Bleach V: Well that was a waste of time (Fullbring? What's that?)

[thubby]

This brings up something though. Might a big weakness of the Quincy be that in the real world they have much less power to work with? And that is why they lost to the SS 200 years ago?

uryu has flat out stated he's more powerful in HM and SS, so it's certainly a factor.

but i think the real issues are more mundane. SS has 13 insanely powerful troops it can put anywhere on the planet almost instantly, and they operate out of a virtually unassailable fortress/dimension.
SS probably could have won on logistics alone by burning quincy food supplies.

on top of that, quincy are still fundamentally human. a hit is a hit and it will hurt them, where shinigami HP and power are linked, apparently.

[jindra34]

This brings up something though. Might a big weakness of the Quincy be that in the real world they have much less power to work with? And that is why they lost to the SS 200 years ago?

I think given what we've seen of these Quincy its their only real weakness. Except maybe Captain Ukitake and his ability to return ranged attacks, and thats only a maybe.

[Callos_DeTerran]

this is a potentially clever gotcha moment. ichigo's bankai's mode of action is compressing his reiatsu. essentially the exact opposite of what this baddy is trying to do.

in practice, i pretty much guarantee it's not going to come up for the captains, making it a useless useful power

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I don't think that's the case actually. It seems to work regardless of how powerful the person in question is or how strong their willpower is (Ayon had incredible willpower, partially because it had no intelligence). Ichigo's bankai may well help him to resist the ability for longer, but I'm pretty sure he's spot on about having to break the halo to stop the effect which is what he's currently doing.

So I think it's less a case of the power being useless on the captains and more they won't have too much trouble breaking the halos. More importantly, it doesn't seem to be a passive thing, Opie seems to be directing it so sufficiently stealthy/fast characters can likely get around it.

As for Mayuri...well he probably figured out a defense when he fought Uryuu or breaking down his poisons/diseases won't affect their lethality. One of those two. Either way, the captains will be resistant to this ability, but I doubt it'll be because of their power. Also, how DID that king guy get through the membrane? Internal sympathizers?

[tyckspoon]

Also, how DID that king guy get through the membrane? Internal sympathizers?

Just punched on through, probably. We've yet to see a barrier that can't be destroyed by the simple application of overwhelming force, and of course we've seen that a powerful Quincy can probably destroy or nullify any spirit-particle construct that they put their minds to.

(Heck, for maximum evil style/irony points, the blasts he just leveled them with might have been formed from the energy of the barrier that was supposed to keep him out.)

[jindra34]

Honestly after thinking about the last few chapters (and seeing how this arc is building) I have to ask: Is it just me or has Kubo's writing skills started to improve?

[Callos_DeTerran]

Just punched on through, probably. We've yet to see a barrier that can't be destroyed by the simple application of overwhelming force, and of course we've seen that a powerful Quincy can probably destroy or nullify any spirit-particle construct that they put their minds to.

(Heck, for maximum evil style/irony points, the blasts he just leveled them with might have been formed from the energy of the barrier that was supposed to keep him out.)

That's just it though, does that membrane count as a spirit-particle construct considering it's projected by seki-seki stone, the spiritual power neutralizer?

Course, he very well have just blasted through, but I'm wondering if it's not more ocmplex then that.

[Dante & Vergil]

A while back everyone mentioned who they thought the 5 weapons the quincy king was talking about earlier, and everyone mentioned Ichigo, Urahara, Yoruichi, Isshin as 4 of the 5, but the 5th was up in the air, but I have a feeling the 5th may be Tessai. We may not have seen much from him, but the dude was the head of the Kido Corp for a reason, which I'm sure isn't far off from a captain in strength.

[HandofShadows]

Honestly after thinking about the last few chapters (and seeing how this arc is building) I have to ask: Is it just me or has Kubo's writing skills started to improve?

I get the feeling that when he gets time to set up things and mull them over they improve more than they would improve for an average writer.

[jindra34]

I get the feeling that when he gets time to set up things and mull them over they improve more than they would improve for an average writer.

I don't know about you but most writers do that by default. So of course it wouldn't improve their writing much.

[Drolyt]

I don't know about you but most writers do that by default. So of course it wouldn't improve their writing much.

"Writing by the seat of of your pants" is actually a pretty common strategy, but most people who do that spend significant time on revision. I'm not sure how it could work for a serial work.

[jindra34]

"Writing by the seat of of your pants" is actually a pretty common strategy, but most people who do that spend significant time on revision. I'm not sure how it could work for a serial work.

I would call that mulling it over. In a more serial comic though you definitely need to script ahead.

[Madara]

New chapter?

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Looks like Kira is down. And a bunch of other guys named in the page before.

[thubby]

kubo, stop naming people then murdering them. it doesn't DO anything.

also, disappointed to see kira down. his fights were always interesting. he was always the one winning with clever tactics.

[Friv]

kubo, stop naming people then murdering them. it doesn't DO anything.

To be fair, one of those guys looked so much like Byakuya that I would have been hellishly confused if he hadn't been given a separate name.

also, disappointed to see kira down. his fights were always interesting. he was always the one winning with clever tactics.

Yeah, he does seem to be trying to make up for lost time on the murdering cool people front. Let's see if it sticks.

[jindra34]

About the only thing this does is show why the captains are considered the military force of the Soul Society.

[Mercenary Pen]

About the only thing this does is show why the captains are considered the military force of the Soul Society.

Got to agree with this, one of my pet hates is one sided battles that try to prove how powerful new characters or threats are- it doesn't usually work in my opinion... and it shows lazy writing at work as well.

[Madara]

How many people know Shikai now?(Before the random people died)

Why does the Soul Society even bother having the lower rank soldiers fight? They can't even be good meatshields

[Silva Stormrage]

How many people know Shikai now?(Before the random people died)

Why does the Soul Society even bother having the lower rank soldiers fight? They can't even be good meatshields

Well in the previous fights we have seen with the Quincy the Quincy had fodder troops as well AND they were fighting on earth were they have less spirit particles around to absorb. I think it was more of vastly underestimating the quincy's strength.

[Elhann]

Yeah, he does seem to be trying to make up for lost time on the murdering cool people front. Let's see if it sticks.

Ignoring Hinamori getting stabbed thorugh the chest, the vizard girl whose name I can't remember getting cut in half, Captain Tuberculosis having a third hand where he had ribs before (Wonderweiss's hand, to be precise) and SuperCaptain Fiery Genocide Granpa doing a sacrificial kido...

Rangiku looked pretty much the same after her fight with whatshisname beast thing made of Harribel's Fraccion. She was fine enough to be innefective againt Gin in the same arc. Mayuri looked far worse when he fought Ishida.

All of them are shiny now (Old Man Burninating Death has just one hand, but I don't think that's a problem for burning things).
Ten gold pieces say the Third division won't be needing a new lieutenant any time soon.

[jindra34]

Ten gold pieces say the Third division won't be needing a new lieutenant any time soon.

I'm not taking that bet. Simply because the odds are stupidly long on both Kira dieing and the rest of the division not getting annihilated down to the captain, at which point they won't need a new lieutenant any time soon anyways.

[thubby]

How many people know Shikai now?(Before the random people died)

Why does the Soul Society even bother having the lower rank soldiers fight? They can't even be good meatshields

because they are effective and watch over the entire world. lets not forget at least 1 espada and almost all the fraccion were killed by lieutenants.

as dead as they all got, this was the right move for SS. not only were previous quincy not this powerful, there are more of them than SS has captains. they need to know where the major threats are before deploying.

[Fjolnir]

The average Soul Reaper has enough ability to do one of three tasks: patrol the roukon district, exterminate hollows in the mortal world, or provide support / healing to those that do. It seems like there is very little overlap when it comes to roles in SS.

[Closet_Skeleton]

How many people know Shikai now?(Before the random people died)

The random people were all high seated officers.

Also, Rukia is now officially a vice-captain?

[HandofShadows]

because they are effective and watch over the entire world. lets not forget at least 1 espada and almost all the fraccion were killed by lieutenants.

Actually she was not even a LT when she took down the Espada.

Also, Rukia is now officially a vice-captain?

Yep. Rukia is officialy a vice-captain now. Let's hope a power boost came with the new job. She is going to need it.

[Infernally Clay]

Nah, her purpose is obvious. If Rukia goes headfirst for one of the Stern Ritter, it's the perfect excuse for Kyoraku and Ukitake to show up and save her. Ukitake will die and Kyoraku will kill the Stern Ritter that took out Ukitake, both hyping the Stern Ritter further (they can kill even senior Captains) while giving hope to the rest of the Shinigami (they can be killed). I think at least one Stern Ritter will die before the surviving Shinigami flee to the Human World, where the Vandenreich is ironically weakest, and that Kyoraku, Unohana and Yamamoto will stay behind to hold the Quincy off long enough for them all to get away.

Which fits the chapter title, since this invasion will signify the end of the Gotei 13.

[Turalisj]

Nah, her purpose is obvious. If Rukia goes headfirst for one of the Stern Ritter, it's the perfect excuse for Kyoraku and Ukitake to show up and save her. Ukitake will die and Kyoraku will kill the Stern Ritter that took out Ukitake, both hyping the Stern Ritter further (they can kill even senior Captains) while giving hope to the rest of the Shinigami (they can be killed). I think at least one Stern Ritter will die before the surviving Shinigami flee to the Human World, where the Vandenreich is ironically weakest, and that Kyoraku, Unohana and Yamamoto will stay behind to hold the Quincy off long enough for them all to get away.

Which fits the chapter title, since this invasion will signify the end of the Gotei 13.

I will stop reading Bleach if that happens.

[darksolitaire]

I will stop reading Bleach if that happens.

Why? IMO that's not bad plot development.

[Turalisj]

It's a strictly formula plot that has been overused.

[Fjolnir]

It's a strictly formula plot that has been overused.

Since when were you under the impression that I wasn't using strictly hackneyed plot points?

[Infernally Clay]

It's a strictly formula plot that has been overused.

And if the Gotei 13 doesn't fall, what then? Ichigo wipes out the Quincy presence in Hueco Mundo, the Shinigami takes out Buckbeard and his Stern Ritter and everyone lives happily ever after?

That would be terrible.