Bleach Episode 63 Discussion

GodotCoffee said:
Uryu says to Ichigo they're still rivals because he's a Quincy? Didn't he lose all his Quincy powers after fighting the captain?

GoldenDevilGamer said:
So, that wraps up the Soul Society arc. It was a pretty good arc. The climax of the arc is what really sold me, as everything before that was simply okay. The fights were hit-or-miss since I only liked half of them. But the second-half of the arc had much better fights. The characters are still entertaining and the concept of bankai is appealing. The series can get quite creative with those, and the arc showed some cool ones. It would be nice if we do get to Kenpachi getting a bankai before this series ends. Talking about bankai, when Ichigo and Renji were able to get their bankai so quickly, I couldn’t help but feel a tad bit disappointed. What’s the point of going through ten years of training when you can get it done in three. Well, at least Ichigo’s bankai lived up to that really long buildup.

Talking about buildup, this arc was really all just that. It’s basically a 40+ episode arc that builds up Ichigo and Byakuya’s confrontation for 30+ episodes. The arc manages to pad out the arc with fights (some cool, some not), and a whole lot of flashbacks. The flashbacks were good though, as it did a good job in making me want to care about the characters. That led to me liking the Gotei 13 characters, which lead to the captain vs. captain fights being quite entertaining. Though Gotei 13 must be made out of straws or something to be able to break down so quickly. Aizen’s “death” caused way more betrayals than I expected, lol. But hey, at least I got some good fights out of it.

Talking about fights, Ichigo vs. Byakuya was good. And the way it was presented, the way Ichigo’s bankai was revealed, they all felt satisfying. Though, I would’ve been hyped for Ichigo vs. Byakuya more if they hadn’t met before on episode 41. It was like as if the series was like building up to episode 41, then pulls the rug and says “naw son, we still got 15 more episode to go”. I mean, I get that Ichigo needs his Bankai, but I just wish that writing choice didn’t detract from my Ichigo vs. Byakuya experience. Now when I think about it, Bleach could’ve ended in this arc if Aizen was able to be defeated. It would’ve made Bleach into a somewhat concise and satisfying series, given that Aizen’s motivations and his past were revealed in this arc. But nah, we got like 53 volumes of content to go through. On the bright side, the characters introduced later on look super interesting. On the down side, the Bount arc is incoming.

Though I’m glad this arc is over. If it went on for any longer, it would’ve overstayed its welcome. And this entire arc felt longer than it should. If the arc cut down on some fights, I think the arc would’ve been better paced. Although some of the fights were used to introduce and develop character, I wish the series found another way to introduce them. Having so many fights leads to some of them feeling stale, especially in comparison to the other fights in the arcs that totally overshadow them. And it’s not like the anime’s dragging, since some of the later chapters adapted up to 4-5 chapters per episode, which is insane! The fact that it adapts so many chapters, yet it only feels like 2-3, has something to do with how Kubo draws the manga. Too many large panels with very little dialogue makes chapters end quickly, and they force Pierrot to adapt chapters quickly. No wonder they opted with fillers to not catch up with the manga. And the manga panels are just filled with empty background and somewhat messy art at times, so it doesn’t really need the large panels. If anything, Kubo’s trying to be lazy by covering the pages with large panels and calling it a day, lol. And despite how long and dragged out the arc is, Ichigo goes through some next-level progression. Sign me up for a three-day Bankai-learning experience! Aizen’s reveal was cool though and that part where he just stopped Ichigo’s attack was hilarious. Talking about hilarious, Ichigo throwing Rukia was funny!

Oh well, there’s still 303 episodes/53 volumes left to watch and read. I’m liking Bleach quite a bit (despite actually sounding quite critical in my previous paragraphs). Some of the fights were really cool, the characters and their bankai are interesting, the series maintains its stylish presentation, and the writing was still intriguing, despite some iffy plot-points. In the end, I had fun and that’s what really matters for a battle shounen. Time for the Bount arc! I’m totally excited in seeing that arc!!

GodotCoffee said:
End of a great arc indeed, was a blast watching. So apparently Kubo planned everything up until this point, so seems like it will all go south afterwards. Shame really... I'll put this on hold for now, and then I will watch the next arc someday.

Uryu says to Ichigo they're still rivals because he's a Quincy? Didn't he lose all his Quincy powers after fighting the captain?