Bleach Speculation (Chapters 300+)

[Yamamaya]

Soo, I figured I would revive this topic to discuss the latest "twist" in the Bleach storyline, Tousen has a Vaizard mask and Yammy is the Hulk.

This week's chapter actually wasn't that bad. I've been waiting for Komamura to fight again for a while. We got a little bit of insight into Tousen this week.

Kubo is trying to build up to Aizen vs. Ichigo. Apparently Ichigo's reiatsu is now twice that of an ordinary captain's in just his bankai form. I believe it was mentioned before that Aizen uses twice a normal captain's reiatsu to activate the ball thing(can't remember it's name).

[Doubleshadow]

Too good chapters. How pleasant.

Interesante. I like it that there was such a misunderstanding between characters; it adds depth.

[ich1990]

Hm, amusing. That was actually really good, for Bleach.

The exchange between the anthromorph and the blind guy was fairly good, for Bleach, and the fight between Aizen and what's-his-name is shaping up to be interesting as well (for Bleach).

Out of curiosity, which sense do you think he controls? I am thinking touch, because it has the most utility in a fight outside of sight. Sound and would be a good distraction also. Smell and taste would be pretty much useless.

[Winry]

I am really excited to see the fight between Shinji and Aizen. Should be a good one =D The conflict between the blind guy and the dog is not so great to me for some reason

Hm, sense of touch would be an interesting one. I'm not sure he is referring to any of the 5 senses though, because Aizen can do total hypnosis which kind of encompasses all the senses already so it would be a bit of an overlap. I was thinking by "senses" he may be meaning a person's ability to think normally or make sound decisions. Not exactly sure what that would look like though, so maybe not.

[Yamamaya]

Indeed. It is nice to get some good chapters in Bleach for a change. I just hope Shinji's zanpakto isn't just plot fodder to fight Aizen i.e. his shikai is built to perfectly negate Aizen's shikai.

I found Tosen's exchange interesting. "Justice is not always good but it is still justice!" To which Koma replies, "Then there is no reason to talk. We cannot change each others minds. My view of justice is in opposition to your view of it." A bit philosophical for ole Kubo. Niceeee.

[Ingemar]

"Justice is not always good but it is still justice!"

Tosen makes Plato cry. [/philosophy][/Protagoras]

Anyway, apparently [spoiler]Tosen dies.[/spoiler] About time.

[ich1990]

Did that fight seriously just end within one chapter of the Ressurecion (sp)?

[Yamamaya]

Actually I found it a rather fitting end for Tosen. As soon as he gains sight, he truly becomes blind both physically and metaphorically.

[Whitefang]

I don't know for certain if the fight is over. We only know he lost his sight.

[spoiler]
2 Things: I hope Tosen is dead, and I hope Gin and Aizen did not undergo Hollowfication. I just don't think it fits Gin's character to do so, and honestly, how much more powerful can Aizen get if he can create Arrancar?
[/spoiler]

[uc pseudonym]

EDIT: Question for everyone - has Aizen directly killed anyone so far? If I recall everyone he fought in Soul Society lived, though he may or may not have killed the Central 46. The reason I ask is that if no one can think of someone else, Aizen may be one of the only villains to have killed more of his allies (Hallibel) than his enemies.

At the risk of repeating myself, this all feels a bit off to me. Tousen dying when we haven't seen much of anything from Aizen or Gin? No real information about the King and company, and likely no involvement in the final battle from Urahara and company? Note this doesn't indicate whether or not he's actually dead, but typically in shonen you become more mortal for every ability you reveal and Tousen is theoretically out of cards.

All of that seems to indicate that there will be another arc. I'm not against that on its own, but I am displeased if that means an entirely new set of villains. That makes the Espada a huge waste of characters (the same is true of the Vaizards, most likely). Rather than tossing aside most of them, it would have been much more interesting to make them into enduring antagonists that could carry the next arc.

If my prediction in this regard is correct, that means that this battle will likely end prematurely after Ichigo loses to Aizen. In order to establish him as the villain. Again. Perhaps there is some alternative method to getting what he wants, leading into the next arc. I'm not exactly holding out for a plot twist.

[Yamamaya]

We're not sure who killed Gotei 13. It might have been Aizen or it could have been Gin who did all the dirty work.

Oh yes, Kubo Tite has confirmed that there will be a small arc after the Arrancar one and then a brand spanking new arc.

Here's what Kubo Tite said during Jump Festa this year (info taken from a Japanese blogger):

Quote:
久保先生いはく

今後のブリーチの展開は

来年中に破面篇を終了し

短いシリーズを描いて

その後もうひとつシリーズを描くそうです。

破面篇がもう4年で

主人公なのに一護は

JC2巻分全然出てきてないのは意図した事でないらしい。

ストーリーは大まかにしか作られず細かい点はライブ感を大切に描かれているとか。

同じ様な話は

以前ジャンバンでもされていましたが

短いシリーズがとても気になります

Arrancar arc to end by next mid-year (June 2010).

A short arc will follow.

After that, a new arc will begin.

Arrancar arc has been going on for 4 years.

Quote:
月曜発売のWJ03&04合併号

背表紙はルキア


久保先生いはく

背表紙は

全部一度に描いても良いが

久保先生は10冊ずつを一度に描いているそうです。

さて

このWJ03&04

来年冬の

劇場版ブリーチの情報が載ります！


Weekly Jump No.3 & No.4 double issue on Monday.
Front cover with Naruto.
Kubo-sensei draws the inner cover. Spread is of Rukia.
No.3,4 issue will contain news of Bleach movie #4.

This info was on Bleachaslyum. http://bleachasylum.com/showthread.php?t=767

[Ingemar]

Arrancar arc to end by next mid-year (June 2010).

A short arc will follow.

After that, a new arc will begin.

Arrancar arc has been going on for 4 years.

[SIZE="5"]PACING![/SIZE]

Aizen finally got cut. The series could end right now. I just can't think of anything twist or development awesome enough to make up for [font="Arial Black"]four years[/font] of lackluster plot.

[Yamamaya]

[SIZE="5"]PACING![/SIZE]

Aizen finally got cut. The series could end right now. I just can't think of anything twist or development awesome enough to make up for [font="Arial Black"]four years[/font] of lackluster plot.

This week's chapter was actually pretty good. Too bad we have to wait two more weeks for another chapter. Anyways, pacing is the greatest weakness of Kubo's writing. He either has a flurry of activity that happens all at once. Generally this tends to damage the expectations of fans(aka Stark getting beaten down just by Shunsei's shikai). Or he drags down the series with long fight scenes that take forever to end and endless buildup chapters.

[Fish and Chips]

Arrancar arc to end by next mid-year (June 2010).

A short arc will follow.

After that, a new arc will begin.

*Drops Bleach.*

[Yamamaya]

I've heard a rumor that the short arc will be about Ichigo's dad, Isshin.

[Whitefang]

Does anyone understand what happened with Tosen?

I'm not sure whether Aizen killed him, Tosen killed Hisagi, or Tosen just spontaneously combusted and killed Hisagi and Komamura.

[Ingemar]

So apparently Aizen has an indestructible (or perhaps kido-enhanced) neck, dances around Ichigo, demonstrates his strategic prowess and gloats all the while. How, pray, does Soul Society think they have a chance of winning?

[Whitefang]

It felt like Aizen was halfheartedly trying to recruit Ichigo.

[Myoti]

Anyways, pacing is the greatest weakness of Kubo's writing.

And making good panels.

And backgrounds.

And likable main characters.

And believable females.

*Drops Bleach.*

I'd join you if each chapter didn't take me an average of about two minutes to complete.

The reason I ask is that if no one can think of someone else, Aizen may be one of the only villains to have killed more of his allies (Hallibel) than his enemies.

Yeah, that's about the only one as far as I can tell, and the whole killing her off bit was rather irritating. It's like he just wanted an excuse to kill someone off.

Didn't help either how disappointed I was in Hallibel's new form to begin with. Rather Shonen way to go, making the only female monster the one to get less clothes/armor than everyone else (and her face mask was great! Why did you take it away?!). Well, that, and I found her actual power kinda predictable. : [

[Ingemar]

And making good panels.

[SIZE="4"]The sad thing is that this is one of his better panels.[/SIZE]

Apparently Hitsugaya's sword is a boomerang now.

[Yamamaya]

Tite has always been horrible at drawing slashes in his panels. They look good in the anime but in manga they look freaking terrible.

[Myoti]

The sad thing is that this is one of his better panels.

*sobs*

Ya know, I've also really come to believe the entire reason he gave ALL of his characters the ability to fly was due to the fact he realized skies were easier to draw than actual backgrounds. : I

And I may have forgotten (or just turned that apathetic), but what in the world happened to Gin?

[Ingemar]

Gin? Who's Gin? [/sarcasm]

It also appears Kubo graduated from the Rob Liefeld Academy of [Not] Drawing Feet.

[Ingemar]

You know, I wonder what Aizen has been doing all this time if he's so freaking awesome that he needs neither Kyouka Suigetsu nor his army of Espada to get anything done. Does he just like to preen?

[Doubleshadow]

I am infinitely amused by the idea that Tite Kubo does research.

Probably means he's making sure the Japanese to Spanish translations from Babel Fish means what he thinks they mean. We wouldn't a repeat of his bad Japanese to German translations.

In regards to the last chapter: The Ultimate Bad Guy (?) is tough. We have established this already.

[Ingemar]

So we waded through all that padding for... more padding. Um, OK.

I wouldn't mind if a chapter full of Aizen curb stomping people if it meant that people actually died. That way the game would change in a meaningful way rather than the convention of "heroes clutch their wounds while staring at the bad guy intently" that never goes away.

[uc pseudonym]

I should be happier about this, given that fights involving Aizen tend to be some of the shortest in Bleach. I also like the idea of a villain powerful enough to take out everyone who chooses to use subtle methods, but this only works if there is a good reason or good writing in general. Instead you get the sense that Aizen is just sort of ambling around and doing things at random.

To offset my apathy regarding this chapter, I'm going to complain about a logical flaw: Ichigo's presence should have no impact on whether or not everyone else can attack. Ichigo can see Aizen accurately, but since everyone else is still under the illusion, they can't receive any information from him.

I really wish they had hand-waved Aizen's power instead of just ignoring it. If they had introduced somebody who could cancel his ability or something I would have shrugged and accepted it. Right now I just find myself preferring to believe that the Aizen everyone thinks they're attacking is really Ichigo (and Ichigo is Aizen).

[Yamamaya]

I have conflicting feelings about this chapter. On the one hand it's kinda cool to see Aizen one shot the entire SS. On the other hand, it's annoying to see him be so hax and just wander around pwning people. I think we're all getting tired of waiting for Aizen's "master plan."

[Fish and Chips]

Alright, so technically, since I've dropped any pretense of caring for or following Bleach I shouldn't have much to do with this thread, but this latest vein of comments is striking me as familiar. I think it was Ingemar who said it, but the entire purpose of having a master plan, of having any strategy at all above and beyond "Kill people, profit," is that you lack the certainty of victory through direct means. In other words, if you don't have the strength, use subterfuge.

If Aizen is strong enough that he can sacrifice every last one of his lieutenants, including killing one of them personally for no adequately explained reason, and fight and take on the entire cast single-handedly, no sweat, why is Aizen wasting his time? Manipulating the Soul Society, faking his own death, inventing an army of hollow super soldiers to die like animals, only to kill of the fringe remaining himself, while leaving all his actual enemies grievously wounded but easily alive?

What is Aizen doing.

[Ingemar]

Spoiler

OK, there's no way that last part actually happened, unless Kubo really is as sloppy a writer as I think it is. But at least it's a departure from the series' tried and true method of "hit things with swords."