We now have animation of Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame, and what a roller coaster ride!
Watch this moment, and listen. Turn on the sound.
So now, we finally can understand what Askin meant when he said:
The curtain drops, and then the perspective shifts to that of Benihime's. (Side note: When do we ever see a bankai from the bankai's perspective? But more on that later.) Looking toward the veil and the distant Kisuke kneeling before Askin, she is crawling forward on her elbows and knees, until her face presses against the curtain and she parts it with her hands.
That sound we hear is the mechanical rolling of gears, presumably responsible for her movement, but also... we have heard sounds like this before.
And we finally understand what we were looking at in this panel:
We learn that those lines of stitching we see are Kisuke's means of movement within Askin's Gift Bereich—and that he is riding them like rails. He's coasting. It's some very fancy rail grinding, and we see him laying down new stitching track from the tip of his sword:
And so, the battle goes, as Askin and Kisuke's overlapping theaters of modification contest for one-upmanship: who can adapt fastest to the other's latest adaptation?
これじゃア 俺の嫌いな 力対力の 戦いじゃねエかッ！
せっかく自分のフィールドに 引きずり込んで 自分のペースで
やろうってのに 何やかんで 上手い事 ズラしてきやがる…
This is exactly the kind of ability vs ability battle I hate!
I went to all the trouble of dragging him into my own field
to do things at my own pace — and somehow he keeps slipping out of it skillfully…
He's a nasty piece of work, Urahara Kisuke…
And within her theater, the Princess dissects and reconstructs the environment itself.
Until at last, Kisuke coasts to a stop, and turns to face Askin.
After that... he's out of movement. The wind-up doll has wound down. The puppet and the temple are empty. That's as far as he goes. But it's enough. He's bought enough time, and help has arrived.
And that, I believe, is the true "range" of Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame. Askin has been within it the entire time. Jumping back did not save him; that was misdirection. Its limit is not distance nor time. Its limit is the chain run of this roller-coaster ride. And if we consider how different bankai need time to recharge to full effectiveness, we can note that it's been over a century since Kisuke last demonstrated it during his captain's exam. That's a long chain run.
Benihime is both puppet and theater; the curtain (and her hair, which also evokes curtains) tells us that. The entire space is her domain, and we see Kisuke modifying the Gift Bereich itself as he moves through it. Kisuke is both puppet and theater, literally riding on rails made of stitching, and in one epic moment simultaneously evoking the great showman directing the action in the arena and the marionette performing for the distraction of his opponent.
amandla
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