Bleach

[arus2001]

I think for me it's a matter of timing. We just went through a needlessly long fight with a gag villain where a few good guys got bitch tiered. I personally felt Renji's reveal to be pretty underwhelming, disregarding all the jabber of what it was or wasn't after. And, well, the baby!

[Serra]

And we're probably going to have a few more flashbacks of his history before this is all over, so interrupting the flow of the battles for this one when he's not actually there feels a bit out of place.

[Charismatic]

I'm confused at how much hate this chapter is getting here.

Kubo is finally revealing the origin of the current main villain, and it's got seriously awesome horroresque vibes, it explains some of the weirdness of previous chapters (like Bach having KG9 and Cang Du killed), it shows which side Uryu is on, how much he's screwed, and it gives information on the letters that he gives out.

Everywhere except for here is mostly positive on this chapter, including me (I think it's the best chapter in quite a while), but everyone here seems to hate it. In comparison, I thought Naruto sucked; nothing happened except for revealing that Spiral Zetsu was using an unexplained golem thing out of nowhere to fight the Kages, Hinata failing again, and the main characters dying (except not, because they're not going to die).

I'm seriously baffled.

Gonna have to agree. Especially with that last line.
Fucking baffled.

[Sunrider]

I expect we'll have at least two chapters of his showdown with Yamamoto, perhaps a few more of his time prior to his resurrection.

[Xno Kappa]

I'm confused at how much hate this chapter is getting here.

Kubo is finally revealing the origin of the current main villain, and it's got seriously awesome horroresque vibes, it explains some of the weirdness of previous chapters (like Bach having KG9 and Cang Du killed), it shows which side Uryu is on, how much he's screwed, and it gives information on the letters that he gives out.

Everywhere except for here is mostly positive on this chapter, including me (I think it's the best chapter in quite a while), but everyone here seems to hate it. In comparison, I thought Naruto sucked; nothing happened except for revealing that Spiral Zetsu was using an unexplained golem thing out of nowhere to fight the Kages, Hinata failing again, and the main characters dying (except not, because they're not going to die).

I'm seriously baffled.

There was no need to explain why K-BG9 and Cang Du had to die. It was already typical "you failed the head super villain with a god complex" cliche established early on in this arc with the arrancar fodder. I'm also willing to go out on a limb and say there was absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind in this thread whose side Uryu was on. The letter branding bit was silly as shit, only reminded me of how the Espada each representing a certain aspect of death was a blatant afterthought.

It was convoluted drivel put in for the sake of being convoluted that added little to the story. It's typical Kubo 101. Bach's not gonna die the way the last panel insinuates he can die. You also say it revealed his origin, I say it just said he was a Hellen Keller jesus/parasite baby for whatever reason.

[Abandon]

lol

[Gredival]

The letter branding bit was silly as shit, only reminded me of how the Espada each representing a certain aspect of death was a blatant afterthought.

It was convoluted drivel put in for the sake of being convoluted that added little to the story. It's typical Kubo 101.

The soul absorption thing was also already used just recently in Yamamoto's Bankai where everyone he's ever killed can be raised from the dead to fight for him.

And how did this guy survive the however many thousand years he slept in that song/poem or whatever without losing his sight/hearing?

[arus2001]

Well, if I interpreted this shit right, if he doesn't brand/consume people, he'll eventually go back to the baby state. Since the Quincy were generally wiped out, he was probably weakened over time by an inability to recruit. With a lot of us wondering where all the fuck these Quincies suddenly came from, it makes me wonder if someone was simply waiting to "recruit" people for him at his command to thus create all these new letter folk or what.

[kuronosan]

Well, if I interpreted this shit right, if he doesn't brand/consume people, he'll eventually go back to the baby state. Since the Quincy were generally wiped out, he was probably weakened over time by an inability to recruit. With a lot of us wondering where all the fuck these Quincies suddenly came from, it makes me wonder if someone was simply waiting to "recruit" people for him at his command to thus create all these new letter folk or what.

It was James. James did it.

[Seha]

I love Bleach. I am aware it's full of cliche shounen tropes and overall linear unoriginal development, but I just enjoy so much the wide cast of characters and their kinky powers. One thing I can't stand about Kubo though is how he occasionally uses supposedely strong characters as fodder <_< Kensei's defeat was almost as ridiculous as Starrk's death.

[Gredival]

I think almost everyone agrees that the auxiliary cast is more interesting than the main cast.

But part of me also feels like it's just because Kubo ruins things he handles for too long, so we like the characters we see less of.

[Xno Kappa]

I love Bleach. I am aware it's full of cliche shounen tropes and overall linear unoriginal development, but I just enjoy so much the wide cast of characters and their kinky powers. One thing I can't stand about Kubo though is how he occasionally uses supposedely strong characters as fodder <_< Kensei's defeat was almost as ridiculous as Starrk's death.

Starrk's defeat wasn't as bad as the slowpoke chapter pacing made it out to be back then. When you go back and read it in one whole bit you realize it took like 3-4 captain level individuals, two of them vaizards, to take him down.

[Seha]

True he was ganged, I guess it just upset me that Ukitake and Shunsui didn't bankai back then cause "there's people watching".

[arus2001]

Eh, they might have some wiggle room. I think it's been implied Shunsui's bankai is unreliable due to the "gamey" nature of his zanpakuto. Ukitake, unfortunately, has spirit tuberculosis going against him. So it might be an unneeded strain on his body.

[Serra]

I'm still going with Shinsui's would have affected more than just the three of them.

[Fwahm]

Perhaps his bankai is like an amped up version of his shikai, except that the AoE range is enough that everyone at FKT, including the other Captains, would have been caught up in it if they were close enough to see it.

[Odin'sLaw]

I'm still going with Shinsui's would have affected more than just the three of them.

something something Everyone His Zanpakto can see/can see it, is under the Rules of his dirty little game, that's what I've presumed since he fought Stark (which might be a very interesting orgy fight if you let all your team know how to mass 1 hit everything)

[arus2001]

That assumes the rules of the "game" are the same each time. One day it could be colors visible, the next how much skin they're flashing, etc..

[Serra]

Or the shadow game -- first person to get their shadow stepped on gets insta-killed.

Although, now that I say it, that'd make for a pretty hilarious chapter.

[Tokitoki]

Or the shadow game -- first person to get their shadow stepped on gets insta-killed.

Although, now that I say it, that'd make for a pretty hilarious chapter.

Bleach characters waiting at the bus stop, playing shadow tag.