quiet_curiosity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quiet_curiosity) wrote2008-06-16 09:15 pm
quiet_curiosity) wrote2008-06-16 09:15 pm
Entry tags:
Bleach - Turn Back the Pendulum -108 through -98
oObvious spoilers are obvious!
This maily contains random thoughts about the arc so far.
Chapter -108
1) Shinji and Aizen in the 5th division: Shinji as the previous Captain of the 5th is per-fucking-fection. I love his interplay with Aizen in this chapter. They could almost be a comedy du (ya know: Shinji as the jokester and Aizen as the straight man). "A role model as always, Captain. I'm glad to see you once again chose to take the high road." How often do you think Aizen was wandering around the 5th division headquarters, plotting evil and world domination no doubt, before he was interrupted by the sound of something crashing, clanging, or exploding and he had to run off the "clean up" the mess. As they say: An evil-genius-who-is-pretending-to-be-a-subordinate-good-guy's work is never done.
2) It's nice to see that even though Hiyori ranks below Shinji, their relationship was no different than it is right now. That was a mighty kick to the face. It's just too bad that she can't take off her sandal and smack him with it.
3) Are we going to get to see the Kenpachi for this generation?And will it be Isshin?
4) Lisa as Shunsui's Vice Captain: It's like so many things began to make sense with just one/two panels.
5) A few lines of confirmation about Unohana's badass nature: Yay! 'Bout time, if you ask me.
6 )Division 0/The Royal Guard - I want to see them in action.
&) Urahara the goof: He's so cute. You almost want to pet him. And it's great that he had all of them (in the room at that time, that is) but Aizen fooled.
Chapter -107
1) Yamamoto seemed a bit more laid back than we're used to seeing. Life must have been so much simpler before the shit first hit the fan.
2) I felt for Hiyori. She's obviously unhappy about losing her Captain. And then to get this new guy - he doesn't even fight back. What fun is that? And it goes without saying that whatever he is hiding in his crotch is bad. The crotch-kick was both hilarious and painful looking.
3) Caught! Shinji is great here - confident and snarky - and Aizen is really kind of pathetic. It sets up the other side of their relationship so well.
Chapter -106
1) I love Yoruichi with herharem squad. They're all just sitting there watching her drink. You have to wonder how long that lasted before they got down to sex work.
2) I love the bits of Soul Society lore that we get here. It was nice to formally clarify the relationship between the 2nd division and the Special Forces. But most important, obviously, was the information about "Special Detention" and one's ability to leave the Gotei 13. It's been said millions of times, but it needs to be repeated: I love how KT doesn't pull his punches about Soul Society/Gotei 13. Yes, the afterlife is sucktastic and the elite military figures who keep everyone in line are kind of corrupt/behind the times. "They're the best good guys money could buy - for $20".
3) Urahara is badass against the crazy prisoner. And his little aside about "how quickly you forgot me" brings home the Urahara we've all learned to love.
4) But then he offers Mayuri his freedom. I understand it all goes with his philosophy but...Mayuri. How many things might have never happened had he not been let loose?
Chapter -105
1) Byakuya and Yoruichi: it shows us a bit of their relationship and some of it relates back to their meeting in the SS arc. But we probably won't get much more than this glimpse.
2) So Kaien turned Ukitake down multiple times. Highly interesting.
3) And then there was Gin - the Anti-Hitsugaya. I loved this revelation. He's the Gin we know and love. He's just small right now. And a certified genius at what he does. A chibi brilliant sociopath: could Aizen have gotten any luckier? I think not.
Chapter -104
1) So, current chapter would lead us to believe that the 3 forms are a certain trio of shinigami. I would have preferred that this be much more ambiguous.
2) The 9th is rather "slick", aren't they? And then Mashiro speaks and throws an tantrum! One of these things is not like the other.
3) Chibi-Hisagi!
Chapter -103
1) The origins of "69". I'll admit it: I laughed a little. Is Hisagi waiting to save someone so that they might carry on the tradition?
2) The rivalry between Hiyori and Mayuri: he's the one person she dare not smack around.
3) Urahara convinced her to go with the twin demons of flattery and responsibility. Dastardly bastard.
4) We don't know who took out the 9th division because KT omitted one name. If you know that one name, it all makes sense.
Chapter -102
1) Kido Corps! Led by Tessai! I never really thought about what Tessai had done before he joined up with Urahara in the real world. But this makes sense. It certainly explains the level 90 bit of kido he through out at Ichigo early in the series.
2) I wish we could get more interaction between Shunsui and Lisa. Despite his flirtations, he certainly believed in her abilities. "It's a Captain's job to have faith and wait."
3) And so the gangs all here. At first glance, I thought Kensai's hollow form looked reminiscent to a first level Akuma from D.Gray-Man. It's the weird spikes/rods that are coming out of his back that give off the illusion.
Chapter -102
1) Despite any hollowfication, the "69" cannot be erased from Kensai's torso. Odd.
2) Mashiro's hollow mask is super cute. Why isn't she wearing any pants?
Chapter -101
1) Chibi Nanao! She's just so adorable. And now I want a reunion between Nanao and Lisa. They certainly wouldn't have informed her of what had gone down. She seemed close to Lisa and must have been devastated when she left. Reunion!!
2) Hiyori's mask materialized pretty damn fast once it started.
3) Tousen: At first I had a "it's about time you showed up" reaction until I realized that he had been there the entire time. D'oh.
4) Gin hasn't seemed to have grown in the last decade. Hitsugaya should take note: Gin was once a shorty but eventually took on adult height. The process just takes forever.
Chapter -99
1) Shinji repeats the "since you were in your mother's womb" line. It takes on a different tone here. Before, he believed that he had Aizen figured out. Now, it's the other way around.
2) Aizen is the master of the "it's your own fault you never figured it out" speech. It's like he can no longer take walking around drenched in dramatic irony and must share the secret with everyone else at various points in his charade.
3) Ichigo isn't even going to have to opportunity to take on Aizen. Between Hinamori, Hitsugaya, and the Vizards, he has more than enough people ready to flay him.
4) We can always expect Urahara to dress for the occasion: so dapper, so deadly :)
Chapter 98
1) Aizen is apparently not so good with the on-the-spot lies. "I'm trying to help my Captain." "But you just said..." "But I said that two minutes ago. Things have changed since the, so it's obviously not true now."
2) It was the night of the 80+ Kido spells. And all most of them seemed to do was blow things up in unimaginative ways. But can you top Black Coffin?
3) The revealing of the Hougyoku at once seems sudden and right on time. But that's probably just me.
All in all, I've really enjoyed the flashback. At the same time, there are lots of character nuggets in here that won't be teased out to their fullest potential.
This maily contains random thoughts about the arc so far.
Chapter -108
1) Shinji and Aizen in the 5th division: Shinji as the previous Captain of the 5th is per-fucking-fection. I love his interplay with Aizen in this chapter. They could almost be a comedy du (ya know: Shinji as the jokester and Aizen as the straight man). "A role model as always, Captain. I'm glad to see you once again chose to take the high road." How often do you think Aizen was wandering around the 5th division headquarters, plotting evil and world domination no doubt, before he was interrupted by the sound of something crashing, clanging, or exploding and he had to run off the "clean up" the mess. As they say: An evil-genius-who-is-pretending-to-be-a-subordinate-good-guy's work is never done.
2) It's nice to see that even though Hiyori ranks below Shinji, their relationship was no different than it is right now. That was a mighty kick to the face. It's just too bad that she can't take off her sandal and smack him with it.
3) Are we going to get to see the Kenpachi for this generation?
4) Lisa as Shunsui's Vice Captain: It's like so many things began to make sense with just one/two panels.
5) A few lines of confirmation about Unohana's badass nature: Yay! 'Bout time, if you ask me.
6 )Division 0/The Royal Guard - I want to see them in action.
&) Urahara the goof: He's so cute. You almost want to pet him. And it's great that he had all of them (in the room at that time, that is) but Aizen fooled.
Chapter -107
1) Yamamoto seemed a bit more laid back than we're used to seeing. Life must have been so much simpler before the shit first hit the fan.
2) I felt for Hiyori. She's obviously unhappy about losing her Captain. And then to get this new guy - he doesn't even fight back. What fun is that? And it goes without saying that whatever he is hiding in his crotch is bad. The crotch-kick was both hilarious and painful looking.
3) Caught! Shinji is great here - confident and snarky - and Aizen is really kind of pathetic. It sets up the other side of their relationship so well.
Chapter -106
1) I love Yoruichi with her
2) I love the bits of Soul Society lore that we get here. It was nice to formally clarify the relationship between the 2nd division and the Special Forces. But most important, obviously, was the information about "Special Detention" and one's ability to leave the Gotei 13. It's been said millions of times, but it needs to be repeated: I love how KT doesn't pull his punches about Soul Society/Gotei 13. Yes, the afterlife is sucktastic and the elite military figures who keep everyone in line are kind of corrupt/behind the times. "They're the best good guys money could buy - for $20".
3) Urahara is badass against the crazy prisoner. And his little aside about "how quickly you forgot me" brings home the Urahara we've all learned to love.
4) But then he offers Mayuri his freedom. I understand it all goes with his philosophy but...Mayuri. How many things might have never happened had he not been let loose?
Chapter -105
1) Byakuya and Yoruichi: it shows us a bit of their relationship and some of it relates back to their meeting in the SS arc. But we probably won't get much more than this glimpse.
2) So Kaien turned Ukitake down multiple times. Highly interesting.
3) And then there was Gin - the Anti-Hitsugaya. I loved this revelation. He's the Gin we know and love. He's just small right now. And a certified genius at what he does. A chibi brilliant sociopath: could Aizen have gotten any luckier? I think not.
Chapter -104
1) So, current chapter would lead us to believe that the 3 forms are a certain trio of shinigami. I would have preferred that this be much more ambiguous.
2) The 9th is rather "slick", aren't they? And then Mashiro speaks and throws an tantrum! One of these things is not like the other.
3) Chibi-Hisagi!
Chapter -103
1) The origins of "69". I'll admit it: I laughed a little. Is Hisagi waiting to save someone so that they might carry on the tradition?
2) The rivalry between Hiyori and Mayuri: he's the one person she dare not smack around.
3) Urahara convinced her to go with the twin demons of flattery and responsibility. Dastardly bastard.
4) We don't know who took out the 9th division because KT omitted one name. If you know that one name, it all makes sense.
Chapter -102
1) Kido Corps! Led by Tessai! I never really thought about what Tessai had done before he joined up with Urahara in the real world. But this makes sense. It certainly explains the level 90 bit of kido he through out at Ichigo early in the series.
2) I wish we could get more interaction between Shunsui and Lisa. Despite his flirtations, he certainly believed in her abilities. "It's a Captain's job to have faith and wait."
3) And so the gangs all here. At first glance, I thought Kensai's hollow form looked reminiscent to a first level Akuma from D.Gray-Man. It's the weird spikes/rods that are coming out of his back that give off the illusion.
Chapter -102
1) Despite any hollowfication, the "69" cannot be erased from Kensai's torso. Odd.
2) Mashiro's hollow mask is super cute. Why isn't she wearing any pants?
Chapter -101
1) Chibi Nanao! She's just so adorable. And now I want a reunion between Nanao and Lisa. They certainly wouldn't have informed her of what had gone down. She seemed close to Lisa and must have been devastated when she left. Reunion!!
2) Hiyori's mask materialized pretty damn fast once it started.
3) Tousen: At first I had a "it's about time you showed up" reaction until I realized that he had been there the entire time. D'oh.
4) Gin hasn't seemed to have grown in the last decade. Hitsugaya should take note: Gin was once a shorty but eventually took on adult height. The process just takes forever.
Chapter -99
1) Shinji repeats the "since you were in your mother's womb" line. It takes on a different tone here. Before, he believed that he had Aizen figured out. Now, it's the other way around.
2) Aizen is the master of the "it's your own fault you never figured it out" speech. It's like he can no longer take walking around drenched in dramatic irony and must share the secret with everyone else at various points in his charade.
3) Ichigo isn't even going to have to opportunity to take on Aizen. Between Hinamori, Hitsugaya, and the Vizards, he has more than enough people ready to flay him.
4) We can always expect Urahara to dress for the occasion: so dapper, so deadly :)
Chapter 98
1) Aizen is apparently not so good with the on-the-spot lies. "I'm trying to help my Captain." "But you just said..." "But I said that two minutes ago. Things have changed since the, so it's obviously not true now."
2) It was the night of the 80+ Kido spells. And all most of them seemed to do was blow things up in unimaginative ways. But can you top Black Coffin?
3) The revealing of the Hougyoku at once seems sudden and right on time. But that's probably just me.
All in all, I've really enjoyed the flashback. At the same time, there are lots of character nuggets in here that won't be teased out to their fullest potential.