors). This was to suppress his chronic Aizen-onset murderous rage.
! Aizen’s finger stabbed the air more vigorously and he nodded, nigh imperceptibly, and always with that unflappable smirk. It’s totally going to happen.
! “Nuh uh, nope.” Depressant-patches #s 9, 10, and 11. He wiped the strange liquid welling in his eyes and looked away from Aizen towards the audience, beaming.
! “BOOOOOOO!!” Though Hitsugaya was raised in the Rukongai, to the crowd this was ultimately a clash of Young vs. Old.
! “I’m sure I have fans somewhere out there,” said Hitsugaya.
! Aizen sounded the START THE FIGHTING!! gong and Charlotte, playing to the crowd, wasted no time casting the god of death as the determined underdog with a heart of gold, and Hitsugaya as the cold elitist.
! “Boy!!” He swung his axe. “What can you accomplish against DEATH ITSELF! Hold on, you don’t happen to know any transportation kidou do you?”
! “…No.”
! “Then what can you accomplish against DEATH ITSELF!”
! “Hyourinmaru!” Hitsugaya barreled forward and bade the ice dragon smash into his opponent, who froze in place.
! “Well, what are you waiting for? Release.”
! “Cheeky brat,” Barragan sneered. “I pity you who harbor not the wisdom of ages! Worry not, for soon I shall embrace you.”
! “Eww.” Hitsugaya shivered at the thought of growing up. “I deal with old people all fucking day, and let me tell you, they’re not exactly winning awards for intelligence in this lifetime. Or any, for that matter.”
! Barragan’s release incantation doubled as an imperious taunt. “Rot, Arrogante.”
! Death had donned his reaper’s cloak, and the block of ice melted away instantly.
! “BANKAI!” Hitsugaya donned his… ice fairy’s cloak? His cloak of winter’s savage broad-winged elemental dragon. In an instant the arena became encased in a solid sheet.
! “All will melt,” Barragan taunted. “All will evaporate.”
! Barragan’s mere presence caused the ice to break up and crack as entropy took hold.
! “Maybe so. But so long as we’re in this arena, that water isn’t going anywhere,” retorted Hitsugaya confidently.
! Which is when Barragan fell to his bony knees and began slurping up the water. “As Soul King, I claim this water!” he averred, followed by a regal flissshul noise.
! “What the fuck, you planning on just drinking up my ice forever?” Hitsugaya balked as he kept whipping the stadium up fresh new coats.
! “All water is now property of the one and only Barragan Luisenbarn!”
! “You, have got, to be…” Hitsugaya spun his dragon overhead. “KIDDING ME!”
! But Barragan drank his dark little heart away. Las Noches was never exactly overrun with streams, and so drinking was a pleasant new sensation for him.
! And so the two top-level reapers of souls were locked in the lamest of eternal combat, as Hitsugaya’s reiatsu replenished as soon as it was spent and Barragan’s belly was bottomless. And neither entity could really age, either.
! An hour passed. And another.
! “My arms are getting tired,” whined Hitsugaya.
! “HA!!” Barragan cackled. “I have you at last.”
! “I said they’re tired, not out of commission.”
! And the crowd mutinied, clamoring for Hitsugaya to just give up already. Hitsugaya wished Hinamori were unfrozen enough to cheer him on.
! “This is taking too long!” said Kon, who took the initiative and rang the gong to end the battle. “You’re both kicked out of the tournament!”
! “Wha? On what grounds?” Hitsugaya didn’t want to think this had all been a massive waste of time.
! “On the grounds of sheer boredom.”
! ROUND 4: BOTH DISQUALIFIED!!
! NEXT ROUND: TATSUKI VERSUS ICHIGO
Hahaha…Love it. Great stuff.