[MANGA] Bleach Chapter 418 Discussion

[Zek]

Ichigo is going to slip up and get caught in the hypnosis of course, he'll then get beat up a bit before coming up with a countermeasure that tips the fight in his favor again, then Aizen will go Bankai...

One way or another I do hope the series is ending soon after this fight. Every other good guy in the cast has been rendered completely obsolete now, and no amount of Kenpachi-style retconning can fix this. Even if there are Ichigo-level opponents in the King's realm, the only way there can be any variety is if all the other shinigami suddenly start learning Ichigo's method and adapt it to their own fighting styles, and the cycle begins anew... The series has gotten ridiculous enough as it is, Kubo needs to pull out before it's too late.

[Freya]

The king decides that the gotei 13 are so useless that he decides to dispatch the Zero squad to defeat Ichigo and the other captains that join Ichigo.

I totally know the next arc lol.

[sayde]

Originally Posted by Langus

Ichigo's next opponent might just be the King.

It'd be a scenario I would've called time and time again on this board...including the previous chapter.
It's got Yu-Yu Hakusho written all over it.

[TheRime]

Originally Posted by Soconfused

ehhh, thats too big of a power up for ichigo, even for bleach standards. At this level he is literally stronger than every known bleach character by quite a ridiculous margin, there is no way this manga can go on much longer, everyone will be useless in comparison to ichigo.

or, maybe this is a temporary boss tier form and aizen will somehow break the chain on his arm reverting him back to fail status. I can see no other way.

YES. i thought so, even before now. maybe all the power will "burn out" and disappear after he finishes defeating Aizen, or maybe Ichigo will declare himself a pacifist and never fight again, preferring to be a normal teenage kid.

[Sabaku Kyu]

Originally Posted by Zek

One way or another I do hope the series is ending soon after this fight. Every other good guy in the cast has been rendered completely obsolete now, and no amount of Kenpachi-style retconning can fix this. Even if there are Ichigo-level opponents in the King's realm, the only way there can be any variety is if all the other shinigami suddenly start learning Ichigo's method and adapt it to their own fighting styles, and the cycle begins anew... The series has gotten ridiculous enough as it is, Kubo needs to pull out before it's too late.

Does seem like Kubo might've written himself into a corner here. If he ends the series right here with Aizen's defeat, there will be a lot of loose ends. The royal dimension + royal guard, the vastro lordes, what Mayuri found in Syzael's lab and why it's so damn important, not to mention the fight with Yammi vs. Bya and Kenpachi (though at this point it'll probably be resolved offscreen).

But if Bleach continues, the power levels will be absolutely screwed for the exact reason you mentioned unless there's a cop-out and Ichigo's powered back down after the fight.

[Hiking_Bear]

This is effectively the end of this series. Ichigo's a god now. Aizen's a god. They're regenerating from fatal wounds, destroying mountains, and fending off level 90 kidou like it's nothing. Why should we care anymore what Kenpachi's, Unohana's, or Urahara's bankais look like? They might as well be wielding plastic swords at this point, since Aizen or Ichigo can block zanpakutos with their fingers.

I think the only reason I kept reading was to find out what happens to Aizen (since I enjoyed the SS arc). But Aizen is now a strange butterfly man that bears little resemblance to the original character.

[Lunarskylar]

i just realized ichigo's catchphrase is "i'll finish this in an instant" or "i'll finish this quickly"
the start of his fights, (ichigo vs grimmjow and ichigo vs yammy) are recent examples

yes agglutination, lmfao i hope kubo didn't use a japanese equivalent of that word since... this is a teen manga isn't it?

i uess this is the future power up for everyone? fuse your arm with your zanpakuto...
kubo jacked off the first bleach OVA?
i guess teh technicality is you have to fuse your arm, not your body... like claire releasing only her arm in claymore for rapid sword

[Nochgo]

Originally Posted by Hiking_Bear

Aizen is now a strange butterfly man that bears little resemblance to the original character.

LOL. I couldn't agree more. So much for a 'strong boss'. And seriously, Ichigo's power up is beyond ridiculous. We can only get a good fighting scene when the characters are reasonably matched, which seems to be far from happening.

... and Aizen talks waay too much in this chap

[dragonmeister]

Maybe Ichigo'll defeat Aizen, then his final enemy will be Kenpachi, many years down the line, finally having learned bankai and challenging Ichigo to a rematch - that's the only way we can have one of the Gotei ever achieving Ichigo's current level

[james0246]

Originally Posted by Hiking_Bear

This is effectively the end of this series. Ichigo's a god now. Aizen's a god. They're regenerating from fatal wounds, destroying mountains, and fending off level 90 kidou like it's nothing. Why should we care anymore what Kenpachi's, Unohana's, or Urahara's bankais look like? They might as well be wielding plastic swords at this point, since Aizen or Ichigo can block zanpakutos with their fingers.

Yamamoto could still destroy the planet if he used his Bankai . (Or whatever that quote about burnign the planet was.)

Seriously though, despite my stupid grin at seeing Ichigo starting to act GAR, this chapter and seemingly this fight are ridiculous. If nothing else, I've legitimately reached the point (for better or worse) where I do not know where Kubo is going with the series.

[TheRime]

Originally Posted by james0246

Yamamoto could still destroy the planet if he used his Bankai . (Or whatever that quote about burnign the planet was.)

"All things in the universe turn to ashes?"

[sayde]

Originally Posted by dragonmeister

Maybe Ichigo'll defeat Aizen, then his final enemy will be Kenpachi, many years down the line, finally having learned bankai and challenging Ichigo to a rematch - that's the only way we can have one of the Gotei ever achieving Ichigo's current level

^^At Ichigo's current rate of growth, the entire planet should literally crumble from his mere presence alone "many years down the line".

Counting Dangai time, I think the kid's only been a shinigami for roughly a year and he seems to have already surpassed the captain commander.

Kenpachi's a tough guy no doubt, but even if the he obtained Bankai and wielded it with both hands, I don't see how Ichigo would need any more than a single pinky toe to win a rematch with him (at this rate).

Ichigo's current strength is retarded. The only plausible out I could see for Kubo at this point is to reveal that since the instant Aizen got handpalmed, every single moment of their battle so far has been one massive illusion created by *gasps* Aizen's bankai. In other words, while Ichigo is pwning the crap out of Kyouka Suigetsu, the real Aizen (who'd hopefully be much more powerful than his illusion-created counterpart) is currently off creating the kings key while admiring Ichigo's new strength from a far.

If things turned out like this, it'd negate a lot Ichigo's current feats of strength this chapter since his current opponents strength (the illusion) couldn't be gauged very effectively. So while we'd be left knowing for a fact that Ichigo got stronger, we'd still have no idea of how much stronger he and Aizen have become.

[Kafriel]

Originally Posted by james0246

Yamamoto could still destroy the planet if he used his Bankai . (Or whatever that quote about burnign the planet was.)

Seriously though, despite my stupid grin at seeing Ichigo starting to act GAR, this chapter and seemingly this fight are ridiculous. If nothing else, I've legitimately reached the point (for better or worse) where I do not know where Kubo is going with the series.

Ichigo's current strength is retarded.

I have to defend Kubo here (yes I'm VERY drunk atm) and say that Ichigo had to get that strong, since Aizen was nearly as strong ever since his introduction, and grew even stronger with the complete merging.
The chapter was good, but Aizen was very OOC, it's not like him to talk all the time, even more so when he talks without absolutes (i.e. I am god, kneel before me or perish into oblivion,etc. while in this chapter he was the commentator for the fight (although there's nobody else to do the talking besides Ichigo, so...)).

P.S: I believe Aizen will be dying in his next power-up, would suit him fine. As for the next arc, I got no idea what it's going to be about, but with Aizen out of the picture it should be interesting.

[The Number 3]

Darn, Ichigo sure showed some raw epicness this chapter.

I loved it.

Originally Posted by Hiking_Bear

This is effectively the end of this series. Ichigo's a god now. Aizen's a god. They're regenerating from fatal wounds, destroying mountains, and fending off level 90 kidou like it's nothing. Why should we care anymore what Kenpachi's, Unohana's, or Urahara's bankais look like? They might as well be wielding plastic swords at this point, since Aizen or Ichigo can block zanpakutos with their fingers.

I think the only reason I kept reading was to find out what happens to Aizen (since I enjoyed the SS arc). But Aizen is now a strange butterfly man that bears little resemblance to the original character.

@Your sig:

The 'definition' of probably is, actually, 'most likely'.

Edit: Sorry for the double post. Won't happen again.

[Wiggy Fuzz]

Originally Posted by TheRime

"All things in the universe turn to ashes?"

"reduce all creation to ashes" - and that was a shikai...

i hate when powers become so unexplainably great they single hadnedly make everybody and everything useless. would have at least been nice for a close fight followed by hollow mode + aizen mask followed by lucky strike...

but this is just way over the top. unless everybody is hiding some secret power or something, nobody can possibly match ichigo or aizen. maybe yamamoto, and all he ever did was sit around doing **** all, prior to the fighting.

[Lendial]

I'm embarrassed i had to Google what "Agglutination" meant.

on a side note i was really expecting kidou 97 or higher , or at least a new one.

[lucasd]

Another chapter, after few good ones (having some semblance of sense), where ridiculousness reached yet another level.

It seems in Bleach those levels are infinite like universe, though universe could have bounds....

[sayde]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

I have to defend Kubo here (yes I'm VERY drunk atm) and say that Ichigo had to get that strong, since Aizen was nearly as strong ever since his introduction, and grew even stronger with the complete merging.

Point taken. But still, while I can't deny it had to happen eventually, I feel like quite a few of us weren't expecting Ichigo to catch up (much less far surpass the guy) *this* fast. I would even go as far as to assume some of us were even holding out on the possibility of Aizen's defeat involving a genuine team effort of sorts.

Btw, I'm glad to be among those of you who didn't necessarily have to google "Agglutination", even though I did anyways. It turns out the definition I had predicted was spot on given the context of the conversation and the fact that the word "Agglutination" contains a syllable that looks and sounds suspiciously similar to the world "glue". I think I deserve a cookie nao.

[Langus]

I'm wondering what the consequences of Ichigo's new sword abilities are. There have to be consequences. There's no way you get that much of a power up without having to sacrifice something in return.

[Vinak]

I am expecting Ichigo to be ostracized after this. Aizen will either retreat or die. It doesn't really matter.

But Ichigo will eventually run into the rest of the other captains, Vizards, and his friends. I expect them all to be frightened/intimidated by his new power. Ultimately he will be avoided, and possibly labeled a threat in the future.

Then again, his strength could very well be a temporary boost. Who knows.

Originally Posted by Langus

I'm wondering what the consequences of Ichigo's new sword abilities are. There have to be consequences. There's no way you get that much of a power up without having to sacrifice something in return.

I am thinking the learning of FTG is against SS rules. (forbidden techniques)

The attempt to learn FGT can lead to personal harm; detachment from ones Zanpakuto, losing all your strength if you fail. (Isshin)

or the power up is temporary.

The FGT makes you use all/most of your power rapidly(including life energy?), leaving you in a fatigued state quickly. (like vizard masks)

well any number of those ideas I think are...logi....good ideas.