Well, take into fact Vizards can use it too ( IE against Grimmjow). And I think I remember Uruhara Using it also, when the Espada attacked the human world. The mask thing, I think might just be part of the fillerific storyline

Vizards are part Hollow, so I include them when I say it's a Hollow-exclusive power.
Also, Urahara doesn't use it, though Benihime's offensive ability looks similar to a Cero blast, mostly just because of the color. It's not Cero, though.

I don't know. Since this is a filler it might be something from a previous filler. But I remember something about Ichigo's mask saving him from something before. I'm not sure what it was, but I think it was Kenpachi's attack or something like that. Probably not a cero.

As for the episode, I only looked through it quickly. But I have to say I'm disappointed at this shinigami guy and the way he looks. I just knew that he would look something like that. Pretty unimaginative putting Rukia in a situation like that right before her upcoming fight. (Those who read the manga probably know what I'm talking about.)

Yes, it protected him a number of times in the past. Once, when he was fighting Renji (I think it helped to block a potentially fatal wound from his zanpakutou), and I think when he fought Kenpachi as well.

However, I don't recall anything specific about Cero not affecting a Hollow's mask, but... it just seems so damn familiar, for some reason. It's driving me nuts, since I can't remember anything that may have involved such a situation.



Okay, more talk about Ashido, after watching another episode.

For one, Atty, I'm really not sure what you mean about Ashido being so "unoriginal." The only thing that comes to mind is how he looks, if you're referring to what I think you are. (The Aaroniero fight, right?) Simply 'cause I'm curious, how do you mean so?

On a somewhat related note, there's really no way for me to confirm this, but I read somewhere that Ashido was actually a character already created by Kubo Tite some time ago, but he didn't feel the need to include him originally (in the manga), so he's appeared here in the anime. ...Of course, I'm not even sure where this information may have come from, but does it perhaps ring any bells?

Has it been revealed yet if Ichigo's bankai has more abilities then meet the eye?

Also as for this weeks filler I have to say it wasn't terrible it's like watching a lame cheesy action show.

Yeah, well I was mainly refering to how the whole situation was introduced, and not the outcome of it.
Rukia is all alone and *spoilers*meets a guy with a mask. And it turns out to be a Shinigami, and having that certain type of look as well. And he seems like a friendly one at that.

Now she's going to go through almost the exact same scene again. Some guy is going to remove his mask and he's going to have that certain main character like look to him. */spoilers*


I never heard of that, but given his appearance I wouldn't doubt it.


It seems like his Bankai only makes him faster.

Ah, gotcha. Well, even if he is just a filler character, I kinda hope he does show up again later on. Maybe I'm just a sucker for new characters, but Ashido just appeals to me for whatever reason, and having Rukia promising to come back for him, I'd like to see it happen.


Speaking of which, is it just me, or does his Bankai not seem nearly as fast as it did when he first used it? If it really is slower, then the first explanation that comes to mind is just that he overused it back then, and still hasn't quite mastered it yet, so he still can't use it to that extent. Or something along those lines. Does that sound right?
Anyway, I've just felt somewhat disappointed in his Bankai for a while now, aside from when he's using the mask. It just doesn't seem particularly impressive, like it did back when he first used it. (Flash-stepping at ridiculous speeds around Byakuya, and deflecting all of the blades of Senbonzakura's Shikai, for example. Now, he just... well, flash-steps, seemingly normally. Y'know?)

Yeah I agree, it doesn't seem nearly as useful as it first was. Probably because they can't have the powerful enemies being overpowered by speed alone. So story wise his enemies seem to be as fast as his Bankai. At least they seem to be able to keep up with it fine. The only good thing about it now is the black Getsuga Tensyou. I don't remember Ichigo having a speed advantage ever since he first used it against Byakuya.

Well maybe his bankai isn't complete or something along those lines i mean besides the speed thing there's nothing to it besides an outfit change. The black getsuga tenshou is basically just an improved version of his shikai don't you find it fishy? maybe they'll have one big scene sometime in the future when his bankai really reveals itself or something like that...

How much Bankai training has Ichigo actually done? Personally I don't think that being able to call upon your Bankai is enough... I doubt he has really learned how to use it properly... there has to be more to it then what we've seen. Latest episode a little boring... aside from the inoue parts. They have really made her into an interesting character, she has come very far from the beginning of the series.

Next few episodes should be good... but I have a feeling they'll be dragged out. I hope they are interesting fights, and not the usual "Argh, I am almost defeated... but wait, I've just discovered your painfully obvious weakness... AHA! I have won... again..." scenario with all the fights.

Byakuya told Renji something along those lines. That it is too soon for him to properly use his Bankai. It's not impossible that Ichigo's could evolve in the future.


Actually I wouldn't mind them dragging things out now. There are going to be some good fights, and I wouldn't mind seeing more of them.

From what I remember, Byakuya told him at the least, 10 years of constant training after he has gotten his bankai

We know that Byakuya has at least two different modes with his Bankai. (Possibly three)
The first is the usual, Shire, Senbonzakura Kageyoushi
The second is the dark area surrended by red blades where he fought with Ichigo.
The last may be his 'angelic' mode where he has wings and a halo. It doesn't look like a hadou at least, but I guess it could be.

It's been a while since I saw a good Bleach episode. This was a very good episode I thought. The enemy is teaching Ichigo a lot of important lessons. Also, going on the prevous discussion we had, Ichigo's Bankai might also make him a bit stronger. He seems to be able to block the enemy's attack more easily. Or perhaps it was just that he did because he knew that he could release his reiatsu to split it up easily.

Damn. The end of the last episode had me excited for nothing. (Well, as far as this particular episode goes. ...Although Dondochakka did seem to make a reference toward what I was thinking of.)


Yeah, one lesson being that he won't be able to be kind to these enemies after defeating them, like he's done in the past. :S
I always kinda figured Ichigo's Bankai made him a bit stronger as well, but just focused on speed more than power.

Also, Atty, I can totally see what you meant about the mask being dulled down, after watching it in use in this episode. x_x Definitely way more powerful than the fillers were making it seem.

One of the main things I have to point out in this episode, though, is this gem of a scene. XD

Yeah, see? Compare it to the filler training he had against the girl who kept kicking him in the face. >_> It was like he was wearing a hockey mask. There was no reiatsu pressure, it seemed very weak and he could re equip it over and over.
And against Grimmjow they added a few filler attacks. That would have been fine with me, except that they didn't keep it consistant. In the manga every single blow Ichigo dealt to Grimmjow was devastating. In the anime they added some extra scenes in the end where their swords clashed and they seemed almost equally strong. If they wanted to add some more attacks, why not keep it consistant and make them as powerful as his previous attacks. Then I wouldn't have minded it. (Plus, those extra attacks made those "11 seconds" seem even longer.)

Anyway in this episode there was no filler moment that I could tell. His mask was portrayed exactly the way it should be. It was good to see. And yeah, the lesson about not being so kind to his oppponent is one I hope he conciders in the future. That's why I like this former Espada guy. And also because of another thing that he does in the next episode.



Oh and this was another funny moment. XD

oh man!! i just watched this too. lol i was suprised about how strong ichigo was and actually how strong the former espada was. lol and how nel was droolin gon uhh i forgot his name but yea...lol it looked like she was in love with him or something. and lol i cant belive that he still wantes to fight. oh well we'll see next episode. i wonder when we'll actually see some good fights with the current espada.

...Man. I'm a bit disappointed in this week's episode. For one, the catch-up in the beginning was too damn long (seemed like only a few minutes after, the halfway mark showed up), as it often is lately. Aside from that, just... nothing really happened. At all. Ichigo ran off after beating Dordonii, Chad huffed and puffed a bit, Uryuu ran around, Renji and Dondochakka yelled some more, Uryuu ran around some more, Aizen and Gin spoke a bit (which was probably one of the most interesting parts of the episode, even though it wasn't much) on top of Szayel Aporro showing up, Uryuu ran around yet even more, and then Rukia encountered you-know-who. End of episode. =\ It finished rather quickly.
I was also kinda upset when they finally showed Uryuu and Chad. Seeing them already working up a sweat like that, we obviously missed a bit of fighting, which I would've liked to see. *sigh*

Anyway, I am still looking forward to the upcoming episodes, of course, especially now that we've finally seen Uryuu's opponent (why they didn't at least show Chad's opponent's face, I'm not sure) and Rukia's. I'm mostly looking forward to Rukia's fight at the moment, though.

Yeah, well Rukia meeting a masked person who turns out to be a Shinigami feels really original now, since it happened only three episodes ago... Oh well, no big deal, I just think that was really un imaginative to use as a filler plot right before it happens in the main plot.


Their fights start out that way, but the strange thing is that in the manga Chad's fights had already ended before Rukia encountered Espada #9.

The Aizen part was the most interesting part of the episode.



Always nice seeing him toy with his subordinates. lol And Szayel looked really scared when Aizen caught his little scheme.
Not sure if the next episode is going to be good, but Chad.... Chad, Chad, Chad *shakes head*
Ichigo's next opponent is the fight I'm looking forward to seeing the most, even if it ends pretty quickly. It should come in one or two episodes. That's going to be awesome.
I also want to see the "#3" fight, without spoiling anything for those who haven't read the manga.

Seeing Rukia's shocked face, I wonder if she was more shocked about his face or his name. lol
It was a pretty good episode though. I liked their conversation. And the fight wasn't too bad either, even if it was short.
Won't be a Bleach episode this week though.

I still wish Ichigo could meet Kaien. I could just picture them... "Hey, you have my face!" "No, YOU have MY face!" *battle* XD

But yes, the last episode definitely had that sort of "feeling" to it. Just being overall more interesting than some others, and... Well, I'm not sure how to say it. I'll just say it feels good to watch Bleach again.

Shame that there's no Bleach this week. They always have wonderful timing with skipping weeks, don't they? Haha. Oh well. I'll have the Death Note special to keep me occupied.

x)

I agree with you Atty, concerning the Aaraniero fight. Was happy to see the amount of restrospect they showed between Kaien and Rukia. I personally can't wait for #7's fight. I read a bit further into the chapters, and I'm eager to see how it comes across.

there are a lot of episodes....um im not sure but if you're talking about the english dubbed version im not sure but just subbed there's 154 right now i think. anyone correct me if im wrong

Haha, I loved that scene with Gin and Ulquiorra. "Oh no. I wouldn't do anything mean like that." XD
I'm mostly looking forward to #4's fight right now. =p It's not too far off. I wonder if they're going to extend it a bit with additional things as in Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow. If it's done well then it would be a welcomed addition I think, since that fight was so short.

Crap... Might wanna check DB's latest news.

No Bleach this week either way, but they seem to be putting all their projects at a halt until people stop streaming it.

Oh, I didn't know about that. Well it doesn't matter much to me, I can just catch another sub I suppose. DB made some annoying mistakes in Bleach anyway, like Aizen's conversation with Grimmjow when he lost his arm.

Aizen: It seems Grimmjow is the type of person who would take responsibility for his own actions.

DB

Aizen: Am I right?
Grimmjow: ....You are
*Tousen gets angry*

How it was supposed to be

Aizen: Am I wrong?
Grimmjow: ....You are
*Tousen gets angry*

Tousen getting angry in DB's translation made no sense, since Grimmjow agreed with Aizen. I know that "Chigau ka" can be translated into both "am I right" or "am I wrong" and even "is it different?", but they're the professionals and should at least notice if the sentence makes sense before adding it.

Anyway, I still prefer their subs but I don't mind watching another I suppose.

^{Well, since this thread seems somewhat inactive these days...}

First of all, DB seems to still be subbing... Dunno what the deal is with that, but I'm glad for it.

Not too much has happened recently, though we now know the truth: Uryuu is a Jedi. x]


On a more serious note, though, I'm interested to see how things develop between Uryuu and Cirucci now. Still waiting to see Chad's fight, as well.

Chalryn, I'm assuming you haven't read much of the manga? (Sorry, I forget.)
Anyway I saw that DB were still subbing. Hope they continue. This weeks Episode was mostly filler with Peche or whatever his name is doing various goofy things. I thought some of it was funny, but there was a bit too much of it to be honest. He sounds a lot like the one who voices Mwu in Gundam Seed. I think it's him so that's good.
But last weeks episode was much better. Ruikia catching him with Hadou 4 and then using double incantations to cast both Hadou 61 and Hadou 63 in a row was clever.

Nah, I haven't read the manga at all. Any manga-related details I know of are just from looking around Wikipedia and such a bit.

There definitely was too much of Pesche. I found most of it humorous, but it really cut out a lot of the actual fight, making the episode somewhat unnecessary. As I said, looking forward to the next episode, now that Pesche is out of the way.

Well that would explain the jedi comment. I was going to mention something, but I guess you'll see in the next episode.
I knew that you knew a few things from the manga at least, so I wasn't sure. Well I'm looking forward to Ichigo's next fight the most. But I want to see Chad's as well, mainly because I'm going to make a clip after it's done. =p But obviously they're going to show Rukia, Chad and Ishida's fighgts before Ichigo's.

Ah yeah, he's using the Seele Schneider already. Pretty wicked weapon, with or without his Kōjaku.

But yeah, this week's was a bit of a letdown in comparison to the last. I'm looking forward to seeing Rukia and Uryū finish up their fights, but I'm really looking forward to her upcoming one, along with Renji's. Hoping they actually get around to focusing on Chad more next ep. The extent of his powers still need to be shown.

looks like a light saber O:

yea you're right. the last few episode i think have been a letdown. but they arent bad! lol the lastest one when uryuu pulls out the beam sword lol yes lightsaber or whatever is pretty cool. must be strong to slice those oscallating blades in half. hahaha anyways yea chad too i wanna see how he'll deal with...uh whatever that guy is. haha

I'm assuming you meant the arrow thing? Not too surprising, really. (Especially with the hole in the end of it.) Kinda reminds me of Fate/stay night's Archer, actually, heh. I still say he could be a Jedi, though. XP

As for Chad... HELL YES. *breakdances* Been waiting for this for quite some time. Would've liked to have seen an actual introduction for his fight, but oh well. Glad to have Uryuu's fight done, and to have some focus on Chad's now.

I thought that Pesche's presence in Uryuu's battle was QUITE ANNOYING (execpt for when he got perverted and tried to see up the chick's skirt.... why is perversion SOOO funny ???) But I thought her weapon was sweet. I thought it was a yo-yo at first, and that was SWEET (like that dude/chick in Guilty Gear...)

Ya, I'm really excited about Chad's fight too. I've seen him be kicked around too much, and it's time for him to be a BAMF (other than taking a crap-load of hits and still ticking) and kick some serious trash!!!

I really want to see Renji's battle and Ichigo's battle too. (I also don't read the manga... not enough time in the day)

Maaan... I fell 8 week behind with this... I must admit I wasn't looking forward to see them all fight respectively because I assumed it would be the normal "I have been beaten, but wait... Luckily I have just found your one weakness/ I have just discovered yet a NEW ability" but I have been pleasantly surprised thus far. Rukia's fight was indeed very interesting (so far) and Ichigo's was also quite good. His opponent, as annoying and forgettable as he was introduced, ended up being a character who broke the mould and really seemed quite motivated. I'm glad that he didn't join up with them and that he DID take advantage of Ichigo because for a second it was very cliché... but I was sad to see him die.

Anyway, I'll keep on catching up with it... I've also been buying the mangas... I just bought Volume 8 today. Really enjoying the mangas, and it's so much better then reading them for free online... though the money part DOES suck.

EDIT: I've finally caught up with all the Anime and I can't wait for next weeks episode. It's a shame they didn't touch on Rukia's fight at all but I'm glad they finished off Ishidas... although the white ant guy was getting annoying. I guess next weeks is Sado's turn... although I've already heard a spoiler <.<

OH HECK YA!!!! Chad is a BAMF!!!!!! (I guess I'm the first to comment on it, but I'm not gonna spoil anything.)

It looks like for mext week, it's Renji's turn. It's been a while since he's had any action. Also, it looks like Rukia will FINALLY finish her fight. She seriously needs to get over the fact that the bi-headed glass tube freak is gonna look like Kiendono and just kick his butt. (or, she can just burn the whole place down so it's always sunlight. )

Haa, Ichigo actually had a line this episode (only one... but it's more than he's had for a while )

YEEEEESSSSSSSSS! YES, YES, YES! </freak-out>

Definitely enjoyed watching Chad own this guy. Shame what follows the fight, though. =\ Figures, with how easily he took care of that guy. Pshh.

Yeah, once Chad released both arms, he just wiped the floor with Gantenbainne. Enjoyed this episode quite a bit myself. The humor between Pesche and Uryū was also pretty hysterical. Good stuff.

Upcoming events within the next couple of episodes should be good. Looking forward to seeing a couple familiar faces.

Lost Seraphim, that image was before he released both arms.

First off I just have to say this. Not to burst anyones bubble, but everything that happened in the anime after he revealed his new right arm and before he revealed his new left arm was made up.
In the manga he revealed both arms at the same time, and basically the only thing that happened was everything the anime showed after he revealed his left arm, minus the part where he grabbed the guy by his foot and threw him away, and a punch.
Basically he blocked the guys attacks, and then used El Muerte. That's all he did that's actually canon.

But that said, even though they exaggerated Chad so much that he almost looked like he was stronger than Hollow mask Ichigo, I liked seeing the fight. I actually thought Chad was really cool. I just wish he was that fast in the manga, but unfortunately he isn't, as far as we know.
I don't mind the anime fabricating all his other attacks. In fact I thought it was quite enjoyable this time because it was in an un important fight. But the speed thing, I wonder if that was a wise move. What if later in the manga it becomes clear that Chad has a problem with fast moving sonido users? They'd have to keep up with non canon inconsitancies and keep pretending that Chad is fast?

Anyway, I loved this fight. I thought it was awesome, even though it was fabricated. But the El Muerte attack was real, and that one was awesome as well. Even though it didn't work well on the Espada. Haha

By the way, Nnoitra's voice sounded a lot cooler now than when he was sitting at the Espada meeting room before. He sounds familiar. I'm sure I've heard him somewhere.

Sorry if I was being vague, Atty. Since an image of La Muerte was already contributed, I wanted to show another scene of the fight where Chad was... being Chad, haha.

Anyway, after just releasing his right arm he went on unharmed, but I agree that he seemed so overpowered it was unnecessary. I picked up the manga again too long after this fight, so that clarifies things for me a bit. Alot of what you mentioned I'll likely check out.

SADO-KUN! *cries*

Chad is one of my favourite characters and so I was glad to see his powers increase. Anyway, I don't know just how fast Chad really is even if it was fabricated in the anime... after all he might have just been fighting a slow opponent. I do like the idea of Chad being able to go faster and maybe being able to match a vice-captain shinigami or something but not too fast. He says that his right arm is in it's final form, but he didn't say that about his left arm... I wonder if much later on in the manga it also improves? It's kind of sad though... after Heuco Mundo, Chad won't be as powerful.

What I REALLY want to find out is what is happening back at the Urahara shop... The two guys annoy me but Inoue's best friend is a favourite of mine and I was hoping for quite a while that more would be done with her... I could still take her seriously if she gained powers... but the other two are too much comedic characters and I kind of hoped that they would never be brought much into the main storyline.

I gotta kinda agree with you, Flame. They kept showing more and more with Tatsuki, so I was always hoping something would happen with her (other than knocking Ichigo into/through a window, heh). I keep wanting to see more of the folks at Kisuke's shop, as well. (Tessai is especially interesting to me, with his ability to use such high level kidou and such. Not to mention Ururu, who's supposedly anti-shinigami level, according to Kisuke.)

I'm also a bit concerned about Chad after Hueco Mundo. I assume he'll weaken after leaving, but... I dunno, maybe not. I'm really interested to see what's going to happen to him.

Well, as long as it doesn't turn into a "24-esque" ending for a non-main character (a.k.a. he does something SWEET then he gets canned in the next episode) I'll be happy if he loses some power, as long as he can still take W44X355 steel beams to the head and still rock on

Ya, I hope that stupid weiner whose like "hey, you just had a huge fight, lemme pick you off when you're weakened" gets PUMMLED somehow in the next episode!!!

(I'm now reading the bleach manga BTW, I seem to have a lot of time during TA hours )

If you take out all the crappy 'comedy' as well as all the parts taken from previous episodes (I swear we had already seen Rukia's opponent turn into that huge thing, it's just this week has some extra dialogue) then there was only about 5 minutes of the actual episode. I'm seriously disappointed with this weeks episode, it basically felt like a filler. The only new things that happened were the great scenes with Inoue, the end of Chad's demise and Renji's new opponent being briefly introduced.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but I've been watching the first few episodes again (Just got the Bleach season 1 part 1 DVD ) and the episode is filled from start to finish and nothing feels drawn out. There was no point of showing Rukia's part at the end because let's face it, it will be repeated NEXT episode as a reminder of what happened... ok so we get some extra information but mostly, I think it just filled up time.

Whelp, the guy didn't get pummled. No wonder, he's the Espada #1.

One interesting question. Does anybody else find it weird that in the "evil" place everyone speaks spanish/spaneese [mix of Spanish and Japanese])? Did they just do that to make it an "exotic" place?? It's like Hell is in the central desert of Colombia or something. (NOTHING against colombians, they make the best bread in the entire world!!!.. I just needed a random Spanish country)

Ya, I think the Rukia thingy was a "hey, here's what happened a little while ago... in case you forgot" (which we didn't). I wanted to see the Renji fight.

BTW, when the crap is Ichigo gonna kick some butt?? I am guessing he gets a piece of the action after everyone else has their own battles??

Actually he only claimed that he was the strongest Espada. That doesn't mean that he is Espada #1. He has a very high oppinion of himself, but don't take it too literally. He's simmilar to Kenpachi.


Ever played Resident Evil 4? Clearly spanish talking people = evil.


Lol, when Ichigo is going to 'kick some butt'? Well, don't just assume that Ichigo will only win here. Obviously it's pretty suicidal to go into Huelco Mundo. Especially when facing an Espada. Most of them are way out of their league. There's a difference between Espada #9 and the rest though. I think it will be revealed soon. Part of it has, that he can absorb others and gain their strength. But there's something else that makes him weaker than the rest.
But Ichigo is going to have his next fight very soon. Perhaps after the next episode, and I've been looking forward to seeing it for a long time.

One thing I didn't like about this episode was that they showed the scene where A'aroniro transformed in front of Rukia again. I know why they're showing so much filler, and like Flame said, they added some comedy again to draw things out (although Dodonjack really did land on Renji in the manga.) and that's because because they're close to catching up on the manga. And I assume they want to avoid catching up to it before they leave Huelco Mundo, which they still haven't done yet. That way they'll have room to make a filler arch after Huelco Mundo, but it's probably near impossible to make one while they're still there.
But, the part where A'aroniro transformed in front of Rukia just didn't make any sense. Because just a few minutes earlier Nnoitra stated that "that idiot Aroniro already released his zanpaktou." How could he sense that A'aroniro had released, a few minutes before A'aroniro actually released and transformed? Obviously we saw it happen a few episodes ago though, but still.

On the note of the Spanish stuff, pretty much everything Hollow-related is in Spanish. I think I may have made a note about it sometime ago... I'm still not sure why. My only guess at the moment is that it's kinda like Kubo Tite's way of saying, "Hey guys, look! I can use Spanish!" ^^;

I, too, was a bit bothered by the whole Rukia-scene thing. In general, I think they've been filling episodes up with repeated scenes way too much. :S I guess it's just to stall the progression, to help the manga stay ahead, but bleh. It's just a bit annoying. *sigh* Oh well.

I'm still waiting for the third OST to come out. I've actually been liking the tunes used for the Arrancar and Hueco Mundo arcs quite a bit. Love that track that seems to always play when an Arrancar's zanpakutou is released.

Ya, I've been digging the arrancar tunes too. I like the Chello(?) progressions and then the sweet latin-beats. I think it would be hilarious if they threw a little reggaton in it (I'm fluent in Spanish, so it would be even funnier for me I guess...)

Shea!!!!! Finally Rukia kicks that stupid moron's butt!!! (Took them friggin long enough!!) Also, did they HAVE to show that scene AGAIN?!?!?! That was rather annoying. I kinda liked the flashback, but it was a little too played-out for those who watched the first flashback.

I also liked how Rukia achieved BAMF status by kicking his trash while having a huge trident shoved in her stomach. Sweetness I'm excited for next week!!