Bleach New Bleach Filler Arc

[~NGD OMEGA~]

Oh wow. Ignoring ZOMG KOUGA REJECTS MURAMASA and subsequent BS revolving around those kick the dog shenanigans, I actually doubted it, but Byakuya vs. Kouga WAS badass. I'd say the best in the arc, but a few things brought it slightly down from that kind of claim (Still damn good regardless though). That overemphasis on slow-mo for a casual dodge, as that was too long a pause for Byakuya to just casually dodge the tip, Kouga's lack of incantation numbers (I'd have totally bought making up kido frankly were it not for that) and more importantly his blatant attempt to rip off Aizen, as well as the WTF of his power not being based around Muramasa but rather 'his own' despite said blade being entirely separate at this point.

Other than that though the choreography was DAMN fine for the early portion, particularly Kouga taking full advantage of the shape of his weapon. There's a reason Spears and the like need more love, so much application if you know what you're doing, depending on the overall shape. Sure it was in essence bashing weapons together, but it was doing it WELL for once. The kido bit even went fluidly too, and regardless of the Aizen ripoff going on (Seriously, JUST make it distort depth perception, going so far as the claim of 'all five senses' was retarded, though granted that would be a stretch from just that to Muramasa's ability), Kouga's ability in play saw some damn fine use too.

Edit: Aw hell, it ruined it with a Morale Lesson speech crap in the middle of the fight. Bloody brought it to a halt, though it was slightly slowing down prior to that... >>

Also communicate with others Byakuya? Granted your excuse wasn't as poor as I was expecting, may even be passable compared to Kouga's past crap, but you shut your damn mouth regardless.

 

[jaredstar]

to me Kouga's powers seem closer to Shinji's then to Aizens.

 

[Shadowseraph]

Just watched 253 and all I can say is... dammit can't you just let the arc end? Kouga is dead(I hope) Muramasa got to fight as a big bad arrancar thing for a bit, but no even after he's beaten he has an Akira moment and swells up into a giant eyeball monster thing. And I hear theres another filler after this? Hell this kind of crap is why I stopped bothering to watch the naruto anime.

 

[~NGD OMEGA~]

Bad as this is (And trust me it's pretty bad), it's still nowhere near as bad as the Naruto Filler. As opposed to general one episode moral lesson crap with nothing really overhanging to drive any of them, these at least have plot. Crappy plot, but plot all the same.

Ichigo vs. Muramasa's hollow... thing was so bad that the glaring difference from Byakuya's fight was all too obvious. It seems they can't keep a string of winners going. Not only is Ichigo bashing his weapon against his arm blade... things... with zero strategy or actually entertaining methodology, they went so far as to have mook hollows stall. And I actually expected a group effort after the start of that battle. Granted they needed to take a few pages out of Soul Eater's book as to actual team cohesion, but Soul Eater cheats in that regard anyway. Would have been SO much more epic though compared to the following garbage.

Other than that tripe, Orihime's a dumbass for getting that close, as is everyone else for even allowing that, and now I'm pissed that not only did they not show Ryuujinjakka, but also that Unohana did crap and more importantly that they didn't finish it pretty much right there.

Calvary arrives as Muramasa goes KAAANNEDAAAA, and I'm left with the slight hope that it will take a team effort until I realize I'm still high off the good fight last episode and that more likely it's going to be a showcase of moves until Ichigo does some BS speech inside Muramasa that breaks him out of it. Oh and Soifon's there, so the whole thing should be over in two hits anyway, ONE if she goes Bankai as the thing's not moving, though granted the Anime really can't show that kind of stuff yet till it's officially revealed. So more likely they're going to be distracted by the non threats that are the mook hollows and the menos. Bah...

LOL @ zoologist/hollowologist Tousen though.

 

[Shadowseraph]

You know.. shouldn't the mook hollows be going spastic and dying just from all the spiritual pressure thats getting tossed around? like the ones it showed when the whole gotei squad showed up to face Aizen and his goons? That aside, ichigo pissed me off, not once did he use the point blank getsuga, even though he was clashing with Murahollow multiple times.

 

[~NGD OMEGA~]

He did. Right at the end there. Well kinda anyway. :mellow:

Unless you mean the doesn't leave the blade version. Which for some reason was 'revealed' against Ulquiorra, which hasn't happened yet, despite him doing basically the same thing, save appearance, in his fight with Byakuya.

 

[Shadowseraph]

He did it to Grimmjow I'mpretty sure, blasting him with a Getsuga as soon as he blocked. That aside, not finishing off the enemy you JUST saw regenerate from a similar mortal wound was a damn stupid move, but no he just waits for the smoke to clear and reveal that's he's just fine again....

I liked shonen better when I was younger, I didn't notice all the stupid bits then.

 

[~NGD OMEGA~]

Sadly agreed. Though I also blame good fight scenes. Now I'm spoiled and expect at least above mediocre.

 

[grant]

I don't like to join in on bashing episodes or arcs, but I am honestly less than impressed so far.
So far the humans are effectively useless. I think the only reason Chad, Ishida, and Orihime get a mention at all in recent episodes is because they were well developed characters by the time the power level started to get pushed up in the SS arc. Yes Ichigo claims he's not a Shinigami but rather a human, I say if he dresses like a Shinigami then he's counted as one.
People only seem to know either the fireball kido or the lightning kido, which they spam a lot.
Apparently all the zanpakuto have decided to go right back to their Shinigami, who accept them without question.
And Zaraki, the character you would have expected to get more attention because he's the only one who doesn't rely on his zanpakuto, is nowhere to be found. I'd thought it was just an internet rumor, but I'm starting to wonder if Zaraki really is disliked in Japan.

 

[~NGD OMEGA~]

The lightning kido they used all of twice, it's the fireball one that gets spammed a lot. Though yeah, otherwise agreed.

 

[Shadowseraph]

They do switch between the blue fireball and the red fireball quite a bit... Yay for different colors <_<

 

[~NGD OMEGA~]

Wait, I can't believe I missed this:

LOLWUT?

 

[zeebee1]

Tousen just wants to fit in.

 

[trevelyan1983]

The Eyeglasses of Justice!

 

[zeebee1]

He does tend to like his glasses.

 

[~NGD OMEGA~]

Episode 254, according to my sources last one of the rebellion before a conclusion of sorts, and already it's starting stupidly. Massively so. They exposit that Mayuri found a way to break Muramasa's control over them. This despite it already being established Muramasa's control ended. And more importantly quite a few blades were dead, which they don't bother to explain why they got repaired. This is so colossally stupid at this point that I'm almost overlooking Unohana did crap again. >>

Oh wait, Soifon attacks a menos going to fire a cero, taking it's sweet time, the human group can't do crap and then they thank her for saving their lives. And then Ishida attacks Soifon when she goes to take out Muramasa, whose still going KANNNEDAAA!!!

Oh, and Soifon's rightfully going to smack a bitch, and Hitsugaya manages to talk her out of that. I'm still not sure how he pulled that off... Hyorinmaru must be rubbing off on him.

Similarly while I appreciate that it's not mook hollows that are stalling a freaking attack squad like that (Backed up by the Zanpakuto mind for double the attack force), Menos should be equally worthless before them. I mean seriously, at the very least pull a leaf from Diamond Dust Rebellion and have them have insane Regen. And follow up on the implication that they're all headed for the town, so stalling is pretty much all they can do. THAT makes some sense. >>

And why are they wasting time for a massive monologue during this. REALLY? At least attack while doing it. Hell, show how pissed off you are through your actions as you attack them to double the emphasis on it. Don't just stand there as the Menos are apparently stumbling over trees... Are Hitsugaya and Soifon the only two capable of doing their goddamn job? >>

Oh wait, now they're all slack jawed as Byakuya and Senbonzakura try to use the powers of plot convenience to plug up a hole... Lord, stop talking and do something already. You guys could have been done by now, seriously. >>

Bah, stupidly long powerup sequence, mild case of showcasing attacks, before MORE stupidly long poweruping before the portal closes by the power of plot convenience. Oh and while they were doing all this the Human group were twiddling their thumbs and watching all this time, as opposed to doing what Hitsugaya suggested after he managed to call off Soifon and find Ichigo in Muramasa's emomass. >>

Finalie looks equally boring (Swords bashing together repeatedly with no rhyme, reason, or skill, The Anime!), but the Shinigami cup was win. Hisagi and Kazeshini make up, manly tears and everything, then Kazeshini's all "You Bought that Bull?" and stabs him. I missed that little chaotic munchkin.

 

[zeebee1]

That might have been funny if it wasn't so expected. Personally I think Hisagi should have done something like saying he'd bring out Kazehini about as often as he did before.

 

[Dark_Plague]

Episode Summary:

"Oh no! The giant reiatsu thing! What do we do!"

"Oh no, Menos!"

*Menos are killed*

"Oh no, more Menos!"

*More Menos are killed*

"Oh no, what do we do!?"

-End-

 

[grant]

Maybe I'm simply too demanding a person. Is that it? Be honest.

My thoughts on the episode are this.

1. The fight music throughout the episode isn't good. This isn't music on the level of Number One

2. They spent 20 seconds of nothing but the Shinigami and the Zanpakuto posing. That's it.

3. After all this hardship trying to get the Zanpakuto back and angsting about how they needed to kill them they all get brought back by Mayuri... and we don't even see it happen. That also raises the question of why they needed Mayuri to do this, because after the reveal that Muramasa didn't care about their rebellion Katen Kyokotsu (Kyoraku's Zanpakuto) was fully willing to fight him.

4. The Menos don't even really do anything. They waddle around and fire an absolutely useless Cero every now and then. Whatever happened to needing some 'royal guard' come out and destroy these things? In another fifty chapters (or four episodes) you'll be able to just blow on one and it it will fall over. The Menos aren't even Elite Mooks anymore, with the Fraccion and non-Espada Arrancar around they're just weird looking wildlife.

5. They stop Soifon from attacking the Muramasa-freak thing. I can somewhat understand that they don't want her to use shunko when Ichigo inside it. If only Soifon had some kind of strange technique! Something that might let her, oh I don't know, KILL IT WITH TWO SIMPLE HITS! Have they forgotten that she could end this in a matter of seconds?

6. Wasn't Yumichika trying to keep his Zanpakuto's abilities a secret? Especially from Ikakku, who's on the same battlefield?

7. They're all worried about the number of Menos heading towards the battlefield as a result of Muramasa's reiatsu. Why doesn't it ever occur to them to do something about it? Like attack Muramasa maybe?

8. Near the end we finally get some decent music, the kind that you would expect when two opponents face off for the last attack...for a fight scene that was in no way suspenseful.

9. Last and most irritating is that the plot was in no way advanced by any of this. Sode no Shirayuki survived! Wow, we A. already knew she would and B. it's never explained how. The Muramasa-freak got bigger! Like we didn't see that coming. They healed a tear in the sky! Because that does anything to actually determine anything.

 

[~NGD OMEGA~]

While I more or less agree, they don't know enough of the nature of Muramasa's KANNEEDA!!! to say whether or not Ichigo got absorbed, and thus would die if she tried that, and it would kinda suck if she went and did that and then killed an ally in a situation in which some restraint and thinking would have gotten him out of it. Not like they were under a time limit anyway or something. Granted I'd say that was a sacrifice well worth it incase things really go to town later, but that's just me. Maybe they like care or something. :mellow:

 

[zeebee1]

You make sacrifices in war. They shouldn't be holding back since Muramasa might force the zanpakuto to fight for him again. Yes, they aren't supposed to be vulnerable more than once, but Muramasa might be able to go into bankai with his new power.

 

[~NGD OMEGA~]

I agree, it's just that while I would be perfectly willing to sacrifice several Ichigo's for the greater good, along with quite a few Rukia's and maybe one or two Urahara's as well as an entire army of Mayuri's and every copy of Love and Rose, they might not be.

 

[nick012000]

4. The Menos don't even really do anything. They waddle around and fire an absolutely useless Cero every now and then. Whatever happened to needing some 'royal guard' come out and destroy these things? In another fifty chapters (or four episodes) you'll be able to just blow on one and it it will fall over. The Menos aren't even Elite Mooks anymore, with the Fraccion and non-Espada Arrancar around they're just weird looking wildlife.

Let's be fair, here. It's blatantly obvious from the Arrancar we've seen that Gillians are, at best, Lieutenant-level. That Captains can tear through them without difficulty isn't surprising; Gillians are only really a threat to low-level shinigami, and the Gillian-killing teams are probably composed of 3rd and 4th Seats.

 

[atharris]

Finally got round to watching episode 254 it could quite possibly be the worst episode ever.

They literally stand around talking about how they need to do something for 8/10ths of the episode. Every character also gets to say one line, including the zanpaktou, about how they need to do something.

Then when more Menos start coming out they talk some more about how they need to do something, then they watch in awe has Byakuya does something, but dont actually do anything.

Then they all power up, for about 3 minutes, and start shouting. They win the end, they stand around, all say one line each.

And why does Maramusa have 3 giant purple sphincter.

 

[Knyght]

Official Filler = Awesome?

More of Old Man Zangetsu = Awesome?

Therefore, this = Awesome²?

That is all.

It's funny how these things work out isn't it?