Posts made by Endless Strategy

I don't get it. I was looking for Jojo fanfiction and half of it seems to be about Kakyoin and Jotaro having sex. Did they even have any chemistry? I can't recall a single scene that made their relationship stand out compared to any other members of the group.

@Thugcat:

Can't remember when exactly Bleach became bad ? Can I have your opinion ?

Well, the narrative more or less fell apart after the Soul Society arc, but it wasn't until the captains arrived in the Hueco Mundo arc that I thought the writing became actively bad. I was able to enjoy Bleach even after that, but I can't defend the story.

Haven't read the whole thread, but: bounty Hunters. It's an extremely lucrative business, and an alternative means of funding a journey besides piracy. It makes sense for us to see more strong bounty hunters.

In fact, right about where we are now would be the ideal place for them. Everyone has to go through Saboady to get to the New World, so naturally the place is loaded with Bounty Hunters. So say you're fairly well accomplished but don't want to deal with all the competition? Camp out on one of the islands relatively close to the start of the New World.

@Gliblord:

I'll never understand that scene

I think (think) that the point of that scene was that Valentine intended to kill Johnny even at the end. That he figured he was too dangerous to be left alive. So he brought a gun back from the other world to shoot him as soon as he reversed the rotation. But Johnny threw him the gun because objects from other worlds cancel each other out, so that would've outed him as a liar, because if he were sincere he would've thrown the gun away earlier to prove that. So Valentine's behavior comes off as…rash, he could have waited to settle things until after he was healed, but it's not completely stupid.

@Chopperrules:

Wait, wait. I thought this whole thing was a remake of the Phantom Troupe arc. So it's a different plot entirely?

Where does it fit in? Will watching it spoil the Chimera Ant arc?

It seems to take place after York New, but before Greed Island. It's just about the only place in the timeline where it would fit, and the evidence is in favor (for example, Gon and Killua don't know the nen techniques they learned at Greed Island).

So overall I thought the movie was OK. Not bad or boring, but not spectacular. There is one thing I'm confused about though.

! What was the point of the eyes Omokage collected? His puppets seemed to be able to move and even see just fine without them. If he really needed them for whatever reason, why not just take them from some random shmucks instead of antagonizing the Phantom Troupe? After all, he made an Illumi doll, so he clearly doesn't need possession of the person's eyes to make the doll work. And if Retz was already capable of seeing, why did he bother to search for more eyes?

@Cyclone_Baroness:

Maybe. But Kurapika even when he was getting screen time I didn't really like.
His personality is something that kinda bugs me.
I might have warmed but to him had he stuck around. But as it was in His arc, I was waiting for the story to get back to Gon Killua and Hisoka.

Killua probably wouldn't be that memorable if he didn't get all the screentime he did. We'd just remember him as that collected teenage assassin character. It's through his interactions with others, Gon especially, that he was fleshed out. So it would be with Kurapika and Leorio as well, I think.

@Cyclone_Baroness:

I might have cared more about Leorio and and Kurapika if they hadn't separated from Killua and Gon too. But I found them to be the least interesting. I did find it weird/interesting that Leorio seemed to have picked up an ability similar to random fodder in the GI arc.

@Aohige_AP:

That's one aspect Togashi is kinda weak on.

It's as if Magi was written in a way that you only give a shit about Alibaba/Aladdin and not a hoot about Mor or Tofu.

You only think like that because we saw less of them. If Kurapika was the one Gon was always with instead of Killua, you'd probably feel the same about Killua. That's just how he decided to develop the story, and there's nothing wrong with that method. And Leorio and Kurapika also got a fair share of development anyway.

@x20a:

Well, it's the most fundamental truth for all life: if you're born, you will die - unless you're a jellyfish.

Actually, even those biologically immortal jellyfish can die to predators and disease. They're only really immortal in carefully controlled captivity.

Buggy is the exception because his ability explicitly allows him to be cut without pain, and instantly reform. His "true body" is already out in the open, so Haki doesn't change things.

@Aru:

Dude, we're not going to be running around naked and happy just because one Bleach chapter is better than usual. We're comparing Bleach to an average GOOD shonen series (or even any series with a plot), and we still see huge flaws, that's why no one here went bananas.

I don't expect for you to go bananas, but nearly every single person said it was bad, when the only problem that was brought up was the better-than-usual pacing. And if you're comparing Bleach to an average I don't think you're doing a good job. The average is actually far lower than you'd think: many shonen fail to measure up to Bleach. I think something like mar or Zatch Bell would be closer to "average." I think you're just being so critical as to be caustic.

So…why are people harping on the Bleach chapter? Interesting stuff happened. The only complaint I hear is about the pacing, but it was actually much better than Bleach usually is. This is what I mean when I say you guys are only looking for flaws.

@Salamenace:

That fight with Westwood in the punishment ward was when things were starting to get real good in Stone Ocean.

Well, you say that, but I think the 2 fights that follow it are probably the worst in the whole arc.

@RobbyBevard:

Granted, without the narrator slowdown, the entire 30 chapter invasion segment should technically take like 2 minutes. But obviously its going to take a while, much like the five minutes till Namek explodes..

After a sequence like that is over, I imagine what it looked like in real time.

Lightly salted is the best.

@Strawhat:

That's true. But he could give the device to his subordinates who aren't as arrogant and powerful as him…

He's so arrogant that he doesn't think he needs to outfit his Arrancar with the device either.

@Strawhat:

http://www.mangastream.to/bleach-chapter-237-page-2.html

Could have been a useful tool during the war, so why didn't the Arrancar use it?

Ahh… I suppose Kubo forgot.

If Aizen is arrogant enough to just stand still and let himself be attacked, he's arrogant enough to not bother with that device.

Oh, I recall Jesuotaku talking about that metrosexual swimming anime a while ago on twitter. Here's the original link.

@Desperado:

Nah, its "Rapid breeding".

"Turkey Banquet" and "The man who Never Worked" are also made up, right?

@KzTxL7:

Sasuke wax bad before that. See: victory against Deidara and when Obito told him why Itachi did what he did.

The victory against Deidara was bad writing in general, not to the detriment of Sasuke. And I could actually get behind Sasuke's motivations before he went insanely evil for no particular reason. Sure, he was misguided, but understandably so.

Sure, I'd say Karin's worse. Sasuke deserves more hate because he's a larger detriment to the manga, but he wasn't even a terrible character until the Kage Summit.

@dan2026:

Bwahahaha!

This has to be a sly jab at the manga.

Wait, that's the actual title? I thought Sauza was just joking.

That is a good theory. But I don't recall it being said that it doesn't work on stand users.

@TheCrystalShip:

I finished Part 4. Way better than the previous parts.

There's only one thing I didn't understand about the Kira fight:

! At the very end, he thinks that he'll be able to use "Bites the Dust" in order to kill everyone. But nobody ever divulged information from the woman, nor did she reveal his identity to anyone present. So, I don't understand how that would have worked?

! "Bites the Dust" works when the person it's attached to reveals Kira's identity. In that instance, it was attached to Kira himself.

@Lorce:

Really? Do we seriously need another arc of Orochimaru being the ain villain -_- you can't re-use a character THAT much… is Kishi trying to do a Oda by bringing back characters? because he's not doing it very well in my opinion...

Not another Arc, just a double-cross at the end of the final battle, causing the already haggard alliance to rally once more for the win.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Silverblade:

http://imageshack.us/a/img9/9180/ichigofun.png

That was a bad moment, certainly. But it wasn't an example of Ichigo losing his confidence the moment his opponent got the upper hand.

@Deviant_Mugen:

You're being sarcastic, right? Or referencing his character from back when Bleach was actually good?

As I said, his positive traits have been gradually degrading. make of that what you will.

Because that's the only way I can take this post seriously. No-nonsense? You mean bland?

His personality is subdued, but his reactions tend to be more than just "dull surprise." But I'm not saying he's an ideal protagonist by any stretch.

And Ichigo is guilty of some goofy stereotypes, like overreacting to some nonsensical situations (Nel and company) or women teasing him (Yoruichi and Matsumotits).

Are you saying that being slightly goofy on ocassion is a detriment? I've never seen anyone accuse Ichigo of being too goofy.

As for not being overly stoic, well, only Byakuya beats him in that department. When's the last time Ichigo actually smiled?

Stoic has to do with how one responds to hardship. Ichigo doesn't has dealt with hardship in several ways.

Granted, his life sucks, so there's little to smile about, but the Fullbring arc would've been bearable if he'd been shown living as a normal guy and enjoying it, instead of continuously pouting that he couldn't do shit anymore.

He's no ball of sunshine, but he looked content to me. He was actually interacting with his friends.

As for the self-confidence part… HAHA! You mean how he's cocky when he has the upper hand and completely falls apart as soon as the tables turn? That's not self-confidence, and he is very much in-your-face about it.

When did he ever totally fall apart like that? When he first fought Byakuya he kept fighting through his wounds, and tried to grab Byakuya's leg even after he'd lost. Against Zaraki he knew he was outmatched, but that didn't stop him. He didn't lose confidence against Ulquiorra the first time he saw him, even after his mask broke. I could use other examples.

As for being in-your-face-about-it, all's relative. If he didn't exhibit confidence at all, just kept fighting without a word, you'd call him bland. Instead he shows confidence in a way that, while not subtle, isn't boisterous like a lot of other protagonists. He doesn't shout out something like "There's no way I'd lost to you!" He says stuff like "sorry, but I'm not allowed to take damage anymore"

Also, Ichigo could never be on Luffy's level as a protagonist. "PROTECT EVERYONE!" isn't a personality (which is why I disliked Astro), it's just a facet of shonen protagonists. The reason that most shonen protagonists are carefree and goofy is to make them affable. Sure, angst will ultimately present itself, but when it makes up a good portion of their personality, it gets old fast.

When has angst ever been a large part of his personality? It's just something that happens on ocassion, and generally only in the later parts of the series. He felt remorseful about the death of his mother that he thought he'd caused, but that's basically it.

Not to mention Ichigo has never had to work for the powers he gained: he became a soul reaper because Rukia passed her powers onto him. Then he gained his Shikai via plot convenience and took a shortcut to gain his Bankai. His hollow manifested just because, and then his fullbring and now quincy powers were gained because of his mom. Let's not forget his varied array of attacks (pfft!). Luffy and even Naruto had to work to get to where they are (before he started relying almost solely on the kyuubi, anyway). Luffy didn't eat his devil fruit and know how to use it right off the bat. His punch took 10 years of training to actually become as strong as a pistol. And in the early days, Naruto trained his ass off to go toe to toe against geniuses. Sure, the excess chakra helped, but only for stamina, really.

I thought that we were talking about personalities? Anyway, what does it matter whether the training is for 10 days or 10 years? He'd make the effort either way, and while the latter is realistic and preferable, the former is a black mark on the writer, not the character.

Indeed, if one really looked hard enough they could make some measure of sense over Sasuke's redemption. But Orochimaru's is flat out lazy. I still hope he's planning a double-cross…

@Cyclone_Baroness:

What do you find positive about his character?

Not being sarcastic. Just curious. Cause I don't think I've heard anyone say something positive about Ichigo in years. He's so much of a blank slate to me as he currently is.

His no-nonsense attitude is one. The goofy airhead stereotype is so overused to the point where using it anymore will illicit facepalms all on its own. Ichigo isn't like that, and yet he doesn't fall into a lot of the pitfalls other super-serious characters fall into. He's not excessively stoic, and while not one to joke he does have a sense of humor. I also like that he usually exhibits incredible self confidence, but he isn't in-your-face about it.

@Sick_Fool:

Why are some people defending Sasuke's terribly written redemption this chapter.

Because it makes some level of sense. Not enough sense, certainly. But if you look deeply enough you'll see the train of thought Kishi was following that he attempted, and failed, to make clear. That happens in a lot of stories.

@Cyclone_Baroness:

We don't always bash it. We give credit where credit is due.

Not enough, I think. It would be a conservative estimate to say there's ten times as much bashing as praise, and that's really overdoing it.

Ichigo is so terribly bland as a main character. That is all.

He has several positive traits, as far as main characters go. If Kubo wasn't slowly degrading him, I'd rank him around Luffy, mashiro (Bakuman) or Josuke's level. At this point he's above Naruto.

@No:

It's not the clothes, it's more the physical features that they had to have been born with already, unless each of them went through a super extensive reconstructive and facial surgery to a ridiculous extent for no real reason which is why I said I found the idea of them only trying to look like that after Netero picked nicknames for them rather silly.

The only Zodiac that looks like he had surgury is the "horse," but even he could have looked like that already. They all look normal by Hunter x Hunter standards.

@valiantt:

aww that would go against the foreshadowing of Nardo aiming for kage position.

The whole point of being Hokage was earning the respect of others. He already has more of that than just about any person alive now. So I don't see the issue (although giving the position to Sasuke would be stupid).

@pyromonki:

Meh, people cosplay all the time, this is really no different.

Some of them obviously took it a little too far though.

I think a lot of them would probably look a lot better if they weren't dressed like they were. But I liked the idea. It's fairly often that one sees a corporation in a series that has a theme it fits so perfectly. Like they just managed to grab the perfect selection so the theme would work. But in Hunter x Hunter, they just dress like that.

@Sander:

So you have a thing against globetrotting and you are happy that our setting are limiteds to same 3 boring ass locations?

Globetrotting can be done well, but I think a stationary location suited Bleach's first arc better.

@Cyan:

My nam is ( u dont need 2 remember) Guanglai Kangyi, age 15, the past month to me is, only graduation tests, the entrance into high-school brings really exciting and worrying days

till i met these 2 very special guys….........

I got a feeling so complicated…

Wait, no I didn't. You're wrong. Since Duwang happened we can look on the bright side, but optimally it would have never happened.

@kouch_lee:

A similar setting is JoJo part 4, where everything is centered on a single town.

Yeah, that came to my mind as well.

The thing is, though, that throughout several hundreds of chapters we've seen that the WHOLE world is full of weirdos everywhere. Italy, Egipt, Japan, USA. . .you name it, you got it.

It does work as a monster of the week setting, of course it does. It doesn't make sense that everything worth of notice happens there.

That's the issue, I think.

I don't dispute that: it is a problem. But if handled well, it doesn't have to be. I am talking hypothetically here.

And on a similar note, worldbuilding in Naruto is so disappointing. We have several countries, with several hidden villages, with several cultures, and yet there's like no exploration of new environments. Some stuff here and there (the desert and the hidden village of the sand, the rain village, and some little stuff about the village of the clouds), but considering how apparently huge the world is, it's hard not to feel letdown by how Kishi ignored most of the possibilities.

It has a heck of a lot more potential than Bleach, and every now and then that potential shines through. But as it is, Naruto's world building does leave much to be desired.

Or maybe I'm just spoiled by One Piece in that aspect?

Well, probably. It's hard to top in that aspect.

@TheCrystalShip:

I guess I should read Duwang, but I don't want to ruin the final fight.

Honestly, Duwang gets better as it goes along. By the time the final battle comes around, the translation is only a notch or two below average. Just read it to the end, I say.

@Sheep:

whatever you do, do not read the final fight of part 5 (when you get there), without waiting for the rescanlation.
You won't have a clue with what's going on.
The final of part 4 is understandable even when reading duwang, mainly because the antagonists powers are much more easily understandable, so narration isn't necessary to comprehend what's happening.

The Part 5 finale may well be the second most convoluted fight in the history of manga (the first being Tsubasa's finale). That said, I think I understood it well enough with the current translation.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Cyan:

DUWANG is the only acceptable form of Jojo in English.

WRONG! Don't go around saying that. So bad it's good translations aren't worth it, if it takes an otherwise great manga down a notch. DUWANG should only be read if necessary.

Seems I've opened a can of worms. OK, lots of stuff does tend to happen in Karakura. And indeed, it does make the world seem rather empty. I was just saying that, hypothetically, if one were to remake Bleach primarily a monster of the week Shonen, there would be nothing necessarily wrong with Karakura Town as a setting. In fact, focusing on one area has several benefits. On most accounts though, you guys are correct.

I don't see how having Karakura Town being the setting is an issue.
@MetaMario:

Why? Human characters get the least focus.

What do you mean? They got plenty of focus.

Why? Soul Society is apparently so blind that they fail to notice so many things (the exile Urahara opens up a store with his name on it! There's Quincies running around that you guys failed to kill! etc.), and that makes them look so incompetent. The activity in one town, not one planet, is slipping them up.

You're saying the setting is terrible just because it makes the vastly incompetent Soul Society look slightly more incompetent?

If other spiritual locations existed, it'd give the sense things…..y'know, happen in Bleach. Not everything and anything being connected to Ichigo's band of misfits.

Hollows attack in other areas, and besides that there aren't really any other strange occurrences in Karakura or anywhere else.

@valiantt:

To be fair, Bleach did do the monster of the week thing pretty well back at its start…considerably better than whatever the hell World Trigger is doing...

The first arc of Bleach was very good at what it did. I do not dispute that.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@kouch_lee:

And having the whole world to play with, you limit all the happenings in the planet to. . .KArakura town. Every special being, every supernatural occurence, every single thing happens in Karakura town.

Not all that much has happened in Karakura, and what has happened would have happened elsewhere if Ichigo lived elsewhere. The only real contrivance is how it's prime territory for the Oken.

What is there to do in any other part of the world that can't be done in Karakura?

@black-leg:

Togashi does like his transgenders.

On a random note what arc was the infamous turkey in? Will it be in the next episode or is it in the chimera ant arc?

It was at the end of Greed Island. It will be in the next episode.

@Gliblord:

Yeah, not even Quincies, which have all apparently clicked in lockstep to Bach

It's really the fault of the way the world is set up. One Piece's world is huge, and practically overflowing with stories to tell. Naruto's world, while rather constricted by the linear plot, is also interesting and rife with potential. But what does Bleach have?

It has Human World, which is nearly identical to our world except for Hollows and Wholes. The Wholes are just ghosts: nothing special or unique about them. For the most part they can't even interact with regular people. I suppose you could tell a good ghost story if you tried, but there are tons of those already, and Bleach doesn't add much of anything new to the picture. As for the Hollows, they make for a decent monster of the week setup. Since they're mindless beasts though they don't offer much besides that, meaning a story that relied on the hollows would have to rely on excellent fights and character development.

There are also Fullbringers and Quincy, but the former are practically nonexistent due to the uncommon nature of their creation and the fact that they will EXPLODE if there is not a spiritually powerful person present to supress their initial transformation. The latter recieved their powers through…unknown means, but they're extinct. Even if they weren't, it's not like they've shown any interesting qualities besides an alternative moveset to Soul Reapers.

It has Hueco mundo, where hollow do little besides hide and devour one another. The Adjuchas and Vasto Lordes are intelligent, and being intelligent they have far more potential for stories than mindless beasts. That could be an interesting avenue, although it's currently quite poorly explored.

It has Soul Society, which has the vast majority of its residents live out mundane lives. The only notable activity Soul Reapers participate in is Hollow hunting.

So basically, the only thing Bleach really lends itself to is a monster of the Week setup, and even that doesn't have a ton going for it.

@cloudrivera:

It's a shame how much potential Bleach had that was just wasted. I wanted to see:

-Other types of Shinigami, like ones based off of America or Europe countries
-Chad and Orihime develop their powers. Their styles were the most unique. Chad could have fought like Z on the One Piece movie
-Ichigo actually having other techniques and using kido.
-More Zangetsu, where the hell has he been?
-Hell being touched upon.
-A sense of grand scale. It's like the only place in the human world is karakura. Where is the rest of the world?
-A focus on the main characters. Too much Shinigami, and none of them ever die besides the Captain Commander, who I actually liked.
-More top villains. Aizen was focused way too much on. We finally have another one in the Quincy leader, but I would have liked to see arcs with other ones.

Yes, that would have been nice. As it is, Bleach has one of the smallest worlds I've ever seen. It's as if nothing interesting goes on outside of the main story, no matter where you look.

@Dumhuvud:

One of the assassins would be cool too. Risotto, Ghiaccio or Pesci please.

Like Diavolo, Risotto is nigh impossible to adapt faithfully for a fighting game without ruining the balance or need for skill. Ghiaccio's a nice fit, but Pesci doesn't really have much too him. perhaps if he partnered with Prosciutto, like Hol Horse with G. Geil?

@KaizokuJinbei:

I have a question that may or may not be answerable. Can Naruto get any worse?

Of course. Art could deteriorate. Fight scenes could deteriorate further. The bad reveals people were talking about could happen. He could start wasting panels like Kubo. Lots of things could get worse. Naruto, as bad as it is, is better than a lot of stuff. Heck, it's better than a lot of what one can find on TV nowadays. I'd certainly take it over nearly anything playing on Disney Channel, or Cartoon Network, or the cooking channel, or whatever channel has those ridiculous wedding planning shows. I think you've forgotten how bad shows can get. For all its faults, Naruto still does a lot right.

@RoboBlue:

So… is Kishimoto a racist?

Tobirama is basically set up as a racist, and when given a chance to defend himself, offers this insight into his motives: "I'm not a racist, I just hate bad people. Most Uchiha just happen to BE bad people, but I'm totally not a racist, my best friend was an uchiha! There are a ton of great Uchiha, here's this list of Uchiha that I don't hate because I'm not a racist!"

Sasuke is moved by this speech and vows to be a good person like the 'good' Uchiha. Thus, they go off to stop Madara, the 'bad' Uchiha who wants to commit mass genocide and eliminate all free will. Are we expected to believe that the loss of a few family members drove Madara to be an insane terrorist, and sheer paranoia drove him to abandon the peaceful village that the rest of his clan willingly joined?

What group are the Uchiha meant to allegorically represent, and why is Kishimoto defending his decision to portray them as genetically predisposed to evil?

First of all, Tobirama is not a bad person! Second of all, Uchiha having a predisposition towards evil is a legitimate reason to be wary of them. You're drawing comparisons where they don't exist, because no race on this earth is predisposed towards evil.

@No:

Apart from that, it wasn't too bad, except I have no idea who that's supposed to be at the end at all.

I think it was to show masaki reacting to the hollow energy inside her.

Oh and Kubo is once more reached a point where he's officialy too lazy to come up with chapter titles, so he takes a single one, and uses it for six weeks straight, just adding a random word at the end there.

Cut him a break, he puts way more effort into chapter titles than anyone else. Coming up with titles like "Don't Kill me Volupture" and "Superchunky from Hell" is a difficult task, you know.

@Cyclone_Baroness:

Also Kenpachi…And pretty much all the vice captains. I refuse to believe that they didn't also learn at some point by now. They've had the time.

A 2 year timeskip allowed them all to learn the technique that typically take decades? Kubo has enough Bankai to reveal as is.

Khaini, realizing that the First Hokage and Itachi's paths were identical doesn't explain why he's suddenly fighting for Konoha. He already knew Itachi loved him and was working in Konoha's best interests. The difference is so minute as to be splitting hairs, so there's no reason for it to change things.

Anyway, Bleach was good this week. Nothing unexpected happened, but the story is progressing in an interesting fashion, and the negative space was less than usual. Did anyone else think the contrast was far lesser than usual? It looked rather nice.

Where's that guy who bet a penny on Bleach and Naruto ending satisfactilly? I think you need to turn that in now.

YAY! this just keeps getting better!

@NER:

Karin ruined the chapter for me. BUT EVERYTHING ELSE WAS AMAZING imo at least.
The first Naruto chapter I liked in a long time.
It reminded me of the time I actually was a fanboy of it.

As much as it failed from a storytelling standpoint, this promises to be entertaining.