u said urahara is ur fav character but u keep calling him asshole in ur tags and posts?
Er… yeah?
That would be because *drumroll*……..
……….he IS an asshole.
Let me be clear here: I don’t mean that he’s evil, or anything of the sort, but not evil ≠ not a jerk. Kisuke has good intentions, he genuinely wants to help people and can be very kind and sweet when he’s so inclined, BUT that doesn’t mean some of the things he does are justified or any less shitty just because he doesn’t mean to hurt anyone.
Once more, with feeling:
THERE ARE PERFECTLYLEGITIMATE REASONS FOR SOMEONE TO DISLIKE URAHARA. PERIOD.
I never onceclaimed that there aren’t. Kisuke may bemy favorite character, but that doesn’t make me blind to his faults.
Kisuke is brilliant, kind, funny, helpful, caring, and a big ol’ sap.
He is also manipulative, mistrustful, insecure, sarcastic, at times arrogant, a liar, a pervert, a troll, and he is convinced that he always knows best.
People can enjoy fictional characters withoutendorsing some of their actions (or any at all). In fact, if it weren’t for his shadier tendencies, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t enjoy his character nearly as much as I do, because c’mon, how utterly annoying would a handsome, powerful genius be if he were also the best, nicest person ever?
I have literally 0 issues with people who dislike him for all the faults I listed above and would never make excuses for him when it comes to them.
HOWEVER…
When people use him as an easy target to vent their misplaced frustration… That, I take great umbrage at. Like I’ve repeatedly said, he is my favorite, my problematic baby, so if you’re gonna hate him, it had better be for the right reasons.
Case in point, the very recent example of chapters 662 & 663, where a great deal of the anger that should’ve been directed at Kubo alone was instead also unfairly directed at him. I’m sure a lot of people won’t/didn’t agree with me, for which I don’t really give a fuck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but I am never, ever going to attribute the onus for Yoruichi’s horrid treatment in those chapters on him. That is on Kubo.
When it comes to the list of Shitty Things Urahara Kisuke Has Done, placing the Hōgyoku in Rukia easily ranks #1, closely followed by releasing Mayuri from jail even though he was most likely very aware of what he could do. I won’t list everything here (because I don’t have all day xD), but it’s worth mentioning that manipulating Orihime into that dress also ranks very high.
His actions in 662 & 663, though? I would place them pretty close to the bottom. As in Still Not Exactly Nice, but Not Nearly as Bad as Everyone is Making it Out to be. The constant shots of Yoruichi’s ass weren’t his fault, her outfit wasn’t his fault, her behavior in cat form wasn’t his fault, yet a whopping majority of the posts I saw those days acted like it was, to the point that by the end of the day, people were claiming Kisuke drugged Yoruichi (?????), turned her into a catgirl for no reason other than to satisfy his own fetish (lel?) and actually equated him to Mayuri (I am not exaggerating even a little, feel free to search the tags for the relevant chapters and go see for yourself).
SO.
As I said, I fully recognize when my beloved asshole is being an asshole. But the fact that he does shady things very often does not mean I’ll throw him under the bus for every distasteful thing that happens in the manga just because he happens to be in frame.
Free was literally one of the most reblogged anime's of all time, BECAUSE it objectified the male characters
But suddenly everyone has a problem with Yoruichi and her nakedness.
Nevermind she’s been shown like that since her first appearance.
Nevermind Bleach is written for boys who are at fapping age and dig that sort of thing.
How come you gaiz only just noticed this now.
A woman should be able to show her body without being criticized for it
Yall getting on my nerves.
I literally saw a post about a kpop star’s ass floating on my dash.
I see Free characters stripping all the time, on my dash.
But suddenly the same people who reblog this shit hates ass shots.
Hypocrites much?
So wait is Fandom hating on Yoruichi's new form so they don't look like hypocrites for hating on Orihime's ugly dress?
Because I don’t understand the anger
The first time we saw her true form she was naked.
We saw her in her undies after she tangled with Yammy.
When she fought Suifeng, her clothes was blasted off of her.
Against Aizen she had on a skimpy body suit
Now she’s mostly naked.
Also no one ever criticized Harribel’s forms
Like why now?
Am I really in the minority?
Because I love it! I see nothing wrong and seriously, you should be used to seeing her that way by now
What do you think of the idea of either Tessai or Hachigen or Isshin(or any combination of any of them) arriving during this battle of Urahara(and out of commission Yoruichi) vs. Askin, perhaps when all seems at it's bleakest?
Oh dear LAWD, I have been itching for Tessai to do proper battle since… well, the start of the manga technically, but I really thought he would show up for the Aizen fight. I love Kidou, and Hachigen/Soifon’s battle is easily in my top three of that arc. So when we saw in TBTP that Tessai can FRIGGIN’ STOP TIME, I always wondered how come he was never included. Too much haxx, I guess? xD
I expect Isshin and especially Ryuuken to make an appearance, but I think I’ll have to accept that Tessai may be permanently on Ururu and Jinta babysitting duty.
I’ll be honest, I’d really like a solo Kisuke fight if we can’t have a Kisuke/Yoruichi duo. Originally, I was also rooting for a Soifon/Kisuke duo (since I think she’s she best contender to show up right now), but given the inherent levity of such a combo, and the bleaker direction Kubo seems to be headed for, I think it’ll be a solo fight.
I read some of your stuff in defense of Urahara, but don't you think he should be different with Yoruichi? they have a different relationship as you said, so shouldn't he respect her more than others. And that cat scene was still really skeevy, I mean he calls her 'good kitty' :S
*sigh* Okay, anon, let’s start off with the easier part. Kisuke never calls Yoruichi a ‘good kitty’ :
See the original text? What Kisuke is saying here is:
(original)「はっはっはっはっ よーしよしよし」
(transliteration) “Hahaha, yo–shi, yoshi, yoshi.”
(translation) “Hahaha, oooooookay, okay, okay” (or ‘there, there,’ if you prefer)
The addition of ‘good kitty’ was probably just some innocuous flair thrown in by the translator. I personally didn’t find that addition skeevy or out-of-place or anything of the sort, but since you brought it up, I thought I’d address it.
Now I realize lots of people who read manga don’t speak/read Japanese, but it’s important to understand that translation is never perfect. I’ve done some amateur translating in the past, and let me tell you, bridging the cultural gap between two languages is no small feat, especially with languages as different as English and Japanese. At the very least, some measure of nuance will be lost in translation (there’s a reason the phrase exists).
In order to get your free online copy of a manga in a timely manner, the translator may need to rush through something that required a second look, or take liberties that end up making the character sound OOC, or, heaven forbid, make a mistake. I’ve written about this extensively concerning the past couple of chapters (here, here and here).
More often than not, these details go unnoticed because the subject matter of a chapter isn’t as controversial as the last two have been. But they do add up, and they do affect the overall tone.
If you want to read more on how I interpreted that scene, there’s a link at the end of my post where I go into more depth.
On to the meatier part of your question, whether Kisuke should have a different attitude toward Yoruichi. The short answer is that in this particular case, no he shouldn’t, and if he did, then that would mean he doesn’t respect her.
The long answer…
Back when chapter 622 came out, I made the following post:
Shunshui dropping all the truth bombs.
I run a small blog, even smaller back then, so the amount of notes this got was quite significant, considering how few followers I had. Which should tell you that this was a sentiment people readily agreed with. As well they should.
War is a time when delicate sensibilities fly out the window. When Shunsui brought Aizen into the fray, he was thinking like a leader, and leaders often need to make controversial decisions that won’t endear them to others, but will help achieve the end goal.
And when the Shinigami all set out together in the Royal Realm, did you happen to notice who Shunsui unofficially chose as his second in command? It wasn’t Soifon, it wasn’t Shinji, nor Byakuya, nor any other current captain. It was Kisuke. Because Shunsui knows that he and Kisuke are very similar; he knows Kisuke is strong enough to shoulder the displeasure of his subordinates in order to do what is necessary.
Simply put, Urahara Kisuke gets shit done.
What both amuses and scares me, anon, is that in an arc where we’ve seen authority figures release murderers from jail, kill thousands of innocents in the name of maintaining the balance of the worlds, leave subordinates behind for dead because they needed to press on (all necessary actions, imo) THIS is what sparked the greatest outrage? A man making a morally dubious decision in order to save a friend? Really? And this isn’t directed at you in particular, but my observations on the overall reception of 662 and 663 on tumblr.
Consent is a very important matter, I fully agree. It is especially important for female characters because they’ve been historically robbed of their agency and treated atrociously in both reality and fiction. But you can’t have it both ways, anon. You can’t demand that authors deliver gritty stories about war, then have their characters sit down for tea while the world crumbles around them, in order to discuss the best way to deal with a situation without hurting anyone’s precious ~*feelings*~ Either you want a semi-realistic portrayal, or you don’t, take your pick.
What’s funny is that even if Kisuke had somehow magically found the time to have a proper talk with Yoruichi, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. Yoruichi is not unreasonable, but she is proud and stubborn to a fault. Remember back in the Aizen fight when Kisuke teases her about the armor breaking so easily? She’s so touchy about the mere implication of a mistake on her part, even one made in jest, that she instantly overreacts.
I get why people are upset here: the demeaning trope of having a female character rescued from her own stubbornness/foolishness in the name of her own good by a man is all too common. But the reason why I feel any anger is misplaced in this scenario is three-fold:
a) Even a character as awesome as Yoruichi will not make intelligent decisions all the time. To think of her as flawless is not only a misinterpretation of her character, but also a gross oversimplification of it. Yes, I know, I call her ‘my flawless Queen’ about fifteen times per post, but it’s obviously an exaggeration because I love her so much :p Yoruichi is well-developed enough to have flaws, and her tenacity can, at times, be one of them.
b) Yoruichi may be stubborn, but she’s not naive. She has always understood that the end goal sometimes trumps people’s feelings on a matter. She didn’t hesitate to drug and incapacitate Ichigo to save him, even though he had asked her not to intervene. Just like Urahara Kisuke, Shihōin Yoruichi gets shit done and makes no apologies for her methods. She’ll be pissed at Kisuke, but she’ll understand.
c) But MOST importantly: Yoruichi has shaken Kisuke out of his own idiocy in the past. When he was being a drama queen about his missing Lieutenant in TBTP and embarrassing himself (and Hiyori) in front of his colleagues, she chewed him out without batting an eyelash. And rightly so. She was harsh, but her words were the kick up the ass Kisuke needed to calm down and start using his brain. Him doing the same to her is in no way a repetition of a tired old trope, but part of their give and take as people who share a deep intimacy.
If your friends never call you out on your BS, then they’re not really your friends, anon. I don’t know about you, but I consider momentarily hurting my friend’s feelings, or even truly upsetting them, a small price to pay when the alternative puts their survival or well-being at risk. I can take the resentment, the lashing out, or anything they may throw at me in the aftermath because I love them.
And the fact that Kisuke is not afraid to take a beating and incur the wrath of his best friend, rather than cater to her pride and treat her like a petulant child, speaks VOLUMES about their relationship. Yoruichi wouldn’t want him to treat her with kid gloves, or sugarcoat things for her; she’s never treated him that way herself, even at the expense of truly hurting/humiliating him.
I’m gonna wrap this up because it’s getting too long and I’ve already spent massive amounts of digital ink writing about the matter.
If Yoruichi’s new form wasn’t so highly sexualized and ridiculous, 80-90% of the reactions wouldn’t exist in the first place. I’m pissed about both those things, anon. I just understand they’re not Kisuke’s fault.
If you want to read a more comprehensive post I made on both those chapters, here.
