Bleach - Official Discussion Thread MK2

[Gjallarhorn]

This week's chapter was great. I loved that full-page spread...it's now my desktop.

It seems that my sources were right, but man, that was a great chapter. Not a whole lot of development, but it really got me going for next week's chapter.

But now that Noitora shows up, I bet it will switch over to either Ishida and Renji, or Chad. I'm still really curious about Chad, though.

[Tenchi Masaki]

Did you retouch the scan Xero to make it more fitting as a wallpaper?

If so...could I have a copy? haha.

I'm not sure if I'm looking at that panel correctly but did Noitora just cut Grimmjow in half...? I'm sure Orihime would be able to heal him if that were the case seeing as we now know her powers reverse time/negate an event from happening and not repair wounds.

If Kubo decides to continue with Ichigo's struggle I will be seriously surprised. I agree though Xero, this chapter made me pysched for next week's to see which perspective the events will turn to (or I suppose we can remain with Ichigo's PoV).

[Gjallarhorn]

All did was put it in paint and get rid of some of the black on the top and bottom of the image, so that it was proportional to my screen resolution (1280x800, widescreen).

And, no, I also looked at when Grimmjow got stabbed, but it appears it was more of him being impaled that cut in half. Either way, that will keep him down, if not kill him.

And, I'm surprised that Inoue didn't heal Ichigo immediately after the fight, seeing as he is so beat up and she is obviously head-over-heels for the guy.

[Tenchi Masaki]

Alrighty, thanks for the info on the scan Xero.

I think Inoue is in complete shock after witnessing Ichigo go Hollow and then unleashing all that power on Grimmjow. This fight was on a whole different scale than the Byakuya one so I think she's acting all spacey because she just can't imagine being this close to Ichigo during one of his battles. Plus, this battle was for her while the Byakuya fight was for Rukia's sake. I think she's just taking it all in before she heals Ichigo.

I don't Noitora's the type of Espada that is going to let Orihime heal Ichigo though. Let's hope he wants to fight Ichigo at full strength rather than within an inch of his life.

The filler this week seems interesting. "Hueco Mundo Civil War - Ulquiorra dead" is the title of the episode. Well those of us who read the manga know that is a false fact, but it'll be interesting to see a filler episode with Hueco Mundo as its setting.

[Wio]

And, I'm surprised that Inoue didn't heal Ichigo immediately after the fight, seeing as he is so beat up and she is obviously head-over-heels for the guy.

It was Ichigo's reiatsu.

[Opacus]

Bah, the episode had some interesting story in it, but the animation! It was trully drawn patheticly ugly! Probably the worst animated Bleach episode I've yet seen.

[Gjallarhorn]

It was Ichigo's reiatsu.

What was his reiatsu? That has nothing to do with my question. I am asking why, after Ichigo fought Grimmjow, Orihime didn't try and heal him, seeing as three chapters ago she was so concerned with how injured he was.

Bah, the episode had some interesting story in it, but the animation! It was trully drawn patheticly ugly! Probably the worst animated Bleach episode I've yet seen.

Episode? We aren't talking about an episode. And, yeah, the anime is currently in filler(again), so expect the animation to be crap. They are trying to keep airing episodes, but reserving money for later, non-filler episodes. In addition to that, long running series like Bleach tend to fluctuate in the quality of the animation. But, then again, there was a lot of times during the Soul Society arc when some things really were drawn like garbage...Renji a few times as well.

[Tenchi Masaki]

I have some good news and bad news, bad news first as always...

No New Bleach Chapter this week...and no new Bleach episode this upcoming Wednesday/Thursday. I seriously want to know which point of view the manga is going to take after what went down at the end of the last week's chapter...guess we have to wait one more week *cries*.

Good news...

"Ichigo vs. Grimmjow, the 11-second Battle"

is the title for episode 139 of Bleach.

So it seems fillers will be ending sooner than we thought ^^!

We can all relax and look forward to the Bleach Anime returning to the original arc, and forget about Hitsuguya playing soccer and Yumichika baking a cake!

[Wio]

What was his reiatsu? That has nothing to do with my question. I am asking why, after Ichigo fought Grimmjow, Orihime didn't try and heal him, seeing as three chapters ago she was so concerned with how injured he was.

Think about it. He is a vizard with power greater than grimjaw. Don't you remember when the captain of squad 1 was preparing to battle? That leutenant fainted.

[Tenchi Masaki]

Just took a peek at the Japanese version of the Bleach Chapter this week!

Without giving too much away and basing everything on the visuals, Noitora and Ichigo begin their bout and Orihime seems to be in danger. We find our Noitora's Espada rank which might be obvious to some of us but its nice to see the number revealed.

At the end of the chapter the story rolls back towards Ishida and Renji (FINALLY!) and it seems we'll finally see if the Quincy and Shinigami pair prevails against the cunning Espada.

I'll be gone for the weekend so I won't know exactly what's going down in Bleach until Sunday when I get back *tears*.

Take it easy guys and have an awesome weekend.

[Gjallarhorn]

Okay, so, I thought Nell was pretty cool in the first place, but now...damn. That's just awesome. Though, this probably means that Nell will have a "true form", and end up looking as...er...womanly...as Yoruichi. Heh. That's Kubo Tite's writing for you...

[Tenchi Masaki]

Okay, so, I thought Nell was pretty cool in the first place, but now...damn. That's just awesome. Though, this probably means that Nell will have a "true form", and end up looking as...er...womanly...as Yoruichi. Heh. That's Kubo Tite's writing for you...

My thoughts exactly.

I suppose next chapter will be a flashback story of Nell's past so the action happening right now will be taking a backseat. In the strange event that no past is revealed, I want to see the Ishida and Renji fight conclude or at least reach a breaking point. I have a feeling they'll end up switching "dance partners" so to speak, because if you're fighting yourself then you know what you're capable of and the limit of your abilities. Ishida can tell Renji his weaknesses and vice versa then the two can go ahead and kill each other's dopplegangers off.

Nell with a womanly body though...we know her saliva has healing purposes so I wonder what happens when you Kiss Espada Nell...haha okay too much spacing out there.

So maybe Nell's "brothers" are really her subordinates?

Anyways, great chapter this week with a cliffhanger that is more of a revelation then cutting off a heart-racing fight. And I prefer these chapter endings than the whole "...is ____ defeated?!?!?" conclusions that seem to be a trend for the majority of the recent chapters.

[Wio]

Nell seemed to be so useless. I guess that's why she no longer made the cut.

[Gjallarhorn]

I've been thinking this for a while, but, I really can't stand how little content is being put into each chapter at this point. If you think about it, Tite used to put a decent amount of material into each chapter, but now, it's just one or two things happening per chapter. Fox example, in the last chapter, Ichigo dodged Nnotra's(correct spelling of his name, apparently) attack, got beaten up, Orihime can't find Nell, Nell is a former Espada. Before that, Ichigo and Nnotra fight, Ishida and Renji run in a circle. It really isn't much per chapter anymore...

[Tenchi Masaki]

Kubo is probably trying to milk the Bleach machine for all its worth at this point. Most likely he has the entire arc laid out in front of him but continues to slow the pace of the story progression to keep us on our toes. It won't be before long that most of the fanbase will get impatient with this sudden halt in character/story development and begin to point fingers at Tite.

I've noticed the decline of story progression as well Xero and hopefully Kubo will quicken the pace of the arc sometime in the near future. Overall, I think he's getting the effect that he wants from the Bleach fans:

Ending every chapter in a way that we HAVE to read next week's chapter.

I seriously hope he cranks up the pace with the Hueco Mundo/Rescue Orihime Arc already. The rest of the Shinigami in Soul Society are just itching for their time to shine and they won't get that chance until Ichigo and company are done with their business in Los Noches. Knowing Kubo's style though someone from Soul Society or the real world (Urahara/Ichigo's father) could interfere in a "hopeless" fight sometime in the future ^^.

[Souhi]

And here I was, thinking that the chapters flew by simply because I'm a manga ravaging fan. I guess looking back on it, things have been stretched thinly.

Nnotra? o_O For real? Crap, I got so used to Noitora.

Anyway, the Nell thing was a possibility from the beginning of the arc I suppose. I had really thought she and her tag along band of friends were simply comic relief, her slurred speech and random blurbs included.

To be an ex-espada will certainly be interesting. She must've been on the lower half of the chain, if Nnotora cracked her mask and defeated her so easily (or so he claimed). Quite a mouth on that guy by the way.

Flashback or some chapter dedicated to explaining her backstory is pretty standard.

Yay.

EDIT: Anyone else disgusted by Grantz's release? Freaked me out. I'm really pumped to see how that battle plays out as well, but it'll probably be shown in snippets as well >_>

[Gjallarhorn]

Yeah...I wasn't a big fan on Grantz's resurreccion. Grimmjow's was awesome, though. I'm really wondering what Ulquiorra's might be. I'm not so concerned with Nnotra's, but we'll probably end up seeing it in a few chapters.

[Tenchi Masaki]

I get the feeling Nell's number in the Espada was probably 5 and Noitora wanted to usurp her seat. That could easily explain the hatred Noitora bears for Nell, but I guess the flashback chapter will reveal everything OR Nell's espada transformation last week will cause her to regain memories of being an Espada and she'll just state her former rank and when she was knocked out by Noitora.

The Grantz fight will most likely end like this seeing as everyone is fighting their mirror image in the same area:

Ishida and Renji will switch opponents pitting Ishida vs Doppleganger Renji and Renji vs Doppleganger Ishida.

Throughout the fight Ishida and Renji will pass on their "weaknesses" to one another in order to exploit it on their respective clones.

Grantz will have a fit and then we'll probably see Renji and Ishida do a team-up attack. Perhaps a Bamboon Cannon coupled with a Zwienhender(sp?) shot(s).

Ulquiorra's release will be interesting since I never expected Grimmjow's to resemble a Panther. I honestly thought Grimmjow would be a Shark of some sort (yeah corny assumption based on JAWS). Noitora has a feminine body, in my opinion, and I bet his release gives him a bit more bulk to match his weapon.

Either way, this arc needs to wrap up soon so we can include the Vaizards and the Gotei 13 in on the action.

[Mugetsu]

I think Nell was probably around 5 as well. Nnotra (shudder) said something about attacking her from behind so maybe Nell was stronger than he was at the time. Plus he looked kind of worried when Nell transformed. Though honestly, Nnotra seems like the type who would attach anyone from behind regardless of strength. Maybe his way of proving that he is the strongest is to sneak attack everyone above him.

Ishida & Renji's fight is taking too long. I feel like they keep making Renji look weaker & weaker with every fight.

[Tenchi Masaki]

I just read this week's chapter...

Wow I don't wanna say anything until you guys have read the chapter. It was SUPER short...but oh man Kubo packed some crazy action in those few pages. Although the story progressed by like five minutes...Nell's dirty little secret...oh dear you guys are gonna just go bonkers (at least I did).

Damn, even though this chapter was EXTREMELY short I was surprisingly satisfied at what was revealed about Nell.

Check it out already so we can discuss and just go bananas over what happened haha. I seriously don't know why I got all crazy when I saw that Panel in this week's chapter...you guys will know what I'm talking about ^^.

[Souhi]

Nnotra must have dealt one heck of a blow.

Nell was number 3? Dang o_O; Stronger than Ulquiorra even? Or has the ranks of the Espada grown more powerful? Either way she's strong in her own right.

Note: I haven't read the chapter yet, just read the profile on Wikipedia

[Gjallarhorn]

Chapter was good. Not a lot of development, but a lot of action. Real action. Not the iffy stuff we've been getting since Ichigo defeated Grimmjow.

Anyway, I love Nel even more now. As Souhi said, the newer Espada ranks are stronger than the old, but, if Nel just happened to go missing, then they would have just replaced her, meaning she is still very powerful compared to the current Espada. We know that she can easily handle the current number 5 Espada.
One more thing to worry about though...is that two hour limit that Ulquiorra was sealed for approaching? It has been a while...

Also, I'm willing to bet that soon, next chapter or the chapter after that, Nnotra uses his resurreccion, fights evenly with Nel, Nel gets serious, owns the hell out of him. (I r in kubo tite'z hed, steelin his bleech)

[Tenchi Masaki]

One more thing to worry about though...is that two hour limit that Ulquiorra was sealed for approaching? It has been a while...

Also, I'm willing to bet that soon, next chapter or the chapter after that, Nnotra uses his resurreccion, fights evenly with Nel, Nel gets serious, owns the hell out of him. (I r in kubo tite'z hed, steelin his bleech)

I've reached that conclusion as well Xero, but there's a minor tweak in how I percieve the future chapters. Perhaps, Noitora will get owned by Nell but in the aftermath, Ulquiorra breaks free from the seal and finishes off a now weakened Nell (after the hypothesized fight with Noitora).

The Story will probably pan back and forth between the Grantz v. Ishida/Renji fight to lengthen the whole progression of the manga as well.

I guess the bright side to all of this is that the anime is going to be at the current manga arc in a few episodes (my guess is in 2 episodes). They just have to do an "aftermath" episode and then the whole deal with Ichigo getting healed by Orihime and Rukia/Renji being taken back to Soul Society by Kenpachi and Byakuya.

The wait for me is finally over and most likely Ishida will make his return in 2-3 weeks. I'm excited for Chad as well because I'm looking forward as to how they animate his fight scene...although the outcome of his endeavors is heartbreaking.

[Kitsumeyo]

Wow, was surprised to see that Nel was

 

former 3rd espada

Loved the action in this chapter despite the fact that it was short.

Also, I'm willing to bet that soon, next chapter or the chapter after that, Nnotra uses his resurreccion, fights evenly with Nel, Nel gets serious, owns the hell out of him. (I r in kubo tite'z hed, steelin his bleech)

I kind of agree with ya, sept I think next chapter Nnotra will do his release, somehow gets Nel to go into a mini flashback, then gets owned by Nel. Chapter after that I wish (but prob wont happen) would focus on Renji and Ishida's fight...but more likely wont

Would be happy as well if Ulquiorra finally comes out of that seal and faces Nel afterwards.

[Wio]

That could happen.... or Orihime could manage to heal Ichigo somehow, and he could step in, being more powerfull than before. It's the oldest one in the book, but it is not uncommont.