LOVED THIS CHAPTER xD
I actually had shivers when kenpachi was screaming. oh Kami-sama, so much win!
Hopefully we get a more detailed explanation on unohanas bankai. It was a bit of a letdown only seeing it for 2 pages after so much hype. And shes dead. She wasnt a huge part of the story, but she had awesome character and presence. Ill miss people being scared of pissing her off.
So Zaraki bashed his way into jinzen the same way ichigo did. Quite sure ichigo was told the name of his zanpakutou before he released his form. Neither of em can go back to their basic katana form because of their insane reiatsu. Im hoping Zaraki knew his zan's name as a child, and released it, but somehow forgot. Maybe due to the trauma of unohanas injury to him?
Or the other theory, that he stole the zanpakutou, makes more sense though. The soul of the zan asked him who he was. Zangetsu knew Ichigos name the first time they met. It would make sense that the zan wouldnt know Zaraki if it wasnt his originally.
Too hard to speculate because theres not enough information. Guess well have to wait and see.
Oh and renji passing while ichigo failed. awesome! (since ive always been a fan of renji since his fight with ichigo in the SS arc) Pretty sure they both fought empty handed. [Confirmed, chapter 522, page 20, guy shatters both their zan] Loved the way he was so blunt with ichigo. Hoping its his way of inspiring him (the same way guys make fun of their fat sister, hoping that shell lose the weight to stop them teasing her) to do better. Since ichigo isnt one to give up (although he gets depressed), he always pulls through so he can protect his friends. Being put down should only psyche him up. I hope.
Also loved the compliment he gave him regarding how far he got in the fight for not being a shinigami, yet made not much of a fuss about Renji. Im guessing that a proper shinigami who's achieved bankai should have no problem passing that test. But for a normal human to go so far... quite awesome.
Also i dont think hes a quincy. Shinigami also have the ability to absorb reiatsu, just like the quincy, just not as effectively. i.e. quincy absorb it purposefully for weapons, the shinigami absorb it naturally as they live. Rukia explains as much when she pwns some hollow, and ichigo asks her how she got so strong. So its quite viable that hes just absorbed some quincy reiatsu, which allowed him to use Blut Vein in a critical moment. Would be cool if ishida helps him out with reiatsu absorbing techniques.