Volume 5, chapters 35-43.
Also OF COURSE Ishida is a fucking Radiohead fan. He looks like he'd be one.
Edited by Diana1969 on Aug 20th 2022 at 7:11:33 PM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
In the novel series named after Kanonji's catchphrase.
A few more answers from Kubo's Q & A:
- Urahara lied to Isshin about the Vizards.
- Uryuu appeared in the Hell chapter. He was the mysterious guest in Keigo's restaurant, making Chad the only one who was absent.
- Hollows can have babies. Hallibel is the exception for obvious reasons.
- Chizuru reaction to Orihime getting married was "Ah, it's nice she's getting married. So what?" Kubo says that she's a relaxed and calm person.
- The healing ointment Ikkaku used is part of his Zanpakto.
- The boss of AB Cookies (the place where Orihime works) is very gentle.
Role Model
- Ah right, I remembered those novels right after I asked. I still didn't actually look up to confirm he was a character in them, so thanks. Are they Narita novels? And/or are they actually canon?
- What lie, again?
- That's good for Uryu, but I want Chad!
- Forever sacrificing... I want good things to happen to Halibel.
- Trying to move her away from the "psycho lesbian" trope.
- Kubo should do more with that then, and make self-repair a part of Ikkaku's bankai's power, to make it less shit.
- Orihime works where? Huh.
Yes for Narita. Unclear for canonicity.
Bleach, Volume 6, Chapters 44-52.
But yeah uh, that's not the part that hits hardest, though. No no, the last two chapters are what hits hardest. Rukia's gone, man. She's left. Absconded in the dark of the night, to be taken back to Soul Society for her execution. The girl is in deep trouble. We're not in the early parts of Bleach where it's more episodic in structure, no no. We're about to start the big arc everyone praises. I'm looking forward to this but damn...I knew it was gonna happen and I still felt bad for Rukia. She's my favorite character in the whole series and it's sad to see this.
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
Interesting to see where "the first big arc" starts for each of the Big Three. Naruto starts first, then Bleach, then One Piece.
Volume 7, Chapters 53-61.
There isn't much else I can say, to be honest, beyond that I like how Orihime is choosing of her own volition to go and save Rukia as well...which kind of makes me wish Kubo had written more of them interacting before this turn, but to my understanding he was kind of forced to rush to the Soul Society arc in the first place? Eh, Orihime is still pretty cool. And her and Chad are about to be trained by a magic talking cat. Parallel training arc, yay!
CHADhan Player.
Its interesting because Naruto and Bleach's signature stories start in the second arc.
While One Piece's first signature story is the 5th story arc.
But yea, like what the Chunin Exams were to Naruto, the Soul Society Arc is for Bleach. Huge ass paradigm shift that has ramifications for the rest of the story.
Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Aug 24th 2022 at 7:42:37 AM
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
As for One Piece, I know you're thinking of Arlong Park, but I actually don't think One Piece has an equivalent to those arcs, or if it does, it's Baroque Works.
CHADhan Player.
Well Baroque Works is more like the first real Climax, Arlong is when the Strawhats are truly formed for the first time.
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
Yeah, but the Chunin Exams and Soul Society mark the first big change-up in the story that resets the status quo going forward. Baroque Works is the best comparison to that, since it's the saga that starts with them going to the Grand Line.
Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Aug 24th 2022 at 7:04:18 AM
but I feel baroque works were better executed because one piece let the characters develop and establish themselves more fully than the chunin exams and soul society arcs which felt like they rushed and it didn't let characters developed as much as they could, it would probably be better in naruto if at least the other Konoha genins were establish more clearly before the chunin exams or in general more time with team seven going on normal missions before trying to get to the next ninja rank, and Bleach was literally forcefully rushed by jump, Kubo was actually planning all of Ichigo's friends to get spiritual powers, not just Orihime and Chad but they wanted to get to the soul society as quickly as possible, I'm not saying the arcs are bad, far from it, they're arguably when their series grew the beard, I'm just saying that the journey there was probably taken too fast.
King of Anime
I think Arlong Park works because, like, sure Bleach and Naruto were decent/good before but the Soul Society and Chuunin Exam arcs are when they went from decent/good to great and it's the same with One Piece. It was decent/good before but around Baratie or Arlong Park is when it went from just decent/good to great. Basically they're all the first major/notable story arcs.
Edited by Chariot on Aug 24th 2022 at 10:42:09 AM
Volume 8, Chapters 62-70.
Edited by Diana1969 on Aug 26th 2022 at 3:03:35 AM
Role Model
Does your volume have it written as "Zenketsu"?
The sad, REAL American dichotomy
No, I'm just tired and got the name wrong, I fixed it
Volume 9, Chapters 71-79
The Head of the Hydra
To quote Bleach Abridged about Aizen
Renji: Josh "the-joke-is-that-you're-not-Aizen" Groban, can I talk to you?
Aizen: Yes, I'm not evil, what do you need?
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
To be fair, not even Aizen knew that he was the villain. While Kubo had probably planned for X and Y to be villains, he only decided on Aizen once he knew that Bleach was going to continue past Soul Society and had planned the larger myth arc involving Yhwach. Looking back at the series itself, I would say that the Kenpachi and Mayuri fights mark the shifts to a larger narrative since it's here that the seeds are first laid.
It does make me wonder, if Kubo had chosen Urahara as the villain, which is not hard to imagine given his personality and might potentially happening, who would fill the Urahara role for Ichigo? He's kinda screwed without him.
Edited by bandersnitch on Aug 27th 2022 at 1:39:29 AM
The Power of Toons and Anime
Aizen being the villain is so wildly known at this point that it is easy to forget how genuinly shocking that was at the time.
The Head of the Hydra
It was a reveal made nearly 2 decades ago.
It’s like over in Spider-Man the true identity of the Hobgoblin was a huge thing back then from a multi-year storyline.
Of course now everyone knows it’s Robert Kingsley but as said back then it was a big reveal.
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
The Merry Monarch of Darkness
There are so many untrue rumors about Bleach that I’m not sure if it’s veracity, but yeah, I always heard that the original plan was for Urahara to be the evil mastermind and Aizen to just be the dead guy.
The pig of Hufflepuff pulsed like a large bullfrog. Dumbledore smiled at it, and placed his hand on its head: "You are Hagrid now."
Face me now, Bitch!
Kukaku has a Prosthetic arm in the Anime due to TV standards, If I recall. I know she appears again in the final arc for a bit, so I wonder if the Thousand Year Blood War Anime will keep her Manga design.
Watch Symphogear
Role Model
@Diana: I'm glad you like Kukaku. Also, thanks for pointing out Chad was the one who first pointed out how bureaucratic Soul Society was. What do you think of Chad, Orihime, and Uryu as characters?
The sad, REAL American dichotomy
Where did that happen?
The sad, REAL American dichotomy