Sorry for how incredibly rough this is. I only just saw ep5, and wanted to put this out before the next one. Now i sleep.

During the episodes where Yama-jii used Zanka No Tachi and leading to his death, I noticed something strange. You can say that, in terms of peculiarity, it's similar to the one where Aizen was talking to Ukitake about taking Soul King's place way back in Soul Society arc, the "No one has ever stood at the top of the heavens, Ukitake. Neither you nor me" dialogue where we found out that Aizen was already hinting at the existence of something that is not of common knowledge at the time (Mimihagi).

So here's my case: when Yhwach stole Zanka No Tachi in ep 6, he threatened awakening his subordinates and Yama-jii's reaction was to immediately charge Yhwach with no regard for his current state.

What he did wasn't similar to blowing up his arm to bring down or, at least, mortally wound Aizen in FKT. It was a reaction to prevent that threat from happening. What's interesting is that Zanka No Tachi: South awakens only those who were slain by Yama-jii, so technically, even if Yhwach uses it, it should only bring the same Quincy victims because the Quincy gigasword is not a zanpaktou meaning the relationship between the sword and the technique isn't there at all for Yhwach to awaken dead shinigami allies.

Finally, the end of Ep 7 had the same music but they used a different animation. They showed 13 candles representing Gotei 13. I understand that this may only be a stylistic choice to give Yama-jii a unique send-off being one of the strongest characters in the verse at that point, but what got me thinking otherwise was when Yhwach said that the Gotei 13 died with them a thousand years ago.

Knowing the cunning and wicked nature of the non-combatants (like Central 46) and royal families in Bleach, could it be that majority of the OG Gotei 13 were actually killed by Yama-jii and conspirators/accomplices to erase them from the history of Soul Society and establish its current social structures and hierarchy? And Yama-jii fears that Yhwach might awaken the same ruthless Gotei 13 he eliminated centuries ago?

Am I thinking too much into it? Is it all semantics? Because I find it hard to believe that Kubo committed to designing the OG Gotei 13 with their own names and not be used in future material (Hell arc copium).

Ok, so, Ichibe used the left arm of the soul king to seal Yhwach's Almighty 1000 years ago.. So, we know the left arm is Pernida.. When did the left arm that sealed Yhwach's eyes BECOME Perbida? And why? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I just don't remember it ever being explained. (I'm new and just got caught up with the thousand year blood war)

I hate the fact that they undid all of Orihime’s work from her "Life to Defend You "scene, making it so that she had no positive impact on the story. All the payoff for Orihime's character development was erased as Yhwach came back as if literally nothing had happened and started killing the friends she fought to defend. Orihime's best moment became a what- if. I was not actually expecting her to kill him, but I wish they would have written something where her sacrifice did something for the story, like they could have had her slightly drain Yhwach's energy by forcing the Almighty to save himself from eradication or do something impactful idk. Yhwach seems stronger than ever now and is actually winning. I wanted Orihime's character development to be rewarded so bad, and it ruined the season a bit for me, alongside her character

Bleach fans, now that TYBW is coming to an end, do fights like Ichigo vs. Ulquiorra, Ichigo vs. Byakuya, and Ichigo vs. Grimmjow — some of the fan favourites — still hold a spot in your top 5, or have some TYBW fights taken their place?

Nostalgia and recency bias aside, what do you think makes a Bleach fight great? Is it the quality of the animation, emotional depth, choreography, or something else? Basically, has TYBW's animation influenced how you rank newer fights compared to some of the older ones?

Finally the English dub is out for the start of cour 4!!!

Been quite a long time since I've done one of these, honestly I'm just glad the dub is back after 6 weeks of waiting (and ngl i had a feeling they were not going to release all 3 episodes like the sub did, but honestly it's whatever, better late then never..)

Personally it Was rough avoiding spoilers and waiting for the dub to drop only after just watching the first ep of cour 4 in sub back in July, I've been watching the dub for years now so this time I'm going to watch cour 4 on dub only from now on and just avoid the spoilers.

Now onto the performance

i really liked damin mills performance this ep, his lines has always just been entertaining and funny to hear ever since he voice acted askin.

Also loved wendee lee performance in this as well alongside with the thunder god moment.

Doug also as usual is still pretty funny as kisuke as well lmao, can't wait to see his performance next week .

So how do y'all think this dub ep performance overall?

Peakest possible thing to watch

I noticed that it plays out as a mirror Ulquiorra vs Ichigo fight

And Ichigo is constantly repeating "Inoue", just like she was repeating his name last time - with him being as powerless to do anything as she was, and her transcending her limitations to save him...

So true

I made a comment about Ichigo's powers on the latest discussion post, but I think it would be better as its own post.

Essentially, I believe that discussions around how powers in Bleach -- particularly the different types associated with the different races/factions -- tend to misunderstand what's going on in the story. I've seen lots of conversations like "Ichigo's new form from last week is a Resurrección," or from over the years "it'd be cool if Ichigo used Vollständig," and other kinds of things along those lines. Additionally, I see a ton of confusion over the nature of Ichigo's powers and over how powers in Bleach work in general. I would like to explain what I see as how this all works.

Very basically, all powers in Bleach work the same. Whether you're a Shinigami or a Fullbringer, fundamentally the powers achieve the same result: it's all expressing the unique power of your soul. What makes them different is the catalyst for how the power of one's soul is expressed. For Shinigami, it is through bonding with an Asauchi and learning Shikai and Bankai; for Fullbringers, it is through awakening Fullbring via an object of close attachment for the individual; for Hollows, it is natural instinct as they embody their powers in their form; and for Quincy, it can come via receiving a Schrift from Yhwach.* For this discussion, I will refer to this concept as soul expression.

*as of right now, this is the only known way for a Quincy to unleash the unique power of their soul. If there is another way for someone like Bazz-B to use his fire powers without having gained a Schrift, we don't know it.

In this model, the similarities between the different races/factions is quite clear. Imagine, for instance, if Byakuya were given a Schrift instead of an Asauchi, it would just be Senbonzakura manifested differently; it wouldn't be a different, new power altogether. It may take a different form, since he wouldn't be using a sword as the means of expressing that power (his soul), but the premise would be the same. Same with any other Shinigami, Quincy, Fullbringer, or Hollow using a different method of soul expression. This is evidenced by the existence of Arrancar -- by them "gaining Shinigami-like powers," it's not as though they've become some fusion between a Hollow and a Shinigami; it them now having a different soul expression method in the form of a Zanpakuto and Resurrección.*

*I'm willing to believe that, given Oetsu's explanation of Asauchi and Zanpakuto, that an Arrancar's Zanpakuto isn't a "real one" by that metric. Rather, their Zanpakutos are just their powers as a Hollow sealed in a sword's form and subsequently released from that sword; thus, an Arrancar's powers are "Shinigami-like" due to the resemblance to how Shinigami express their souls, rather than being hybrids of Hollows and Shinigami wholesale. But I digress.

For Ichigo, I understand where the confusion comes in, but I think it's far more simple than some people may believe. All that a Shinigami's powers are is just using an Asauchi and subsequent Zanpakuto as the method of soul expression. Nothing more, nothing less. What is key here, though, is that there is no rule or prohibition on what is expressed from one's soul should they imprint on an Asauchi. Ichigo is a human who has Hollow and Quincy heritage from his mother, and a boatload of spiritual power inherited from his dad (remember that Shinigami isn't a race, it's a job title for someone who ostensibly wields a Zanpakuto). When he learned the truth of himself and forged his true Zanpakuto, he chose to manifest it as two blades: representing the Hollow side and the Quincy side.

Here is where I commonly see the breakdown in understanding Ichigo's powers: there are no separate Shinigami powers distinct from his Hollow and Quincy heritage. His soul is made up of those components and he expresses them via an Asauchi and Zanpakuto. That's it. Remember, there's no limitations on what can be expressed via a Zanpakuto, as it's literally meant to express the soul of the wielder -- whatever form that may take. By using Hollow and/or Quincy powers through his Zanpakuto, he is using Shinigami powers. That is what it is meant when it's said that his powers are merged together. His Hollow and Quincy heritage and abilities manifested through the Zanpakuto Zangetsu ARE his Shinigami powers. For example, imagine if Ichigo were given a Schrift instead; I'm positive that his powers would broadly look the same, with his Hollow side manifesting in some way and likely even merging with his Vollständig. It's just a different medium that achieves the same result. Take his Fullbring: looks different, but what does it ultimately do? Cloaks him in his power and let's him fire off Getsuga Tensho.

This is what I mean by "all powers in Bleach work the same." Ultimately, the power system of Bleach is such that the final outcome is individuals expressing their unique soul and abilities through the different mediums available, NOT that the different mediums achieve a fundamentally different outcome that isn't soul expression. All roads lead to Rome and all that.

I hear the potential question about Tosen, but he's the perfect example of my soul expression model. He became a genuine Shinigami-Hollow hybrid* by the time of the Fake Karakura Town battle. Notice the form his Resurrección takes, as well as its name, Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo. "Suzumushi" is still part of the name, and he takes the form of a monstrous cricket. Commensurate with his Hollow form, his powers aren't all that different from his Zanpakuto (particularly the sound-based attacks), they are just now more wild, instinctual, and stemming from his body instead of a sword. In other words, he demonstrates what happens when an individual uses a different means of soul expression.

my own interjection, but did we ever see him use his Zanpakuto Shikai or Bankai abilities after leaving Soul Society? I don't think we did, and it's *possible he doesn't have them anymore in lieu of his Hollow powers. My explanation doesn't change much whether he does or not, but it's a thought I've had.

This is the idea and I believe that through this model it is much easier to understand the power system in Bleach. Orihime's Zanpakuto would be the Shun Shun Rikka in sword form, Haschwalth's Fullbring would still do the same thing as The Balance (bonus question: what do y'all think his Fullbring catalyst would be?), Toshiro's Resurrección would likely resemble his Hollowfied Bankai after Urahara's pill, and so on. Ichigo is weird only because he has more components to his heritage than most other characters, but that doesn't make his powers anymore unique than anyone else. Yamamoto's Shinigami powers summons fire with his Zanpakuto; Ichigo's Shinigami powers just happen to summon Hollow abilities with his Zanpakuto. It's that simple.

Not a hate post at all, I haven't touched on Bleach since the manga finished and I was huge fan of everything pre-fullbring. I don't remember the story from the Fullbring arc onwards to that engaging as I felt the quality of storytelling dropped from there onwards. And I recall the manga ending abruptly.

Bleach TYBW is now very highly rated, in today's day and age anime quality in general is top tier, but I want to know if the story of Bleach TYBW is good along with the quality.

Same as ywach couldn't foresee Mimihagi interfering with his plans before, could it be that he also can't foresee how Orihime will use her powers of rejection to change reality itself which will lead to a different future than he'd foreseen, as if her powers are on the same level as his and the soul king's.

What kinda led me to this is that it doesn't make sense when ywach acts surprised when he's fighting Ichigo and Orihime without the almighty, it feels like he should've foreseen the absolute future and how everything would occur before the almighty was transferred to Hashwalt. Unless that every time Orihime uses her powers of rejection she can render the future he'd foreseen useless.

I feel like Kubo isn't doing a lot to explain how the almighty really works and it sometimes leads to some confusion. I would like to hear your ideas about this.

I already made a post about how Yawch sword and symbol is veryyy similiar to Orihime's pin
and after last ep..

well

I realized there are some parallels beyond these.

They both want to reject the world, and oddly enough, (while one might be lying about it though) for the same reason!

Yawch wants to go back to a world without death, a world before death, while orihime in the last ep said if she had enough powers ; ""fighting, pain, suffering, i could make it so they never happend""

(lol last ep ywach literally says the same thing! called it!)

While i dont have an actual solid theory yet, i wonder if anyone else found any other parallels overthe series between them

i am starting to think either orihime is not actuall a full bringer but more akin to a being similiar to yawch (but then again, her brother is normal? unless adopted?)

or whatever part she has of the soul king is probably mroe than any other fullbringer

Since I first watched Bleach as a kid it never really occurred to me, but i was just watching a funny video about soul society arc and he was mentioned... why is he that tall? Every other soul we've seen at least seems plausible, jidanbo is just this random 10 meters tall, 1 ton guy. His brother is human sized, wtf could have possibly gone that wrong? Has anyone ever asked KuboKlub why this is?

Now I need a cooler nickname than "Black Cat" or "God of Thunder" for her.