The Thousand-Year Blood War arc

SoldierG65434-2 said: wrote:

I didn't think it was impossible for me to hate Bleach any more than I already did, but then they went and robbed Ichigo of a genuine reason for his one single character trait.

Kubo, your writing is so bad it's almost experimental. .

Fucking exactly, man. The concept of his mom randomly murdered gave the story an element of verisimilitude: real life folks get murdered all the time, and usually it's for perfectly pointless reasons like a mugging (Batman!) or a stupid fight gotten out of control. That all of Ichigo's backstory is part of some broader villain plan is just... ugh.

On the plus side, some low-screentime folks got good screentime last chapter. Maybe Soi Fon will come back, if they're addressing what happens to all the Captains.

Perhaps i won't drop if Unohana is dead. I will still be super-pissed, though, and since i've pirated the manga and most of the anime, i'm at least not helping Kubo any :-P

SoldierG65434-2 wrote:

That...is adorable. And I do know where it's from.

539 - Prob-less Progress

While we see some other people training (Sui Feng included), it seems Kurosutchi is experimenting on something, and Komomura gets into a disagreement with his great grandpa. Plus, Ichigo has to say goodbye to Zangetsu. Is that really gonna happen, or can he find a way to keep him? Let's see where that goes.

Is Sui-Feng training to become a Jedi?

540 - The Sword Five

I like how this week's chapter started, especially that panel with the Asauchi showing a somewhat derp face like Ichigo. Well, now we know why 'Zangetsu' has a resemblance to the Quincy leader. Let's see what Carrot-top's new Zanpakuto will be.

541 - The Blade and Me 2

So I'm guessing Ichigo's new Zanpakuto will be similar to the blade Juha Bach used. And a part of me thinks Zangetsu will be light or fire-based. Idk, probably just me from what I've seen.

542 - The Blade is Me

So now, Ichigo has 2 Zangetsus. Terrific. And meanwhile, at Juha Bach's legion of doom, he calls his Sternritters together for something.

Huh, so Soi Fon's training was all of a single panel :/

A better month this month, however. I'm interested to see more of how the Quincies operate internally.

544-Walking with Watchers

So we get to see a few more female Quincy, two of which have faces like Rangiku and Orihime. Oh, and the latter plus Chad are on an infiltration mission. How splendid.

545 - Blue Stripes

This one's out early. Ah well, not complainin'. So Renji and Rukia are training, Byakuya's up, Shinji's asked the Vizards on Earth to clean up a mess, and Shunsui's telling Ichigo's friends that they'll have to say goodbye to him soon. Or something.

546 - The Last 9Days

So Keigo, Tatsuki, and Mizuro, along with the Kurosaki family, got 'passports' in case Ichigo stays in SS & they wanna pay him a visit. Meanwhile, Chad & Orihime are training. Again. And it seems the Vanden Reich will strike. Again. Or succeed where Pinky and the Brain failed - to take over the world.

So after this week, we're not gonna see another manga chapter til Sept.
Bleach Manga to Take 5-Week Break Before Finale

Good thing there's other things to do. Aside from going back to school around then.

I hope the break gives Kubo time to set a focus on what he wants to do. With so many competing mangas, he really needs to tighten the story. I just have trouble being interested in Orihime still doing jack shit and 26 new characters when there is still so much left untold about characters that have existed since the Soul Society arc.

It was just starting to get good before we hit this five-week break too. Get out of the damn flashbacks and things start to get moving again.

This could be one hell of a series-ender.

547 - Peace From Shadows

Guess what's back. So, we see where the Vandenreich have their base of operations. And the bad guys are gonna attack again. Here's hoping things don't get dragged out.

548 - The Thin Ice

More Toshiro in this chapter. And him working together with Rangiku to fight back. Yay. Wonder whose fight we see next...

Well assuming this fight is actually concluded, who knows. I have trouble believing this fight will be over so quickly, though.

Sui Feng is back, it seems. Didn't read the chapter, just saw a page-image. Looks awesome, though!

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/549

Not only is she back, but she mastered shunko!

But I was right to be skeptical. Hitsugaya's fight isn't over yet, and it doesn't look like Sui-Feng's is either.

Not going to lie, I'm hyped.

I see the potential for Isshin and Yoruichi to make an appearance here. Isshin was the former captain of 10 and worked with both Toshiro and Rangiku, and we know Sui-Feng and Yoruichi's history. Before anyone jumps me about them not needing to be rescued, I think it's more likely that they'll work together to defeat their opponents. I'm pretty sure Kubo said a long time ago that he'd like to see Yoruichi and Sui-Feng team up, and this could be that time, what with the manga coming to an end soon. Isshin's already done his part with Ichigo, and there's no explanation for where Yoruichi's been since the end of FKT, so it would be pretty easy to have them jump in at any point. This seems the most logical, though.

550 - Blazing Bullets

Seems the Stern Ritter that Toshiro and Sui Feng supposedly beat are back up and fine. Things are gonna get ugly again, unless help comes to the good guys. For some reason the Quincy Sui Feng is fighting reminds me of the Decepticon Shockwave. I can almost imagine him/it telling her, "Your continued resistance is...most illogical."

Sui-Feng has Yoruichi-style arm thingies. I can dig it.

I didn't notice that until you pointed it out, but yeah, I can dig that. It also looked like robot guy stabbed her through the wrist?

551 - The Burnt Offerings

So we see Hitsugaya get beaten (again), and towards the end, Urahara gives Mayuri a call. On how to get back one's stolen Banaki. Oh joy. Hopefully that'll be unveiled before there's another character death. Though, more familiar faces showing up to save the day would be nice.