Bleach 593 – Looper
Kurotsuchi Mayuri has always been the most sadistic character in Bleach. If you recall his fight against the arrancar mad scientist Szayelaporro, then it is clear that Kurotsuchi doesn’t simply outmaneuver his opponents with superior planning and gimmicky techniques, but he actively tries to fuck with their minds and make them suffer mentally. He really takes mind control to the next level, applying some proprietary drug discreetly to Hitsugaya before he can attack. They skirmish for a bit, and Hitsugaya releases his bankai. The twist is that just as he strikes the fatal blow, the entire sequence begins again… and again every time it seems he’s about to win. Supposedly the drug causes him to replay his short term memory over and over, though the two of them are also able to carry on new conversations in that time. Regardless of what is happening to him, the drug apparently also alters reality bit by bit through the many iterations, and the poor kid is never actually able to kill Mayuri. Eventually his mind becomes too disoriented and he collapses.
My question though is how this is was possible if he isn’t controlling his own will and consciousness. Since the drug was only applied to Hitsugaya, do the people around him also perceive the time reset? This type of theme isn’t uncommon (see Naruto or the recently adapted All You Need Is Kill), but Kubo never explains his crazy powers completely. Kurotsuchi does seem to be somewhat aware of the progression through each sequence, but since Giselle, who doesn’t show up at all this week, is the one actually controlling Hitsugaya’s mind, it makes more sense if she was one trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Perhaps, putting him in some sort of Inception limbo state has disconnected Giselle’s mind control, and he’s has regained some of his own awareness. Alternatively, she will just abandon his broken mind and find some other way to fight Kurotuschi. Either way though, Hitusgaya has been screwed over pretty hard by both sides.
August 20, 2014 at 7:41 pmShiden
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Kubo. Don’t bother thinking any further.
August 20, 2014 at 8:21 pmPsithief
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Isn’t this more of a ‘Lost in translation’ problem?
What Kubo wrote, we saw as ‘will’ and interpreted it differently than what actually happened.
Hitsugaya’s mind doesn’t get to decide what the goal is, but it still only has the tools from when he was alive. He’s still going to interpret reality and fight the same way because Giselle doesn’t have a ready-made ‘Ice-Wielding Captain-level Shinigami’ mind to pilot Hitsugaya’s body.
It shouldn’t have said consciousness, it should have said conscience.
August 20, 2014 at 7:47 pmKabble
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Come one come all!
See “Izanami: The Kubo Interpretation”
That’s basically all this chapter looks like to me >.>
Mayuri and Itachi would be one deadly ass team
August 20, 2014 at 8:08 pmStrenX
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This, I don’t even know what this is supposed to be. Is it actual time looping or some kind of hallucination? Neither really makes any sense.
August 21, 2014 at 12:08 amLaughingMan
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It’s perception of time looping.
August 20, 2014 at 8:09 pmPsithief
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Time seems pretty fluid in the spiritual realms, remember Ichigo mentally training for months in the space between worlds?
This chapter is pretty weird but not as weird as stuff that’s come before.
August 20, 2014 at 8:14 pmmedicinal therapy
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i didn’t know mayuri could liquefy sharingans and make them injectables
August 20, 2014 at 8:22 pmPsithief
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Shenanigans?
August 30, 2014 at 3:27 pmK C M
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I take it that Mayuri also benefited from the Uchiha Clan massacre but I wonder how He got the Sharingans to use on this show.
August 20, 2014 at 9:03 pmRyan Ashfyre
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Y’know, it occurred me to me while I was slogging my way through this shameless spectacle of one shonen ripping off another shonen that the only time Mayuri’s ever had an actual fight was waaaaaaaaaaaay back when he duked it out with Uryu during the Soul Society Arc.
Ah, good times… good times…
August 21, 2014 at 6:25 amLinkark07
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Imagine if Mayuri used his mind potions to fight Ishida. The outcome probably would have been different.
Personally I prefer when Mayuri is being the mad scientist instead of using his sword.
August 21, 2014 at 6:10 pmRyan Ashfyre
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If Mayuri wants to fight with mad scientist skillz, that’s perfectly fine. It’s when he overuses them to the point that you have to wonder whether he’d be getting his butt handed to him otherwise; that’s what I start to take issue with.
August 20, 2014 at 10:40 pmSerRompalot
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Kurotsuchi’s mad-scientistry sure is a refreshing change of pace from the normal bs that happens in Bleach.
August 20, 2014 at 10:47 pmdrifters
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I love that nutjob Mayuri. He’s like the badguy who’s supposed to win.
August 20, 2014 at 10:50 pmMartialBob
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This chapter is simply the most recent in a long line of Bleach chapters that just don’t make much sense. Combine this with the pacing, the deus ex machina, and the random new character that pop out of no where makes me want to quite this series for a while.
August 20, 2014 at 11:22 pmweird.d
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Okay, Izanami ripoff…
And LOL, typical Hitsugaya, pulls out Bankai –> starts getting pwned.
August 21, 2014 at 12:20 amLaughingMan
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You actually think that Naruto invented the idea of time looping or perception of time looping? Are you fucking retarded? How about in Yu Yu Hakusho’s Chapter Black arc where Kurama kills Elder Toguro by trapping him in hypnosis where he repeatedly kills Kurama? Or in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure where Giorno Giovanna uses Gold Experience Requiem to trap Diavolo in an infinite death loop or Miu Miu’s Jail House Rock ability that she uses on Jolyne Kujou? Kubo may have not done something entirely original here, but you’re a fucking idiot if you think that the idea of time/memory looping is something invented by Naruto.
August 21, 2014 at 12:35 amKabble
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I’ll never understand the aimless necessity for excessive vulgarity when someone is just harmlessly wrong.
But whatever.
August 21, 2014 at 1:55 amKarma
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Excessiveness is relative. There wasn’t any excessive vulgarity.
August 21, 2014 at 4:31 amKabble
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Hardly takes away from my simple question of “why’re you being a douche about it”.
Does it?
August 21, 2014 at 6:35 amweird.d
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I haven’t read Yu Yu Hakusho or JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, so I’ll admit I can’t say about those. I’ve indeed seen the time loop done in many TV shows, but this seems to be more of a perception loop, so this is why it was so similar to Izanami to me – not to mention it hasn’t been that long since Kishimoto used it, and Tite now does the same.
August 21, 2014 at 12:24 amLaughingMan
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Time for the latest update for the crazy shit that’s been happening in this arc!
http://i.imgur.com/SzJYY23.jpg
August 21, 2014 at 1:15 pmbakakubi
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Where is this from?
August 21, 2014 at 4:41 pmLaughingMan
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4chan
August 21, 2014 at 8:03 pmPsithief
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I love these.
August 21, 2014 at 5:43 amKurisu Vi Britannia
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Bleach is leaking.
August 21, 2014 at 5:44 amKurisu Vi Britannia
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Izanami!
August 30, 2014 at 3:30 pmK C M
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I hope He doesn’t have a drug for Izanagi too.
August 21, 2014 at 7:26 amspikerman87
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Can Bleach just be about Mayuri? His crazy concoctions are the only thing I look forward to now.
August 21, 2014 at 8:34 amblkoopers
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What happened was Kubo made enough money off manga making and now he has fun making whatever he wants.
I have no idea how the mechanics work in this chapter. It seemed to be an asspull to make Kurotsuchi look like he’s brimming with superiority. I immediately made a connection with tatsuya from mahouka.
I was able to pull that stunt because of intermolecular by-particles generated by the resonance of magical circuits conducted at a low temperature that caused the sequence of events to dilate in a Masier sequence that etc etc etc.
But it doesn’t matter later because what he did will never be shown again.
August 21, 2014 at 9:11 amYanDaMan
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Mayuri, best troll in Bleach. And the only thing that makes the series entertaining sadly.
I like how Bleach straight up ripped off Naruto’s Izanami this chapter.
August 21, 2014 at 8:44 pmPsithief
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Mayuri got the drugs into Hitsugaya as part of the hollow pill that restored Hitsugaya’s bankai.
He got those drugs into all of the affected captains.
Activating the drug is triggered by speaking aloud keywords. Keywords he wouldn’t accidentally say aloud are the best.
Today’s keywords were
August 22, 2014 at 2:49 amessam
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my thoughts exactly.
August 21, 2014 at 9:15 pmMainman
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You know what occurred to me. What if Mayuri just saved Hitsugaya by killing him. Just before he delivered his blow Mayuri implied that Hitsugaya will reemerge in the past. What if Mayuri preemptively secretly injected all the captains prior to the second invasion with this drug just so in the event of their deaths or worse they would at the moment of their deaths be sent back in the past as kind of a do over to get a second chance. You may say Hitsugaya was dead the whole time he was fighting Mayuri but I would say he was more like a undead, what Mayuri probably did in the last panel was finish the job by cutting his head off/destroying his brain what ever.
August 22, 2014 at 1:14 pmCorey Lucas
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Why won’t Bleach end? 20$ says Toshiro survives this. He ain’t gonna die. Calling it.
August 23, 2014 at 1:30 pmNico
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Epic Mayuri :D
Best series ever, apart from One Piece of course.