Bleach Manga Chapter 355 – Azul-Blood Splash
Ah, since the end of Ichigo’s transformation, the entertainment rate of Bleach has somehow decreased. The ripping in half of cute little Shiro-chan has certainly helped me regain my carnivorous appetite.
The chapter starts off with Komamura using a kidou spell to heal the wounded vice-captains. If you remember from 10-15 chapters ago, they were all severely injured. The first one to awake is Kiram who is shocked to see that the captains are being overpowered by the three Espada.
In the most interesting of the three fights Shunsui faces the first Espada - Stark. Neither of the two opponents has yet to use any power-ups and are curently just testing their speed. They’re both surprised to see that they’ve underestimated each other. Stark, however, manages to land a hit on Shunsui’s hat and barely scratches the shinigami’s forehead.
The author takes us to Hitsugaya, who is struggling to keep up with the thrid Espada – Halibel. Now, I know Hitsugaya’s young and all, but failing so miserably, while using bankai is just pathetic. I mean, the bitch uses water, couldn’t he at least try to freeze it something?! I think his bankai really hasn’t matured enough. He only has one ice flower left, though the fight hasn’t lasted for very long. Anyways, it’s interesting to see Halibel’s fighting style. It’s a mixture between Byakuya’s and Ichigo’s. She uses high-speed attacks, can fire “Proyectyl azul” (Blue missile) much like Ichigo’s Getsuga Tenshou and her resurreccion is similar to Byakuya’s bankai – millions of small particles can attack you at the same time, having no blind point. But instead of small metal blades, Halibel’s little killers are water molecules. I’m guessing that’s how she was able to cut Shiro-chan’s right side off – water molecules can dissolve anything, when used in an extremely high concentration (and high temperature and so on). And there’s also lots of water in the air, so it shouldn’t be a problem to strike a single captain from such a distance. But luckily this is just a theory of mine. If it turns out to be real, then Halibel is indeed extremely powerful and with her type of power, the only one who could stop her is probably Yamamoto. The other, even less likely possibility is that since Halibel’s water powers are similar to Aizen’s she has a mirage ability. Or the least interesting possibility – that she used a super fast Proyectyl azul.
While Halibel is busy getting more and more naked.. uhh.. I mean.. kickin’ Hitsugaya’s ass, Soi Fon and Omaeda are losing horribly against the second Espada – Barragan. So far the shinigami’s attempts at damaging the elderly-looking self-proclaimed “King of hollows” are futile. That fact annoys Barragan and he decides to quickly finish off his opponents. His weapon is revealed – his throne! Apparantly it can shapeshift into a viking axe. Perhaps it morphs into other stuff, too. A razor for those moustache would be nice. next comes Omaeda’s “time to shine”, with another one of his ridiculous questions. I think it was pretty obvious to all the readers that when Yamamoto and all of his captains go to war, they certainly wouldn’t go around placing seals on themselves. It’s a serious battle, they need all the strength they can get. The poor fat guy really looks sad when Soi Fon announces that she’s already fighting at her full strenght. Still, I haven’t seen her use her bankai… I thought all captains except Kenpachi have a bankai. I’m sure she can to better than this.
Yet Hitsugaya’s fight leads me to believe otherwise. Like I mentioned before, Halibel uses her resurreccion – Tiburon (Shark) and instantly turns Shiro-chan into shark-food. (And she looks sexy doin’ it!) According to Kubo Tite’s ranking list from after the Soul Society ark, Hitsugaya should be on par with Gin and Byakuya, yet he always seems like he’s the weakest captain. My prognosis on this is: Komamura is going to fight Halibel now, while Hitsugaya recovers inside the kidou barrier. meanwhile Shiro-chan is gonna have a long fight-talk with his dragon and emerge more powerful than ever to kick the Espada’s ass.
Tags: bleach manga chapters
April 26, 2009 9:19 am 22 Comments
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By Byakushi, April 26, 2009 @ 9:20 am
Sorry I was late with this one, I had internet issues.
BTW, isn’t is so much better with music?
By Pretend3r, April 26, 2009 @ 11:55 am
I vote no on the music… Not that I hate Rammstein.. but music on website usually makes me remind crappy kids websites. yuck.
Anyway. I was hoping Halibel would look more dangerous. I really like here broken mask in her unreleased state. I’m kind of glad toshiro is getting his ass kicked. It would it obvious en nessesary for the 8 (friendly?) vaizards to show up. I’m still not sure about there actual objective(revenge or reclaim glory). I think it could very well be Komamura to step in the spot for Toshiro. Then again it also might be Ukitake, since he is ‘fighting’ with the weak fracion of Stark.
I’m getting exited between the fight of Stark vs. Kyoraku. Kyoraku has been a captain a long time, compared to most of the other current captains, and all i’ve see is him releasing his swords, his abilities however remain unkown. Whoopie…:D
By BSK17, April 26, 2009 @ 4:12 pm
i personally don’t think the shinigami captains can handle the espada top three. thats where the vaizards come in. after all, it wouldn’t be at all interesting if they did the job only to have the vaizards deprived of all the action.
next bankai will most likely be soi fon’s since she’s the one who isn’t currently in bankai and is getting kicked around.
i really hate that thing about bleach where tite changes the scene out of nowhere in the middle of a battle and doesn’t return for a dozen chapters. and here i was looking forward to seeing what yammi was capable of in his released form as number 0.
By ssj sousuke, April 26, 2009 @ 8:20 pm
Hm, I like J’s theory about Hitsugaya talking to his Zanpakuto and it getting stronger… I think that he is about the same age as Gin was back in the turning back the pendulum arc., and just as Gin has grown tremendously stronger since than, Hitsugaya has the potential to grow tremendously,(even though he is already around captain-level). But I think the person that will heal him is going to be the pink haired dude from the Vaizard, becuase him and Orihime are the only ones that can actually bring back his lost parts, not just heal his wounds.
In fact, now, or at least soon from now, would be a very oppurtune time for Kubo to introduce all the Vaizards to this battle.
Komamaru has a confident look about him, like he knew things would play out somewhat like this. Idk if it is confidence in some of the other captains, himself, or that yamamato will take care of what the others can’t, but he doesn’t look scared just yet.
J, about Kubo Tite’s little Captain statistics, I don’t trust them too much. Yes they give a general basis for their battle capabilities, but Kenpachi’s total is lower than all the other captains, and I am positive he isn’t the weakest captain, so I don’t take them too seriously when considering who would win a battle. Just like how Unohana’s is higher than Shunsui and Ukitake’s but I think both of them would beat her in a fight when it came down to it.
I think this whole series of events will take like 20-30 chapters to all play out, things will probably progress pretty slow…
Oh, and I like this song better than the previous ones J…
-ssj
By bruji, April 26, 2009 @ 10:27 pm
i’m not surprised the shinigami are losing, hitsugaya said that a vasto lorde is stronger than a captain and although most of the espada are dead now, i think the top three are very strong. i’m guessing the vaizard will appear when aizen escapes yamamoto’s technique, just when the espadas are ready to finish off some captains. he’ll see the ones he betrayed kick some espada ass.
hitsugaya is looking kinda lame right now, what happened to “boy-genius”? halibel didn’t break a sweat with him.
By Byakushi, April 27, 2009 @ 6:20 am
I agree that it’s about time the Vizards made their appearance, but I think they’re going to fight on Aizen’s side. Or rather they’re going to fight against Yamamoto and his captains, because they somehow believe that Aizen’s cause is just.
By ssj sousuke, April 27, 2009 @ 3:05 pm
I’m going to have to disagree with that one J.
Shinji hates everything about Aizen. Plus, I believe they are strong allies with Urahara, who has already shown to be somewhat allied with the Gotei in this war. Not to mention their allegiance with Ichigo.
Its true it would be a very Kuboesque thing to do for that much of a spin, but I think they are smart enough to know that it was the bastard central 46 chamber who condemned them, and that there was little the shinigami could have done for them.
They might try and work toward Shinigami/Hollow understanding, but they know that Aizens methods are too radical and he must be stopped.
By Byakushi, April 27, 2009 @ 3:15 pm
Yeah, it’s obvious they hate Aizen and they’re grateful to Urahara and so on. But this is not about whether they’re in love with Aizen. Shinji said it himself: “We owe a great debt to Aizen”. he showed them not only what true power means, but also a world where the relationship between a hollow and a shinigami is completely different. That’s why I think that they won’t fight for Aizen, but for rather for his idea.
By Captain Hitsugaya, April 27, 2009 @ 4:37 pm
2 things.
1.Halibel is my number one girl now
2.Your songs every time sound better
Great discussion about not so great ch. Really guys ..I read so good comments that I truly enjoyed. B/J you showed me some new looks on this chapter…I didn’t saw half of things you saw. Thanks man.
I can’t believe that my boy lose every fight ,and he’s suppose to be a genius boy. But as ssj said maybe he’ll talk with his dragon and inner self and come back even stronger. At least I hope so. Go Toshiro!!!
Stark vs Shunsui fight can become the ultimate-best fight till now. They are still just testing their speed??? wtf…the rest of the guys are in deep s**t and they two jet look so non interested in fight at all. But that made them even cooler…so for next 20-30 ch..till Aizen fighting only this match up will get my intention.
By ssj sousuke, April 27, 2009 @ 6:25 pm
I agree they might fight for a variation of his cause, but I don’t think they would directly fight for this cause until after Aizen is defeated. Afterall, Aizen’s victory brings other results, disasterous results, such as him overthrowing the soul king.
But I suppose this is one debate that won’t be resolved until after the chapters play out…
By BSK17, April 28, 2009 @ 1:43 am
i don’t think there’s any reason for the vaizards to ally with aizen. when shinji said they owed a lot to aizen he was talking in terms of revenge. it was kisuke he was grateful for for helping them when they became mask men.
By Pretend3r, April 28, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
I dont think the vaizard will appear too soon.
At least not before the captains currently fighting get there asses kicked and everything looks grim beyond belief… etc. i think we know the drill. If the other captains go down as fast as toshiro, the vaizard probably will appear pretty damn quick.
Then right when they appear, we go back to Yammy. and when he’s done for I doubt Las Noches is still standing.
oh and ssj, i doubt the soul king go down that easily. He still has the Royal Guard to take care off. Who knows what abilities they got. Not to mention what the Soul king would be capable off. Hell, maybe its ishin
By ssj sousuke, April 28, 2009 @ 8:26 pm
I know i know i was just trying to elaborate on Aizens intentions
By Koori, April 28, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
Hi !! this is my first comment here so please be paience.
@ J
I always love your post man
Yeah Hitsu have room to grow, and hope he does soon.
I have many theories but am not ready to comment. Anyway I have many questions about Hitsu’s zampactou, because it is a long way different from the other blades.
@ all
I agree about the Vizards being against Aizen
But I have many doubts about Urahara’s true intentions.
Anyway Urahara or Mayuri , one of them must be working with Aizen since the bigining
@ SSJ
sorry but I have t disagree Hitsu is some 50 years younger than Gin.
1
In “Turn back the pendulum:” I think it is say that Ichimaru Gin is almost the same age of Kuchuki Byakuya
2
“Turn back the Pendulum “ took place around 100 years ago, back then Gin was a shinigami, and looked a bit older than the current Hitsugaya
Hitsugaya was a small Kid at home when Hinamori, Rukia Renji and Kira were fleshman at the shinigami academy
Rukia said that some 50 years ago she left the academy and became a Kuchuki (soon after Byakyga and Ichimaru became captains). And she said it was afterward that Hitsugaya entered the academy — and we don’t know how much time later he became the youngest ever appointed as a captain
-
I guess Hitsu have been a captain for a few years, because ate the first appearance of the vice taichous the others can recall the name of the boy who is Matsumoto’s taichou
By ssj sousuke, April 29, 2009 @ 6:10 am
I know he isnt the exact same age as gin was in turning back the pendulum, these guys can live for like a really long time. All i said was he is young, and still adolescent like Gin was in turning back the pendulum, and just like gin has grown so much since them, hitsugaya still can too, even though he is already a captain.
if you dont think gin was that young in turning back the pendulum then your nuts, as you can see in this picture here:
http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/315.11/01/
he was at a height similar to what hitsugaya is at now. and now gin is about the same height as aizen, so what i am saying is if hitsugaya is anything like gin, in time he will physically, mentally, and power-wise, grow substantially.
By Captain Hitsugaya, April 30, 2009 @ 7:20 am
SSJ I like how you defend my boy Hitsu.
And I agree too, Toshiro will probably tremendously grow in physically, mentally, and power-wise sense..that’s for sure…. But does he have the strength to achieve little of that future power in current fight?
If he doesn’t come up with some great solution pretty soon he’s finish. Maybe Tito is bored with that little cocky dude. I mean he’s always in top 5 voting even though he lose every fight(that too,makes me to think that Tito hate him..lol). Who knows what’s going in that perv’s head but if he kill Toshiro I’ll be really sad. Only way for him to redeem himself is to introduce another hot babe…8-)
By ssj sousuke, April 30, 2009 @ 2:34 pm
Actually he has been voted on as the over-all most popular character in the series thus far… he isn’t going to die.
By Pretend3r, May 1, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
@Koori: I actually hope not. If that happens, we’d be stepping into crazy town with on your right side a super saiyen toshiro. In other words, i think toshiro is a funny little chap, sad to see him get carved up, but if toshiro suddenly heals up a grows fucking strong, where does is stop… One character going bananas is more than enough.
By BSK17, May 3, 2009 @ 6:01 am
that’s true, pretender. not everyone who get beaten up has to transform and go on some ultimate level rampage. who says all the good guys have to win? one or two losses can be accepted. but if the problem is everyone’s favorite cap’n hitsu going down, then maybe tite has to do something about it. but “going bananas” is not the only option for tite. i’m sure we all just wanted to see him put on more of a fight, but expected him to lose.
By ssj sousuke, May 3, 2009 @ 8:37 pm
Kind of random and off topic i know, but I think Stark will finally take this fight serious, and get mean when somebody either kills or seriously hurts Lilinette, even if by accident.
I don’t think he picked her for her power like most other Espada do for their fraccion, but rather just because he likes to have her around.. and when she gets hurt somehow, we will finally see the badass he can be..
random, but i was just thinking about it..
By BSK17, May 4, 2009 @ 6:47 am
that may be true, seeing as how their relationship is. but only if ukitake deems it necessary to get her off his back. their fight has been totally one-sided.
so far stark has shown to have an edge as kyoraku is being pushed back. he’ll have to go shikai soon.
first rangiku and then hitsu, seems like 10th division is pushed out of the fight. will 2nd division be the next one to go down?
By seth, May 6, 2009 @ 3:21 am
I think Hitsugaya’s age relative to Gin’s is actually really important to their relationship with each other.
In Turn Back the Pendulum there’s that conversation between Kaien and Ukitate in which Gin is described as a child prodigy, graduating in the space of a year and instantly being installed as a seated officer. Toshiro Hitsugaya has also been described in that manner. In fact when they faced off against each other in the Soul Society arc Gin mocks Hitsugaya with exactly these words, calling him the kind of child prodigy that only comes around once every few generations.
Now that we know that Aizen’s apparent right hand man was once described in the same way by Ukitate that taunt is seen in a very different light, one that suggests a note of rivalry or even jealousy… especially considering that Gin’s childhood friend Rangiku is Hitsugaya’s Lieutenant. It casts an ambiguous shadow across Matsumoto’s relationship with her captain. Does he remind her of her old friend? Is she seeking to protect her superior officer, trying to make sure that he doesn’t turn out like Gin? Does she only seem to be devoted to him because she has sought out a replacement for someone she loves but cannot have? Is she trying to correct a mistake she once made, a regret from the older relationship?
We had assumed that Hitsugaya and Gin were fighting over what was being done to Hinamori, but what if there was more to it than just Hitsugaya’s grudge? What if Ichimaru was enacting a form of revenge because he believed that Toshiro had stolen Matsumoto from him in some way?
There’s a huge amount of interesting food for thought in that revelation. Although it’s interesting that in the manga Gin doesn’t call Hitsugaya a prodigy at all during their fight… I think that the anime is just more overtly stating a subtext that’s a little more buried in the original comic.
I don’t think Hitsugaya is cocky at all… I think that he’s really just a kid who hasn’t been able to emotionally grow up properly because of his insane power levels that have pushed him into being a Captain. He talks like he thinks an adult would: surly and super-serious. In fact the defining quality of Hitsugaya’s character seems to be his cautious approach which borders on outright pessimism. He’s always been the one who has taken the bleakest view about the fight with the Arrancar. The ironic thing is that in #355 that caution didn’t help him in the slightest. Halibel took him out regardless.