New Bleach chapter out.
I....did not expect this, entirely?
Interesting.
So this was the chapter when Yama-jii owned Juha Bach. Entirely. Good lord. So not only does Zanka no Tachi call up the dead, it calls up your dead subordinates, and they hold you down while Yama-jii finishes you off. (Juha seemed appalled by the nature of the bankai, but the more I saw of it the more I found it appropriate - it makes sense to me that Yama-jii would be master over death, of all things). Still, a pretty brutal beating - Juha had big important chunks of himself missing at the end there.
Three things worth nothing from the battle: 1) we get an explanation about bankai, 2) we learn Juha has empathy, and 3) we hear Yama-jii's protectiveness over his own shinigami. The explanation of bankai was most interesting and made the most sense; the Quincy have to know the bankai fully to be able to steal it. Yama-jii never let his slip all those years ago, and presumably the reason nii-sama got his bankai stolen was because it's fully-developed and understood. Since Ichigo has room to grow (yes, apparently even beyond Final Getsuga) they can't take his. Secondly, tears from Juha? Yama-jii says that he still has a heart. I'm not sure that amounts to evidence of one given the grand total of his douchebaggery, but sure. Finally - I felt warm fuzzies for Yama-jii when he sort of roared at Juha (who was appalled by the nature of his bankai) that he basically deserved it for striking down shinigami. He really is protective of them, and he really does serve as the stern "father" of the Gotei 13.
Now, an important question: to whom did that scary ending "Juha Bach-sama...." belong?
My bet's on blondie, still. He's the only one standing nearby and close enough to watch the whole thing, though it could also belong to an as-yet-unintroduced character. Blondie called Juha "Your majesty" previously (in translation on Mangastream, so I don't know if the raw had -sama there), but maybe this is still him? At any rate, someone's losing their shit over Juha.
EDIT: People have pointed out that it can be extrapolated that the voice is "Juha Bach" apologizing to the real Juha Bach, which is entirely possible, though my curiosity remains: who is the real Juha Bach? Was the one Yama-jii fought merely a clone of some kind? (Was it really blondie in disguise or something?) Have we not seen the real Juha Bach? I'm all kinds of curious now.
Do I take back my prediction that Yama-jii will go down? ....no, although I'm surprised at how this battle turned out. Kubo's really turning the formula upside down here; the big bad doesn't go down so soon. And Juha seems....really down for the count, doesn't he? Unless he has magical powers of regeneration (always a possibility), he's certainly not at all well. His apology indicates he knows it. So will Blondie be the one to take down Yama-jii?
As for the rest of it, I have to reorient myself, because I don't know where it's going to go. Is Juha really down for good, and if he is, who will take his place...? This reeks of "premature victory" to me, so I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. We'll see.
Interesting.
So this was the chapter when Yama-jii owned Juha Bach. Entirely. Good lord. So not only does Zanka no Tachi call up the dead, it calls up your dead subordinates, and they hold you down while Yama-jii finishes you off. (Juha seemed appalled by the nature of the bankai, but the more I saw of it the more I found it appropriate - it makes sense to me that Yama-jii would be master over death, of all things). Still, a pretty brutal beating - Juha had big important chunks of himself missing at the end there.
Three things worth nothing from the battle: 1) we get an explanation about bankai, 2) we learn Juha has empathy, and 3) we hear Yama-jii's protectiveness over his own shinigami. The explanation of bankai was most interesting and made the most sense; the Quincy have to know the bankai fully to be able to steal it. Yama-jii never let his slip all those years ago, and presumably the reason nii-sama got his bankai stolen was because it's fully-developed and understood. Since Ichigo has room to grow (yes, apparently even beyond Final Getsuga) they can't take his. Secondly, tears from Juha? Yama-jii says that he still has a heart. I'm not sure that amounts to evidence of one given the grand total of his douchebaggery, but sure. Finally - I felt warm fuzzies for Yama-jii when he sort of roared at Juha (who was appalled by the nature of his bankai) that he basically deserved it for striking down shinigami. He really is protective of them, and he really does serve as the stern "father" of the Gotei 13.
Now, an important question: to whom did that scary ending "Juha Bach-sama...." belong?
My bet's on blondie, still. He's the only one standing nearby and close enough to watch the whole thing, though it could also belong to an as-yet-unintroduced character. Blondie called Juha "Your majesty" previously (in translation on Mangastream, so I don't know if the raw had -sama there), but maybe this is still him? At any rate, someone's losing their shit over Juha.
EDIT: People have pointed out that it can be extrapolated that the voice is "Juha Bach" apologizing to the real Juha Bach, which is entirely possible, though my curiosity remains: who is the real Juha Bach? Was the one Yama-jii fought merely a clone of some kind? (Was it really blondie in disguise or something?) Have we not seen the real Juha Bach? I'm all kinds of curious now.
Do I take back my prediction that Yama-jii will go down? ....no, although I'm surprised at how this battle turned out. Kubo's really turning the formula upside down here; the big bad doesn't go down so soon. And Juha seems....really down for the count, doesn't he? Unless he has magical powers of regeneration (always a possibility), he's certainly not at all well. His apology indicates he knows it. So will Blondie be the one to take down Yama-jii?
As for the rest of it, I have to reorient myself, because I don't know where it's going to go. Is Juha really down for good, and if he is, who will take his place...? This reeks of "premature victory" to me, so I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. We'll see.