Since April just won’t come fast enough, I’ve decided to start my own feature or two here so that I have something to blog until the new season rolls around. I also figured that I’d need something to fill the gaps in April while I wait for all the shows I’m interested in to come out. With that in mind, I’ve created the “Friday Ramble”.

The basic premise of the FR (as I’ll be referring to it out of laziness) is pretty straightforward. While browsing around the site, I noticed that there are some shows I watch (some of them quite popular) that were either never blogged, or have been dropped by their previous authors. Now, I don’t intend to pick these up and blog them seriously, but it wouldn’t hurt to drop a quick summary/opinion and a couple of screens for them would it? I didn’t think so.

So, in short, the FR is a bulk blog on a few ongoing series, and maybe a few series that I missed but have been checking out recently. Quick, to the point, but just enough to show you that I (kinda) care. This week, read on for: BLEACH, NARUTO, ROSARIO + VAMPIRE, and D.GRAY-MAN!

Bleach 164: Grimmjow Pees a Little

Obligatory Summary: Renji and Mr. Quincy continue their battle against Szayel. Renji goes all kamikaze to keep him distracted while Ishida does some crazy pentagram Quincy nonsense, suprising Szayel and causing him immense amounts of damage. Like usual, the heroes get cocky thinking they’ve won, but when the smoke clears, Szayel is still alive. Szayel then proceeds to chow down on one of his subordinates like he’s a good Subway sandwich, but instead of losing ten pounds, his wounds fully recover from all damage sustained up until this point. If I were him, I know there’d be a cocky “What now, bitch!?” running through my head. After he’s had his fill and recombed his hair, Szayel tells Renji and Ishida that he’s going to go change his clothes because it’d be embarrassing to fight in his torn up attire.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow brings Inoue to where Ulquiorra left Ichigo either dead or pretty damn close to it. Nel crawls out of the rubble of the fight and starts whining. Grimmjow hears my plea and tells Nel to STFU or he’ll blow her into tiny kibbles ‘n’ bits. Inoue has been direct by Grimmjow to use her powers to heal Ichigo because he wants him at 100% so he can kick Ichigo’s ass, and that he wants it done before Ulquiorra finds out what’s up. Right as he utters the words, Arrancar numero 4 shows up and Grimmjow shits his pants.

Afterthoughts: The animation this episode was great (see pic #5 above), and the battle between Renshida and Szayel was pretty intense. Inoue and Ichigo meet face to face again finally, and next week looks like it’ll start the showdown between Ichigo and Grimmjow. I’m loving this arc, but word is they’ll be going into a filler arc sometime next month. Anyone else think Inoue in the whole “I’m a captive” getup (see pic #3 above) is hawt? 4/5

Naruto Shippuuden 50: More of the usual

Episode Overview: Run run run run run run run. Everyone gets tired and takes a nap. Sai draws pictures in his book, homoeroticism is all over the place. Snake-man shows up to stop Sai from hitting on Naruto. Naruto gets mad and tells Sai to go find Sasuke while he “distracts” Snake-man. Lengthy flashback #1. Tree-guy and Sakura arrive to help Naruto distract the Snake-man. Intent on the destruction of emotionless clowns, Snake-man runs off after Sai. Sai finds Sasuke sleeping…oh yes, you know what happens next. Shake well and pour on top of lots of staring.

So here’s a list of things I didn’t see coming this week:

• Running…since when do characters in Naruto run? And for that long?
• Naruto struggling to stand after he trips. I’m mean, I know he probably can’t read or spell, but he should at least be able to pick himself up off the ground without help.
• Sakura saying something involving the words “But” and “Sasuke”. ie: “But I wish Sasuke was my lover! we have to find Sasuke right away!”
• Sai deciding that even though they were desperately trying to find Sasuke before Orochimaru appears, now would be a good time to get out his coloring book. Stay in the lines Sai! You wouldn’t want to disappoint the 0 people who love you!
• Naruto to use two new attacks: Shadow Clones and Rasengan…oh wait…

This wasn’t the worst Naruto episode I’ve ever seen by far, but let’s face it, it’s still Naruto. Why do I watch it? I love making fun of it…and when they do have an actual battle going, it’s pretty entertaining. 2/5

Rosario + Vampire 09 & 10: It finally gets pretty badass

I was looking around to see if some of these shows already had bloggers, and I noticed that Calawain was blogging R+V, but dropped it around episode 4. I can’t blame him for that, the only thing that kept me from dropping it was the fact that I couldn’t get enough of “Moka-san…Tsukune…Moka-san…Tsukune…Moka-san…Tsukune…Kappachu!” So I’ve sat it out through the formulaic episodes hoping that maybe, just maybe, the show will go somewhere. Enter episode 9…

If you dropped this show, or don’t know whether or not watch it…at least go watch episodes 9 and 10. Holy crap they were badass. The group takes a summer trip to the human world and encounters a crazy witch. Amongst the beach scenes and camping scenes, there’s a TON of action, everyone gets their moment to shine, and Moka doesn’t just 1-shot everything with a kick. The production value is insane, and…seriously, I was NOT expecting anything remotely on this level from this anime. 5/5

GO WATCH NOW! Warning: if you don’t appreciate made crazy action sequences or panty-shots, don’t waste your time.

D.Gray-Man 74: Lenalee is tasty

I’ll admit, there was a point in time where I dropped D.Gray-man…episode 25. How’d I make it this far? A combination of episode summaries and IRC downloads. I skipped episodes 26-51, reading the episode summaries from various sites so I wouldn’t be totally lost, then picked the show back up at episode 52, where the real action started to kick in. 52+ is like watching a whole new anime. Everyone powers up, the plot actually gets pretty serious, and people start dying left and right.

Right now, there’s a massive showdown going on between The Earl/Noah and the remaining exorcists in Edo (Tokyo). Allen has achieved 100% compatibility with his Innocence and finally arrived in Edo to throw down against the Earl. At long last, we get to see Allen actually do something in his Crowned Clown King form, and we no longer have to worry about Lavi trying to mack on Allen’s woman. Hah! 4/5

Wow, it’s amazing how long first posts take. Especially something like this where there are so many different ways to do things and so many different ideas to sort through. I know this post is long, but it’s made with the idea that you’ll only read the segments you’re interested in. If you read it all, that’s your fault.

Please, give any feedback you can. What you liked/didn’t like, which image style you liked best, etc. The Friday Ramble is an ongoing experiment, so expect constant change…it’s my way of working out new ideas for the regular posts I’ll be doing come Spring.

Hi everyone! This is Otoha, your new Manga writer ^__^

I’ll be writing about Naruto and Bleach and if time allows, more popular Mangas such as D.gray.man. I hope you like it.

Bleach; this Manga gave meaning to my life! I’ll be honest, I’m a bleach freak. Just to tell you how much I love it, 3 weeks ago I went to buy a Katana in N.Y. I found a Japanese store and there I saw a beautiful blue-gray Daikatana. What did I do? Of course I took it out of its scabbard, hold it right in front of me and said “Ban-kai!” but nothing happened (still wondering why) Worse was the reaction of the manager, he asked me if I was drunk and that I should Not come to a place with dangerous items when I’m high! So mean T_____T

In any case, I will review chapters 277 through 286 and then the recent chapters in the next entry.
Let’s go directly to the last major battle in Bleach; the best one in my opinion so far, the Ichigo – Grimmjow fight.
Man I was waiting for this forever! To see Ichigo in his full potential once again since Zaraki fight.

Take that you sucker!

That over confident-one-hand-always-in-his-pocket Ulquiora just had to be gone so Ichigo could have his fight. The short battle between espadas was just amusing. Using cero right at the start showed how serious grimmy was but what surprised me was seeing the effect on ulquiera. Almost nothing happened to him! He took 3 of them head on and he didn’t even flinch! Is there that much of a difference between those two? Is it Ok to overpower ulquiera that much? Anyway, he’s gonna have it one day!

Just had to say this, according to me girlfriend, this is how a true man should behave X___X
I hope she doesn’t mean I have to go out there getting my ass kicked, fighting random guys to death just to show her my love…

A determined Iichigo
After Ichigo doing his Bankai, which in my opinion was his coolest transformation compare to all of his other battles, he showed he is very well capable of fighting grimmy in this form. Do you remember the first time they fought? Ichigo couldn’t even touch him let alone injuring him but little resolve goes a long way.
Then Grimmjow gives some lame ass excuse to why he kept that scar. Apparently he is after some eyes!!!

And finally to show his true evilness he does what Noitora is excellent at; attacking the weak. He uses his most powerful cero just to get “Him” out. I’ll be honest; I don’t like it when they attack the bystanders in the fight. What the hell do they have to do with anything anyway? If you want to show your power, beat the crap out of the guy, let that girl alone.
Speaking of Orihime, I actually have a lot to talk about but I’ll leave that for when I write about Noitora. Yes, like most of you I think she is the most useless character in Hueco Mundo (read entire bleach!) and just for no reason she was granted the power of Jesus to bring back the dead. I mean come on! Ichigo and those two little aranchers that guarded her were gone for good and she just happened to bring them back? Reasoning behind her evolution? Reasons are for pussies! You know it is one of those bleach moments that you just accept it and move on.

He transformed to a coil?!

And here the fun starts. I was always wondering what Grimmjow’s release would look like. It was everything I hoped it would be. According to him, Ichigo is no match for him in this form but I happen to disagree. In my eyes they were pretty equal until grimmy started talking shit and pissed Ichigo off. At that point Ichigo showed his real power.
For the first time since S.S Arc, Ichigo was fighting to win with his instincts, he was fighting to beat his enemy no matter what, and he knew defeat is death; for him and everybody else.

Chapter 282, my favorite chapter of all time, started fantastic by showing Halibel but what made it for me was the amazing fight and especially the last page. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind Ichigo with his mask on is as powerful as Grimmjow’s released form. He is pushing it to the limits. And them comes the last page. The very first time I saw this I cried. Call me a crybaby but it was too much for me. I love Ichigo, I read bleach only to see him kicking ass but that last panel had so much emotion into it. How can you read it and not feel anything? This page is the reason why I read bleach and why I love it to death.

Grimmjow’s past

Hmm, ever wondered how evil characters first came to power? Grimmjow proved to be a rough character from the very start. With the goal of becoming a vastalorde, he and his friends went to Aizen. Now here is an important point, my impression from this chapter is that the current espadas are not vastalordes yet. I’ve seen many comments on the net about the single digit espadas being all vastalorde, well Grimmjow specifically mentions that is not true, at least in regard to himself.

OMGz Kuruuusaki-kyun!

Does she have anything else to say? My good god, she’s just standing there watching him getting his ass kicked. So much for a future girlfriend (come on, you know it will eventually happen!)
Now grimmy goes ape shit! Showing his Final Solution, he uses his most powerful attack. It clearly shows why he was kicked out of espada when he lost his arm; he basically lost half of his strength. To the people who screamed about “plot hole” every other goddamn chapter, this should be considered a kick in the balls!!

And then comes the “instinct” part. We all remember ichigo’s battle with shirosaki(the white Ichigo) and that one moment when he had his sword 2/3 in his body cutting his lungs into two half and pouring at least 23 litters of blood (mind you if THAT doesn’t kill Ichigo, Grimmjow’s fangs won’t either!)
Having gone through all that, he finished the fight in style. Telling Grimmjow he is the one who will kick Aizen’s tea-drinking-ass, that he is the one who will surpass his manipulating boss, ulquiera and all other espadas. Seeing his determination, Grimmjow for the first time, completely gave up. They say sometimes pictures speak for themselves; a clear example is this one.

And just like that, we got to the last chapter just before the Noitora (that cheater!) enters the battle with his strike-from-behind technique! I’ll cover the next few chapters in my next review. The mother of all battles and perhaps the single most anticipated fight in bleach, Noitora-Zaraki, will have its unique review after that.
This is my first review and I promise the next ones will be much better. I just wasn’t sure if you like the humor in my review or not so I didn’t use it much. I tend to keep it short and fun to read. So please don’t expect a complicated supa-dupa analysis. This is a review from a crazy fan for all bleach lovers.
Don’t be shy to post all your nice comments, compliments and more compliments in the comment section.
If you have some criticism, you can write it in font 2 size in white with a spoiler tag so no one would notice it

Due to popular demand, I have replaced my review of Bleach with Darkshaunz’s incredibly awesome review.

Bleach 284-286
My, what an amazing turn of events, Strawberry Face has defeated The Lion King, and just after he picks up the Dragonboobs to rescue Snow White….Edward Scissorhands joins the game! Not before shearing some of the Lion King’s vitals though!

And ladies and gentlemen, lets not forget Strongsad, who is currently wanking in the Twilight Zone waiting for his turn to swipe at Strawberry Face! Will our endeared fruit survive the chain of baddies wanting to put him on top of a Black Forest slice? Find out next week on another EXCITING installment of ChloroZzzzzzzzZzzzzz

Naruto 363-365
Lots of startling revelations in these last few chapters, especially the introduction of the last two Akatsuki member and Tobi’s real identity. Not to mention Karin’s stalker habits, and the announcement of the latest Naruto movie. I like how Itachi’s reaction is handled, which somehow managed to make him seem much more human, while at the same time retaining his mysterious aura. Despite all the questions answered though, Kishimoto just gives us more questions. Who is Uchiha Madara, really? What does Madara mean when he says “Everything will go back to as they once were… It’ll be so with the power of the sharingan, and it will be so with my, Uchiha Madara’s, power”? Knowing that Sasuke has the potential to become stronger than himself, did Itachi really kill his entire family for the reasons he stated? My personal theory is that Itachi was looking to make Sasuke strong enough to topple Madara, who seems to be the most sinister character in Naruto so far.

One Piece 464-466
Both Absalom’s and Perona’s fights are more humorous than serious, especially the last chapter of the Absalom fight. Sanji just kept going on and on about the invisible fruit, and how he spent years thinking up the various ways to use it. I enjoy watching Usopp fight, because his lack of prowess forces him to fight smartly. The mix of different types of ammunition and shells makes for some very interesting possibilities, and some hilarious moments.

Next up is Zoro vs. Brook’s zombie! It doesn’t seem to me like this fight will be as one-sided as Sanji vs. Absalom or as fun as Usopp vs. Perona, but something more traditional. I wonder what’s that fire/smoke thing surrounding Ryoma?

Bleach 283

After taking 5 shots – which Grimmjaw demonstrates to be extremely powerful – in the back, Ichigo’s mask cracks, and Grimmjaw begins to dominate the fight. Orihime tells herself that she can’t be afraid, but Vaizard Ichigo reminds her of her brother, and she fears that she has no place in this Ichigo’s heart.

Nell watches as Ichigo gets overpowered by Grimmjaw, and she’s shocked that Vaizard Ichigo could be losing, as he had previously overpowered both Ulqiorra and the Hundred. Nell cheers for Ichigo, and urges Orihime to do the same. Orihime is momentarily taken aback, and Nell asks her “Why are you scared of Ichigo?” The Ichigo who is only human, but takes on the roles of a Shinigami and Vaizard, so that he can protect others. The Ichigo who braves Hueco Mundo to save Orihime, who battles until his body is covered with scars, so that he can protect those dear to him. “Why are you scared of him? How can you not cheer him on?”

Orihime realises that Ichigo is in Hueco Mundo for the same reason that she is – so that they can protect others who can’t protect themselves. Orihime realises that her fear is unfounded, and she cheers for Ichigo. “Don’t die!” She says, “It doesn’t matter if you lose, it doesn’t matter if you don’t try so hard. So please… don’t get hurt anymore.”

Upon hearing this, Ichigo becomes filled with power and strikes back at Grimmjaw.

Thoughts

“No Ichigo you can’t die!” “You heard the lady.” *OMNISLASH BITCH*

What more can I say?

Oh and the brother thing. Completely slipped my mind until now. It must be shocking for her to see two of her most precious persons become hollows. Duly noted.

Naruto 362

Both Sasuke and Deidara are on the verge of collapse, having used up most of their chakra in the battle. They both collapse on the ground, unable to move, but Sasuke’s gaze remains unwavering in the face of possible defeat. Deidara hates that gaze, the unwavering, confident gaze of the sharingan, and how, despite the fierce battle that just took place, Sasuke doesn’t seem to care about anything other than getting information on Itachi. Deidara despises the Sharingan, and how the Uchiha brothers don’t care at all about his “art”. He decides to show off his ultimate art, a true suicide bomb, an explosion that has never been seen, one that will leave a rift in the land, and one that will gain his art unrivaled praise. He silently apologises to someone, and an explosion 10 kilometres in radius blasts up and outwards from where Deidara’s heart used to be.

Thougts

Talk talk talk *KABOOM*. Deidara’s vendatta against the sharingan is perhaps understandable. As a self-proclaimed artist, it must feel terrible to have his art completely overlooked.

One Piece 463

Luffy fights against Moria, but finds it difficult to get past his indefeatible shadow puppet.

Sanji arrives at the church and rescues Nami, but starts performing manzai with Absalom. Absalom underestimates Sanji, thinking that, as someone who was only given an animal zombie body, he can’t be too strong, but is quickly proven wrong as Sanji sends him flying with a kick. Sanji repeatedly attacks Absalom in his anger over how Absalom treated Nami and Robin on the Thousand Sunny. Additionally, it seems there’s some sort of old grudge between two.

Thougts
This arc of One Piece, at least as far as I’ve seen, feels a little different from previous arcs. Despite the fact that they’re fighting one of the Shichibukai and his subordinates, the mood is so light and the humour so ubiqutious that there is no tension at all. I’m getting the feeling that this arc is going to really highlight how strong the Straw Hats have become, as they walk all over Moria’s ship.

And damn, is Sanji kicking (literally) ass.

Bleach 282

Halbel and her officers watch Grimmjaw and Ichigo fight from a distant; as the officers banter back and forth, Halbel comments that their fear is justified. Watching an Espada fight in its released state creates a sort of primal fear, that Halbel tells her officers to treasure. She wonders to herself whether Ichigo is really human – she feels as if it’s two Espadas fighting.

Ichigo continues his fight with Grimmjaw, and Grimmjaw feels happy that Ichigo’s time with the mask has extended – he thinks that it will be boring if the mask breaks quickly like the last time they fought. Ichigo acts a little strange, and says that because it’s so boring, Grimmjaw mustn’t end his release state. The two trade blows, but Ichigo seems to be coming out on top. Ichigo dodges some projectiles attacks, but notices that it’s going to hit Orihime, and rushes over to block them with his body. His eyes meet with hers, and Orihime becomes visibly shaken.

Thoughts
Largely a battle chapter, we get to see a little more of Halbel and her minions. One thing that especially annoys me about the recent chapters of Bleach is how Kubo continuously rub the fact that Ichigo is like a Hollow in our face. Okay, we get it already, please move onto something else.

Other things of note:

Naruto 361

The battle draws to a close as Deidara uses the C4 at point blank range. He jumps away from the ballon that is filled with C4 and surrounds Sasuke, and releases a small bird into the air. Inside the balloon, Sasuke sees the C4 fill his blood stream, and quickly bursts out of the balloon using Chidori. With a last ditch attempt he rushes towards Deidara through the air, but Deidara sets off the bomb and they both fall into the forest.

Deidara falls heavily onto the ground, just in time to see the head of a snake evaporate. Just as he celebrates his victory, however, Sasuke appears behind him and hits him hard. Deidara wonders how Sasuke managed to survive, and notices that Sasuke had sent lightning element chakra into his own body. Sasuke explains that he had noticed Deidara’s bomb’s weakness – that his bombs were a earth elemental jutsu, and with Sasuke’s lightning element chakra disarms the bombs. Sasuke then explains how he tested the bombs using various incarnations of chidori, wondering whether the bombs that weren’t exploding didn’t do so because of the lightning chakra or because of Deidara’s will. Then he explains how he used the sword stabbed into the ground earlier to test the land mines, which weren’t controlled by Deidara, and confirmed the lightning jutsu nullifies the bombs. When Deidara asks how he can see the mines, Sasuke explains that his eyes allowed him to see the colour of chakra.

Thougts

More quality fighting from Kishimoto. Only two points I want to raise this week – what was that last bird that Deidara released, and how did Sasuke see the mine? I understand he can see chakra, but can he see through the ground? There has never been any indication that the Sharigan grants X-ray vision, which seems to be an ability more along the line of the Hyuga’s Byakugan.

One Piece 462

As the other three head onward to help Brook and Nami, Usopp remains to fight Perona. Not only are Perona’s depression spirits useless against Usopp, his depressing nature is so great that the spirits and Perona themselves become affected.

Meanwhilst, Brook continues to fight his zombie, but is defeated. As Ryuuma is about to cut off his afro, the ship shakes violently, and Franky and Zoro burst into the room to save Brook. Zoro sets his eyes on Ryuuma’s sword, one of the 21 excellent grade swords, and boldly declares that he’ll take the sword from Ryuuma.

The scene shifts once again, to where Absalom is trying to marry Nami. His attempt at kissing Nami fails, as the ship shook just at that moment. He finds out that the shaking is a result of Oz playing with the tiller, and sends out all his zombie generals to stop him, but they’re all wiped out by him in one move. Just as Absalom was wondering why Oz wasn’t being obedient, Sanji arrives at the church.

Thougts
It’s hard to write about One Piece – it’s very consistently good, and I feel stupid repeating the same thing week after week. One thing of note that is going to become very apparent next chapter is the strength difference between the crew members. More on that in the next post.

Bleach 281

After seeing Ichigo’s Vaizard form, Orihime is a little shaken. Ichigo apologises to her, and reassures her that he will immediately take care of the problem. Seeing Ichigo’s mask, Grimmjaw roars in laughter, saying that he had waited a long time for this moment of revenge. He releases his Zanpaktou, and lets out a terrifying roar that shocks Ichigo. Finally, the fight between Ichigo and Grimmjaw begins.

Thoughts
Transitional chapter. The only really notable thing is that Grimmjaw looks retarded in his release form. 1) What’s with the tights and 2) What’s with the long hair? It’s like an unmanly version of SSJ3 Goku, which is really disappointing. The whole slender form-factor doesn’t help either. I know he’s supposed to look like a leopard or something, but the eye shadow, the long hair and the skinny body and legs just make him look like some furry fag. I hope there’ll never be any Ichigo x Grimmjaw furry doujin… just thinking about it makes me want to puke.

Apart from that little complaint, this chapter is a pretty solid one. How Orihime will ultimately react to Vaizard Ichigo could be interesting, but it could also just be a predictable “I’m not scared and I’ll still love you forever and ever” thing, which would be disappointing. The fight is in the usual Kubo style, lots of close ups then zoom out showing the wider action, nothing particularly exciting yet. Hopefully that will change with the upcoming chapter. There hasn’t been a decent fight since Soul Society, and the last good sword fight was against Zaraki Kenpachi – everything after that were more like magicians throwing fireball at each other than anything else.

Naruto 360

Sasuke’s fight against Deidara heats up as Deidara busts out his ultimate bomb, the C4. A giant Deidara appears, but simply pops like a balloon, which Sasuke initially thinks is a dud. However, when Deidara sets off the bomb, the animals within the vicinity all fall apart into little pieces. Sasuke also falls apart. Tobi explains that the C4 is in fact a lot of super tiny microscopic bombs, which are spread throughout the area when the giant Deidara explodes. Any animal that breaths it in will be filled with the little bombs, and when they’re set off they’ll destroy the body from the inside at a cellular level.

Deidara uncovers his left eye, thanks Itachi, and screams out that it is his victory, and the victory of his art. However, he feels the Sharingan behind him, and turns around to find Sasuke in level 2 seal, who hits him with Chidori. Sasuke explains that, even though the naked eye cannot see the microscopic bombs, the Sharingan could see the chakra within them, and to him the bombs looked like a mist spreading out. He could also see that where Deidara was standing was just outside the range of the bomb, and so he could easily dodge it, and that the dying Sasuke Deidara saw was simply Sasuke’s genjutsu. Deidara however, once again thanks Itachi, and bursts out of the clay bird he was riding on. He explains that, since fighting with Itachi, he had trained up his left eye to resist genjutsu and was able to break out of Sasuke’s genjutsu immediately. “Now it’s really over!” he screams, “Have a taste of my C4!”

Thoughts
The C4 is, in the words of Tobi, a ‘terrible jutsu’. It is essentially a biological weapon, a gas bomb that you breath in, and as such is impossible to avoid. Even more terrible is that it can’t be seen with the naked eye, so unless you’re like Sasuke you can’t tell when you’re safe from it. One thing though – wouldn’t it be much smarter to covertly release the gas? I guess the problem here would be breathing it in yourself.

This chapter is a return to form for Kishimoto, that, in my opinion, rivals the level of the fights found at the height of Naruto, which I consider to be the ‘We’re-a-team-but-let’s-split-up-and-fight-1-on-1′ arc. Which brings up a question that I always ask – If anyone other than Sasuke was to fight Deidara, would they have any chance? It’s the same in the Sasuke pursuit arc – if the match ups were anything other than what was, the Konoha ninjas would probably have been wiped out quicker than you can say “Shounen Jump”.

Interesting to note that the wing that got cut off previously on Sasuke has been replaced by snakes. WHY ARE THERE MOTHERFUCKING SNAKES ON MY MOTHERFUCKING BACK?

One Piece 461

After Oz fell down, the Straw Hat Pirates are split into two groups – Luffy, Chopper and Robin heads towards the freezing room where Oz was stored and where Moria is napping, while Sanji and Usopp fell down to the bottom level, where they join Zorro and Franky. On the way to where Moria is, Luffy and co. runs into Hogback and Cindry, who tries to stop them. Chopper declares his disappointment in Hogback, and urges Luffy to go find Moria, saying he would defeat Hogback himself. Robin stays with Chopper, stopping Cindry from following Luffy. Hogback laughs when he realises that the deer is Chopper, and asks him to give up his shadow… or be killed and turned into the body of a zombie, as Sanji’s and Zoro’s zombies appear.

Meanwhilst, the other half of the Straw Hat’s crew stands in awe of Oz, who doesn’t notice them and walks off. The bridge that they originally intended to cross was destroyed by Oz’s fall, but Franky quickly rebuilds another one. Crossing the bridge, they walk into Perona’s room, and are quickly taken out by her Ghosts Ghost Fruit, all except for Usopp, who’s immune to its powers because he’s already depressive. Elsewhere, in the Thriller Bark’s church, Absalom is seconds away from stealing Nami’s sweet lips.

Thoughts
Pretty much just set up for the upcoming battles – Luffy vs Moria, Chopper and Robin vs Sanji’s and Zoro’s zombies, and Usopp vs Perona. Not much to note other than that… some really funny moments again, especially when Usopp loudly declares that he is already a depressive.

I’m going to get my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow (4th of July), so next week’s entry might come a little later, depending on how drugged up I am, or if there’s any complication with the operation. Wish me luck!

*A lie.

Click on it to see full size.

And they say the only good thing Australia brought the world is the rotary washing line.

Shit I almost forgot. Go to Shaun’s blog, or Rets’ blog, or Retshaun’s blog, whatever floats your fancy boat. FOR GREAT JUSTICE!

Bleach 278

Kind of surprised that Grimmjaw isn’t at all scared of Ulqiorra, considering how great the difference in their abilities should be. Other than that, it’s nice to see that Ulqiorra DOES display emotion, and I’m looking forward to the fight next chapter. If it gets interrupted or is ended in 5 seconds like every fight in the last 50 or so chapters of Bleach, I’m going to be PISSED.

Naruto 357

It seems that Sasuke’s greatest asset, apart from the snake summoning jutsu he inherited from Orochimaru, is his speed. As noted in the Kakkashi Gaiden, when you’re moving too fast even you yourself can’t see what’s going on, but with the Sharigan, Sasuke doesn’t have such a limit, and thus he can move much faster than most other ninjas. Also, he seems to know a lot more jutsu than Naruto does – where as Naruto is the type that decides a battle with one major, super powerful jutsu, Sasuke knows a far large variety of jutsus, like the lightning needles he threw to pin Deidara’s spiders.

Kabuto is insane, and the way Tobi acts and talks is hilarious.

One Piece 459

I wonder if Oda plans things like this? Was the whale planted there, so long ago in the story, so that he can one day have an excuse to put a new member into Luffy’s crew? It’s a very convenient plot device, after all, a whale waiting for a group of pirate who went a-adventuring on the high seas. Whatever the reason, Oda’s stories are weaved together much more skillfully than any Shounen Jump manga I’ve read – he doesn’t forget things he wrote years ago, and he uses them to his advantage when he needs. The reason why Brook wants to keep his afro is also revealed to be far less trivial than it initially appeared. Instead of wanting to do it for himself, simply as a memento of his previous life, it’s so that the whale can recognise him. How touching!

All three titles simultaneously enter into climax, as Ichigo starts his fight with Grimmjaw, Deidara shows off his C2 Dragon, and the Straw Hat Pirates (who, incidentally, do very little pirating) begin their assault on Moria’s ship. Next week is going to be awesome.

Grimmjaw sure knows how to treat his woman like a real man.

Grimmjaw takes Orihime to Ichigo, so that she can heal him. Ulqiorra goes back to his room to find Orihime missing, was told that she was kidnapped by Grimmjaw, and goes back to where Ichigo is.

Seriously Kubo? Go fuck yourself. Setting up is one thing, this is another. This whole arc in Bleach reminds me of Captain Tsubasa in its later stages. There was this one chapter, and I’m not kidding here, this one twenty page chapter that had only nineteen frames, covering probably about 15 seconds in a match. How do you have less frames than pages? I don’t fucking know but Captain Tsubasa did it. This is the same thing – trying to cram as little real content into a single chapter as possible. Artistically (in terms of how frames are arranged and how scenes are drawn, as well as how some lines are worded) Bleach is probably the best of the three shounen series I follow weekly, and several pages this week stand out. However in terms of plot progression and actually having something exciting happening, Bleach just utterly fails. I can no longer feel the excitement that I did when I wrote posts like this, and I pretty much just follow Bleach now in the hope that the Hueco Mundo arc would fucking end already and we can get back to some good old fashioned fights, instead of overpowered-in-one-second mismatches.

Naruto 356

Konoha’s search for Sasuke and Itachi continues. Sakura brushes shoulder with meganekko whose name I can never remember. Naruto’s team has a surprise meeting with Kabuto, who appears to be possess by Orochimaru. Meanwhile the Akatsuki team of Deidara and Tobi finds Sasuke and attacks him.

Yeah Kishimoto you can go fuck yourself too. Orochimaru is alive? How? How the fuck did Orochimaru, who gave up his body in trying to possess Sasuke, and was in turn possessed by Sasuke, still have a will or mind to possess Kabuto? He couldn’t possibly have tried to possess Kabuto beforehand – it’s pretty clear that Orochimaru’s jutsu only allows him occupancy of one body at a time, since it’s a transferal of his own soul. Unless he tried to withdraw his soul and stop his jutsu half-way through possessing Sasuke, his soul should’ve been destroyed by Sasuke. Spin your way out of this one, Kishimoto, and it’d better be satisfactory.

Kabuto’s whole speech is pretty pointless. It serves to show us a little of the reason behind his loyalty to Orochimaru, but I’ve long ago lost any interest in him as a character. I don’t see any purpose for his existence past the chuunin exam. Apart from the fact that he’s Orochimaru’s subordinate, and that there’s no convenient way of getting rid of him, his existence hasn’t made any impact to how the story’s played out. And now it’s like he’s possessed just because he’s there, and because someone, probably the editors at Jump, doesn’t want Orochimaru, as the primary villain for most of Naruto, to be written off so undramatically.

I wonder if we’ll see Sasuke fight the Akatsuki. I don’t want Tobi to die yet, he’s funny!

One Piece 458

Funniest scene this week – “A hot chick sword master is coming with meat!”

Franky and Robin meets up with Usopp and Chopper, and they proceed to go rescue Sanji, Zoro and Luffy. The 900th zombie refuses to obey Moria, saying that he wants to be the Pirate King, completely inheriting Luffy’s personality. Brook recalls how he originally discovered the weakness of the zombies, and how he was first chased off the island by the zombie possessing his shadow, as he couldn’t match up at all to the power of the body, as he once again faces him.. Back on the boat, Franky and the others find the three kidnapped members safe and sound. They wake them up and prepare to go rescue Nami.

It’s surprising how Oz is able to disobey Moria. I thought part of Moria’s ability is that he can force obedience on the shadows he procures? Whatever happens next, Oz will become a difficult enemy for Luffy to defeat, because of his giant state. It’s similar to Luffy being in his third gear at all time.

A interesting effect concerning the Shadow Shadow Fruit will be glimpsed in the next chapter – as the shadow’s original owner continue to grow in strength and experience, will the zombie that has his shadow grow as well? If the shadow does indeed forget everything that happens while it was with its original owner, there shouldn’t be any reason why it remains connected to the original owner.

Also, it can be seen from Brook’s recollection that a zombie is significantly stronger than the shadow’s owner. Unless Moria under-estimate Zoro like he did with Sanji, it seems a difficult battle awaits Zoro and, in particular, Luffy, who’ll be forced to fight Oz to regain his shadow.

This opens some interesting possibility in my mind. If Luffy cannot beat Oz by himself, I think it would be very fun to see some real co-operative fights or fights with a lot of strategy, instead of one person being simply stronger than another, as is the case in most shounen. Hunter x Hunter style fights in One Piece would be damn amazing.

I continue to love how Oda weaves in jokes throughout each chapter. I was laughing so hard at the final scene in this chapter I was left with a stomach ache.

My attempt at a short summary:
Ichigo’s hollow mask collapses and Nell jumps at him, reprimanding for using such power at his current state. He apologizes and declares that it is time to go, thinking that he has beaten Ulquiorra. How very wrong he is. Not only is Ulquiorra still standing, he is not even that wounded. Ulquiorra fires a cero at Ichigo and Nell and after some throwing about, Ichigo “stabs” Ulquiorra. He declares that he will not surrender and that if he can beat Ulquiorra, it is the same as winning the war because he thinks Ulquiorra is the numero uno espada. Ulquiorra grabs the sword and rips his shirt -hears some fangirl screams in the background- in the process, revealing his number.

Ulquiorra stabs Ichigo with his hand alone, saying that Ichigo can never beat him and even if Ichigo did, he would still have to face 3 other espada. The chapter ends with Ulquiorra saying, “The path to victory doesn’t exist.”

Thoughts:
As I said, I won’t be doing much of a review. I want you guys to share your thoughts instead. As for me, though… Quite frankly, I’m a bit shocked. I expected Ulquiorra to be at a higher rank. Hm who knows, maybe the Halibel is the numero uno espada~

So thoughts? Opinions? Reactions?

Image credits: Maximum 7

Summary:
Ikkaku had been a street thug without any purpose in life–except for battling. Only, his only passion in battling had been just because there had been nothing else to do. Then he came to the 80th district, looking for a fight. He got one, with the one and only Kenpachi of Zaraki.

While Ikkaku was stronger than everything else Kenpachi had chopped up to that point, he was still not good enough. Ikkaku asked for death, but Kenpachi reprimanded him. If he liked fighting than he should be grateful he could live to continue doing so even after losing, he should thank his luck for it. As soon as he was healed, Ikkaku went searching for Kenpachi again. Hearing that Kenpachi had joined the Eleventh Division of Gotei 13, he and Yumichika joined that division. The three (four, plus Yachiru) of them even fought a Hydra-like Hollow together.

Some time later, Renji showed up and asked Ikkaku to teach him how to battle. Ikkaku complied. Along with their training, they also somehow bonded. The timeline moved forward again, and this time it was closer to the present. Renji asked, or more likely pleaded, Ikkaku to take up the position as the captain of any of the three traitors’ division; he was, according to Renji, the one most suitable for the job. Ikkaku rejected, saying that just as Renji stayed in the Sixth Division to beat Byakuya, he too stayed in the Eleventh so that he could die under Kenpachi’s command. Renji understood, and the flashbacks ended. Both Ikkaku and Eduardo plunged to earth, Ikakku with his blade broken, and Eduardo with his arm missing. Ikkaku, though, remarked to Yumichika that he was lucky once again. So Yumichika would have to tell poor Akon (or whoever that Twelfth he contacted earlier was) to cancel Ikkaku’s burial.

I definitely didn’t expect another elaboration outside of what the manga has said, though I suppose it’s in order. Soi Fon, who has had only three chapters’ worth of major appearances, received a full episode of flashback after all. The Eleventh, who have more air-time, is bound to have an exclusive episode for their own. While I still don’t like the Eleventh that much, Ikkaku is the one I can tolerate the most. The bunch of them has honor, to their own extent and description, but Ikkaku is the one whose code of honor is the most…how should I say? He gives me the least urge to roll my eyes and ridicule about men and their pride. Still, this episode doesn’t really elaborate much aside from showing Ikkaku’s relationship with those around him. Surpirsingly, Yumichika doesn’t get much role despite being what must be the closest thing he could have to a best friend.

At the same time, I begin to wonder if there’s someone leaking all those zanpakuto outside of Seireitei. It has baffled me ever since reading volume 13 on how something that dangerous gets to be in the hands of street thugs. What’s even worse, in the first appearance of Yumichika he didn’t carry a sword. In the second appearance (visiting a bandaged Ikkaku) he had it.

I also think that being a shinigami ensures wealth, since Kenpachi is buffed in the present, while he’s like a street lamp in the past. Also, apparently it is mandatory for captains to have eccentric appearance. After all, who in their right mind would want to wake up in the dawn just to fix up his hair and attaches all those bells every morning?

This episode is okay, not exactly a rehash of anything, but is still not something that makes me highly interested. I’ll admit that Bleach doesn’t amuse me as much as it was. I’m actually waiting for the next filler arc, believe it or not. That’d be slightly more original than animating the manga. In any case, another elaboration of an obscure character is also welcome.

The Shinigami Golden Cup is not that funny…

Next week is Renji vs. Il Forte, and Hitsugaya vs. Shawlong Qu Fong. I’ll go out on a limb and say that this will probably end with a cliffhanger similar to how the episode when Ichigo started the fight to beat up Byakuya ended. Oh, expect to see someone very much unexpected intruding someone’s fight.

It’s been more or less a year since I first read the chapters corresponding this episode, and I can say there’s not much difference. This is the episode in which Ikkaku fought Eduardo and, the highlight of the episode, showed his–controversial, at least among the fans–bankai.

Summary:

Eduardo refused telling Ikkaku his name on the basis that someone close to dying shouldn’t need to know his name. To Ikkaku, pronouncing each other’s name was a battle ethiquette, because at the very least they should know who killed them. And so they clashed. At first Eduardo didn’t even use his sword, just his iron skin. Later he had to pull that out. After that, he still didn’t release his sword, commenting that Ikkaku was not worth it. Using a simpleton’s strategy, if it can even be called a strategy, Ikkaku managed to cut Eduardo’s face and losing two molars (according to the manga). So Eduardo got serious and pronounced both his and his zanpakuto’s name. It’s called Volcanica, and its powers overwhelmed Ikkaku. Cut to Grimmjow meeting Ichigo and Rukia, and then wounding Rukia (oddly without the 5-litre blood rain that is Bleach’s icon), and fixating his attention on Ichigo. Meanwhile, Yumichika asked a 12 Division shinigami over the phone to prepare Ikkaku’s funeral.

Eduardo, so sure of victory, delivered the final blow, only that it wasn’t. The pachinko-dama, as Yachiru called him, was holding the attack with his bare back, muttering about showing a secret. The bankai, named Ryuumon Houzukimaru. It was a gigantic sansetsuken (if that term even exists…) with a purpose to only concentrate Ikkaku’s reiatsu into raw strength. The downside, it was so heavy in offense it was brittle. It did cut through Volcanica’s attack. But that was not the end of it.

As you watch, the dragon emblem was slowly filled with red color. According to Ikkaku, that’s the mark that his zanpakuto was waking up through slashing or get slashed (which is probably why he just spun it on nothing), and when it was full, it was ready to release its full power. Since they both were at the edge, they settled it with a final clash (or fireworks).

Actually, this is the first Bleach I watch since the last of Soul Society arc–that was the last episode provided by my friends. I’ve got to say, the feeling’s still the same. Okay…so that’s how the studio gives the black-and-white still images some life. Sadly, I can still see the manga’s exact images from those frames, and that provokes a bit of redundancy. A bit.

The bankai was, and still is to the anime-watchers, controversial when it first was shown. The logic was: if Ichigo could defeat Ikkaku with no problem, but nearly lost against Renji, then how come Ikkaku qualified to have a bankai? You can’t really say he lost to Ichigo in the first place because he didn’t use his bankai; Renji didn’t either, and Ichigo nearly lost–though it is also plausible to say that Ichigo had been drained by the fight with Ikkaku, hence Renji’s almost victory. Well, it didn’t really matter.

I never really like the Eleventh division (or any fight-junkie characters for that matter). In this case, I’m further discouraged by the fact that the author seems to prefer said division (which corps has the most named members again?). It doesn’t help that Ichigo fits to be in said division.
Basically, I’m not too impressed by the bankai. It’s just an expansion embodying their fighting motto: all for the sword, none for the magic/kidou (or brain ). So naturally it’s not really a thrilling episode for me. Actually, anything that I have read or seen before but yet I read and see again in a different media doesn’t really interest me much due to the way my memories work. That is probably why my siblings and I watched the Naruto fillers instead of the canon episodes.

The surprise in this episode is the Arrancar release (resurrecio) sequence. It’s lengthy, it’s flashy, but it worths it. That’s the one sequence not found in the manga, and I like it. It shows that there are something that’s really going on behind the pillar of cloud every release/transformation thing is bound to have. Now here’s for the rest of the resurrecio.

The shinigami cup golden’s a good way to get some laugh…but I didn’t. I blame my lame sense of humor. Anyway, I doubt the shinigami women association would object to Byakuya being in their meetings. It’s him being there and smiling about it that makes me wonder whether the cold captain finally cracks or not.

Hmm, now I wonder how long they’re going to animate the manga before going back to fillers. The manga is still deep in another arc, and it’s the one that will be simply stupid to be diverged into another filler. So I’m guessing a Naruto-like break from the manga.

The next episode definitely will contain the flashback, as well as continuing the others’ fight. So an episode full of action…unless they decide to give some more lecture information about this new enemy. Oh, and expect a lot of intrusions and scene-shifts.

Here’s my personal prediction on the ranking:

1. Ulquiorra
2. Nnoitra
3. Stark
4. Old Espada
5. Halibel
6. Grimmjow
7. Zommari
8. Szayelaporro
9. Aaroniero
10. Yammy

Bolded names are the confirmed rankings by manga. All the rest are based on gut feeling with no complicated number sequences or formulas, except for Noitora – I think he is #2 based on what he told Telsa. He thinks he’s the strongest Espada but yet he’s not recognised as the strongest, so this probably means he’s #2. And I think Ulquiorra is #1 because he’s so damn intelligent and analytical, and he is Aizen’s pet as well.

This is the current actual rankings as revealed by the manga, together with my new predictions:

1. Stark
2. Halibel
3. Old Espada
4. Ulquiorra
5. Nnoitra
6. Grimmjow
7. Zommari
8. Szayelaporro
9. Aaroniero
10. Yammy

So let me hear all your theories and predictions on the rankings of the Espada!

She mainly does Bleach and Naruto and the following two are examples of her comics:


Bleach

Naruto

If you wanna see her gallery (you know you want to hehehe), the following is a link to her profile in DeviantArt:
one-of-the-clayr.deviantart.com

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Reopening of the Substitute Business! The Terrifying Transfer Student
Daikou gyou saikai! Kyoufu no tenkousei 「代行業