Bleach

[SamanosukeShiva]

what exactly did he do? lol

all i see was "what? what r u doing" "ahh ahh /blush"

[Xno Kappa]

I guess the whole animation of it helped to lend the feeling of what was going on. The manga was just a panel with "ooohs" and "aaahs" lol.

[Nuriko]

It's kinda sad, all the Yachiru shots again make me want to think she's going to do something significant during the fight (like reveal herself to be the name of Kenpachi's sword...), but having read the manga I obviously already know what happens (or doesn't happen) so now it just bothers me seeing them focus on her for no reason. Oh well, maybe it will happen in HM later when Kenpachi has to square off against Yami's true power, or Wonderweiss, or whatever else significant might be left in HM.


Edit - Just noticed Wiki's episode list had been updated. Looks like we're getting the Turn Back the Pendulum arc before hitting fillers again!

201 "Nnoitra Released! Multiplying Arms" "Noitora kaihō! Zōshokushita ude" (ノイトラ解放！増殖した腕) January 6, 2009
202 "Aizen makes his move!" "Aizen Ugokidashita!" January 13, 2008
203 "100 years ago" "Hyaku-nen kako" January 20, 2008

[Scythiroth]

Thank god, I don't want fillers.

[Xno Kappa]

They probably plan on stretching the pendulum arc.

[Zimbabwe Justice]

I wonder if they will ever do anything with Hell? It hasn't been mentioned once since like...episode 6.

[Nuriko]

I just reread the Pendulum Arc and it feels like it could be done in 1 episode, or stretched to 3-4. There's plenty of room for stretching and still keep it entertaining without changing anything story-wise. Lots of places to add random interactions between younger versions of everyone. I just hope they don't stretch it out so much it feels like an actual filler by adding in new characters/conflicts that die/end before the pendulum arc finally concludes.

[Charla]

I'm guessing 2 episodes minimum, and nothing added but the usual "extend this scene a bit and add some comic relief".

[Souj]

weird choice of song to play during Mayuri's perfection speech.

[Odesseiron]

weird choice of song to play during Mayuri's perfection speech.

Yeah, I thought it was a bit odd myself. Didn't really fit too well.

The whole scene with Nemu was played out quite well. Then the comic relief with her and Uryuu. It's funny that they can do all that sex implied comedy, but yet they censor some of the violence. Weird choice. But I got a laugh out of it.

As far as the Turn Back the Pendulum "arc" goes, don't forget 7 minutes of recap in every episode. They can then make it into about 8-10 episodes! It's sad, the manga/anime are a year apart from each other timeline wise, and no ground has been covered, and we'll probably be in another 5 month filler saga soon. That fake captain arc was awful. I didn't watch more than 2 episodes.

[Sho]

The can stretch out the Pendulum Arc to about 6 episodes. Anything more will have too much filler, imo.

[Kyo]

So I just finished episode 170, when does the epada arc continue back, this what seems like a filler seems pretty lame.

[kuronosan]

About episode 190 or so.

Manga spoilers (no more for the next 2 weeks):

Spoiler: show

Ichigo and Ulquiorra face each other down...
Rukia destroys the entire Exequias squad.
Chad and Renji are fighting normal hollows.
No Ishida.
Exequias leader releases and goes one on one with Rukia.
Explosion interrupts them, Rukia looks up at the tower and thinks of Ichigo.
Ulquiorra is blocking Ichigo's attacks and notes that Ichigo is much stronger than before even without his mask and wonders if it is because of Grimmjow or because of Orihimme.
Ichigo uses Getsuga Tenshou but instead of just one beam it splits into two beams.
Ichigo hits Ulquiorra with a two-handed attack, but Ulquiorra blocks it with one hand.
Ulquiorra then stabs Ichigo through the shoulder and fires a point-blank cero.
Ichigo is bloodied but survives. Ulquiorra notes that it is impressive.
He says it is pointless since Orihimme will soon be theirs.
Ichigo responds "That isn't up to you!"
Ulquiorra says "No. It is up to Aizen-sama."
End of chapter.

[Souj]

About episode 190 or so.

Manga spoilers (no more for the next 2 weeks):

Spoiler: show

Ichigo and Ulquiorra face each other down...
Rukia destroys the entire Exequias squad.
Chad and Renji are fighting normal hollows.
No Ishida.
Exequias leader releases and goes one on one with Rukia.
Explosion interrupts them, Rukia looks up at the tower and thinks of Ichigo.
Ulquiorra is blocking Ichigo's attacks and notes that Ichigo is much stronger than before even without his mask and wonders if it is because of Grimmjow or because of Orihimme.
Ichigo uses Getsuga Tenshou but instead of just one beam it splits into two beams.
Ichigo hits Ulquiorra with a two-handed attack, but Ulquiorra blocks it with one hand.
Ulquiorra then stabs Ichigo through the shoulder and fires a point-blank cero.
Ichigo is bloodied but survives. Ulquiorra notes that it is impressive.
He says it is pointless since Orihimme will soon be theirs.
Ichigo responds "That isn't up to you!"
Ulquiorra says "No. It is up to Aizen-sama."
End of chapter.

first thing I thought when reading that spoiler was "this has to be fake. too much stuff happened."
second thing I thought was "looks like Ichigo got his bigger power up out of absolutely nowhere like we all assumed he would. hope this is fake"

[kuronosan]

There are pics of it and it's been confirmed... I really wish it was fake. Starting to lean towards what was being said before (terrible manga, blah blah) if it turns out to be true.

[Nuriko]

I wonder if they are going to tell us that while Orihime was healing him during the captain fights, she also gave him a power up or some way to better control his hollow side. Seems like that's something Ulquiorra could be hinting at.

Spoiler: show

And why the hell is Rukia fighting that squad? Would have made more sense if it was Unohana considering the face off earlier on. And considering the build up of them since the start of the HM arc, I was hoping there ends up being an actual story to them, but if they're going to wipe them out so fast, it just seems like a waste

[Souj]

at least the Saiyan had the excuse of automatically getting stronger when they get beat up real bad.

[Nuriko]

Yeah but even Toriyama seemed to realize what a bad idea that was and seemed to drop it after the Freezer saga or so I think? In my opinion, I think Kubo needs to explain some of Ichigo's excessive plotkai during this fight just to bring some kind of balance/logic back to the whole power leveling thing.

Edit - Wait I know! Orihime hated Ichigo fighting in the mask so much she rejected his need to use it to fight at that level! /facepalm

[Kaylia]

Yeah. Toriyama nerfed it when Goku and Vegeta started abusing it on Namek. In the end, Sayan's power come from their fast grow against strong enemies, and really, that's all explanation I needed. In Bleach, they defined their power a bit more, so I expect better explanation.

About Ichigo, I'm not expecting to see anything until we learn about his father and town. If the author doesnt have a decent explanation by then, then he doesnt know where the fuck he wants to go with this.

[Sho]

Too much shit going on for Ichigo to get stronger like that. However it could be explained with Shōnen Plot-kai-- his "resolve" to protect Orihime and the others allowed him to become stronger with the many experiences he had with Grimmjow, and Nnoitra, Ulquiorra.