(no subject)
Every now and then, I catch myself thinking "quick, finish this post before the computer freezes again," and then the computer doesn't freeze. It's wonderful.
As for Bleach 411....
..was less popular with me than the last two chapters. Reactions:
--OK, so it makes sense that Ichigo didn't know what he looked like when he defeated Ulquiorra. Not like he had a mirror (or was sane at that point).
--He thought the Hollow had been "crushed" but that he could still use its power to Hollowfy? Uh, no.
--TZ is all "yeah, yeah, we know you have the self-knowledge of a brick."
--And of course TZ has to do all the dirty work of actually telling Ichigo what's going on. *sigh*
--Which is: the Hollowfication didn't work not because Shirosaki was holding back, but because Ichigo was scared of unleashing it and subconsciously kept it in check. He fears having "his heart overwhelmed by his own destructive power". Well, at least now he knows that.
--"So what are you telling me to do?" OH GOOD, HE'S ACTUALLY ASKING NOW. WELL DONE, ICHIGO, KEEP IT UP.
--WUT
--Okay, now I'm glad old!Zangetsu didn't come back. It would've been worse to see him end up like that.
--*facepalm* So Shiro is really part of Zangetsu? Or rather, they're part of each other? This... kind of annoys me. But it's not unforeshadowed. Ichigo did have to defeat Shiro to control his Vaizard powers. He also had to defeat Zangetsu to attain bankai. (Which Kubo never showed us, darnit -- defeating him must've made him disappear, or he would've met Tensa back then. OR did he rush off to save Rukia before TZ could manifest? LOL.)
--Anyway... what this seems to mean -- and what TZ seems to have accepted -- is that he may never be able to really fight alongside Ichigo. He and the Hollow are the same creature, and Ichigo, to stay in charge, has to constantly be ready to defeat them both and keep a lid on them. That doesn't bode well for their working relationship.
--As for the rest of the chapter: DON KANONJI. His epic entrance is second only to Gai-sensei's~ (although I do wish he'd said that Aizen smelled like bad spirits). "Heroes who run from battle are not called heroes by our children." Ah, Karakura, your people are the best. And between Tatsuki's EXPRESSION OF PURE WHUT and Rangiku's sudden appearance out of nowhere, it sort of made up for the whole Tensaki thing. I'm really not worried about Tatsuki or Rangiku. Kanonji, however, is expendable, and could easily go out in a blaze of self-sacrificial glory. Not looking forward to that.
So: I was hoping Ichigo would get a chance to sort out his motivations, but melding TZ and Shiro looks like it's just going to turn into another "I'll beat you, and then you'll give me the information I want!" fight, which Kubo might even skip because I don't see what else Ichigo or Tensaki can say that would be important. On the positive side, that fight might only be a stopgap, and Ichigo would have to return to the inner world later on to deal with the flooding and skyscraper shrinkage. Also, it's less and less likely that what Ichigo's going through is anything like Isshin's experience with Engetsu, unless Isshin's somehow a Vaizard too.
No Bleach art this week; the twist in the first half bored me (and I don't feel like drawing the other twist, even though it was fun).
Hmmm. Alternatively, it occurs to me that if TZ and Shiro are part of the same power, it has to be Ichigo who decides how the power manifests. It's probably not even a situation where there's a finite amount of power that divides between TZ and the Hollowmonster. Either or both can manifest, and (probably) their strength levels are identical, but it's up to Ichigo which one does show up -- that would be why Zangetsu was missing during the Vaizard arc: he was there specifically to deal with his rogue hollow. TZ probably only appeared now because Ichigo wasn't focused on the hollow and started the meditation with the express intention of talking to his zanpakutou. TZ, then, has to get Ichigo to be able to consciously control both of them in order to make the split-second battle decisions of which side of his power to access.
..okay, that's making a little more sense.
As for Bleach 411....
..was less popular with me than the last two chapters. Reactions:
--OK, so it makes sense that Ichigo didn't know what he looked like when he defeated Ulquiorra. Not like he had a mirror (or was sane at that point).
--He thought the Hollow had been "crushed" but that he could still use its power to Hollowfy? Uh, no.
--TZ is all "yeah, yeah, we know you have the self-knowledge of a brick."
--And of course TZ has to do all the dirty work of actually telling Ichigo what's going on. *sigh*
--Which is: the Hollowfication didn't work not because Shirosaki was holding back, but because Ichigo was scared of unleashing it and subconsciously kept it in check. He fears having "his heart overwhelmed by his own destructive power". Well, at least now he knows that.
--"So what are you telling me to do?" OH GOOD, HE'S ACTUALLY ASKING NOW. WELL DONE, ICHIGO, KEEP IT UP.
--WUT
--Okay, now I'm glad old!Zangetsu didn't come back. It would've been worse to see him end up like that.
--*facepalm* So Shiro is really part of Zangetsu? Or rather, they're part of each other? This... kind of annoys me. But it's not unforeshadowed. Ichigo did have to defeat Shiro to control his Vaizard powers. He also had to defeat Zangetsu to attain bankai. (Which Kubo never showed us, darnit -- defeating him must've made him disappear, or he would've met Tensa back then. OR did he rush off to save Rukia before TZ could manifest? LOL.)
--Anyway... what this seems to mean -- and what TZ seems to have accepted -- is that he may never be able to really fight alongside Ichigo. He and the Hollow are the same creature, and Ichigo, to stay in charge, has to constantly be ready to defeat them both and keep a lid on them. That doesn't bode well for their working relationship.
--As for the rest of the chapter: DON KANONJI. His epic entrance is second only to Gai-sensei's~ (although I do wish he'd said that Aizen smelled like bad spirits). "Heroes who run from battle are not called heroes by our children." Ah, Karakura, your people are the best. And between Tatsuki's EXPRESSION OF PURE WHUT and Rangiku's sudden appearance out of nowhere, it sort of made up for the whole Tensaki thing. I'm really not worried about Tatsuki or Rangiku. Kanonji, however, is expendable, and could easily go out in a blaze of self-sacrificial glory. Not looking forward to that.
So: I was hoping Ichigo would get a chance to sort out his motivations, but melding TZ and Shiro looks like it's just going to turn into another "I'll beat you, and then you'll give me the information I want!" fight, which Kubo might even skip because I don't see what else Ichigo or Tensaki can say that would be important. On the positive side, that fight might only be a stopgap, and Ichigo would have to return to the inner world later on to deal with the flooding and skyscraper shrinkage. Also, it's less and less likely that what Ichigo's going through is anything like Isshin's experience with Engetsu, unless Isshin's somehow a Vaizard too.
No Bleach art this week; the twist in the first half bored me (and I don't feel like drawing the other twist, even though it was fun).
Hmmm. Alternatively, it occurs to me that if TZ and Shiro are part of the same power, it has to be Ichigo who decides how the power manifests. It's probably not even a situation where there's a finite amount of power that divides between TZ and the Hollowmonster. Either or both can manifest, and (probably) their strength levels are identical, but it's up to Ichigo which one does show up -- that would be why Zangetsu was missing during the Vaizard arc: he was there specifically to deal with his rogue hollow. TZ probably only appeared now because Ichigo wasn't focused on the hollow and started the meditation with the express intention of talking to his zanpakutou. TZ, then, has to get Ichigo to be able to consciously control both of them in order to make the split-second battle decisions of which side of his power to access.
..okay, that's making a little more sense.