The Thousand-Year Blood War arc

493 - Light of Happiness

Okay, Ayon failed & is now dead thanks to the ever-changing Quincy dope-monster. ....I now hope someone or something kills him soon. He gets uglier & uglier every time we see him. By all means, drop Godzilla & he can do the rest. Actually, I wouldn't be too surprised if Ichigo uses his Vizard Mask again this time around (or even let his Inner Hollow out).

And all the while, the king of the Quincies stands atop the Soul Society. And so, begins the war...

Is Kubo being serious with these designs? It's going to be hard to build a sense of menace when you're main villains turn into something so silly looking. Then again, we've already been down this road with Condom and Mullet Aizen.

Live-streaming of my reading this.

Page 2: "Well since you're an ugly monster, you'll be the first to die." You're one to talk, Opie.

Page 4: Whoa, Ayon's face is coming off! That's kind of creepy.

Page 5: For some reason, I am reminded of Metastacia (the hollow that ate Kaien)

Page 6: Holy fuck my eyes. Can he get any uglier? Wait, don't answer that. The shoes are still the most offensive part.

Page 15: Ok I can honestly say that for once, I wouldn't have minded the action staying in HM. Holy fuck I want to see who or what will finally take Opie down.

Page 17: So it looks like the blond Aizen wannabe will probably get killed pretty soon.

Recalling that i read from 488-493 all at once just now, things seem to be going in a decent way. They explain more of the world background, we've got a look at who the Captain's Opponents will be (these "Star Knights"), and some decent action. I am bothered by the Aizen clone as well, but less so by Opie's transformation, since the point of evil is to get uglier as you transform.

Now we just have to figure out who these other "war concerns" are...

494 - The Closing Chapter Part 1

Sui-Feng shows up in the color spread and at the very end of the chapter but doesn't do anything. Izuru looses a third of his torso (the third that includes an arm, so count it) and we are introduced a shit load of new characters, including the fourteenth Byakuya clone. There's also the first lady Quincy. You can tell because she has a heart for a belt buckle!

Actually, given Kubo's art style, unless someone has a beard their gender could go either way. Speaking of facial hair, more are trying to encroach on Tessai's dominion, but their's is but a jealous shadow of his magnificence.

Ok I am gonna read it now.

Page 2 - OMG Sui-Feng looks so cute. <3

Page 3 - Unohana looks like she doesn't want to be there. Same thing with Ukitake. Hitsugaya looks ready to go. Byakuya looks apathetic.

Page 6 - Finally, Rukia! ^__^

Page 12 - Reminds me of when Ayon tore out part of Rangiku.

Page 17 - A female Quincy! Wow.

Page 18 - Yay another Sui-Feng pic. <3

Is this chapter missing pages? Isn't there supposed to be a page with Akon and a page with Ichigo? They were in the raws but I didn't see them on either of the sites where I read the scanlation.

So we see chaos ensue in the Soul Society, & then cut back to what's happening on Ichigo's end. Yup, shit's definitely going down.
Oh yeah, I did notice a female Quincy. And 1 of other other dudes reminded me of Yammy for some reason. So, which 'good guy' is next to take a lethal blow?

Damn, got spoiled on facebook with the Izuru thing. That is one hell of a hit, though.

Kira, nooooooooooooo!! Not another arm! When will Kubo be satisfied?!

I actually quite liked this chapter. New characters made just to be killed off, lots of stuff happening, some chick with a hat and heart belt... Yeah, thi was fun.

And I just noticed that Sui-Feng has changed her outfit. Did anyone else think that the colour spread looked rushed? Or like Kubo just could not be arsed at all?

CaptainYoruichi wrote:

Is this chapter missing pages? Isn't there supposed to be a page with Akon and a page with Ichigo? They were in the raws but I didn't see them on either of the sites where I read the scanlation.

The link I posted was updated with what you are talking about. Two more pages at the end.

PolarisAmane wrote:

And I just noticed that Sui-Feng has changed her outfit.

Yeah, she's wearing some kind of turtle neck now. Why though? It'll just get destroyed if she uses Shunko, unless she's stopped doing that completely for whatever reason. So she's go the haori, the removable sleeves, the detached sleeves under those sleeves the Onmotsukido outfit, and now a turtle neck. This is getting kind of silly. You also can't see her braids in the spread.

At some point I'm going to go through this manga again and get an arm counter going.

495 - Bleeding Guitar Blues

So now we're gonna see the other Captains & Lieutenants get serious. Of course, Rose is not pleased to hear what happened to Kira. And the chapter just had to end with Byakuya looking cool. Hey, even Sui Feng gets someone to fight.

Komamura is pitted against a chick named Bambietta.

All of the captains looked cool in their panels. I hope we get to see Sui-Feng actually use stealth and assassination, but I doubt Kubo will let that happen. Also, anyone notice Unohana wasn't matched with anyone? Maybe she's not going to be matched up until later, and can heal Kira in the meantime.

The yaoi fans will love the way Rose talked about Kira.

Bambietta is my new favorite character. Fuck you, Komamura!

isn't Kira supposed to be dead? it's said that his reiatsu vanished

oh, I bet that assasination isn't working against any major enemy in Bleach, lol

And now I want Rose to stand over Kira's corpse, weeping while playing his flying V.

Again, quite enjoyed this chapter. Feels like Bleach is picking up again. Or maybe it's just because the shinigami are here and I like them more than the human characters.

496 - Kill the Shadow

Oh wow. Just when the Bankai-fest was gonna start, the Stern Ritters steal 'em from the Captains shown. So that's... Sui Feng, Byakuya, Hitsugaya, & Komomura so far. What now? Makes me wonder if something similar will happen to Ichigo. What the hell would the VR do with the Bankais, use 'em against their original owners, or something else entirely?

Notice how it was all the junior captains getting their bankais stolen? It's going to be interesting when some of the senior captains try. We didn't see Shunsui or Ukitake, or even Rose for that matter, even though he was in last week's chapter.

Also, it seems pretty certain that Sui-Feng did lose the braids. There's some side shots where if she still had them, you'd be able to see them. And does her bankai look different?

Why would Sui-Feng use her bankai? She's already expressed a deep distaste for it and should know that it's less than ideal for fighting a single target, plus it would cause massive collateral damage to the very place she's trying to protect. Did she read the script?

My guess is that Kubo didn't bother with logic like that, since he was planning on her bankai being stolen. It just sucks that it makes all of them look stupid for even trying bankai knowing that they wouldn't be able to actually use them.

You would figure the other side having Soi Fon's Bankai would put them at a disadvantage: it never works and only inconveniences the one who uses it

So... the captains purposefully released their bankais so that they could see them be sealed and then figure out a way to reverse it? Only they were stolen not sealed. I don't think Kubo put a lot of thought into this...

well, i do love that the shinigami are back but that WAS pretty stupid logic with the bankai.

if i remember correctly, it didn't work on ichigo when that first guy tried. i wonder how he's different... you know, aside from the fact that he's the main character and just special in every way.

i thought it was cool to have a panel where sui feng is hiding behind a wall, but what use is that if she's just going to yell bankai and take out that big ass weapon of hers? that aside and not having paid attention to the absense of braids and the change in outfit, i thought her panels looked good.

on a different but recurring line of thinking, where the hell is yoruichi? i know i haven't got any reason to be looking for her at this point except for the fact that we haven't seen in her a while, but i can't help but wonder.

Kill the Shadow 2

Man this is getting crazy! Looks like Shunsui got an eye taken out.

They're calling on Ichigo, of course. What are they going to do when they realize he went to Hueco Mundo?

Well.... crap. Things are really not looking good for SS, aren't they? Perhaps Kenpachi & the Vizards can fare a little better against the Stern Ritters.
But if Ichigo can get to SS, what help can he provide? Unless he puts his Mask on again & cut loose. Tho, I hope the guy in Hueco Mundo Carrot-top is dealing with gets a serious beat-down.