thoughts on Bleach 349 [spoilers]
So here we are, another Friday another Bleach chapter. *rubs hands together*
Spoilers abound below the cut - you have been warned!
I was so excited at start of the chapter. Orihime flying into action, like we've seen her do so many times in the past. Awesome! Then it devolved into the now-familiar "Kurosaki-kun" wailing, and mountains of indecision. Ok KT, I think I get what you're going for here, that she's changed during her incarceration, but honestly you need to show your work more if we're going to really feel it. Making readers just assume that's what's changed her is not good writing, IMO. Unless there's some other big mystery behind it, and we're supposed to be wondering "OMG what happened to her?!?!", in which case he's still missed the mark. Instead of being intriguing, it's just annoying. No, I don't want everything fed to me on a spoon, but I'd like to see important character development.
Enough about that! It was a pretty action-packed chapter, with other interesting and thought-provoking tidbits.
Ishida lost his hand. Holy crap! Unfortunately, I'm not really moved by it. We've seen worse fixed in this series, so while initially it packed a good punch, I brushed it off immediately after. That doesn't take away from just how badass Ishida is in this chapter, though. He was extremely hardcore, and I'm really happy for the Ishida fans out there. :)
Ichigo is all kinds of fucked up. That's fairly impressive. Lots of anvilicious death and gore, but given the type of manga this is, it's probably spot-on for the target audience. :) Plus I ought not complain when something is spelled out so-very-clearly, given how I seriously begrudge the lack of information in other areas! Again, I'm certain he can be fixed, but that last panel is a strong indication that he'll be fixing himself in the near future. I sense a return of the Ichigo HollowBeast! Which, of course, is one of the things this entire arc has been building up to, so thank goodness we're here at last.
Next week should be epic. Unless we get a scene switch. Which would suck. x_x
Still massively underwhelmed with the new translations truncating the forms of address. Yes, those honourifics are actually important, and no it's not just because the "fantard weeabos" like them. They have meaning that's important to the tone of the character interactions. I am getting tired of having to look up the raws every week to make sure I'm not missing a significant change. *sigh*
Final thoughts? Nice mullet. *snicker*