Catching up with Bleach
So. It's been what, well over a year since I've last read Bleach? Obviously I had a lot to catch up with. The last I remember reading was somewhere around the Hueco Mundo arc, and though I can't exactly remember why I stopped reading, the reason became quite clear when I picked up where I'd left off...
Well, it's painfully obvious that the Hueco Mundo arc is hardly the best this manga has to offer. IT'S REALLY REALLY BORING. Like, seriously. After the Vizard training and everything, there really should have been some interesting fights and the like, but no! Dreary, drawn-out fights with uninteresting characters.
A few notes:
1) Most of the Allancars? I couldn't care less about them. Horrible designs, boring, predictable personalities and way too long and difficult names that no-one's going to ever be able to spell correctly. Aaroniero-wha? Szayel-whatshisface?
2) Comic relief side-kick trio Nel & co. Well, I actually kinda like the grown-up Nel, but the kid version is slightly grating on my nerves. The other two are way worse, though. I'm not usually one to hate random comedy, but when what I'm reading is already boring enough, random idiocy doesn't help.
3) NEEDS MOAR AIZEN. WE'RE HOPPING AROUND HIS CASTLE, WHY CAN'T WE EVEN GET SOME RANDOM PANELS OF HIM & GIN & TOUSEN LURKING IN THE CORNERS WHYYYYYY? It would've made all the difference, trust me. *sigh*
Of the pre-Captain fights, the only one worth mentioning is Grimmjow vs Ichigo. Because hello~, it's Grimmjow vs Ichigo! It's not even that brilliant a fight, but it has some really nice shipping moments hur hur hur~♥ ("I'll kill you" = "I love you" Y/Y? Rivalslash ftw!)
And speaking of Grimmjow, I really loved his backstory! AND THE KITTY FORM. OMG. KITTY!GRIMMJOW. THOSE LITTLE PAWS AND EARS AND OMG! *foams* Ahem. I have this crack-theory that at some point, Grimmjow will switch sides and help defeat Aizen (because clearly he gives a rat's ass about Aizen's cause and just wants to snog fight Ichigo), and I really wish that it'll turn out to be true. What would be sweeter? Renji and Grimm could fight over who gets to take Ichi out for dinner and-- AHEM. Yeah, moving on.
Just when thing were starting to really get too boring to handle, this happens:
I don't think I've ever been as happy to see Ken-chan's face as I was at that point! I've gotten so utterly bored at the Allancars that some good ol' shinigami flavor actually managed to get me interested in the story again. The Kenpachi/Nnoitra fight was alright, but what I really loved was the Mayuri/Szayel showdown!
Mayuri's new look is just awesome, and I love his character because he's a fucking freak and proud of it hehe. Also, I THINK I SHIP MAYURI/ISHIDA NOW HAHAHA. Oh wait, I shipped it before. Nevermind! Ishida's reaction to Mayuri showing up was just priceless, and the fixing up part...
... Okay, so I'm a pervert, so sue me.
Now where was I... oh yeah. Turn back the Pendulum arc? SO MUCH LOVE♥♥♥!!! I've always been a sucker for Soul Society flashback, but this one was just so very, very sweet! Plotting!Aizen, Captain!Urahara and the chibis!!! CHIBI!GIN OMFG. AND HISAGI!!!!! CHIBI!BYAKUYA AHAHAHAHA.
But those are not even the best parts of the arc! I admit that I didn't really care for the Vizards when they showed up in the plot because really, they were just more random peeps whose names I can't be bothered to remember. Just cannon fodder for the Allancars or something. But now that they're connected to Soul Society? Ho-damn I love them! I can't wait for them to kick some ass in the next arc! CAPTAIN HIRAKO! (Also, so totally shipping Hirako/Urahara and Hirako/Aizen (or Aizen/Hirako whatever) now ehhhh. AND KENSEI/HISAGI BUT LET'S NOT GO THERE NOW KK?)
So, moving on. After the flashback arc things are really moving on nicely and I'm loving the action! Especially after this happens:
Do I have to even say how much I squeed? The actual fights were alright, not too drawn out luckily, but I've missed these guys so much that I was really glad they were brought back into the story. Also:
These two are quite possibly my favourite pages out of all the 70 or so chapters I read. (Yes, I am a deranged fangirl kthx.) I am really, really, really hoping there's going to be an epic re-union of some sort. I don't care how it goes, I just want these two back together again! Gin/Izuru is just the sort of fucked-up ship that I love, oh yes.
So, I think that pretty much covers it. The Hueco Mundo drag is horrible, but it seems that the story is picking up once again and I'm looking forward to the next chapters!
Oh, and one more thing. If you read all the above and kept thinking "It's a shounen manga! Of course there's going to be long mindless battles, so stfu already!", I've got one thing to say: Dragon Ball Z. That's the last shounen manga I read, which is pretty much all about fights and fighting, yet it never bored me! So I know fighting shounen can be done well, and some parts of Bleach just fail. Yup.
Oi, ranilos! You should totally catch up as well, so we could continue some of those epic RP logs we've got rolling~ *hint hint nudge nudge*
Next up is ES21, methinks. I've been neglecting it far too long. ♥
//edit. This just in: Sengoku Basara is going to be made into an anime! Yes, yessss, yessssssss!!! God I've lusted after those games for so long (I don't even have a PS2 ahahaha), so this is very good news! I just hope they don't screw it up with QUALITY animation or anything.
Well, it's painfully obvious that the Hueco Mundo arc is hardly the best this manga has to offer. IT'S REALLY REALLY BORING. Like, seriously. After the Vizard training and everything, there really should have been some interesting fights and the like, but no! Dreary, drawn-out fights with uninteresting characters.
A few notes:
1) Most of the Allancars? I couldn't care less about them. Horrible designs, boring, predictable personalities and way too long and difficult names that no-one's going to ever be able to spell correctly. Aaroniero-wha? Szayel-whatshisface?
2) Comic relief side-kick trio Nel & co. Well, I actually kinda like the grown-up Nel, but the kid version is slightly grating on my nerves. The other two are way worse, though. I'm not usually one to hate random comedy, but when what I'm reading is already boring enough, random idiocy doesn't help.
3) NEEDS MOAR AIZEN. WE'RE HOPPING AROUND HIS CASTLE, WHY CAN'T WE EVEN GET SOME RANDOM PANELS OF HIM & GIN & TOUSEN LURKING IN THE CORNERS WHYYYYYY? It would've made all the difference, trust me. *sigh*
Of the pre-Captain fights, the only one worth mentioning is Grimmjow vs Ichigo. Because hello~, it's Grimmjow vs Ichigo! It's not even that brilliant a fight, but it has some really nice shipping moments hur hur hur~♥ ("I'll kill you" = "I love you" Y/Y? Rivalslash ftw!)
And speaking of Grimmjow, I really loved his backstory! AND THE KITTY FORM. OMG. KITTY!GRIMMJOW. THOSE LITTLE PAWS AND EARS AND OMG! *foams* Ahem. I have this crack-theory that at some point, Grimmjow will switch sides and help defeat Aizen (because clearly he gives a rat's ass about Aizen's cause and just wants to snog fight Ichigo), and I really wish that it'll turn out to be true. What would be sweeter? Renji and Grimm could fight over who gets to take Ichi out for dinner and-- AHEM. Yeah, moving on.
Just when thing were starting to really get too boring to handle, this happens:
I don't think I've ever been as happy to see Ken-chan's face as I was at that point! I've gotten so utterly bored at the Allancars that some good ol' shinigami flavor actually managed to get me interested in the story again. The Kenpachi/Nnoitra fight was alright, but what I really loved was the Mayuri/Szayel showdown!
Mayuri's new look is just awesome, and I love his character because he's a fucking freak and proud of it hehe. Also, I THINK I SHIP MAYURI/ISHIDA NOW HAHAHA. Oh wait, I shipped it before. Nevermind! Ishida's reaction to Mayuri showing up was just priceless, and the fixing up part...
... Okay, so I'm a pervert, so sue me.
Now where was I... oh yeah. Turn back the Pendulum arc? SO MUCH LOVE♥♥♥!!! I've always been a sucker for Soul Society flashback, but this one was just so very, very sweet! Plotting!Aizen, Captain!Urahara and the chibis!!! CHIBI!GIN OMFG. AND HISAGI!!!!! CHIBI!BYAKUYA AHAHAHAHA.
But those are not even the best parts of the arc! I admit that I didn't really care for the Vizards when they showed up in the plot because really, they were just more random peeps whose names I can't be bothered to remember. Just cannon fodder for the Allancars or something. But now that they're connected to Soul Society? Ho-damn I love them! I can't wait for them to kick some ass in the next arc! CAPTAIN HIRAKO! (Also, so totally shipping Hirako/Urahara and Hirako/Aizen (or Aizen/Hirako whatever) now ehhhh. AND KENSEI/HISAGI BUT LET'S NOT GO THERE NOW KK?)
So, moving on. After the flashback arc things are really moving on nicely and I'm loving the action! Especially after this happens:
Do I have to even say how much I squeed? The actual fights were alright, not too drawn out luckily, but I've missed these guys so much that I was really glad they were brought back into the story. Also:
These two are quite possibly my favourite pages out of all the 70 or so chapters I read. (Yes, I am a deranged fangirl kthx.) I am really, really, really hoping there's going to be an epic re-union of some sort. I don't care how it goes, I just want these two back together again! Gin/Izuru is just the sort of fucked-up ship that I love, oh yes.
So, I think that pretty much covers it. The Hueco Mundo drag is horrible, but it seems that the story is picking up once again and I'm looking forward to the next chapters!
Oh, and one more thing. If you read all the above and kept thinking "It's a shounen manga! Of course there's going to be long mindless battles, so stfu already!", I've got one thing to say: Dragon Ball Z. That's the last shounen manga I read, which is pretty much all about fights and fighting, yet it never bored me! So I know fighting shounen can be done well, and some parts of Bleach just fail. Yup.
Oi, ranilos! You should totally catch up as well, so we could continue some of those epic RP logs we've got rolling~ *hint hint nudge nudge*
Next up is ES21, methinks. I've been neglecting it far too long. ♥
//edit. This just in: Sengoku Basara is going to be made into an anime! Yes, yessss, yessssssss!!! God I've lusted after those games for so long (I don't even have a PS2 ahahaha), so this is very good news! I just hope they don't screw it up with QUALITY animation or anything.