Page 3: Chapters 209- 226
Chapter 209: Lift the Limit
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fighting, and then exposition on what the Arrancar numbers mean. Apparently, when an Arrancar is created with Hogyoku, it’s assigned the next number in order, so Di Roy (#16) would’ve been directly after Yyfordt (#15). However, if the newly created Arrancar happen to be among the ten strongest Arrancar created so far, it is also given a number from 1-10, where #1 is the strongest arrancar of all and so forth. These ten ‘Espada’ rule over the other Arrancar and are tattooed with their number. Shawlong says that the Espada are ‘much’ stronger than the regular arrancar and that they actually brought an espada along with them; Grimmjow, who we can see indeed has a six tattooed on his back. Ichigo’s not doing so well against Grimmjow, so he decides to use bankai. Hitsu seems like he’s waiting for something, meanwhile. A little device in Rangiku’s hand goes off, and a voice tells her that ‘limit lifting’ has been approved. Nakeem attacks, but she blocks him, thanking the voice. She lets Hitsu and Renji know, and a crest suddenly appears on their chests. The three suddenly skyrocket in power.
Chapter 210: Don’t Call me Nino
Yylfordt and Shawlong seem a bit worried now. After all, they just took hits without really seeing what happened. And worse for them is that their opponents don’t seem to be as injured now. The shingami kindly explain what’s going on. In order to prevent them from causing too much Damage, SS apparently places seals on their captain and vice-captain who go into the human world. These seal prevent them from using 80% for their power. So they’d been fighting at 20% this whole time. Yyfordt is forced back and Renji’s bankai, clearly feeling pressured. Nakeem tries to show off his superspeed, but is outclassed by Rangiku and takes a major hit. All three shinigami attack, and Shawlong gives the order to retreat. Too little, too late though, as all three Arrancar are killed.
‘Lift the Limit’ is probably obvious enough that I don’t have to explain it, but I’m not sure in the least what the other title’s referring to. ‘Nino’ means ‘young boy’, so there’s something, but I’m really not sure what the phrase has to do with the situation at hand. Now on to content: I would just like to point out that Shawlong, our Mr. Exposition here, did indeed say that the Espada numbers are from 1-10. Those of you who aren’t familiar with the series from here on out probably wouldn’t understand why I find that worth pointing out, but the rest of you, in all likelihood will understand. Also, that shot of the Espada in silhouette: while a few of them are recognizable * there are also a good number of just random silhouettes *. Also, the seals were talked about before, in one throwaway line to explain why Renji should still be considered a threat during the SS arc despite losing to Ichigo before that. I don’t know if Kubo actually planned that all out, but it’s still pretty awesome how he was able to bring back something the audience had long since forgot about in such a meaningful way. Now… something I’m really not sure if you guys noticed. I didn’t notice it for the longest time. Shawlong specified that Arrancar with numbers were all created with the Hogyoku. And yet Di Roy, who was showed to exist before the SS arc, and therefore was around before Aizen should have gotten the Hogyoku, had a number. Is this a plot hole? Maybe… but if it is, it’s a plot hole that’s subtle enough that most people wouldn’t catch it, but to make it weirder, it’s an entirely preventable one. Just have Shawlong not mention that the Hogyoku plays a part in the numbering process, or have Di Roy not give a number, and there, plot hole fixed. And I find it hard to imagine that Kubo didn’t know that plot hole was there, as he did choose to bring back Di Roy, after all. So if it is a plot hole, it’s in all likelihood one that was left open on purpose and then covered with sticky tape to stop people from seeing it. That’s fairly odd, don’t you think? As such, I think it’s more likely to not be a plot hole at all, but rather a sign that there’s some information about the Arrancar’s history that Kubo hasn’t chosen to let us know yet.
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