New Bleach chapter out.
...I didn't think I cared that much about Yamamoto or Sasakibe, but I'll be damned if this chapter didn't choke me up a little.
If Aizen couldn't kill the soutaichou, I didn't expect a Quincy foot soldier to do it - though who knows? I may still be surprised. But what was fascinating about this chapter was that we got to see a young-looking Yamamoto, and a bit of Sasakibe's history with him. Sometimes Kubo's flashbacks feel awkwardly-timed (see: Fullbringers), but this one - much like Gin's flashbacks before his death - felt incredibly fitting and touching.
This brief scene that opened the chapter - when the Quincy uses Sasakibe's bankai and Yamamoto remembers his old subordinate using it - broke my heart, especially when Yamamoto had to close his eyes. I think it's worth noting that the soutaichou isn't always a raging dick and that he does care for others, it's just that his sense of duty and fairness and propriety doesn't always let that show. What's even cooler is that we find out the reason for Yamamoto's two scars; Sasakibe's bankai got him twice when he asked Sasakibe to prove his worth, and so after that he started calling himself Genryuusai. So Sasakibe was strong, and this chapter is a touching tribute to that; Yamamoto obviously loved him, too, and this chapter is a tribute to that as well.
I wanted to pat Shuuhei on the head this chapter as he kept getting more and more frantic over the soutaichou's fate. Righteous anger goes a long way, and it seems - I say seems because this is shounen - that Sasakibe's murderer has been defeated by Ryuujin Jakka. As is right and proper, I think. I still say Yama-jii dies inevitably (if not in this arc, but soon, and Sasakibe's death feels like a prelude) but it was his place and his honor to defeat his subordinate's killer.
Heartened again by the shift away from Byakuya, Rukia, and Renji, which leads me to believe they'll all three be fine eventually. (At which point I might have to revise my belief that Byakuya will die before Bleach ends, because these scenes with him were painful and strong enough I don't think Kubo could do it again without looking....cheap). No return to Hueco Mundo, which I sort of anticipated this week... I wonder what Kubo's doing? Is it maybe not Grimmjow? Is it maybe not an Espada at all? Did Aizen get loose somehow...? I still expect it to be Grimmjow, but the suspended reveal has drained me of all real concern for whoever it might be. (Unless it's miraculously Ulquiorra, and then my head will explode). We've also turned away from the Kenpachi fight - I wonder if we'll come back to see Ken-chan in bad shape?
Kubo mentioned in interviews that the Zero Squad would reappear upon Soul Society being brought to its knees, so I think this apparent Yama-jii victory may still be just a bright spot in a very dark arc. Still, it was nice for a breather - and now I think, if I can't see Byakuya healed and whole, that I'm ready to get back to Hueco Mundo. Shirosaki, please? He has to make his presence known at some point.
If Aizen couldn't kill the soutaichou, I didn't expect a Quincy foot soldier to do it - though who knows? I may still be surprised. But what was fascinating about this chapter was that we got to see a young-looking Yamamoto, and a bit of Sasakibe's history with him. Sometimes Kubo's flashbacks feel awkwardly-timed (see: Fullbringers), but this one - much like Gin's flashbacks before his death - felt incredibly fitting and touching.
This brief scene that opened the chapter - when the Quincy uses Sasakibe's bankai and Yamamoto remembers his old subordinate using it - broke my heart, especially when Yamamoto had to close his eyes. I think it's worth noting that the soutaichou isn't always a raging dick and that he does care for others, it's just that his sense of duty and fairness and propriety doesn't always let that show. What's even cooler is that we find out the reason for Yamamoto's two scars; Sasakibe's bankai got him twice when he asked Sasakibe to prove his worth, and so after that he started calling himself Genryuusai. So Sasakibe was strong, and this chapter is a touching tribute to that; Yamamoto obviously loved him, too, and this chapter is a tribute to that as well.
I wanted to pat Shuuhei on the head this chapter as he kept getting more and more frantic over the soutaichou's fate. Righteous anger goes a long way, and it seems - I say seems because this is shounen - that Sasakibe's murderer has been defeated by Ryuujin Jakka. As is right and proper, I think. I still say Yama-jii dies inevitably (if not in this arc, but soon, and Sasakibe's death feels like a prelude) but it was his place and his honor to defeat his subordinate's killer.
Heartened again by the shift away from Byakuya, Rukia, and Renji, which leads me to believe they'll all three be fine eventually. (At which point I might have to revise my belief that Byakuya will die before Bleach ends, because these scenes with him were painful and strong enough I don't think Kubo could do it again without looking....cheap). No return to Hueco Mundo, which I sort of anticipated this week... I wonder what Kubo's doing? Is it maybe not Grimmjow? Is it maybe not an Espada at all? Did Aizen get loose somehow...? I still expect it to be Grimmjow, but the suspended reveal has drained me of all real concern for whoever it might be. (Unless it's miraculously Ulquiorra, and then my head will explode). We've also turned away from the Kenpachi fight - I wonder if we'll come back to see Ken-chan in bad shape?
Kubo mentioned in interviews that the Zero Squad would reappear upon Soul Society being brought to its knees, so I think this apparent Yama-jii victory may still be just a bright spot in a very dark arc. Still, it was nice for a breather - and now I think, if I can't see Byakuya healed and whole, that I'm ready to get back to Hueco Mundo. Shirosaki, please? He has to make his presence known at some point.