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).
Thougths:
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.
Preview:
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.
32 Comments
LOL… I can’t say I disagree with your review.
Bleach has been getting more and more boring for me, and I don’t even read the manga.
After getting to see Rukia’s shikai for the first time (in 117 episodes, no less), and how “powerful” she is supposed to be, the subsequent episode has her getting skewered with even a little warning. Oh ye shounen manga and anime writers, do you have to contradict yourselves like that? Or degrade your female heroines into utter damsels in distress? x_x”
“Or degrade your female heroines into utter damsels in distress? x_x
Why are the female character never in the limelight in shounen anime/manga? It’s because they’re SHOUNEN, thus directed at guys. I’m sure not many teenage guys would can read and identify with a girl.
Or basically, Japan is not that emancipated yet.
Or degrade your female heroines into utter damsels in distress? x_x
Well I’m not surprised Rukia got pwned like that because her opponent was Grimmjow. Anyone else would have been equally pwned and skewered as well.
What does “pwned” means, exactly? Is it an acronym? (serious question… I really don’t know)
In any case, it’s pretty significant that Rukia is the one who got skewered, so that Ichigo can do whatever it is the male lead does — beats the crap out of the person, or get beaten the crap out off…. probably both.
Yes well, I think it will be a worthwhile search to look for a strong female lead in a shounen anime; I’ll definitely go and watch it. Even nominally strong female leads like Saya (in Blood+) ALWAYS get rescued and essentially, she got weaker and weaker until the very end where she had a sudden and inexplicable boost of strength. x_x”
I take this to mean that the anime directors thinks that the average male audience is attracted to weak damsels in distress, saying stupid things like “run!” when it’s pretty obvious he’s not going to, and then getting skewered and go all wide eyed with shock, then getting rescued by the aforementioned “he”.
Oh well. And I thought it’s the 21st century already.
What were you going to reveal, LiMQ? Something spoilish, perhaps? Or something that will turn me off this anime for good?
Speaking of the level of strength of female characters in shounen genre, it’s really about using a cliche plot to keep the series in the running: it’d be too cumbersome to think of a way to make a plot out of a strong female lead. It takes time out of the author to do so, on top of drawing the manga.
And about the level of boringness Bleach has become, it will be some time before I can finally concluded that the series has gone downhill and worth discarding.
If you want a strong female in a manga, try Mahou Tsukai Kurohime (http://mj.shueisha.co.jp/kurohime/index.html). Basically she’s this really badass witch type person who’s been cursed to be normally weak, but she always turns back into her real form and kicks ass. I’ve only read around 2 volumes though so I don’t know if that stays true.
For your information, “pwned” means something like won, in a very derogatory context. Heh, I don’t watch much Bleach though, ahaha~
I actually prefer a strong female lead, and Saimono provides that for me. The weak damsel in distress might probably be moe~ for many, but it annoys me big time. They should make females more useful.
“Why are the female character never in the limelight in shounen anime/manga? It’s because they’re SHOUNEN, thus directed at guys. I’m sure not many teenage guys would can read and identify with a girl.”
I’m not looking for a female character in a shounen series to be in the limelight, since I understand its directed at guys and therefore the main guy is supposed to be the strongest.
I just don’t see why they can’t hold their own and not need rescuing all the time. One of the reasons I’m enjoying Naruto right now is because we’re finally getting to see some nice advancement in Sakura’s strength. Its sorta nice to see all the males around her go, whoa!
I understand its a plot device, its just frustrating sometimes is all. But it usually doesn’t stop me from watching ^-^
Besides I’m bias, I’m a female so naturally I want to see some stronger girls around ^-^
Impz… pwn is a typo for own that became popular and ‘leet’ amongst gaming fans, not won. I hope that’s a typo >.<
Typo or not typo, they basically mean the same >_< That the English language has been warped mostly by gamers.
Oh, well, about Rukia, I think the point is that the mangaka doesn’t want people to think that she’s just a cannon fodder level, but is strong enough to have a shikai.
Sometimes, I take pride in knowing that the female lead, even though weak physically, are strong emotionally. Naturally, it’s the case most of the times. But it’s better than not being able to enjoy a show.
Juuni Kokki also has a strong female lead, both physically and emotionally.
Setsuna from Negima is also strong…if only that manga could have less or no ecchi at all…
For more history on “pwn”, it originally dates back to the days of WarCraft, when a map designer mispelled “Own” as “Pwn”. What was originally supposed to be “player has been owned” was “player has been pwned”. Pwn eventually grew from there and is now used throughout the online world, especially in online games.
Wow… Ok, thanks, alkanphel, Lupus and Impz for the explanation.
Someone said in some forum that Rukia is actually stronger than Renji. I totally did not agree, because up until now she has been, as LiMQ says so eloquently, cannon fodder. Unless it’s a comment from something with regards to the manga… *shrug*
Stronger than Renji kidou-wise, yes, but I doubt she’s anything beyond that. Grimmjow shows that to us.
It does remain to be seen how strong she truly is, especially after the current manga arc.
Yeah the current arc should show us how strong she really is, since she’s come up against one of the Espada. But how much chance does she really have, considering that Grimmjow (6) owned her in record time, and this guy whose name I’ll never remember is no. 9?
And talk about cannon fodder – poor Chad.
-prepares to get bricked-
Ikkaku’s bankai is alright for me. I’m pretty sure I fangirled quite a bit when the manga chapter was released and also when I watched the ep xDDD And no, I’m not an Ikkaku fan, but hey, I always like it when bankai’s get revealed :p
And -groan- I won’t even get into the possibility of Rukia getting bankai. I want her to, but since it’s gonna spark a lot of debate, I’ll just discuss it with others in Bleach Forums n_n;;
Chad was really unlucky but I quite expected it since the HM arc has been a mirror of the SS arc. Noitora is the equivalent of Shunsui where Chad faces someone too powerful.
I really can’t see Rukia beating an Espada unless she has Bankai hidden up her sleeve.
alkanphel says: “I really can’t see Rukia beating an Espada unless she has Bankai hidden up her sleeve.”
And how likely is that, if she keeps getting beaten up and/or getting rescued? -_- And her being the heroine, aka the female destined to be the rescued and never the rescuer…
Oops. Lots of latent frustration with the shounen genre in my posts…. ^_^
Sadly, I can see someone swooping in and kick Arroniro for Rukia -_- if only because it’s highly illogical she could beat him all by herself.
Har-har, apparently everyone agrees about this certain frustration against shounen.
I don’t think anyone is going to swoop in and save Rukia. But maybe I shouldn’t talk so much since that would be giving away manga spoilers lol
The newest manga chapter of Bleach 266 right?
It’ll be funny if all it takes to kill that guy is to break his test tube.
Lupus: If it was that easy someone would have already done it and claim his place as #9.
Bleach being a shounen manga / anime doesn’t bother me at all but what bother me is weak, pathetic characters.
Sure it was impressive now that Rukia has her powers back and defeated the ‘weak’ arrancar but it looks like that was all that she had… Why not do something more with the character? And what is with the sexual tension between her and Ichigo?
My question is are the weak characters going to amount to anything? It didn’t take Naruto quite as long as it is taking Bleach to ‘power up’ the weak characters.
How could ichigo beat Ikkaku if he had ability from before rengi?? Bad writting if you ask me.
I don’t see what’s the problem. Renji is simply stronger than Ikkaku, that’s all. Just because Ikkaku knew the Bankai before Renji doesn’t necessarily make him stronger. Fir example, Kenpachi doesn’t even have his initial release and he’s strong enough to take on two captains (which is also a testament to Ichigo’s offensive power).
And Ikkaku didn’t use his Bankai in Soul Society because he didn’t want the other Shinigami to discover that he had it. The fact that he barely beat an Arrancar even with his Bankai, when Renji and the other captain levels were fighting with the Arrancar with their power limited shows that Renji is stronger than Ikkaku.
Just a suggestion, please stop bloging Bleach. There absolutely no emotion in your entries in regard to this series. it seems as if somebody’s pushing you to write about it. do us all a favor and blog something else. it annoys the hell out of me to read your so called review.
there are other shows out there, leave bleach alone.
Several Points:
1. Yes, Pwn is a typo of Own. I perfer Own. And yes, I am a gamer.
2. This blog posting is old so my leaving a comment is pointless, but I am bored so here it goes.
3. I like Bleach. The only thing I thought was boring was teh Bount arc.
To put the rest of my reply in summary, I would like to state that the writer’s gender aside, the main character is just that, the main character. When Rukia and Ichigo met Grimjow, how interesting would it have been for Ichigo to be down and out and the “support lead” Rukia trying to fight off numero cinqo. Bleach is about Ichigo, his friends, and his Shinigami path. It is not about Rukia, her friends, and her path in life. Just as you can’t kill off your main character, you can’t make him so much weaker than his support group. Sensai’s are stronger, friends and rival are weaker, bad guys always die in the end. This is the truth of any story.
BTW, I am a guy and I like the idea of being a hero, so I relate to a male hero I guess. However, big showdowns aside, the female characters kick ass. Look how many times Rukia has had to slap Ichigo around.
i hope to see rukia’s bankai!
dis is gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
rukias bankai is great
get too see it in the movie
When ichigo first thought renji in the human world renji didnt have a bankai at that time, even when they fought the second time renji still did not have is bankai. Renji & Ichigo learned there bankai at the same time when ichigo had to defeat Zangetsu in order to reach bankai.
Remember the squad members of sqaud 11 should never ever rely or use bankai in battles except for sheer brute strenght that maybe 1 reason why Ikkaku never used his Bankai against Ichigo or maybe perhaps he havent learned or reach bankai at that time. Squad 11 are known for there sheer brute power and strenght in battle and they dont make use of any kido spells or bankai just sheer brute power to defeat there enemies