Bleach Chapter 515 Discussion

After months of of shitty chapter kubo finally delivers something thats pretty damn good. Im starting to think that kubo is better at this sort of character interaction then all the boring action with random power ups. Other than the fact that he once again found a way to keep characters alive this chapter was great especially the art.

Sigh. Why Byakuya is still alive... No, just stop. Kubo is a known troll, this shouldn't be a surprise.

I really can't believe Byakuya's alive... was all that just for him to confess to Ichigo?

I just realised something horrifying... Ichigo couldn't beat his opponent and he also found about hidden part of his powers...

HE WILL HAVE ANOTHER POWER-UP!! Again!..

Well, Kurotsuchi have extensive knowledge about Quincies (especially how to torture and kill them)...

Fai said:


I mostly agree with what you said but that's the common tropes of shounen genre. The hero will always be special chosen one and he will always change things.



The irony of it all is that (after looking arround some interviews from the big3's authors) all of them have been inspired by Dragonball which lacked said concept.

Just tossing this out.






Fai said:


The fact that Ichigo is actually intelligent and a bit introverted and not just "hardworking relatable dumb guy" that the usual manga protagonists are(something about children being able to relate to such stereotypes etc etc)



Promoting such ideals to the younger audiences isn't such a bad thing actually.

After all, they are shounen.






Fai said:


I find it far nicer that Ichigo grew to be feared after SS and Aizen arcs.



SS did change but the change happened quite some time ago. After the massacre. The FB arc narrative from SS I took more of "we do not want to have Ichigo as the enemy and as long as we help him he most likely won't do what Ginjou did".



With Ichigo it was "We do not want to repeat what happened with Ginjou" but they still feared Ichigo (gathering most of captains to "greet him" when he came for the body, etc)



You have medieval japan conservative society who is reacting to this new powerhouse who pretty much goes against that conservative thinking.





Exactly, but these circumstances that define the  culture/civilisation of SS are portrayed through random bits and pieces and not in a coherent and consistent manner, which is a shame because the rules that define both sides (HM and SS)

can raise some huge questions within the reader, but not when everything is just implied and not shown. Which is why the fandom has the idea that everything is a stepping stone for Ichigo alone(can you blame this opinion?).






Fai said:


And even in this very situation now - he did not beat the main badguy, the badguy just happened to leave, but demoralized SS NEEDS someone as their "lighthouse" for the lack of better words. Shinji knows that Ichigo might have done nothing AND was beaten, but spreading the word that he "forced them back" puts Ichigo as new source of morale for the troops.



For me that works far more nicer than usual "hero comes, beats back the badguys and everyone suddenly likes him" twists that are so common in the manga.



Sure Ichigo is still powerhouse special child who comes to save the day, but how it is done I find far more preferable here.



I find a demoralized destroyed land idolizing Ichigo as a new hope, deservedly or undeservedly, far more interesting than main character coming, beating everyone and suddenly everyone revealing that they liked him all along.





And I would love for all this to crumble to pieces by Ichigo freeing Aizen. Wouldn't that be awesome? But it would be awesome if Kubo took some time to portray SS's reaction to this and not just by one or two characters that are close to Ichigo.



--------------------

And in answer to the medics-issue. If things were to be portrayed according to Bleach's realism then it would be clear that :

a)this is an invasion and in invasions you need one place to gather injured, in contrast to a battlefield

b) the invaders had the advantage of range to take out the medics before they even get the job done(but this isn't evident cuz factors such as range are barely noticeable in Bleach's power system, which Kubo downright screwed up on his own)

Kanic said:
a)this is an invasion and in invasions you need one place to gather injured, in contrast to a battlefield

Nobody questions that.

Just put different robes on them(some of them) so the enemy couldn't distinguish them if you're afraid of them being the direct target.

Kubo chose path "tell, not show" so if in this chap he would reveal that they were out there in the middle of whole fights, only were not shown up to this point, then I would buy that. I'm not happy with this way of handling things, but this is Kubo style for now. Hell, people here said "that's the way to handle war!" When we finished it only with the deaths of thousands of fodder(some of them hilariously introduced page before their death) and defeat of strong leader - something other from big 3 did long ago with 3rd Hokage and Whitebeard.

Kanic said:
b) the invaders had the advantage of range to take out the medics before they even get the job doneThis work for both sides. The invaders had the advantage of knowing the map of SS.

May I remind you of something:

http://www.mangareader.net/bleach/510/7

Imagine if that was the 4th Division's building. Yes, gathering everyone in one place wouldn't be the smartest idea, don't you think? SS would be DOOMED, and that was supposedly goal here, right?

Sorry I'm

Fai said:
"Not too bright on war tactics"

but I can see some inconsistent/lame writing. Only Kubo knows why SR didn't blow up 4th Division like they did with the 1st.

why cant they just let Byakuya die. He gave his speech and all... I understand Kenpachi, he still has a bankai to show. And don't even go to the direction of Yama-ji being alive in the end also...



So that's why Unohana never made a single move. I hope she at least explained why...



who else is missing,...

Fucking awesome chapter.



- Love that Ichigo has built a bit of respect amongst SS. If Royal Guards turn out to be "oldschool" and the three-way-war theory comes to truth, that might be handy.



- AWESOME to see the actual injuries most of captains received and how they are handling the loss of yamaji.



- Kyoraku lost an eye, thus getting closer to his Zanpakutoh spirit design, which is brilliant. Its a second bit of foreshadowing from that filler arc(first being Sasakibe having lightning-based power.). I am guessing the whole "Unohana's sword is a friggin grimm reaper" will also come into play considering we know she "will get serious".



- I am guessing Kenpachi will manage to restore himself, while Byakuya will get the whole "powerless war veteran" angst for Rukia, possibly either staying powerless or dying while shielding Rukia, thus managing to protect her one last time. Lots of story possibilities there and I hope Kubo does not take the easy way out. However the fact that they are not just "okay", implies that there's something more in store, giving me hope.



- Ichigo is actually handling this far better than shitload of other mindfucks he got through his life. Its nice to see that he matured beyond the usual rage fits like when Aizen started talking about his family.  He is confused but he has priorities.He seems to understand the situation he is in right now. Revealing his quincy heritage would only worsen it especially if RG are as ruthless  as yamaji's past "Divisions"(which I guess is why we got that flashback). Isshin is going to have a hell of a time explaining this. That is if Aizen does not do that first.



4/5





Puty said:
Great. So ithe 4th division didn't do dick the whole time. At first I thought that Kubo is making for that and saying that they were there on the batllefield but Unohana then says nobody was brought to them the whole time. They started to act now. Man... just what the hell?

Not too bright on war tactics, are you?



You do not send your most valuable medics  in the middle of friggin battle.



Medics stay hidden - fight ends - medics can heal.

versus

Medics move out during the fight - get killed - WHO HEALS THEN?



In overwhelming odds like this it makes far more sense to keep Medics behind the front-lines to help the aftermath than to increase a body count by getting slaughtered.



Also Unohana most likely was part of the old Divisions, so Yamaji most likely feared for act of revenge from her(since she is second strongest captain after him, with most of her stats maxed out)