Come, relentless eraser rain!
Yay for Ikkaku's bankai! The fight was just so very awesome animated! *.*
But when I went back to re-read the manga to check the pacing, combined with Kruznik wondering why Houzukimaru was 'lazy', I noticed that the manga explanation of his bankai is quite different from the anime.
Manga (chap 205):
"I see you've noticed it. I took care of Houzukimaru while training for bankai. Quite different from you guys, who simply let yours slumber. Therefore, cutting the enemy, not getting cut, swiftly awakening its spear form, and drawing out its powers are quite simple for us. After it's awoken, the dragon carving here begins to release its crimson dye. As soon as the dye empties, Ryuumon Houzukimaru's full destructive force surfaces."
Compare that to his explination in the anime (ep 118):
"Looks like you've noticed it, huh? Unlike me, Houzukimaru's a lazy bum. I finally force him to go bankai and he's still half-asleep. I gotta force him awake to use his real power by slashing up my enemy or letting him slash me up! The dragon crest turns red as he starts waking up. When the dragon turns completely red, then Ryuumon Houzukimaru's destructive (power) will truly be at its greatest!"
... so, um, they are almost completely opposite! I mean, not that they aren't allowed to change things for the anime, but it's kinda wierd. In the manga it's like Houzukimaru has a 'count-down', similar to Hitsugaya's Hyourinmaru's 'count-down'. This limitation is most likely because Ikkaku still has to train to be able to use bankai fully. I imagine that when he has trained more he'd be able to summon Houzukimaru fully powered. (And Hitsugaya would have no limit to how long he can use Hyourinmaru.) So Houzukimaru counts down, releasing crimson dye until full power is achieved. In the anime it's more like a 'count-up', with Houzukimaru filling up with crimson dye as Ikkaku gets damaged or is damaged (like a Final Fantasy limit break ^.^). Except for the fact that he wasn't getting hit or hitting while giving the explanation, and the dye was still filling up. I know, details, details ^^()
*shrug* That's about all the explanation you'll get on why Houzukimaru is lazy, Kruznik! It's because the anime people said so. ^^
And Death Note is certainly going crazy. What's with that new intro and ending? Yikes. On the plus side it looks like grown-up Light is going to be very nice looking ^^.
I'm surprised that they didn't wait to do this intro until the Near arc starts. It would have made a lot more sense.
Oh, Tomadou, it's five years between Light getting the note back and Near appearing, so yep, he grows up quite a bit ^^
I really, really don't envy the subbers having to listen to this song over and over to figure out the lyrics. ug. I'm pretty easy-going when it comes to music, but the new ending is at my limit. The new intro is a bit much for me! ^^()