Bleach 594 – Hulk Smash
When Kurotsuchi does things in the name of science and research, he is truly an unstoppable monster. Even after Hitsugaya goes down, he continues to inject strange drugs into him, including the painful, paralyzing venom in his sword, Ashisogi Jizo. I realized that Mayuri hasn’t actually used his demon-baby bankai after he broke his zanpakutou and seems to be relying on other techniques he developed. Clearly he doesn’t seem to need it though, and even Hitsugaya at his strongest is rendered helpless without much of a real fight. Hitsugaya isn’t the only second-rate fighter to have been turned into Giselle’s slave though – Matsumoto, Kensei and Rose have all been zombi-fied after their disappointing performances and defeat earlier in the battle. Now they are glorified cannon fodder for the enemy team, only to face torture at the hands of a mad scientist. I don’t expect the three of them to last long, but Kurotsuchi still has to deal with Gigi before he can conduct his “experiments” in peace. That’s three captains and one lieutenant to add to his body count.
They aren’t the only characters Kubo has decided to take out early though; elsewhere, Byakuya has singlehandedly defeated three of the Sternritter off screen. I would have wanted to see that fight, but apparently they weren’t significant enough to be worth showing. Colonel Sanders actually injured Shunsui and Nanana was stalking Renji for a while so it’s not completely clear why they were cut out so soon. Of course there isn’t exactly a shortage of characters at this point. Another quincy with mind control abilities has appeared as well; Pepe, Sternritter “L”, possesses the power of love (love of himself to be exact), charming both Hisagi and Meninas and forcing them to attack Byakuya and Liltotto, respectively. He looks like some sort of black Santa Claus/fat biker pimp, and he has pretty ridiculous power too. I guess this is the chance for Byakuya to show off what he’s got, though as of right now his opponents aren’t particularly impressive. No doubt he won’t hesitate to take down Hisagi if necessary, and he can probably overcome any gimmicks that Pepe throws at him. However in the end, the results of these small skirmishes don’t really matter at all except to cater to fans; what really determines the outcome of this war is what Ichigo is able to do against Yhwach, Hacshwald, and Ishida in the Royal Palace. Once enough secondary characters have been whittled down or incapacitated, I expect that’s what the remainder of the arc will be dedicated to.
August 28, 2014 at 7:09 pmSwarz
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So boring….. *sigh*
August 28, 2014 at 7:12 pmSfalcin
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I would’ve prefered to see Byakuya’s fight over this endless zombie-thing. And it’s Hisagi who’s been charmed, not Kira. I don’t remember, but I think Kira died at one point… or not.
August 29, 2014 at 4:06 amProoof
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That was embarrassing. I fixed it now.
August 28, 2014 at 7:36 pmRucifah
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Its uh…not Kira…it’s Hisagi…
August 28, 2014 at 9:21 pmKentaiyoshimi
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Does it matter though? Those two are pretty much interchangeable, with nothing distinguishing them apart from the weapons they use.
August 29, 2014 at 1:22 amMz
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they’re easy to tell apart, Hisagi wants to 69 Kensei so much he tattooed it on his face. (queue fanfics) XD
August 28, 2014 at 7:48 pmanon234
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Wait, Ichigo is the main character?
August 28, 2014 at 8:09 pmdeVaras
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News to me, someone should tell Kubo.
August 28, 2014 at 8:47 pmgawrshness
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have you noticed that a good deal of the Sternritter usually end up attacking each other. Even Ywach ordered the execution of two other Sternritter when they under performed.
August 28, 2014 at 8:59 pmGermanguy
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Yeah, looks like they run out of Enemy, and now they are fighting each other. Thats what you get, if you made the villains to OP
August 29, 2014 at 1:14 pmGermanguy
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i mean, with OP Villains, the week Good guys or small Cannon fodder are just killed Offscreen
If they would just be stronger or smarter as the Enemy, you could extend the Battle. But that? 1 Hit Kills really need drawing?
August 28, 2014 at 9:08 pmlivevoid
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“This is so sad to the point where it’s no longer funny.” You said it Mayuri.
One thing I noticed this week is that Pepe is this third Sternritter with the ability to control others. Giselle controls people and their corpses, Pepe controls people by making them love him, and Shaz Domino presumably controlled Jidanbo and the Shinigami during the first invasion. Kubo really has run out of ideas hasn’t he?
August 29, 2014 at 12:24 amSwarz
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Power of love will conquer the world.
August 29, 2014 at 9:06 amYogo
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Only two. Pepe was the one who controlled Jidanbo, you can see his “Geh geh geh!” laugh on the panel. Shaz Domino is the guy who throws daggers and got one-shotted by Ichigo.
I agree with your point about this ability being uncreative, however. Reminds me completely of Zommari’s “Amor” ability (which ALSO means love). Also, this might seem racist but they’re both black, they sit around (Zommari in his ressureccion state), and they control people. Coincidence? :P
August 28, 2014 at 10:02 pmRyan Ashfyre
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Kensei, Rose and Matsumoto are zombies now too? Oh sure, why not? It’s not as if the proverbial dead horse that was the concept of death in Bleach couldn’t use a bit more of a pounding.
August 28, 2014 at 10:34 pmkaba
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………..Can we just go back to Mayuri’s battle? I’ve already written off Byakuya’s as nonsense.
August 28, 2014 at 10:35 pmLaughingMan
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Pepe making the Quincies kill each other now? What the actual fuck is going on?
August 28, 2014 at 10:47 pmBROOKLYN otaku
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…..WHOA!!!! …….does anybody KNOW or CARE WTF!?! is going on with bleach anymore???….i used to find it “bout 4-6 months ago” kinda amusing to let kubo TROLL us with his gimmicky trash….but NOW i dont even know what the hell is going on!
and the worst part….its boring.
August 28, 2014 at 10:49 pmBROOKLYN otaku
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haha!! P.S- i gave everybody an UP….just for enduring this crap… I SALUTE YALL!!!!
August 28, 2014 at 11:37 pmdeVaras
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You knew what was happening in this 4-6 months ago? Dude I haven’t really known what was going on since the Aizen battle ended.
Does anyone know why there is a evil pimp Santa flying around shooting mind control hearts at people?
August 29, 2014 at 1:16 pmGermanguy
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and now we have so many of them, when they invade Sekirei, we only saw some Pillars of Light of the sterneritter, now we have them like sand on the beach, crawling around every corner
August 29, 2014 at 1:37 amVivace
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I have a gut feeling that Mayuri will end this fight without a single scratch.
August 29, 2014 at 2:03 amSatyr
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Gee, being zombified in Bleach land gives you a seriously nice tan
August 29, 2014 at 10:15 amLaughingMan
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Too bad that tan will never make the characters look as good as delicious brown Yoruichi.
August 29, 2014 at 1:09 pmGermanguy
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but, is this a proof that they stay dead, when they defend the Sternenritter in control? :)
Nope
August 29, 2014 at 4:09 amCybersteel
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Maybe everything here is just an illusion by yours truly.
August 29, 2014 at 5:13 amGinobi47
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Oh look, another character we’ll never remember
August 29, 2014 at 7:30 amspikerman87
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You know there was another character who could charm opponents/allies into attacking each other with the power of love that Byakuya fought and he was an espada…Yeah that fight was terrible.
August 29, 2014 at 8:10 amdrifters
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Mayuri should create some sort of Hollow plague that infects the Quincy on a wide scale. Other than that, looks like Byakuya’s fighting another black man who talks about love. XD
August 29, 2014 at 9:44 amAlcren
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Yeah…that power of love won’t work on byakuya either. He loved rukia but he still sent her to die in the seireitei arc remember. And wtf these aren’t Quincy anymore. They don’t use their bows, they don’t attack with anything Quincy like. Kubo just prolly wants to outlast naruto at this point since that seems like it’s going to end pretty soon.
August 29, 2014 at 1:11 pmGermanguy
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dont underestimate the Secret Weak Points.
Not Rukia is his weak point. The Love that changed him, how was she? You get my Gist? Pepe just need to find this hidden Love to control him…
August 29, 2014 at 10:24 amMormegil
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Zombie tits is here.
August 29, 2014 at 1:52 pmkaba
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I remember when Quincies shot arrows
August 29, 2014 at 11:50 pmNadester
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Yes Indeed
Pepperidge Farm remembers…..
August 29, 2014 at 3:27 pmdrifters
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I just realized something. Since Matsumoto, Kensei and Rose are now zombies. Doesn’t that mean that Isane and Yachiru could be…?
August 29, 2014 at 4:03 pmion52
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Considering the rankings, I guess it shouldn’t be surprising why things are being rushed. Bleach is in 12th place.
August 29, 2014 at 5:39 pmDeezanimenutz
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What I want to know is how and when Mayuri was able to do Itachi’s trick?
August 29, 2014 at 7:03 pmMatroid
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I have a hunch that at least half of the 13 captains will die and be replaced. At this rate, Ichigo, Sado, Ishida, and Orihime will all be strong enough to become captains. But let’s just say they will return to the human world. Still, why not “re-instate” Urahara, Yoruichi, and even Isshin (Ichigo’s dad)? Surely Renji, Ikkaku, and perhaps even Hisagi will want a promotion, too, right? The list goes on and on.
August 30, 2014 at 4:31 pmDrift
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The word orhime and strong does not go together. Orihime and always crying for her kurosaki-kun goes more well together.
August 31, 2014 at 8:14 amBarrack Obama
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Ikkaku’s nowhere near strong enough to receive a captain’s position.
September 1, 2014 at 11:57 amCorey Lucas
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I wish Hisagi was the main character instead of Ichigo.