Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Who is ready for some Tuesday morning Bleach like when we eagerly wait for the Monday Night Football kick off? Oh yeah, I can see the enthusiasm overflowing. Current Bleach story is an absolute run away hit for the anime enthusiast that's for sure. I mean, I just need to go over to last week's episode discussion and count the post in that thread. :heh:

Enjoy the discussion like its going to be your last episode of Bleach! And once you have done that you will be ready for more in the next week. :D

Absolutely no manga spoilers in any anime-only threads such as the weekly Episode Discussion threads. That means, no hints, or vague remarks about a future event from the manga, even within the spoiler tags. Inability to observe this rule will sresult in a BAN!

I wonder who stabbed stark:p

Seemed like a lot went on this episode.. poor Halibel though.

So far all the Vizard's shikai's are very boring.. and mostly physical as well.

OMG an early bleach thread? Is Monir feeling alright? -checks temperature and prepares a bed- :heh:
Well, this episode had my most anticipated fight, glad it didn't disappoint...Next to Aizen, Shunsui is the most OP character, if he had joined Aizen then everyone would be dead by now...It's a real shame about Halibel though, she managed to survive the longest out of all the espada! Next episode is a tribute to her pre-Aizen life.
Btw the omake started sucking, it was a lot funnier a month ago :(

The only physical Vizard shikais are Lisa and Hiyori's really
Rose has musical exploding powers, Love can release giant fireballs and Kensei's has wind/blast techniques

I also wonder if Hachi even has a Shikai

^ Hachi is in the same category as Ganju and Yoruichi: they got swords but prefer other means.

Well technically they all resemble physical only capabilities but for all we know I guess Lisa and Hiyori's could shoot fire and such as well.

Wow the blood was red.
It's not fair that Stark died, without taking out anyone. And I'm surprised at Hali getting a flashback when Ulq didn't get one, talking about the interesting characters...

Shunsui sounds like he switched zanpakutous with Ukitake or something. They were the ones in the filler that wanted to play kids games.

^
Maybe, but after seeing his small girl zan and the pirate babe you can say that they like to play games too:naughty:

Yes, cause not once did Katen kyōkotsu play a card game or talk about games with Shunsui while she was materialized. /sarcasm

Well did feel for Stark since he was a pretty likable guy. Though maybe the greater tragedy is Lilinette since she sacrificed herself for nothing. Shunsui is still in a reasonable condition to keep on going and he still hasn't used his bankai yet.

Want to make it worse? As the primera, he's one of only two espada who didn't get a chance to go up against a single bankai -- ever. I think that's what disappoints me the most. As the #1 Espada, Stark should've been worth revealing a new bankai (or two) over.
*edit*
This episode had some solid animation. The anime team also did a good job making me feel a little sorry for Stark. And the hollow during the omake had a pretty cool design IMO.

Is next episode a filler?

^Don't think so. The preview looked like it's going to explain the relationship between Halibel and Aizen.

What about that isn't a filler? At best, its something Kubo wanted to put into the manga but couldn't do to time constraints like with Ashido.

EDIT:
Just watched the episode, the anime team did a good job with Stark, its just a shame Ai-chan had to come in at the end and kill the fan service.

Also, was there a new ED this week, or am I just late to notice the change?

good eps, but that was weak from espada 1....

i thought stark joining aizen would get new powers like more power or regeneration heal...looks like he opted for power

It's all about the matchups as usual, Shunsui has some pretty hax powers himself that are rather deadly, while Stark doesn't really have much, he could of taken out Kenpachi and Ichigo back in Mexico...but yeah...

More like Stark lost the roulette of having to fight against Shunsui

yeah, it seems like Stark could have taken out anyone on SS's side besides Yamamoto, Shunsui, and Ukitake with relative ease. Shinji might also be a problem, but we know next to nothing about his powers.