Anime Bleach

[Magus]

[quote name='Gavin' timestamp='1302784129' post='706563']
[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Definitely an interesting episode, the only thing that bugged me was right at the end where [spoiler]they arrest Ichigo, they attack him first.[/spoiler] Surely an "Ichigo, would you might coming with us, we have a few questions" would've been better than [spoiler]"I'm attacking you to arrest you, stop resisting!"[/spoiler] I mean this is the guy who stopped Aizen for you, and has been a straight-up ally for a considerable period of time, apparently taking the time to simply explain the situation to him is a bit much. [/size][/font]
[/quote]

I'm assuming that whatever Byakuya and Renji found is linked with Ichigo.... Anyway, I agree that was an interesting episode. I can't say that that whole snippet at the end really bothered me. If anything I'm seeing traces of Fade to Black in this, but this time they know who Ichigo is.

I'm having a little bit of faith renewed in the animation department though.

Like the Zanpakuto filler, I just know one of these characters are going to do something very stupid to drag this filler out though.

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]I figure it was his [spoiler]representative badge[/spoiler] and Renji and Byakuya finding it was due to meddling with the time-stream.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

If it is his badge then consider me very curious at how this arc will turn out. Just how much of a margin is the time difference? How will this time difference play a role in the clones (Even though I kind of have an idea but can't put it into words just yet)?

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]And I'm back to being a cynic about this arc again. Seriously guys ? [spoiler]Super-clones[/spoiler] were the best you could come up ? If this turns out to be another ancient problem coming back to bite Seireitei in the ass I'm pushing for Isshin to forcibly retire the old man and take his place as boss because that's all filler arcs seem to end up being.

Look, we know there's got to be filler, so how about we just go wild and throw the rules out altogether because it's not canon. Ichigo still having his powers means he should curbstomp absolutely everyone in the Gotei with the possible exception of Yamamoto, so how about instead we have Ichigo promoted to Captain of the 5th Division and let him get better acquainted with life in Soul Society. Have him spent a few weeks in the Academy first even, have him live with the Shibas and then see someone who looks like his mother in some district crowd and kick that off as the plot. Call it an alternate universe and suddenly we can do this really cool ideas without relying on cliché stuff.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

Lol, that's why I don't watch anime for plot. If anime have a nice plot that's just extra credit or something from me. Other than that, I'm an animation, character development, fighting kinda guy. Speaking of which, why in the world is the animation so much better than everything we've seen in the canon bits? 2 episodes of filler back-to-back with nicely done animation, I'm almost akin to say that I'm going to regret seeing the newest manga arc shouldn't even be animated simply because Kubo was more involved with that one. This filler arc so far and the zanpakuto arc has been, by far, the best animation I've seen in this series.

With that being said, I gotta say I'm looking forward to the next episode. Yoruichi vs Byakuya.

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Heh I'm the exact opposite, so long as the story is good I don't mind how crap the animation is (hence why the Bount Arc is still my favourite filler). I will say the animation is absolutely top notch (leading to questions as to why it wasn't during so much of the Fake Karakura arc) so that does salve some bit of the irritation.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

[quote name='Gavin' timestamp='1303675998' post='706815']
[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Heh I'm the exact opposite, so long as the story is good I don't mind how crap the animation is (hence why the Bount Arc is still my favourite filler). I will say the animation is absolutely top notch (leading to questions as to why it wasn't during so much of the Fake Karakura arc) so that does salve some bit of the irritation.[/size][/font]
[/quote]

Hmm... If that's the case why haven't you been watching One Piece XD? The plot is definately better than Bleach and Naruto but the animation/artwork is terrible. I haven't been watching nor reading it because it lost me and haven't been able to hook me since the Whitebeard arc. Edited April 24, 2011 by Magus

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]I actually got quite a ways into the manga (about 110ish chapters I think) but I find Luffy a ridiculously annoying lead character which really put me off reading more. It's on the list though and I will pick it up eventually again. While One Piece's art style certainly isn't going to be winning awards any time soon, I actually thought it was quite okay for the series itself.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

No doubt Luffy's an annoying lead. I hate him just as much as Naruto (actually I find Naruto to be the worst. 2nd to Shinji and Shippo), but the thing that won me over with Luffy was his loyalty to his crew. It actually felt real.

I just finished with the latest episode. Good episode, good animation but it looks just like a repeat of Soul Society, just less epic. To be more specific it felt like a combination of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. You have captains and vice captains surrounding the big kahuna (much like what happened with Aizen) only for them to flee and be greeted by the rest of the flock (Hueco Mundo). It wasn't bad by any means but it just felt all too familiar. On a positive note though, the animation looks like it's straight out of one of Bleach's movies. The quality is top notch and that's what's been making me come back to this current arc. Edited April 30, 2011 by Magus

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]This week's episode was decent, brought up my desire to actually see Kon get a proper gigai for this arc just so he can hang with everyone else and try to be useful. I'm amazed between Urahara and the two Kurotsuchis they haven't examined Nozumi to see what makes her so special. Isshin also needs to make an appearance damn it, what good is it for him to be a high captain class Shinigami when he can't rub it in everyone's face. Heck a match between him and Kenpachi would be hilariously awesome.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

I didn't care for the latest episode. In terms of content I suppose it wasn't bad, but I just hate Kon, and he was pretty much in the spotlight this whole episode. I am curious about next weeks episode though. Evil Ichigo, although we have his hollow for that.

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]I think the thing about Kon is I always view him, at his core, to be the same person he was when he was willing to take on that Hollow in Ichigo's body to protect those children. Being the angry perverted stuffed animal is the face Kon puts on for the rest of the world because he's the last of his kind and has nobody else to relate to. He was created for a specific purpose and then scrapped and waited in fear, alone to be killed for probably quite a long time, only to be miraculously rescued and given a chance to experience life proper. When push came to shove he was willing to put his life on the line to protect people he didn't know because that's what he was made to do.

I mean if you look at it from Kon's perspective, he still has to spend most of his life hiding what he is and being treated as somewhat less than a person by the people around him. Nobody ever sits down and asks Kon how he feels about life, what he wants to do, etc. So it's hardly surprising he cuts completely loose when he actually has a body and people look at him like a person instead of a stuffed toy. In this arc, he could very easily meet Nemu, realise what she is and then go speak to Urahara about getting a body of his own. All Ichigo would have to do is get another Soul Candy to replace Kon as his body-warmer.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

I didn't like Kon then either . As a matter of fact, when Kon first came into the series I didn't like him. Much like Rukia, but to a lesser degree (I just have a natural hate for him), he's been ruined by the english version. If he was less talkative I probably wouldn't hate him as much.

Speaking of english versions, TBTP is coming up. Just got these 2 foolish filler episodes (which I've never seen and never will) to deal with. Edited May 8, 2011 by Magus

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Better episode this week, although the title was a bit off. Next week should be quite interesting.

Also "ewwww" at your viewing of the English version.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

Better episode, but almost the worst episode I've seen of this arc so far and you can pretty much guess why. Why in the world is Omaeda (sp?) getting screentime? Why couldn't he be one of the ones to stay in SS?

Oh yeah, I watch the english version because it's nothing else on tv. I don't really spend much money on anime. (And I hardly have the time to watch anime online anymore) Edited May 14, 2011 by Magus

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]He must have a Japanese fanbase, I do like Omaeda from time to time for a bit of a laugh but this is getting to be a bit much. Personally I'd be more interested to see how the lieutenants of the traitor captains have dealt with their deaths/imprisonments. I find it stupid as hell as well that when facing supposedly more powerful versions of themselves, they're still not bothering to go in with the Shikai or Bankai released. Any vaguely competent villain squad could kill the Gotei rather quickly because of that. [/size][/font]

[Magus]

[quote]I find it stupid as hell as well that when facing supposedly more powerful versions of themselves, they're still not bothering to go in with the Shikai or Bankai released. Any vaguely competent villain squad could kill the Gotei rather quickly because of that. [/quote]

Like Kon, I don't find Omaeda funny. I find him more annoying than anything.

I also find it stupid but at the same time I'm used to it now, but at the same time that is what made me stop liking Ikkaku (I never liked Yumichika). Competent villain.. Hmm. I don't know. Depends on who we're talking about here. Edited May 15, 2011 by Magus

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Heh true enough, in Bleach a competent villain seems to be someone slightly less incompetent than those he commands.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

Err... Now I'm really wondering how strong do they think Rukia is. Regai or not I do not like the idea of her being able to take out 2 vice captains. Whether they're caught opened for an attack or not. This is the kind of stuff that makes me stop watching filler. Knowing full and well that one, if not both of them should've been able to slip by her attack.

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]We've known for a while she's seated-officer strength but that Byakuya has kept her from ever been promoted (curious how he can do that outside of his own squad), based on her fights in Hueco Mundo, I'd be happy to put her around lieutenant level, so her Reigai which is supposed to be stronger than her taking out two other Lts in a surprise attack isn't completely beyond the realm of possibility. [/size][/font]

[Magus]

I have issues with it because it makes the lieutenants seem even less competant than lower ranked officers. Granted just about everyone in SS don't have a brain but still, this rubs me the wrong way.

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Maybe, I put it down to the fact they still can't sense the difference between the real deal and a reigai so maybe they just let their guards down because they had beaten their copies and thought Rukia to have done the same. Intelligence, as you and I have often lamented, seems to be in short supply in Soul Society when plot dictates.

Plot seemed to thicken quite a bit this week, I quite liked the idea of unknown passages between worlds existing previously to the Shinigami-created senkaimon. Guessing Kagerosa or whatever his name is, is a reigai like the rest, maybe one of Aizen's earlier creations.[/size][/font]

[Magus]

Not much to say about the latest episode. Kon did irritate me though. I think this is the first time where I was disappointed in the animation for this filler. It wasn't bad but the fights left something to be desired. I would've liked to have seen Ichigo fight off every one of those reigai's (sp?) instead of a Chad + Renji teammup, but "shrugs".

[Gavin]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Indeed, I was kind of hoping we'd see the Reigai try a little psychological manipulation again, have Reigai-Rukia bring up memories of say the Soul Society Rescue Arc to try to convince Ichigo they're just as real as their original counterparts before attacking or something like that. Even have Ichigo pause and think even if she's a fake he finds it hard to raise his sword to Rukia (or any of his friends). The whole thing was disappointingly quick.

As for Kon, meh, give him a Nemu-style gigai and watch him become a badass. [/size][/font]

[Magus]

Gotta say I expected the Kenny vs Kenny fight to be longer than it was, but at the same time for someone that don't really use defense I can understand why the fight wouldn't go as long (swordsmen should never have a long drawn out duel in the first place). In the end I still thought it was a nice fight though (because I definately didn't care for his fight against Nnoitra). Some corniness, but still nice. The fight between Ukitake and Shunsui vs Yama is turning out to be a little disappointing though. I suppose I can't expect much given that we've still seen very little of what any of those 3 are really capable of. The only one I'd expect to see a lot from is Shunsui. The same can be said about Unohana. As a matter of fact I don't have any high expectations for that fight because we've seen nothing from her. I don't know if Kubo have a hand in this filler or not but, he really messed up by not having her fight.

And then next week we have Byakuya vs Hitsugaya. I'm kinda excited but given how Hitsugaya win his fights through fan power really has me iffy on how this fight is going to turn out.