Bleach 98 Discussion

[Kraco]

A good episode. It was a good decision to focus solely on one fight instead of fragmenting it. This way it got much more momentum from the beginning to the end. Like I said in previous threads, I never believed Maki could have a chance against Zaraki, but they executed this episode in a fine manner, making Maki believe he could have a chance. That's the only way the fight could be as intensive and all-out as it was.

I haven't read the manga, so I don't know what's going to happen, but considering even just this episode I think more and more Ichigo should get some formal teaching from a real shinigami. Of course he has got some training from Urahara, but to be frank, that guy is a lazy bum... Naturally I would prefer it would be Rukia who would train Ichigo... But honestly Ichigo has huge amounts of reiatsu like Kenpachi, so he should be able to pull off stunts like we saw in this episode. And since he has shown he can master techniques quite easily (shikai, bankai), he should also be able to learn nice spells like the ones Byakuya (and also Rukia) uses all the time.

[Kensee]

I'm not a big fan of fillers. With that said, this is one filler that felt like a normal episode. I don't know wheter or not it has to do with the fact that Kenpachi was in it, or if cause I'm doing my math homework (an equally orgasmic activity), but this episode was gooooood!

They did kinda re-work the usage of the stored energy and them getting upset, but it worked great for this episode. And the end of this episode ... ohh snaps, it gave me goosebumps on how it reminded me of the older, non filler episodes.

The new intro is incredible, its way better than the filler intro and, dare I say it, I'm acutally starting to like the song better than High and Mighty. Very nice visuals to the ending too! Chalk one up for the good guys.

I haven't read the manga, so I don't know what's going to happen, but considering even just this episode I think more and more Ichigo should get some formal teaching from a real shinigami. Of course he has got some training from Urahara, but to be frank, that guy is a lazy bum... Naturally I would prefer it would be Rukia who would train Ichigo... But honestly Ichigo has huge amounts of reiatsu like Kenpachi, so he should be able to pull off stunts like we saw in this episode. And since he has shown he can master techniques quite easily (shikai, bankai), he should also be able to learn nice spells like the ones Byakuya (and also Rukia) uses all the time.

We never really got to see how Urahara trained Ichigo, other then a few cutscenes here and there. They only had a few days to train, and he had to make sure at least Ichigo could swing his sword around and call his technique out by name. If he couldnt do that, baldy and or Renji would of finished him off early.

He taught his RESOLVE! I always did want to see Ichigo preform some spells, but I think Aizen mentioned how all shinigami specialize in the 3 different fields (footwork, spell, sword play i think?), and theres a limit to each one? Well ... Ichigo would be the attacking, so I dont think he will develop spell usage.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm pretty sure there was four fields, but I cant for the life of me remember what the last was. It was sword, demon magic, flash step and something else.


Anyway, awsome episode. This arc continues to show how filler can not suck as long as you don't rush it.

You actually have empathy for Maki and you actually feel something when he dies. Unlike every disposible filler character in every other series.

I mean, I've already grown attached do the other fake soul character, and I'm worried none of them are gonna live through the end of the arc. Because the arcs made me give a crap by keeping them around for more than 3 episodes.

Still, Maki's sword had too many different powers for not even being a bankai. The thing he used to try and crush Ken should have been a bankai at least.

Thing I really liked though, no bounto in the new opening or ending. Hopefully that means fillers end sometime in the next 13 episodes.

[Kraco]

I always did want to see Ichigo preform some spells, but I think Aizen mentioned how all shinigami specialize in the 3 different fields (footwork, spell, sword play i think?), and theres a limit to each one? Well ... Ichigo would be the attacking, so I dont think he will develop spell usage.

That could be the case. Learning those spells might take considerable time, as they seem like very sophisticated ways to use reiatsu. Still, I don't actually see those limits as so stiff. Byakuya is very fast, he's obviously excellent at using the demon magic, and nobody can say he couldn't use his sword well.

Perhaps Ichigo could just use raw reiatsu like Zaraki is doing all the time. It seems to be very effective indeed if you know what you are doing, and somehow I don't think it should be that hard to learn.

[Animeniax]

Freakin awesome episode!!! It was everything it should have been, and left nothing to be desired. Zaraki is such a badass. I remember the days when you knew the outcome of Ichigo's fights because he was such a badass. Then the filler started and they made him lose bankai and his confidence, and it was such a downer. No way could Zaraki ever lose his badassness like that. Well, except for that brief 2 minutes when he asked his Zanpaketou it's name, after he lost to Ichigo. But now he's back and as boss as ever. The animation for their final strike was amazing. And the best part: for once, they didn't leave it hanging and the Bounto (or supporting character) was finished, instead of being able to retreat. Great A+++++ episode.

The new OPs and EDs are pretty good, especially for filler episodes. The ending theme especially has this great artistic something something about it. Pretty sweet.

[Boomstick]

Damn who would have thought filler episodes could have been this good, I would have liked the fight to last a little longer but other then that this episode was great. Gotta say that for a filler arc i'm impressed with how they been doing except for the fact that Ichigo has seemed far to underpowered in all his fights.

[mr3vi1m0nk3y]

oh man who else was tired of ichinose stupid rant on justice and all that other crap. that whole rant just got on my nerves so bad that I was cheering when zaraki killed him.

[Animeniax]

Dude, he spent the last 100 or so years (was it that long since he left SS?) dwelling on this stuff, let him have his 5 minutes of grief before he gets owned by his nemesis. After all, it is a pretty important question about SS and how it is run. Look at the first SS arc. They were going to kill Rukia because the office of 46 said so, without explanation or further discussion. Some of the rules of SS do need to be changed, and it's weird that they'd bring it up in a filler arc instead of in the main manga storyline. I guess it wasn't something of concern to Tite, or maybe it's too early in the series for him to develop that part of the story.

I watched the OP again and didn't like it as much. I'm not that big a fan of Japanese music where they intersperse English words with Japanese words, especially when it interrupts the flow of the song.

@DarthEnder: the fourth is hand-to-hand (or "barehanded" as Lunar translates it) combat.