I’m so tired of writing about concrete characters, I’ll go back to them at the end of this challenge. So now a more interesting topic.
Favorite arc: ‘The thousand year blood war’
Okay, so many people hate on this arc and stopped reading Bleach because of it. But in my opinion, Bleach was quite stupid to this point. Not talking about first arc – my friend is actually going through this and I can see how stupid this manga used to be. I love Arrancars and – surprise! – Fullbringers arc, though. But ‘The thousand year blood war’ wins everything to me.
Let’s analyze the most important moments.
It was very important for me! I felt that Arrancars aren’t forgotten and will have a role, which was good, because they’re my favorite race (I’ll make a post about it too). Also she told us about Halibel being the queen of Hueco Mundo (not being dead!) and in prison for now. It was also when Ivan appeared. And Ivan started all the Vandereich thing. I appreciate Ivan. Give him some esteem, people.
Remember that? Everybody hated him :D Now he got some new fans I hope. I’ve been liking him since the beginning. Well I like all the characters, but he is one of the ones I like ‘more’ :D I love the way he sits, so badass… Okay, it’s not one of the ‘let’s fangirl’ posts, sorry. Anyway when he appeared me and my friend felt like ‘woah finally a totally evil antagonist in Bleach that’s what this manga needed’ (Aizen is evil but in a weird, not mainstream way). But now it comes out he’s not that evil either. Tite can’t make evil antagonists. And I think that’s good :’)
So it can seem very lame for the first sight and I understand that many people hate this all ‘Ichigo is everything’ thing. Especially the fact that his soul reapers powers are manifested by a Hollow. But it makes sense when you look at it closer. It wasn’t something Tite Kubo thought up while writing – it was all planned since the first chapter. We’ve got small hints since the beginning. At least Ichigo using Blut Vene while fighting Kenpachi. People, Tite planned everything! Almost everything, not only Ichigo’s powers. Even some details. Like dunno, teh Quincy a la svastik cross on his bankai. But these are things for different posts.
4. Yhwach is Zangetsu/Zangetsu is Yhwach/There is no Zangetsu/Hichigo is Zangetsu/maaan...
YOU PEOPLE SAY IT’S WEIRD? THAT IT WAS SHOCKING? NOBODY SAW IT COMING?
Yeah I’m still proud of my genius I will never stop being happy about my theory becoming true. I THOUGHT THIS THEORY UP WITH MY FRIEND WHEN YHWACH FIRST SHOWED. AT THE POINT WHEN HE CALLED ICHIGO HIS SON BORNED IN THE DARKNESS. I WAS HAPPY. WE WAITED SO MANY MONTHS BUT IT WAS TRUE.
Believe in my theories people, relly.
Nothing more to write here.
5. Kenpachi vs. Kenpachi fight
Not to write too much – have a link again.
6. Aizen planned everything aka shoujo mini arc
It’s one of my favorite mini-arcs so far. I know many people don’t like it because of this shoujo thing – that’s right, Bleach is originally a shonen manga. But I’ve never read Bleach for fights so for me this arc is amazing. I could see how Ichigo’s parents met!
Okay let’s not act like Ichigo’s parents or plot are important, they are not, but hot nerdy Ryuken is.
Also I could see my OTP becoming canon, it was something beautiful. Of course, now it’s so obvious that Katagiri is Uryuu’s moter, and for people who will read these 9 chapters in 30 minutes not in 3 months it won’t be anything exciting, just a usual ship. But I remember how I first saw Katagiri
Immediately started shipping her with Ryuuken and then the endless sorrow that it won’t be canon, that Ryuken will be in love with Masaki to the very end, that parents will find him a different black-haired wife. It was PAIN.
So maybe some more advertising – link! (I know I’m annoying but I will add adds as often as possible deal with it)
And I find it magic that all these guys who are about human-aged 40s (or dead) now were described as very young people. Very magic. And the way they changed… That’s so depressing. Also, please notice the fact that it was quite planned too, because in 27th volume:
So I guess Isshin was surprised that Ryuuken called him by name of his old crush and cousin.
But I don’t know what do I love more – the life of characters’ parents when they were still teenagers or Aizen’s appearance. It was such a great feeling when he showed up! Like asdfgh! I can’t describe it. Just amazing.
Also, please mention the fact that the volume in which Masaki first appears (3rd) is titled ‘Memories in the rain’ this connection means a lot for me.
7. Ishida on the dark side /Getting to know with Stern Rittern(s?)
I don’t have much to say about evil Ishida – he’s hot and I hope he’s not a spy. Everybody wants him to be a secretly good spy, second Gin. I don’t. It’s too easy, too mainstream. I want Ishida :
- Being on the Quincy’s side because of his heart will
- Having pangs of conscience because he loves his friend but not giving up and still being on this 'bad' side
- Having the order to kill Inoue
- Got killed while trying to kill Inouse – e.g. Grimmjow killing Ishida. I want him to get killed by somebody who just won’t care about him, like Grimmjow (a cool fight with Ichigo would be very nice, but let him die some time later)
- Being okay with that Yhwach killed his mother – not because he hates his mother, but because he hates his father and thinks that half-blood shouldn’t insult Quincy blood. I mean, he’s got the ‘my dad did bad things’ sort of character. He doesn't blame his mother for being half-blood, but he does blame his father because of getting into a relationship with a half-blood.
- Uryuu yelling at Ryuuken, I’m begging I can even start praying if it’ll help it’s just everything I need in my life
So that’s all. Plus I like his new uniform.
About Stern Rittern – I enjoyed the chapter ‘Letters’ in which Tite showed us most of them :D For the first sight they were all similar to characters we already know, but now I can see the differences between them. I believe every character in Bleach has different personality. I love it, it’s so natural. Even if many of them are similar, they aren’t perfectly same after all.
And I love Naak le Vaar. <3
I get it, Bleach will actually end someday.
Good that every character can fight a month, then flashback two months. And that Bleach has so many characters. 9 days isn’t that soon.
It’d be so cool if Bleach have ended up with Quincy winning but the fluffy part of me wants it to end with Shinigami/Hollows peace and Quincy’s death.
Hiatus was okay, I was quite happy because I didn’t miss any chapters while being out.
(be a bleach huge fan, enjoy hiatus)
So this was my timeline. And don’t think that’s all. It’s not so easy to read my posts!
What I like and many people dislike in this arc:
A lot of feelings. Really. Such a feelsy arc. Dying, flashbacking, crying. Feelsy.
A lack of trainings. I love it. I hate reading how characters are training – especially main characters, because they train in a very weird way. And this arc is such a salvation for me – Ichigo trains off screan! Ichigo exists off screan! Really, Ichigo doesn’t show very often lately. And that’s good. I love the mainlessness of the main character in current Bleach.
Thinking. Lots of thinking. Because Tite doesn’t explain anything. + for plot ; - for fans. Because if fans don’t want to reread chapters (or read my posts because it’s basically rereading chapters) they won’t really get the connections. You think I over-interpret? So let me mention that Bleach isn’t Tite’s first manga. Zombie Powder was first. And you know what did Tite write in ‘author note’ in the very first volume of his?
‘Hello, I’m Kubo. This is my fist ever manga book. The theme is fighting. Sitting there and just reading it without thinking is fine. But please, if you ever feel like it, please try to use your mind as you read […]’
Quite sassy, eh? And suitable not only for Zombie Powder, but also for Bleach
The sudden change of his style. And I don’t mean drawing style, which is good. But suddenly characters can die, Ichigo doesn’t appear often, people in the comic are more cruel… It’s still a shonen, but a completely different one. But you know what? The style is similar to Zombie Powder. And Zombie Powder (in my opinion a good manga) didn’t have many fans and was interrupted. I have my own head-canon for Tite Kubo’s life – that he started from mainstream level to get fans and then, when he became popular, he started writing a manga in his style – knowing that this won’t be interrupted, when he’s famous. Still, we can see some boring, mainstream chapters once in a blue moon. Why? I guess he has to jump in the ranking of Shonen Jump. Even such a famous mangaka like he is quite depended on rankings. Writing mangas isn’t like writing books. When you write book your editor decides about will it be selling in shops or not. When you write a manga, an editor decides on is the story okay to show it in the magazine, and then when it’s showed people who read the magazine vote for best chapter in all the magazine, magazine get scores and the worst mangas are interrupted. Because there’s no profit for magazine to print mangas which don't have fans.
But it would mean he really planned everything.