New Bleach chapter out.
I said I wasn't going to post about this chapter. But now I am...confused? Startled by the turn the arc has taken? In denial, still?
Jesus. Help me figure this out, people.
1. All The Byakuya Feelings
Just...okay. Byakuya first. When I read the spoilers - Byakuya leaving it to Ichigo, his zanpakuto disintegrating - my heart broke open. And then I read the chapter and...I don't know how to feel. It certainly seems like Byakuya and Ichigo have an understanding; that "I'll leave it to you" sounded like last words to me (like Gin's last words). The hilt of Senbonzakura breaking apart disturbed me immensely, too; I think it's Mayuri who indicates that if the hilt of a zanpakuto is salvageable, it can be restored, but this...it's not good, is it?
I think what keeps holding me back from freaking out is the thought: surely this isn't it? Surely nii-sama would get a color page? Something more than dying feeling that he'd failed? A goodbye to Rukia and Renji? Closure? Something? And for those reasons I still keep hoping it's not an end, that there's an out somehow, that he'll survive. And if he does, I'll be relieved - but admittedly peeved at Kubo for dragging a very real tease out for way too long. But if this is the real thing and a real end...this will be maybe the first time that Kubo's completely disappointed me - not necessarily by sacrificing a character, but by doing it this way (when even Gin had a better, if more bittersweet, sendoff). I know Byakuya isn't the main character. Hell, I predicted we'd lose him before the end of the series. But he's my favorite in Bleach and one of my favorites of all-time, and...as a fangirl who invests way too much into these things, I hate seeing his character treated this way.
2. The Quincy Thing
I'm sure BA and other Bleach forums are exploding with either joy or rage. Ichigo comes in guns blazing, busts out the omnipresent Getsuga Tenshou, and promptly gets owned by Juha, whose desire seems to be to capture Ichigo. And then Ichigo busts out the Blut Vene, the Quincy trick.
So...yeah. Ichigo's part-Quincy, too?
To be fair, Kubo set up for this somewhat back during the Winter War arc - Aizen has that moment where he's ready to spill the beans of Ichigo's parentage and then gets interrupted. People assumed at that time, since Isshin was a shinigami, that Masaki might have been a hollow - but was she a Quincy, instead? Narratively I guess it makes sense - and what if Isshin was a Shiba, and the clan fell into disgrace because he married a hated Quincy? It would explain his friendship with Ryuuken, too. And of course this would make Ichigo the Uberperfect Ultimate Sought-After Warrior: hollow, human, Quincy. Sure.
But...
I don't know. I feel weird about it. Weird watching Ichigo use Quincy tricks. Maybe it's because for me, up until now, the Quincy haven't felt integral to the series like hollow and shinigami had; Ishida's Quincy stuff happened pretty early on and then...nothing, till now. It's just...different?
Also: Juha implies Ichigo got out of the cage on his own. What the hell is happening in HM, or does it even matter at this point?
I don't know how to feel. Somebody tell me how I should feel. Or better yet, how you feel.
Jesus. Help me figure this out, people.
1. All The Byakuya Feelings
Just...okay. Byakuya first. When I read the spoilers - Byakuya leaving it to Ichigo, his zanpakuto disintegrating - my heart broke open. And then I read the chapter and...I don't know how to feel. It certainly seems like Byakuya and Ichigo have an understanding; that "I'll leave it to you" sounded like last words to me (like Gin's last words). The hilt of Senbonzakura breaking apart disturbed me immensely, too; I think it's Mayuri who indicates that if the hilt of a zanpakuto is salvageable, it can be restored, but this...it's not good, is it?
I think what keeps holding me back from freaking out is the thought: surely this isn't it? Surely nii-sama would get a color page? Something more than dying feeling that he'd failed? A goodbye to Rukia and Renji? Closure? Something? And for those reasons I still keep hoping it's not an end, that there's an out somehow, that he'll survive. And if he does, I'll be relieved - but admittedly peeved at Kubo for dragging a very real tease out for way too long. But if this is the real thing and a real end...this will be maybe the first time that Kubo's completely disappointed me - not necessarily by sacrificing a character, but by doing it this way (when even Gin had a better, if more bittersweet, sendoff). I know Byakuya isn't the main character. Hell, I predicted we'd lose him before the end of the series. But he's my favorite in Bleach and one of my favorites of all-time, and...as a fangirl who invests way too much into these things, I hate seeing his character treated this way.
2. The Quincy Thing
I'm sure BA and other Bleach forums are exploding with either joy or rage. Ichigo comes in guns blazing, busts out the omnipresent Getsuga Tenshou, and promptly gets owned by Juha, whose desire seems to be to capture Ichigo. And then Ichigo busts out the Blut Vene, the Quincy trick.
So...yeah. Ichigo's part-Quincy, too?
To be fair, Kubo set up for this somewhat back during the Winter War arc - Aizen has that moment where he's ready to spill the beans of Ichigo's parentage and then gets interrupted. People assumed at that time, since Isshin was a shinigami, that Masaki might have been a hollow - but was she a Quincy, instead? Narratively I guess it makes sense - and what if Isshin was a Shiba, and the clan fell into disgrace because he married a hated Quincy? It would explain his friendship with Ryuuken, too. And of course this would make Ichigo the Uberperfect Ultimate Sought-After Warrior: hollow, human, Quincy. Sure.
But...
I don't know. I feel weird about it. Weird watching Ichigo use Quincy tricks. Maybe it's because for me, up until now, the Quincy haven't felt integral to the series like hollow and shinigami had; Ishida's Quincy stuff happened pretty early on and then...nothing, till now. It's just...different?
Also: Juha implies Ichigo got out of the cage on his own. What the hell is happening in HM, or does it even matter at this point?
I don't know how to feel. Somebody tell me how I should feel. Or better yet, how you feel.