Bleach Speculation (Chapters 300+)

[uc pseudonym]

Technically all Soul Society members have also died in the real world, so do they count as dead-before-series?

Not necessarily. There seems to be some indication that individuals can be born in Soul Society, which is probably the case for all the royal families. Which raises the question of where their souls come from, though I'm going to bet it's just oversight.

[Doubleshadow]

Which raises the question of where their souls come from, though I'm going to bet it's just oversight.

I considered this, too, then I realized I was giving the whole situation way too much thought and I let it go.

[Ingemar]

Which raises the question of where their souls come from, though I'm going to bet it's just oversight.

Well, abortion rates being what they ar--you know, you're right. It's best not to think about it.

[ich1990]

Bleach 342:

Apparently big tough hollows keep puppies as pets. Strange.

Also, I was looking forward to seeing Orihme get involved in a fight rather than just standing around and acting worried. I hope the puppy-hollow isn't going to upset her fight.

[uc pseudonym]

I wasn't expecting Yami to show up here, so I guess that is interesting. There isn't an automatic shonen formula for how this is going to be resolved (except for the someone new showing up to fight the new opponent, which has gotten a lot of use this arc).

Meanwhile, I have only this to add:

[Doubleshadow]

*looks at comic* Oh, that second to last frame is so wrong.

And yes, the dog. Taking his cues from Tim Burton, huh? Not that I don't love Tim Burton.

Well, at least there is more going on than Ichigo just getting beat on until he suddenly achieves a new power level or something equally obvious.

[MasterDias]

I had forgotten that Yami existed.
When was the last time he actually appeared?

[Elycien]

Don't usually post on this thread but (excuse my Cat-Macro-ese) OMG IS CAN BE ISHIDA TIEM NAO???

I've been waiting for this for what seems like forever. XDD I was kind of coasting through the pillar fights, enjoying the action but waiting for the plot to come back, and now I'm interested. All I need now is for Kubo to remember that Hanatarou also exists (is it too much to hope for a return of Ganju?) and I will be so happy. ^_^

[Ingemar]

All I need now is for Kubo to remember that Hanatarou also exists

This the problem with large casts and low character attrition.

(is it too much to hope for a return of Ganju?)

Is it too much to hope the opposite? [font="Arial Black"]ooooh, burn![/font]

[ich1990]

Bleach 343:

Three cheers for the return of the only (non-scientist) character in the entire series who uses strategy while fighting!

[Doubleshadow]

Alright everyone, you're about to witness one of my rare fangirl moments.

ISHIDA!!! *squeee!*

Moment over.

A character executed an effective and well-thought plan that defeated the enemy for him. I love it.

And he couldn't help bragging, he really does want to be a cool superhero in his mind. XD

Ulquiorra will reveal his Resurrecion soon. Presumably. Hope it's cool.

[GeneD]

Ulquiorra's "Make me" in 342 was cool.

*joins DS in her fangirl moment*

I hope Ulquirra's resurrecion is shown in the next chapter and they don't return to the pillar fights.

[Doubleshadow]

I hope Ulquirra's resurrecion is shown in the next chapter and they don't return to the pillar fights.

D8 Bite your tongue...

[Doubleshadow]

It's out.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! That's his next form? HAAAAA!!! Man, that manga-ka sure knows how to play to the fangirls.

Hehehehehe...

That aside, I'm looking forward to seeing all that splatter animated.

[ich1990]

347:

Am I the only person who is annoyed when writers mess up their narration perspectives? It seems that, in order to bump up the suspense, they can't help but switching into third-person omniscient to tell us about some horrible thing that is going to happen in the future.

As a result, they totally mess up the flow of time. The only way Ishida could validly know the future is if Bleach is a story within a story, with Ishida narrating the inner story. There is nothing else to suggest that this is the case, so we are left with a plot hole.

Please, if you are going to write the chapter in third-person objective, stick with that style at least until the end of the chapter.

[GeneD]

378/9

I'm actually enjoying the Ichigo/Batman fight. One thing that annoyed me was that Batman said to Orihime that she couldn't save Ichigo even though I am sure that she's been able to reverse worse injuries, or am I mistaken?

Also, it was really dramatic when Ichigo [spoiler]died...again.[/spoiler]

[uc pseudonym]

I'm not terribly pleased for a variety of reasons:
1) Ulquiorra arbitrarily has a second release.
2) Random narration issues as has been mentioned.
3) It appears Ichigo is going to solve everything by brute protagonist force again.
4) I was honestly hoping this was the end of the arc and there would be real consequences of some kind (such as Ichigo going through death).

[ich1990]

I am almost tempted to forgive the random protagonist power-up on the basis of Ichigo's cool new look. What a relief to find that he has horns! For a second there I was worried that he was going to become a bishounen with the long hair and all.

Aside from that, I guess I should have guessed that Orihime's true power could only be unleashed by crying. Ichigo, man, why didn't you make the girl cry three fights ago? You could have saved yourself a lot of blood loss.

[Ingemar]

...??!!?!?!

See, this is why I hate Ichigo so much. Instead of training or switching tactics or thinking his way through things, all that he has to do is get his heinie slapped around until he is wounded and then the Grace and Blessings of Tite give him a random power up to smite his enemy. (In case you are wondering, I'm quite bitter about Ichigo vs. Kenpachi in retrospect). This is even more egregious than the whole "Saiyans gain power after recovering from a fatal wound" mechanic of DBZ.

I'm wondering how far Kubo can keep drawing from the "Give Ichigo new power up bin" until he starts sprouting four additional arms to wield five more zanpakuto (all with bankai, of course) and has a resureccion form reminiscent of FFVII's Safer Sephiroth.

All that, of course, is absolutely ludicrous. But how much more ludicrous is it than Horny Ichigo?

[Elycien]

I am almost tempted to forgive the random protagonist power-up on the basis of Ichigo's cool new look. What a relief to find that he has horns! For a second there I was worried that he was going to become a bishounen with the long hair and all.

Aside from that, I guess I should have guessed that Orihime's true power could only be unleashed by crying. Ichigo, man, why didn't you make the girl cry three fights ago? You could have saved yourself a lot of blood loss.

I usually just lurk this thread but I have to say - I don't think it's her power that's doing anything, yet. She's just freaking out, that's all. Ichigo heard her, wanted to protect her, and then WOAH HOLLOW TIME.

Whichever way you swing as far as ships go, you can't deny that Ichigo's motivated by protecting his friends, and that hearing a friend in distress was the catalyst for him doing... something. Of course, where Hollow!Ichigo comes into this remains to be seen, because Hollow!Ichigo probably doesn't care one way or another what happens to her.

In other news, Ishida is STILL AWESOME. xD Rescuing Hime with one arm. Although, I do kinda hope he gets the other arm back soon. >> Hopefully, pretty soon Orihime will stop BSOD'ing over Ichigo and realize that Ishida's the helpless one at the moment. Seeing as he's an archer and having two hands is ideal.

[Mave]

I was totally expecting Orihime to release some spectacular hidden power inside of her (which the whole Bleach fan community has stupendously overlooked) and amazingly turn the whole situation around ==> i.e. kick Ul's butt and heal Quincy-boy and *sob sob sob* over Ichigo's dead body, allowing her tears of love to miraculously fill up that hollow gap in his chest and resurrect him. *Love saves the day wheee!!*

But nope, that didn't happen.

Ichigo becomes horny & hairy, instead.

[ich1990]

I usually just lurk this thread but I have to say - I don't think it's her power that's doing anything, yet. She's just freaking out, that's all. Ichigo heard her, wanted to protect her, and then WOAH HOLLOW TIME.

Ah, my mistake. For some reason I thought that she was in the process of healing him, and the emotional trauma of recent events had caused her to "overheal" and unlock more of his power (or some such thing).

[GeneD]

Ah, my mistake. For some reason I thought that she was in the process of healing him, and the emotional trauma of recent events had caused her to "overheal" and unlock more of his power (or some such thing).

This might have been a slight more believable than what supposedly happened due to pure protagonist power.

[Doubleshadow]

...

Okay, I'm calling it.

LAME!

Her tears saved his sorry butt? Tears?! Is she supposed to be useless? Does Kubo think she it too popular or something?

[Doubleshadow]

Not a double post! 'Tis been a while.

I think Halibel wins the "Least Clothing on a Female Character" Prize, which is frightening considering how stiff the competition is. (O.o; ) Bummer. I love her personality in light of the kind of character she is.

[uc pseudonym]

I think we deserve another post here, given that since our last discussion:
- The Espada all have themes, apparently.
- Yammi is 0 (not exactly expected).
- Hitsugaiya has gained a new power from popularity polls.

As for the Yammi thing, I honestly wonder if this wasn't pulled by Kubo as a stunt. I don't want to spend the time to look it up, but I feel like when the Espada were introduced they actually said 1-10 as opposed to the top ten. But even so, it was explicitly stated that there are 21 "main" Arrancar and we know that someone was numbered #21, which makes the overall numbers off. For that matter, I think the #11 guy said referred to the ones above him in a way that precludes the possibility of a non-Espada #10.

I think Halibel wins the "Least Clothing on a Female Character" Prize, which is frightening considering how stiff the competition is. (O.o]
It's also kind of cool that she gets the "Sacrifice" theme. But sadly, her outfits keep getting dumber-looking.

Also, I have been meaning to mention:

Ah, my mistake. For some reason I thought that she was in the process of healing him, and the emotional trauma of recent events had caused her to "overheal" and unlock more of his power (or some such thing).

This is a cool idea. It would have made so many of these chapters actually interesting.

[ich1990]

- The Espada all have themes, apparently.

This would be interesting except it seems like it was tacked on as an afterthought. Also, as a general question, how do you die of nihilism? I would say suicide, but wouldn't that fall under the category of despair?

As for the Yammi thing, I honestly wonder if this wasn't pulled by Kubo as a stunt.

All I know is that someone that ugly can not be the most powerful Espada.

It's also kind of cool that she gets the "Sacrifice" theme. But sadly, her outfits keep getting dumber-looking.

I think Halibel wins the "Least Clothing on a Female Character" Prize, which is frightening considering how stiff the competition is. (O.o]

- Hitsugaiya has gained a new power from popularity polls.

One would almost think that Bleach is in danger of being cut, considering its increasing use of fan-service as an attempt to boost readership. Well, at least that old guy's second form looks promising.

This is a cool idea. It would have made so many of these chapters actually interesting.

The world of accidental self-delusion is a happy one it seems.

[GeneD]

I'm confused. Does that mean Yammi is the most powerful Espada?

All I know is that someone that ugly can not be the most powerful Espada.

Agreed.

I found the "Old Age" Espada's explanation of his power (the inevitability of death) to be very ironic. With regard to the world Bleach is set in, since there is a constant reincarnation cycle between Soul Society and Earth, and to the manga itself, with its indestructible cast of main characters.

I like Halibel, but the fan-service seems to be sky rocketing. I agree that it might be due to a shrinking fan base. I mean, the last two new female characters to be introduced have both been very "fan-servicy". If Orihime had any use whatsoever and underwent a power up, I bet she'd loose have her clothes too.

[sharikqah]

I mean, the last two new female characters to be introduced have both been very "fan-servicy".

Speaking of fan-service, the way the story appears to be progressing in most recent episodes (357-358):

[Spoiler] Soi Fon is waiting for Yoruichi to save her. Hitsugaiya is waiting for outside help. The Visoreds are just waiting around the corner to enter the fray. [/Spoiler]

Getting a bit predictable.

[sharikqah]

Finalluy, if Kubo doesn't decide to prolong his fans excitement for a few more chapters, then

Spoiler for latest Manga chapter:
[Spoiler] We should be able to see Soi Fon's Ban Kai verrry soon. It's been a while since a Captain has shown his/ her Ban Kai. [/Spoiler]