Bleach volumes 22-26
I feel like with this series, one may as well relax and enjoy the utter shounen-ness of it. A few highlights and lowlights:
1. No! Tite Kubo! Do not introduce an entirely new gigantic cast of characters! Pay more attention to the ones you already have! Argh!
2. I had thought the Vizards were very sinister when first introduced, but now they don't seem to be at all. Are they Hollows who turned into soul reapers, or Soul Reapers who tapped into Hollow powers, or soemthing else? I think this was explained, but I forgot.
3. When Ichigo shows up at the Vizard Hang-Out, and the head Vizard goes, "Ah, Ichigo, so you have finally come to join us..." I thought, "Wow! Ichigo has finally learned strategy! Instead of just charging in and hitting people, he's going undercover!"
Then I turned the page.
Ichigo: "NO! I'LL NEVER JOIN YOU! I'M HERE TO BEAT YOU ALL UP UNTIL YOU TEACH ME WHAT I WANT TO LEARN!"
Oh, Ichigo.
4. On a similar note, it's a little sad when Renji is the only person with the sense to want to interrogate Urahara.
5. Yay! Rukia is kicking ass and bossing Ichigo again! She has a cool zanpaku-to!
Boo! She's still less powerful and central than a bunch of random people I don't care about.
6. The Shinigami at high school was a hilarious scene. I also cracked up at the pure shounen-ness of the moment when they're all getting their asses kicked by the Arrancar, and then they get a text message from the Soul Society saying their hitherto-unmentioned limiters have been removed, and they're all, "Bwa-ha-ha! Now we go up five levels!"
7. Orihime... argh! Of course the girl character is the one with non-battle-related powers who must be kept out of the fight. I feel really bad for her, but it's so frustrating on a feminist and meta level that when the guys feel the same way, the answer is to train hard and get stronger, but when the girl is weak, she should just stay out of the fight.
On a non-feminist level, it's also frustrating that the Shinigami get their own fights, but Ichigo's human pals just seem to get beaten up and rescued. Of course the Shinigami are powerful, but Ichigo's human too, so it's not that much of a stretch for his human friends to be able to attain at least regular-Shinigami-level strength.
8. On a related note, Ikkaku's bankai was really out of the blue. He was almost the first person Ichigo beat up in Soul Society! Where was his bankai then?
9. I liked when Ulquiorrra reports to Aizen by throwing his eyeball at him. That's what this series was missing, eyeball removal!
10. In conclusion, most shounen moment ever recorded:
Ichigo: Dude, what happened to your arm?
Grimmjow: I TOOK IT OFF BECAUSE I DON'T NEED IT TO KILL YOU!
1. No! Tite Kubo! Do not introduce an entirely new gigantic cast of characters! Pay more attention to the ones you already have! Argh!
2. I had thought the Vizards were very sinister when first introduced, but now they don't seem to be at all. Are they Hollows who turned into soul reapers, or Soul Reapers who tapped into Hollow powers, or soemthing else? I think this was explained, but I forgot.
3. When Ichigo shows up at the Vizard Hang-Out, and the head Vizard goes, "Ah, Ichigo, so you have finally come to join us..." I thought, "Wow! Ichigo has finally learned strategy! Instead of just charging in and hitting people, he's going undercover!"
Then I turned the page.
Ichigo: "NO! I'LL NEVER JOIN YOU! I'M HERE TO BEAT YOU ALL UP UNTIL YOU TEACH ME WHAT I WANT TO LEARN!"
Oh, Ichigo.
4. On a similar note, it's a little sad when Renji is the only person with the sense to want to interrogate Urahara.
5. Yay! Rukia is kicking ass and bossing Ichigo again! She has a cool zanpaku-to!
Boo! She's still less powerful and central than a bunch of random people I don't care about.
6. The Shinigami at high school was a hilarious scene. I also cracked up at the pure shounen-ness of the moment when they're all getting their asses kicked by the Arrancar, and then they get a text message from the Soul Society saying their hitherto-unmentioned limiters have been removed, and they're all, "Bwa-ha-ha! Now we go up five levels!"
7. Orihime... argh! Of course the girl character is the one with non-battle-related powers who must be kept out of the fight. I feel really bad for her, but it's so frustrating on a feminist and meta level that when the guys feel the same way, the answer is to train hard and get stronger, but when the girl is weak, she should just stay out of the fight.
On a non-feminist level, it's also frustrating that the Shinigami get their own fights, but Ichigo's human pals just seem to get beaten up and rescued. Of course the Shinigami are powerful, but Ichigo's human too, so it's not that much of a stretch for his human friends to be able to attain at least regular-Shinigami-level strength.
8. On a related note, Ikkaku's bankai was really out of the blue. He was almost the first person Ichigo beat up in Soul Society! Where was his bankai then?
9. I liked when Ulquiorrra reports to Aizen by throwing his eyeball at him. That's what this series was missing, eyeball removal!
10. In conclusion, most shounen moment ever recorded:
Ichigo: Dude, what happened to your arm?
Grimmjow: I TOOK IT OFF BECAUSE I DON'T NEED IT TO KILL YOU!