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

[Frozen_Feet]

My point in bringing it up is mostly tha souls sent to Hell are not removed from the cycle - Hell is not a deviation of natural order, it's a part of it. Things aren't getting boinked out of balance by its existence.

[danzibr]

So uhh... does anyone know what the creeping shadow stuff in Hueco Mundo is in episode 1?

[Fiery Diamond]

Quincycar!

No, not a car that Quincies drive.

Anyhow, I'm guessing hollow/quincy combo for now. The little bracelet cross he has is very similar to Ishida's. The bow itself...not so much. Looks hollow-ish.

I do think that the quincies are not the main villains of this arc, though. They appeared at the beginning of the arc. The main baddies always wait a while to show up.

[VanBuren]

Quincycar!

No, not a car that Quincies drive.

Anyhow, I'm guessing hollow/quincy combo for now. The little bracelet cross he has is very similar to Ishida's. The bow itself...not so much. Looks hollow-ish.

I do think that the quincies are not the main villains of this arc, though. They appeared at the beginning of the arc. The main baddies always wait a while to show up.

I dunno, Kūgo appeared in the first chapter of the last arc.

[Fiery Diamond]

I dunno, Kūgo appeared in the first chapter of the last arc.

Hm. Point. It was a shorter arc, though. As I understand it, this arc is supposed to be a longer arc as well as the final arc. The King of Soul Society has to have relevance sometime, as does squad 0. I expect the quincies to be mid-bosses at best.

[MammonAzrael]

Well...his name is Ivan, right? SS typically has Japanese names, Hollows had generally Spanish names, and if Ivan is an indication, this new faction will have generally...Russian?...names. This implies that he is at least the tip of the newest iceberg.

Yes, those are the only factions we've met. I don't know what you're talking about with this...what'd you say? Fullbringers? Don't remember them.

Also, why the hell would you send an entourage of random people to say "Excuse us, we're declaring way on y'all. FYI." I mean, wouldn't just ganking SS in secret be more effective?

[Drolyt]

Well...his name is Ivan, right? SS typically has Japanese names, Hollows had generally Spanish names, and if Ivan is an indication, this new faction will have generally...Russian?...names. This implies that he is at least the tip of the newest iceberg.

Yes, those are the only factions we've met. I don't know what you're talking about with this...what'd you say? Fullbringers? Don't remember them.

Also, why the hell would you send an entourage of random people to say "Excuse us, we're declaring way on y'all. FYI." I mean, wouldn't just ganking SS in secret be more effective?

A Formal Declaration of War might not be strategically optimal, but it is considered honorable, and if these are the Quincy and they feel they are in the right in this war then it would only make sense that thy follow the Laws of War. Not every villain need be sneaky.

On another note, I think these guys kind of have to be Quincy. A couple chapters earlier, "The Thousand Year Blood War", Mayuri says "they are the only ones who can remove hollows from existence itself". That is pretty specific. It also implies that preventing reincarnation is a special ability, and recalling Ukitake's explanation that they were doing it as a form of revenge makes me think that Quincy don't have to destroy Hollows entirely. But I might be reading too much into it.

[Socratov]

Ivan is russian/germanic (i.e. mainly east european), and we know Quinchy use German names for their techniques

[Frozen_Feet]

Also, why the hell would you send an entourage of random people to say "Excuse us, we're declaring way on y'all. FYI." I mean, wouldn't just ganking SS in secret be more effective?

From the looks of it, they did just gank the guards outside and sneak a numerically superior force of assassins straight to the Shinigami Head Honcho. What's to say they won't next try to kick Yamamoto's ass?

[lord_khaine]

From the looks of it, they did just gank the guards outside and sneak a numerically superior force of assassins straight to the Shinigami Head Honcho. What's to say they won't next try to kick Yamamoto's ass?

Because until proven otherwise i would claim that they are a numerically inferior force?

This is Commander Genoside after all

[Drolyt]

Ivan is russian/germanic (i.e. mainly east european), and we know Quinchy use German names for their techniques

Ivan is Slavic in origin, and is most common in Eastern European countries, being the most popular name in Russia, Bulgaria, and Croatia. That said there are German Ivan's, including my grandfather, although he was born in the US. Perhaps Kubo just isn't aware that the name is more associated with Eastern Europe than Germany.

[Friv]

So uhh... does anyone know what the creeping shadow stuff in Hueco Mundo is in episode 1?

No, I don't think anyone does. It's just cool-looking background material.

[Psyren]

A Formal Declaration of War might not be strategically optimal, but it is considered honorable, and if these are the Quincy and they feel they are in the right in this war then it would only make sense that thy follow the Laws of War. Not every villain need be sneaky.

I agree - if these guys are Quincy at all (or even "former Quincy") then they are basically the paladins of this 'verse and all go around with stick firmly up pigu.

[danzibr]

No, I don't think anyone does. It's just cool-looking background material.

Thanks. For some reason I thought rewatching the show was going to clear things up. :/

[Drolyt]

Thanks. For some reason I thought rewatching the show was going to clear things up. :/

I don't remember the stuff you are referring to, but my best guess is that it is very dense solidified Reishi.

[danzibr]

I don't remember the stuff you are referring to, but my best guess is that it is very dense solidified Reishi.

If you rewatch the first scene of the first episode (or at least the first couple minutes), you'll see it. It may appear more later (I can't recall, only rewatched the first episode), but... I definitely don't think it's ever explained. Anyways, whose reishi would it be?

[Drolyt]

If you rewatch the first scene of the first episode (or at least the first couple minutes), you'll see it. It may appear more later (I can't recall, only rewatched the first episode), but... I definitely don't think it's ever explained. Anyways, whose reishi would it be?

Not Reiryoku, Reishi. Reishi is the spirit energy that souls, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo are made up of, as opposed to the normal energy the real world is made up of. Everything in Soul Society/Hueco Mundo is made of Reishi particles, but Hueco Mundo has very dense Reishi even compared to Soul Society. I imagine the stuff you are talking about is just dense bits of Reishi.

[danzibr]

Not Reiryoku, Reishi. Reishi is the spirit energy that souls, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo are made up of, as opposed to the normal energy the real world is made up of. Everything in Soul Society/Hueco Mundo is made of Reishi particles, but Hueco Mundo has very dense Reishi even compared to Soul Society. I imagine the stuff you are talking about is just dense bits of Reishi.

Hehe whoops, you'd think with 8 semesters of Japanese I'd know better.

But uhh... I don't know. I buy your reasoning, but it seems the first freakin' scene in the entire freakin' series would be important/explained later. Then again, perhaps it is explained somewhere in the middle and I forgot.

[jindra34]

But uhh... I don't know. I buy your reasoning, but it seems the first freakin' scene in the entire freakin' series would be important/explained later. Then again, perhaps it is explained somewhere in the middle and I forgot.

1. Its a scene in the anime that I'm pretty sure doesn't occur in the manga so it drops in importance right there.
And
2. Having not noticed how often Kubo trolls the fans?

[irenicObserver]

I haven't been able to read the chapters but from what I can tell from your posts, It would make perfect sense to use Hollows as a source of energy. Muramasa did it, and he was fine until heartbreak turned him into a hollow-fied abomination. If it is a new Quincy/Hollow hybrid, I feel the name will be germanic, with a way to sum up what it is as a combination of "Destroyer" and "Hollow".

[DiscipleofBob]

lol at implying Bleach has consistent in-universe physics.

[irenicObserver]

For the most part it does.

[Venom3053000]

at this point am just waiting to see what awsome things the minor characters do while ichigo beats up the villains

i hope these two new shinigami do something soon

[Mando Knight]

at this point am just waiting to see what awsome things the minor characters do while ichigo beats up the villains

Obviously, nom bread.

[nazgulnine]

Sorry, I just couldn't go through pages 2-7, so much of this is going to seem old hat. So about them Quincy... it took Kubo, what, approximately 8 years to do anything with them and that whole plotpoint of the quincy's hollow-destruction effectively unbalancing the universe? I think it's a fitting scenario for the final arc.

Wanted to get this off my chest for a long time now: Nell and Grimmjaw. Where'd they go? They just pulled a respective Carmen Sandiego/Waldo!

Finally, I'd like to go out on a limb and make a 'prediction' on the arc*:

Spoiler

Show

• Ichigo will fight the quincy-hollows (highly likely they're modified ala the Visored) with friends (naturally)
• Ichigo gets a new quincy rival he needs to power up (yet again) to beat
• The Quincies kill Aizen in his cell, yaddayadda "you were just a small fish in a big pond" speech from whoever's in charge
• Ichigo finds out. Takes it as a personal challenge
• Ishida gets kidnapped/becomes morally ambiguous
• Ichigo (therefore everyone) needs to rescue Ishida
• Rukia and Renji tag along because fanbase
• Isshin completely out of left field, and Urahara, too (see also: explanative talking heads)
• Ichigo et al. "visit" the Quincy base (on/against orders from someone, obviously)
• Battles Galore. Chad falls prey to the "not full Japanese=not strong" flaw, no one but Ichigo/Ishida(if lucky due to "arc relevance" status) shines
• Lots of posturing by the Quincy 'bad guys' (not ruling out SS being secretly run by evil)
• Villain of the Week steals the MacGuffin of the Week! We see God's Court!
• A trap put into play by the villains actually works! Ichigo&Friends are fluffy bunnies!!
• Byakuya/Kenpachi/Isshin/Yoruichi/Every Minor Badass Kubo Can Remember comes to the rescue
• In the midst, God is revealed. He's probably an evil overlord.
• ???
• People Die. Ichigo's mad.
• ??? (Ichigo becomes a Hollow-God?)
• Hollows out of Hammerspace.
• God's obviously an evil overlord.
• NO WAIT, GOD'S TAINTED! WITH SUPER-HOLLOWS!
• CLEANSE THE TAINT!
• Ichigo wins... with the power of friendship.
• Obligatory timeskip
• SS is rebuilt, the dead are honored, everything seems normal.
• Ichigo goes on living a normal life with Orihime. Because that's who ends up together. Your favorite slash combos will be handled by slash writers.
• Ending with all characters getting their karmic rewards
• Obligatory "Bleach End. Please look forward to Kubo-sensei's next work!"
• You may or may not be satisfied/forced to reminisce with the ending and post reactions on the web. In the end, we all grow a little; maybe it was a good thing after all.
• Years pass. We still wait for the day One Piece ends.

*May or may not be the case. Read at your own Discretion. Or don't. It's fine either way.

[Psyren]

People Die. Ichigo's mad.

By "die" I assume you mean "get knocked out"

[nazgulnine]

By "die" I assume you mean "get knocked out"

Yep! And to expand on it, there will be at least one movie or filler episode (once the cartoon airs) about the journey to revive aforementioned characters.

Possibly an entire spinoff movie involving whatever Hitsugaya is presumed to be doing during this arc, should he see little face-time.

Spoiler

Show

Maybe Kenpachi gets a bankai.

[HandofShadows]

I saw an interview a little bit ago and Nell is almost certainly going to show up again and a good chance Grimmjaw will show again as well (actaully, I thought he was dead ). Oddly, I half expect Nell to show up in the SS and (acidentaly) cause a major ruckus.

[HandofShadows]

By "die" I assume you mean "get knocked out"

No, die. People can die in this series as shown by the last arc.

[Drolyt]

No, die. People can die in this series as shown by the last arc.

Only bad guys.