Naruto and Bleach II: I don't have the heart to care anymore.

I have watched Naruto shippuden episode 232 "the girls get together" and I really enjoyed it. It was really a peaceful and nostalgic episode. Hinata had a decent spotlight.

MasterKingJC

@WarshipArc:

Magic,
pure, unfiltered, magic…

Are you sure this isn't some kind of comedic parody of the musical genre?

There's no way something like this could be taken seriously.

Chopperxoxo

Okay it says its the final arc of bleach… What ever happened to the King of Soul society arc that was gonna happen? Now its just hollows and arrancar again, i really hate this series

Volpe

Who said there was going to be a King arc?

And, the arc can be more complex than just hollows and arrancars…. but I won't expect much from Kubo.

black-leg jex

Kubo said that the soul king would probably appear in this arc, probably near the end of this arc

Hisoga

@The:

Renji: Oh, You're a woman? I'm sorry, but even if you charge me with the intent to kill, I'm not going to dignify you with an actual fight. Women are such fragile creatures. I will now illustrate this point by pathetically One-Hit-KOing you with a halfassed swordhilt blow.

While Bleach isn't on Narutos level in terms of misoginy - the "I have no value other than as support for men or babymaking" level - it's really really bad at portraying its' female characters as, well, competent.
Take it's two female leads. Rukia stats off by jobbing to a piss-weak hollow, then being incapacitated and thrown around by yet more bottom feeders. But at least she’s likeable, and theres the promise that she’ll improve when her powers return. Before that we have the SS arc, where she's a completely passive "I don't wanna be rescued!" Damsel in distess. When her powers finally return in the arrancar arc, she gets her greatest moment of glory when she takes down one of Aizens henchmens henchmen!…And then gets immediately brutalized by Grimmjow. And again another time after that. But she takes down a one-chapter fodder sandmonster, and goes on to beat Aaroniero!... by a lucky strike after being severely curbstomped, and I won't call that more than a draw since she was left perforated and dying on the floor. After having her unconscious body manipulated by Zommari, she manages to fare well against Rudobone!...until Yammy interrupts her fight, and breaks all her bones, Vegeta Oozaru style.
And finally she lost against Perona.

As for Orihime, she has powers so über that she can reject events from existence and yet…sigh. I don't need to do more than point to the last two arcs, do I.

And there is no defence for Hinamori. None.

thanks man.. always like reading your comment.. awesome stuff

Gliblord

My comment:

Minato's reasoning is extremely retarded. There are only things a mother can tell him, so why don't I die and leave Naruto parentless so his mom can talk to him for five minutes. That's not uplifting, that's cruel and stupid.

Replies:

Hey, give the guy a rest, he's had a VERY trying night.

> oh okay naruto grows up with a dad that always protects, not learning what pain is, no understanding for sasuke, and he would not be able to reach all the people he reached, they only listened to him because he went through that, so your an idiot think things from perspective.

ponx

oh okay naruto grows up with a dad that always protects, not learning what pain is, no understanding for sasuke, and he would not be able to reach all the people he reached, they only listened to him because he went through that, so your an idiot think things from perspective.

Which still doesn't dispute the fact his dad is a big idiot. So lets just leave it at Naruto was lucky his dad was a big idiot, or else he might have misunderstood Sasuke (among other things)

zxcv11791

@black-leg:

Kubo said that the soul king would probably appear in this arc, probably near the end of this arc

And the Soul King is actually Brook all along. Everything makes sense now.

Kizuchan

@zxcv11791:

And the Soul King is actually Brook all along. Everything makes sense now.

That would probably be a lot more entertaining than whatever Kubo would come up with.

Enzeru

I don't really read Bleach but something tells me that the Soul King will appear behind Ichigo's back.

Sander

oh okay naruto grows up with a dad that always protects, not learning what pain is, no understanding for sasuke, and he would not be able to reach all the people he reached, they only listened to him because he went through that, so your an idiot think things from perspective.

Indeed.Isn't it awesome that Minato could see the future and foretell the whole Sasuke business?

Seriously though,Naruto could've just as easily turned into a homicidal maniac or something.If Minato's stupidity really worked out well,it's just happened to work out well.Like with Goku's decisions most of the time.

y2kyle89

@Sander:

Indeed.Isn't it awesome that Minato could see the future and foretell the whole Sasuke business?

Seriously though,Naruto could've just as easily turned into a homicidal maniac or something.If Minato's stupidity really worked out well,it's just happened to work out well.Like with Goku's decisions most of the time.

And he doesn't have Goku's excuse of suffering brain damage as a child.

Bobjr

Ichigo will be losing to the final enemy, the Soul King will appear, pause time, and say something like "I can give you power, but you can use it once and you'll lose all your powers again". While Ichigo has a blank face the entire time.

Pix

@Bobjr:

Ichigo will be losing to the final enemy, the Soul King will appear, pause time, and say something like "I can give you power, but you can use it once and you'll lose all your powers again". While Ichigo has a blank face the entire time.

Ichigo will most likely cry afterward, whining "I'll never fight another opponent like that again!"

Cyan D. Funk

Prediction: The Soul King will look like Aizen

Robby

I'd love to see Bleach have fat Maijin Buu style enemy for its final arc.

Just because it would be so out of place.

King Cannon

@Cyan:

Prediction: The Soul King will look like Aizen

Correction: The Soul King IS Aizen.

Pix

@King:

Correction: The Soul King IS Aizen.

The Soul King is Aizen's father who has been watching over Aizen to make sure he would watch over Ichigo so the Soul King would have the perfect opponent.

Hiroy

Soul King is The Heart.

Robby

Soul King is Ichigo's father. Thats why he still hasn't bothered explaining his non-existant backstory.

Cyan D. Funk

Everyone is the Soul King.

In their hearts, of course. It's one of those "God's within you" kind of deals.

King Cannon

This post is deleted!

King Cannon

The Soul King is the King of Souls.

Pix

The Soul King will hold a tournament to decide who will be the next Soul King. Ichigo and the bad guy will enter.

Hiroy

And then Yoh Asukuara…

maxterdexter

@Pix:

The Soul King will hold a tournament to decide who will be the next Soul King. Ichigo and the bad guy will enter.

And then the Bad Guy's mom will scold him, and the bad guy will not destroy mankind.

Mortea

And then Aizen will say "I have to go now. My planet needs me." Everyone will board a spaceship with two rockets as engines and will fly away. They died on the way back to their home planet.

zxcv11791

@RobbyBevard:

Soul King is Ichigo's father. Thats why he still hasn't bothered explaining his non-existant backstory.

God that scene where Ichigo finally meets his father in Shinigami form pissed me off.

Ichigo's Dad: "are you going to ask me about my backstory?"

Ichigo: "No it isn't important"

I mean come on

Sander

Now,I reaaaaaaaaaaaaally hope that Itachi and Saskey don't have another showdown,because I still remember the terrible snorefest of a fight that they had the last time.Hell and that was back when Sasuke wasn't as downright repulsive as he is now.If this comes down to a Genjutsu extravaganza with a heavy dose of Saskey's DARKNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESS,I might just quit this nonsense.

Tsukishima

@zxcv11791:

God that scene where Ichigo finally meets his father in Shinigami form pissed me off.

Ichigo's Dad: "are you going to ask me about my backstory?"

Ichigo: "No it isn't important"

I mean come on

To be honest, I can understand why Ichigo didn't ask him about it immediately, they didn't have much time to waste at that moment, but that he didn't ask anything about it during the timeskip is really stupid.

Sander

@Cyan:

Prediction: The Soul King will look like Aizen

How friggin' awesome would it be if Soul King,provided that he is the final villain,was infact Kubo's self-portrait?

Pix

@Sander:

How friggin' awesome would it be if Soul King,provided that he is the final villain,was infact Kubo's self-portrait?

The Soul King would be Kubo's ego. It's genius!

No Maam

And Grant Morrison did it twenty years ago.

Sander

@No:

And Grant Morrison did it twenty years ago.

It's not like other things about Bleach haven't been done before…

Besides,in this case it will be pure justice,as in a way,Bleach has no villain greater than Kubo.Still,as much as I'd like for Soul King to be the author's self-insertion,it will probably be another dude with Aizen's face.

KaizokuJinbei

Itachi VS Sasuke round 2 Ready FIGHT!

mcdreamy

@KaizokuJinbei:

Itachi VS Sasuke round 2 Ready FIGHT!

Dreamers gonna dream…

Bobjr

The Soul King will be all the white space in Bleach, in order to play along with the "I was with you the entire time" theme that will probably happen.

Silverblade

Ichigo should be Soul King himself, a fractal of his soul.

That's why his dad doesn't want to talk about his origins, his mother provoked a hollow out of desperation and why Kubo's gratuitous self-insert in a combo with Aizen will have to put Ichigo The Soul King out of his misery with a paper-white attack lasting five whole chapters.

Daz

So yeah, I did a blog post; it concerns dollhouses, moronic training methods and the sad fates of Mexican immigrants.
http://theappliedlogic.blogspot.com/2012/02/your-plot-point-has-expired-fullbring.html

Gliblord

Excellent article, Daz. Fullbringer must be the worst shounen series arc of all time. Hell, it might be the worse story arc in all of manga history.

I think the Fullbringer arc deserves its own tag for the blog. Btw guys, you should really go back and tag all your articles.

Cruithne

Guys.

Kubo interview in SJA.

It's priceless.

Daz

@Cruithne:

Guys.

Guys.

Kubo interview in SJA.

It's priceless.

Could you link it? My google searches only turn up the Repeat and Reboot things of a few weeks past.

OldMate

Interview

! Q: Any specific manga you read when you were young that inspired you?
! Kubo: Gegege no Kitaro by Shigeru Mizuki was my earliest influence. It was the first manga whose characters I ever tried to sketch. I really liked his yokai design, and his art has a unique flavor. My art style is so simple compared to Mizuki Sensei's work, which is very detailed. But I feel that there is some influence from him in terms of my character design. Even to this day, seeing Mizuki Sensei's art makes me very excited.
! Q: We know you're really into music, what do you listen to while drawing?
! Kubo: David Guetta and The Back Horn are my recent favorites. I don't usually listen to Japanese music. I like listening to music from artists all over the world. I watch MTV while I'm working on manga. Also, I use a phone app called SoundHound a lot while I'm cruising in the city. It's perfect for me because I get bored really quickly, but the app helps me discover new music.
! Q: Did you learn any lessons from drawing ZombiePowder?
! Kubo: The most important thing I learned from ZombiePowder is that I should always follow my heart and draw what I want to draw. When I was working on ZombiePowder, I was still holding back. I wasn't used to weekly serializations, and I was reacting to my editor's comments. But now I focus more on staying true to my own style and creating what I want to.
! Q: Your character designs are a lot edgier and more stylistic than the average shonen manga. Tell us the process of how you create a character.
! Kubo: I don't really have a specific process to make characters. But I always have quite a few characters in my mind. When I start a new story arc, I think back to the "stock" of ~~Aizen Clones~~ characters in my mind. I draw them in a group and see if they are appropriate to the next story. It's pretty easy to pick who is going to be the main character. Then I pick the other characters in relation to the main character based on what would suit their personality. This is not the way everybody creates manga, but I like to create the story ~~out of my ass~~ based on the characters.

Sander

@The:

So yeah, I did a blog post; it concerns dollhouses, moronic training methods and the sad fates of Mexican immigrants.
http://theappliedlogic.blogspot.com/2012/02/your-plot-point-has-expired-fullbring.html

Nice read as always.You know,that blog and this forum was what compelled me to pick up Bleach again,because I got really excited for some hilarious so-bad-it's-good writing.

I got what I wanted.I also greatly enjoy your weekly Bleach demolition posts.