Bleach VI: We Want Our Baby Bach Ribs (Aizen pull)

[HandofShadows]

but his FULLBRINGER powers are a reflection of the Hollow taint on his soul from the Hollow attack as a child, so he DOES still have Hollow powers. Apparently.

Yeah, but Ichigo had some of his power stolen from him.

[danzibr]

Goddamit, Kubo, why couldn't you have ended it with the defeat of Aizen??

Because there are still so many bankai to see!

[Drolyt]

Because there are still so many bankai to see!

Which probably should have been used against Aizen.

[Fjolnir]

So I can guess that a successful kenpachi is constantly watching their back until someone kills them or piles up such a mountain of corpses that they retire...

[Turalisj]

So I can guess that a successful kenpachi is constantly watching their back until someone kills them or piles up such a mountain of corpses that they retire...

A successful Kenpachi is one who never need draw their blade.

[Dscherro]

Which probably should have been used against Aizen.

At least neither Yamamoto nor his lieutenant had a real excuse for not using theirs: Sasakibe's was perfectly controllable and even though Yama's bankai was very destructive and could have potentially caused great harm to allies, he could have finished Aizen with a single slash while he was stabbed by him. Yama even said that the other shinigami are ready to die anyway, so why holding back?

[Drolyt]

At least neither Yamamoto nor his lieutenant had a real excuse for not using theirs: Sasakibe's was perfectly controllable and even though Yama's bankai was very destructive and could have potentially caused great harm to allies, he could have finished Aizen with a single slash while he was stabbed by him. Yama even said that the other shinigami are ready to die anyway, so why holding back?

Wasn't Yama's Zanpakuto sealed by Wonderweiss? That would give him the best excuse.

[Dscherro]

Wasn't Yama's Zanpakuto sealed by Wonderweiss? That would give him the best excuse.

That was after he was stabbed by Aizen.

[Slayer Lord]

Old Man Yama was supposedly able to overcome Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu because he could still sense Aizen's reiatsu even through the illusion. It would have been a sinch to incinerate him and his whole army the minute they stepped into fake Karakura Town. I never got why he didn't do that instead of trapping the traitor captains in a fire cage.

True, we would have missed out on some pretty good fights, but it would have made a lot more sense than because Aizen's plot armor can only be overcome by Ichigo.

[ThiagoMartell]

Actually, I think Kubo did this just right.
Aizen vs Yama is a very cool fight. Unfortunately Yama doesn't die in the end, but I think the story would be worse if we did not have that battle going that way. It establishes Aizen as very powerful even without Kyoka Suigetsu (which was shown before, but needed reminding) and makes all the hype towards Yama make sense, since it was building up to this.
"Yamamoto should have killed him with his bankai!" is not really a good argument. Yamamoto's bankai is dangerous to everything around it, could destroy fake Karakura and then destroy real Karakura. Also, when Yamamoto died we were reminded that he was growing soft. Him not using his bankai actually makes more sense to the characterization he undertook than him just saying "screw this, BANKAI" and risking innocent lives.

So, long story short, it makes sense the way it was. You may not like it and maybe you would have written it differently, but it's consistent with the way Kubo wrote it and I think it was actually pretty good. Obviously, YMMV.

[Drolyt]

Old Man Yama was supposedly able to overcome Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu because he could still sense Aizen's reiatsu even through the illusion. It would have been a sinch to incinerate him and his whole army the minute they stepped into fake Karakura Town. I never got why he didn't do that instead of trapping the traitor captains in a fire cage.

True, we would have missed out on some pretty good fights, but it would have made a lot more sense than because Aizen's plot armor can only be overcome by Ichigo.

I don't think even Yama was strong enough to destroy Aizen from a distance without any of his senses except Reiatsu. At least not without also destroying Karakura Town, perhaps not even then. Remember that Yama let himself be stabbed deliberately to finish Aizen.

[darksolitaire]

Remember that Yamamoto calls himself strongest shinigami ever, and Aizen admits that he wouldn't defeat Yamamoto in straight fight. Perhaps Yama thinks that he doesn't actually need his Bankai to defeat him? His fight against Wonderweiss consisted of Yama putting in a few good punches...and look what they did.

[Tavar]

Wasn't Old Man Genocide only able to Peirce the illusion once he got stabbed in the stomach? And immediately after that his fires got sealed?

[Codyage]

Wasn't Old Man Genocide only able to Peirce the illusion once he got stabbed in the stomach? And immediately after that his fires got sealed?

That is correct. After he was stabbed by Aizen, he grabbed onto him and was able to tell by the reiatsu of his sword it was actually him. After he had a firm grasp on him he summoned his fire pillars, and then Wonderweiss showed up.

Also if he were to use bankai, Aizen could just send everyone at Yama via illusion, and then wipe them all out that way.

[Dscherro]

So, long story short, it makes sense the way it was.

Remember, I'm writing this in retroperspective, back then we had no idea what Yama's bankai would look like. Now we have seen that he can use it for at least a few minutes without destroying everything, as long as he doesn't use it's full abilities. When he was stabbed, he was already using shikai, he knew where Aizen was and he was holding him. He could have ended it within a few seconds, provided Wonderweiss wasn't able to eat his bankai, too (he probably could, otherwise Aizen's secret weapon would have a serious design flaw).
But it's not really a big plot hole, or something like that. I know, I sound, like I'm complaining, but I actually don't. I was just pointing something minor out, it's not like Yama not using bankai now screws up the plot.
Also, I actually forgot the part with Yama going soft. It's a good explanation, why he didn't want to risk the lives of the other shinigami, despite what he said back then.

[DiscipleofBob]

There's a good reason that the Shinigami are hesitant to pull out their Bankai. Because, with very few exceptions, Bankai are large, terrain-altering, destructive measures. Remember what Isshin said. If the size of a Zanpakuto was truly reflective of the strength of the wielder, the Captains would be wielding skyscrapers around as weapons. The point behind the Zanpakuto is controlled, sealed power. A Shikai (first release) lets a little of the power go at a time, allowing access to abilities unique to the shinigami. The Bankai (second release) let's loose a Captain's entire spiritual energy at once, creating an extremely destructive attack. Soi Fong's giant cannon, Byakuya's garden of swords, Komamura's giant mech, Tousen's field of darkness, Hitsugaya's freeze everything mode, Kurotsuchi's monster baby, the one thing they all have in common is their size/scale and how they alter the entire terrain of a battle just by their presence. Using a Bankai in a big fight with their allies is an extremely dangerous and risky move, even moreso if they're in a situation where they're trying to limit collateral damage.

This is why Byakuya was confused to the nature of Ichigo's Bankai. Its small size doesn't make sense for the traditional concept of a Bankai, especially the degree of reiatsu control it must take to maintain such a Bankai, and until then Ichigo was the very antithesis of discipline to him.

Yamamoto's shikai was already on the level of a Bankai, but even that was only a small fraction of his power. When he released his Bankai, it started evaporating all the moisture in Soul Society. The actual strikes may seem like a controlled burn, which it is, but the wrong move could have incinerated the entire Gotei 13 and the Quincy army.

Gin's Bankai seemed traditional in its length, but in reality all of his killing power was focused in a small poison that even Aizen gave pause to.

The only real exception to this rule seems to be Ikkaku, who actually needs his Bankai to fight more to release the energy and become stronger, which makes me think that Ikkaku's Bankai is either actually just the next phase of his Shikai or he has so little control over it we only get to see a small fraction of what it's capable of.

[Turalisj]

Not only that, but once your bankai is destroyed, it comes back weaker than before.

[Dscherro]

New chapter, and wow, never saw this coming,

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I didn't expect Kirio pulling of an Alvida. That twist really surprised me. But it's an interesting method to store lot's of energy by eating, it kind of reminds me of Yammy. I wonder how big her power boost is, when she has eaten enough.
Ah, and glasses guy apparently invented the Zanpakuto.

[ZeroNumerous]

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I saw that coming from miles away. It's Kubo, and he never draws anything but conventionally attractive females, or conventionally moe females.

The moment I saw her I wondered "What's her transformation gonna look like?"

[Morph Bark]

New chapter, and wow, never saw this coming,

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I didn't expect Kirio pulling of an Alvida. That twist really surprised me. But it's an interesting method to store lot's of energy by eating, it kind of reminds me of Yammy. I wonder how big her power boost is, when she has eaten enough.
Ah, and glasses guy apparently invented the Zanpakuto.

MIND BLOWN TWICE OVER

[Socratov]

I am abolutely stunned.

...

I'll be damned if this isn't the best writing I have seen Kubo do in the complete Bleach series... It has completely reinvigorated my suspension of disbelief. I know it will be crushed like a bug later on, and I know he often writes crap, but color me impressed. this chapter is awesome!

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her transformation was obvious, but beyond that not too obvious, also the reason why stuff works or happens is quite important. It serves as a resonable explanation of why division zero exists. It's like an honorary position where people are actually immensly powerful as a result, not as a prerequisite. (allowing Yama-yii to still be the strongest shinigami ever around). And before peopel pointing out Yama-yii created a lot of stuff, maybe he didn't want to pension.

I will hazard a guess that the next stage is metalworking (surely if this guy created zanpakuto they will get it back) and the hero reforging his/her sword is a common trope in these kinds of situations.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

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Mayuri did say that bankai cannot be fixed, but that Zanpakuto can be modified. And they're gonna meet the Zanpakuto inventor next, so I guess he's going to do something about that. Maybe he'll even know how the Quincy's bankai-thievery works.

[HandofShadows]

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Lots of funny stuff and an amazing amount of background info. I give this page a major thumbs up.

[darksolitaire]

In the next chapter of Bleach:
...and this isn't even my final form!

[danzibr]

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Seconded with the bankai-fixing thing. And doesn't that chick making the soul pills and whatnot contradict that filler arc in the anime?

[Morph Bark]

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Seconded with the bankai-fixing thing. And doesn't that chick making the soul pills and whatnot contradict that filler arc in the anime?

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You mean this reveal makes that arc contradict the manga, rather than the manga contradicting the anime. Manga takes precedence after all.

Have those Mod souls seen any significance after that arc in the anime, though?

[danzibr]

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You mean this reveal makes that arc contradict the manga, rather than the manga contradicting the anime. Manga takes precedence after all.

Have those Mod souls seen any significance after that arc in the anime, though?

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IIRC they weren't even mentioned.

But right, I meant... the manga made that arc of the anime invalid, so to speak.

[Maugan Ra]

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Huh. That... was actually legitimately good. And it provides some decent explanations for why they came to the Royal Palace in the first place. Positive views on the manga once again somewhat restored.

Also, I do like the dialogue between Renji and Ichigo.

[Dscherro]

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IIRC they weren't even mentioned.
But right, I meant... the manga made that arc of the anime invalid, so to speak.

That filler and the Zanpakuto arc are part of completely different continuities anyway. This stuff does not fit anywhere into the canon timeline.

[thubby]

im thinking kubo planned this part out a lot better than everything else after soul society.
maybe the stuff in between was filler? (years of filler, theres a disturbing thought)