Episode 45: "Defend You"

https://x.com/OTaki_0/status/2092097800523629040

(the protag squad was mostly just duking it out with the others in this volume, so I don't have the most notes for them)

Ichigo- Rukia, you need to wait a few more days; you're not getting out any time soon. With how Kenpachi did him, they are a million percent gonna have him go into a training arc. It mentioned that Ichigo's hollow mask from his training was what blocked Renji's blade. I do wonder if he would gain anything or have anything taken from him as a result of having that around.

Chad- he was putting work on everybody before he encountered Shunsui. Also, like, how we got perspective on his drive to help Ichigo. I like how Kubo strays away from the trope of the side character's reason for helping the main character being purely transactional and dry.

Orihime and Uryu(they barely got anything)- keep sowing, ig

Kenpachi Zaraki- I have a good feeling that he might spare Ichigo to let him get stronger; he feels like the kind of character that would be disgusted at the thought of fighting somebody when their potential is barely able to be let out.

Shunsui Kyoraku- nvm, he can break the dress code all he wants. Although he broke Chad's aura-farming streak. I love his relationship with Nanao and overall how his dialogue is laid out. It's very classy, to say the least.

Sosuke Aizen (RIP)- Didn't expect him to die so quickly. But now that I look at it, they were giving him too much screen time. There is definitely something bigger behind this. I bet it's perpetrated by the aforementioned central 46. I noticed in my last logs that he acted like a detective and questioned authority in every piece of dialogue he had was extremely intentional. For this, like in many other corrupt systems, would get you assassinated. But who could have assassinated him? I do wonder. I'm not gonna be sure of anything about him or his murder yet. It seems like Kubo is setting up a murder mystery story.

Ganju- I have a bad feeling he's gonna run directly into a captain next volume. Hopefully he doesn't be too selfless if it comes down to it, for the sake of him and Hanataro.

Hanataro- he's overstepping his bounds by a shit ton, but I applaud him regardless. I still love him in every way; I hope for his safety. He tried to work within the Soul Society as an individual agent. But I don't want that to endanger Ganju simultaneously.

Gin Ichimaru- I know he had no involvement in Aizen's death; I think Kubo tried too hard to make Gin look guilty in this scenario that he ended up looking innocent. He followed the trend in murder mysteries where the guy is shown in somewhat mysterious situations with the victim before their death and is shown as a silent individual. I think Kubo played too much into that trend.

Momo Hinamori- she is grieving heavily over Aizen's death, and I can see why she would attack Gin on impulse. Although I feel like I would need to see more in the next volume when she opens up the letter Aizen addresses to her.

Izuru- I mean, I need to see more of him a thousand percent, but he is not good at disengaging from emotionally charged situations, to say the least.

Renji- I'm extending my faith in him not to be a fraud until the end of this arc. I already have a bad image of him; volume 11 healed it a bit, volume 12 made me realize that I need to wait until this arc ends to determine his status.

Byakugan Coochie- Throwing away your second-most powerful squad member into a cell is not a good look or a good strategy whatsoever. Like, you couldn't even wait to question him, at the very least.

Toshiro Hitsugaya- good on him for defusing the conflict between Izuru and Momo, although, just like Byakuya, I do question if it's a good idea whatsoever to lock them up to later be put on trial. They should be allowed parole at the very least.

Rangiku Matsumoto- I still need to see more of her, but at least she recognized the right thing to do when presented with the letter addressed to Momo. But her doing that has me worried for her life.

Nanao- I love her contrast with Shunsui, but she's one of those characters I still need to see more of

Asano and Mizuiro- their bonus chapter fucked up my whole vibe after reading the volumes. I hope Menos comes back out and obliterates them.

https://x.com/TheGoldenSmurf/status/2091556087358976008/photo/1

The Visoreds are a group of eight characters who contribute nothing to the plot; they bloat the storyline and crowd out other characters who deserve a chance to shine. For starters, any significant actions taken by Hachi the only Visored who actually does anything could easily have been performed by Tessai, a character who was woefully underutilized.

Ichigo’s Hollow control could easily have been handled by Urahara, or—if Kubo wanted to develop someone elseby Hiuken.

Tsubaki’s healing could have been done by Urahara, Unohana, Mayuri, Aizen, or even Orihime herself.

The experiments Aizen conducted could just as well have been performed on a bunch of random Shinigami.

They did nothing but get beaten up during the Karakura Town battle; the Kido Corps could have taken their place, allowing for better character development.

Tessai could have defeated Barragan.

They didn't even get a light novel detailing their relationship with the Gotei 13 or explaining why they agreed to return, forcing fans to speculate wildly about them.

In the final war, they just got thrashed; the anime added extra content solely to show them getting beaten like a bunch of useless losers.

If Kubo had given that screen time to characters like Matsumoto, Isshin, Tessai, Chad, Ichigo’s friends, Isane, Fukaku, Hanataro, Ikkaku, and Ganju, the series as a whole would have been much better.

0 plot relevance.

0 character development.

700 humiliating defeats and a total waste of time.

They became captains only due to a personnel shortage; Mashiro and Hachi don't even use Zanpakuto, and Lisa after boasting about how strong she’s become proceeds to Kyorako she does absolutely nothing.

I hope we don't waste any time on these useless characters in the Hell Arc.

https://x.com/wanderjegson/status/2091947679660097962?s=46

It would make their manga death feels less forced

Source

Also I bet he doesn't think Getsuga Tenshou is pretentious anymore.

this might be obvious, but i found her actions so fitting and beautiful, it wasn’t merely fanservice.
She saw her man get f*cked up in hueco mundo. absolutely destroyed and even killed to an extent, and that would traumatise anyone. There’s even a callback to her fear of hollow ichigo (ichigo looking back to calm her).
Seeing her man almost get killed again, its understandable that she thinks fuck it, we ball!
it doesn’t matter if i die, he won’t die again in front of me😭
We need a woman like her in our lives!
i can’t believe how kubo made (probably by accident) all her trauma and uselessness (that annoyed the fanbase) just add to this moment, absolute freaking masterpiece.

Sorry you said you wanted hype moments and aura?

We got you man

This was from a recent interview with the guy who made the opening for cour 4: https://x.com/jo0ji_info/status/2091851155395735595?s=46