10.) Tōsen’s Defeat
Kaname Tōsen is the blind Gotei 13
captain, who aside from Gin Ichimaru, joined Sosuke Aizen and betrayed the
Gotei 13. In the battle in the Fake
Karakura Town, Tōsen fought using his newly acquired Hollow powers from Aizen
for the first time. After equipping his
Hollow mask, Tōsen would take on his former lieutenant, Shūhei Hisagi,
and his former bestfriend, the Shinigami captain, Sajin Komamura. In his Hollowified form, Tōsen was
able to hold his own against Hisagi and Komamura, and then being able to get rid of
Hisagi (temporarily, as we’ll see later on) and getting the upper hand against
Komamura.
Tōsen then released his Resurrección,
transforming himself into a giant cricket-like creature. He
started opening his eyes, and was rapturous when he was able to see (we can
conclude that that was the first time he ever used his Resurrección) for the
first time in his life. As he was
about to deliver the finishing blow to Komamura, this happened…
It was a big surprise for me. Just like that, Tōsen, who is clearly
stronger than an Espada, in his Resurrección form, got blind-sided (no pun) by
Hisagi, who is still not powerful enough to have a Bankai, to impale him with a
mere Shikai. No one saw that
coming.
9.) Yoruichi is a Woman
We first saw Yoruichi Shihōin like
this…
A black cat with a male voice.
“He” was the one who trained Ichigo’s
friends and the one who guided Ichigo and his friends on their trip to Soul
Society to rescue Rukia. And everybody –
audience and characters alike – at that point believed that Yoruichi is a man. And “he” never gave any
reaction to make us think otherwise.
“He” never corrected the assumption that “he” was actually a she.
Then after rescuing a wounded Ichigo
(which he got from his battle with Kenpachi Zaraki), Yoruichi finally revealed
“his” true form to him.
And I was as shocked as Ichigo to
discover that Yoruichi was really a woman.
In her own words, she loves transforming to her true form to surprise
people, who always assume – because of the male voice in her cat form – that
she was a male.
Being in cat form, not only did we
assume she was a male, but because of appearing in such “cute, harmless” form,
we really did not take the character seriously.
Oh, we assumed the character might be strong, but not that awesome as
revealed later on. After the surprise
we got from discovering she was a female, more revelations came that made us
learn that she is one of the most badass characters in Bleach. Princess of the Tenshiheisōban…
former captain of the 2nd Division of the Gotei 13 and
former commander of the Onmitsukidō… former Corps Commander of the Corrections
Corps and of the Executive Militia… considered the greatest “flash step” (high
speed movement) master that she earned the nickname “Goddess of Flash”… what a
resume. Makes me feel silly for
initially supposing that she was a one-dimensional, boring character.
8.) Hollow Ichigo
In his training to regain his
Shinigami powers (after Byakuya destroyed its source), so he can rescue
Rukia, Ichigo had undergone training under Kisuke Uruhara. One of the processes (to regain his powers)
is to cut his “Chain of Fate”, the chain that attaches the soul to its body. When cut, the chain would corrode towards the
chest, and when it reaches it, a hole would open that would transform the
person into a Hollow. Eventually, just
as the chain’s corrosion completely made a hole on Ichigo’s chest and started
turning him into a Hallow, he was finally able to tap into his Shinigami
powers.
I (and Ichigo) never thought that
Ichigo’s experience of nearly becoming a Hallow would have a consequence in the future. Later on (during the mission to
rescue Rukia), we got clues about this impending development when Hallow masks
kept on appearing on places in his body where there would be normally fatal
wounds. Finally, in a fight with
Kenpachi Zaraki, Ichigo encountered his Hallow alter-ego in his inner world.
I find this Hollow alter-ego of
Ichigo an exciting surprise, especially when he took over Ichigo’s body when
Ichigo was losing his battle against Byakuya.
The Hollow Ichigo would then proceed to get the upper hand, until Ichigo
took back the control of his body from his Hollow self.
From then on, several times, we
would see times when Ichigo was on the ropes in a fight, a pissed Hollow Ichigo
takes over Ichigo’s body to fight.
As his Hallow split-personality’s
control grows stronger, Ichigo sought the help of the Visoreds to allow him control
of his Hallow self (and powers).
After finally becoming a Visored,
Ichigo finally was able to manifest the strengths (though probably not all) of
his Hollow alter-ego without losing control.
Though, in his fight with Ulquiorra, a more powerful, more badass, and
more violent Hollow Ichigo would appear.
Ichigo, as of the present, has
lost his Shinigami powers – and presumptively, his Hollow powers as well –
after learning the Final Getsuga Tensho from the Zangetsu-Hollow Ichigo
amalgam. I am excited for further
developments, especially on how Hollow Ichigo would manifest himself again when
Ichigo regains his powers.
7.) Wonderweiss
Wonderweiss’ first appearance was during his transformation
to an Arrancar by Aizen. Several Espada
were present during this. By then, I
never ever thought there was something special about him. I thought his “birth” was shown for mere demonstration on how Hollows become Arrancars.
At most, I thought he was a Fracción
– a subordinate of an Espada, especially when he accompanied Yammy in the Arrancars’
third visit to Karakura Town.
Later
on, Wonderweiss was with Aizen, Tōsen,
Ichimaru, and high-ranking Espada (with their Fracción) during their battle
against Gotei 13 in the Fake Karakura Town.
He arrived with Fūrā – the biggest Hollow that appeared in Bleach so far (it is so big that
it has masks of Gillian-class Menos for fingernails) in the middle of the
battle. At this point, I thought of
Wonderweiss as nothing more of a “keeper” for this giant Hollow. Then he did this:
By
taking out Jūshirō Ukitake – one of the two strongest Gotei 13
captains who are not Commander Yamamoto – I finally realized that Wonderweiss
is just no ordinary Arrancar… that he could even be somebody higher in rank than
the elite Espada, and that his number 77 ranking was just a ruse.
It
is revealed that Wonderweiss is a “modified” Arrancar, and has the same
spiritual energy of an Espada. All forms
of rationality, memory, retention, speech, and intelligence were removed to give
more concentration on power instead. He
was designed by Aizen to nullify the abilities of Yamamoto’s Zanpakutō.
Though he would still lose in the end against Yamamoto, going head to
head with Gotei 13’s legendary commander was badass enough.
It’s
a pretty good twist when a character we presumed to be weak was actually
badass.
6.) Bankai
The most constant developmental
twist in the Bleach concept is the Bankai – the Zanpakutō’s second form. What make this weapon so interesting are the
various forms of Bankai shown.
Some of these forms are:
an exhibition that pink is badass…
a portable nuke launcher…
an abominable fetus from hell…
and, my personal favorite, a
gundam swordsman…
There are still several
characters that haven’t revealed their Bankais yet. There’s no captain-level Visored that
revealed his Bankai yet. Ichigo’s
father, Isshin Kurosaki, hasn’t revealed his.
Neither Aizen nor Uruhara revealed theirs. And the Bankais of several captains –
including Commander Yamamoto – haven’t been revealed yet.
Bankais are full of
surprises. A Bleach fan will always get
excited whenever the words “Bankai” is spoken, especially if the shinigami
would reveal his or hers for the first time.
5.) Aizen is the Main Villain
If I had made this list years
ago, this would be number one. It was a
real shocker back then when Sōsuke Aizen
was revealed to be the main villain of the story – a first rate “what the hell was that!” moment.
Initially, Aizen was shown as the
nicest and most mild-mannered of the Gotei 13 captains, with those harmless
kind eyes. I mean look at him…
Then sometime when Ichigo and the
other Ryokas was in Seireitei (to rescue Rukia), Aizen appeared to had been
murdered.
Suddenly, there was a mystery
among Gotei 13. Who could have killed
Aizen? Only a captain-level Shinigami
could have done it. Thus, there was a
traitor among them. And the prime
suspect was Gin Ichimaru.
Ichimaru proved to be a red
herring, a mere minion, since the true mastermind was Aizen himself and the
“Aizen” corpse was a mere illusion.
After obtaining the Hōgyoku from Rukia (which was hidden by
Uruhara within Rukia’s soul), Aizen would leave for Hueco Mundo with his
subordinates, Ichimaru and Tōsen. In
that epic scene, as Negación
carried them away, Aizen, while removing his glasses and combing his hair by hand
to change the hairstyle that changed his appearance from mild-mannered and kind
changed to a cold and menacing, announced his intention of becoming a
“god”. Very dramatic. He would proceed to rule in Hueco Mundo and
build an Arrancar army.
Eventually, during his forces’ encounter
with Ichigo and his allies, he and his Espada would be defeated. But since he’s immortal, he can’t be killed,
thus he was sentenced to be imprisoned for 20,000 years.
I don’t think we’ll see the last
of Aizen. Heck, as I mentioned before, he
has yet to reveal his Bankai. I think he
will still be a major player in a future story arc in Bleach.
4.) Ichigo’s Dad Turned Out to be
a Shinigami
In the early parts of Bleach,
Isshin, Ichigo’s goofy doctor dad, was more of a comic relief. Nobody was expecting that he was far more
badass than that. However, he was actually a
captain-level Shinigami. The revelation
of Isshin being a former Shinigami answered the question why Ichigo has hidden
Shinigami powers. But it raises some
more questions as well. What was his
division and why did he leave the Gotei 13?
How and why did he lose his powers?
It is first revealed that he was
a Shinigami, when he took on Grand Fisher – an imperfect Arrancar. Later on, it is also shown that he was
acquainted – even friends – with Ryūken
Ishida, Uryu’s father (who is also a Quincy), and Kisuke Urahara. .
Ichigo would only become aware that his father was a badass
Shinigami when the latter pitched in in the fight against Aizen in the Fake
Karakura Town. Aizen would also show
that he knew Isshin. Later on, Isshin
was instrumental on teaching Ichigo the “final” Getsuga Tenshō that helped in the defeat of Aizen.
There are still a lot of questions unanswered regarding Isshin, and
fans are excited for further developments.
3.) The Eleventh Division
is More Badass Than It Appears to Be
The 11th division are
composed of Shinigamis who only concentrate on melee combat and do not concern
themselves with other Shinigami skills.
Their philosophy is to live for fighting – that if they are going to die
anyway, they will go down fighting gloriously.
We know how badass this division
is because it’s a reflection of its captain, Kenpachi Zaraki. Zaraki is one of the toughest and most
powerful captains in the Gotei 13 even though he does not have a Bankai nor know
the name of his Zanpakutō (thus, not being able to tap its
full potential). The lieutenant, Yachiru
Kusajishi, is a mere child but she possesses immense spiritual pressure. And two other lieutenants in other divisions,
Renji Abarai and Tetsuzaemon Iba, were formerly from the 11th.
But
what makes this division more badass than it appears to be is because of
Yumichika Ayasegawa and Ikkaku Madarame.
In
the first time we saw Yumichika fought, he was beaten by Ganju. Ganju is not one of the elite characters in
Bleach, so Ayasegawa (5th seat in the division) must be weak,
right? No. Ayasegawa was not really at top form when he
fought Ganju. Not even close. At one time, he beat Hisagi by finally
showing his Shikai’s true power. Yumichika’s Zanpakutō is as vain as its owner. “Fuji Kujaku”, the nickname Yumichika uses on
it, greatly annoys the Zanpakutō
that whenever Yumichika uses that nickname, it would not appear in its true
form, but instead transform to a (weaker) melee-type released form:
But when it is called by its true name, “Ruri’iro
Kujaku”, it goes full power:
Yumichika
is actually as strong as the strongest lieutenants of Gotei 13. But he wouldn’t fight with his Shikai’s true
form if anybody in the 11th would know (especially Ikkaku) about it,
since the true form of his Shikai is kidō-type. That would be disgraceful in their division
because the division’s unofficial rule is that members should only have
melee-type Zanpakutō. He would only use its full potential when his
fights are hidden from spectators. If
not, he won’t use it and would even risk getting defeated by an opponent just to
protect this secret.
Like Yumichika, Ikkaku was
defeated in the first battle we saw him fought (against Ichigo), thus since
Ichigo was still weak at that time, we assumed that Ikkaku was
insignificant. Ikkaku (3rd seat)
is the same as Yumichika, he would even risk defeat just to hide a secret… that
he had already achieved Bankai (making him the only non-Captain, aside from Renji, that
knows Bankai).
He’s also has the same
fighting philosophy as with his captain, Kenpachi. He would handicap himself (not using Bankai)
just to make a fight more “enjoyable”.
Another reason he hides his Bankai from others is for the fear of being
promoted, since he is satisfied as 3rd seat serving under Kenpachi
Zaraki.
At first, I never really thought
of them as someone special, I thought of them as mere “stepping-stones” for
Ichigo in the Soul Society Arc. I never
thought they will be noteworthy after their initial fight. I was wrong.
They turned out to be the proof that the 11th division is the
most badass in Gotei 13…
2.) Espada Ranks
The Espada were the top ten most
powerful Arrancars. Their power greatly
outdistanced every other Arrancars (the Numeros). Normal
Arrancars are ranked depending on the order of their becoming an Arrancar, but the
Espada are ranked depending on their power, with the highest number the weakest
and the lowest number the strongest.
The rankings of the Espada have
some twists in it, though.
First, it was revealed that Nel,
the sniveling brat Arrancar that Ichigo had befriended…
…turned out to be a former
Espada, with the number 3 rank.
Second, I (as well as others) guessed
the rank of the most prominent Espada rival of Ichigo (aside from Grimmjow), Ulquiorra
Cifer, as, at least, in the top 3 of the Espada. However, his actual number was 4, implying
that there are at least three more powerful Espada than him. But there was a “double twist”. It seemed that assuming initially that he was
a top 3 Espada was right after all when he revealed that he was the only
Arrancar that was able to obtain a second release form of Resurrección
(Resurrección: Segunda Etapa).
Aizen hasn’t seen him in this form, and Ulquiorra might have been ranked
higher – even maybe number 1 – if the former did.
Third, and most mind-blowing of
all, the ranking of Espada was not at all from 10 to 1, but from 9 to 0. Yammy Llargo was originally number 10, and
was thought to be the weakest of the Espada.
It turns out he is the strongest as the “1” was removed from 10, leaving
“0”, when he finally released his true power.
Among the three, this was the most surprising.
1.) Gin Ichimaru betrayed Aizen
This was the latest among the
twists here. And so far, in my opinion, the
best, most dramatic, most surprising development ever.
Throughout the show, I have a gut
feeling that there is more to Gin ichimaru.
The character is just so awesome and charismatic. No way is he just a mere lackey. Maybe he has his own agenda and is only using
Aizen. Those were my thoughts then.
In a way, I was right. It turned out Gin indeed has his secret reasons for
joining Aizen. Just a few moments after
Aizen and Ichimaru left the Fake Karakura Town to enter Karakura Town…
The reason? Revenge.
To avenge what Aizen did to Rangiku.
He waited for many decades to learn the vulnerability of Aizen, and then
struck when the time was ripe.
Of course, Gin failed to kill
Aizen, but nonetheless, what he did was still awesomely unexpected. Though I was a bit expecting that Ichimaru
would somehow betray Aizen, it still blew my mind when and why (which I was not
able to deduce) and how he did it. Just
for the sake of avenging the honor of Rangiku Matsumoto, the only person he
really cared for, he was willing to do a “sleeper agent” routine. Serving under his target and enemy; the
burden of the thought that Rangiku, the person he was doing it all for, was feeling
disappointed (because he betrayed the Gotei 13 and “joined” Aizen) and thinking
of him as an enemy; the pressure of observing and planning; and the many years
it had to take… all the emotional and mental baggage these brought did not
hinder Gin. Such amazing patience and
resolve.
Gin Ichimaru’s current status is
unknown. I would be disappointed if he’s
now dead, considering the awesomeness of the character and the potential of
being an invaluable ally to the main character, Ichigo Kurosaki.
3 comments:
what the fu**. Ichigo is fuc**** awesome.
pinoy ka kaba?.. kase halos lahat ng anime na mention mo dito na palabas sa pinas,, hahah astig tong article mo nakarelate ako lahat yan favorite ko eh.. lalo na yung slamdunk! bangis
yes, i'm pinoy ^_^
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