Bleach Manga Chapter 361 – “I Hate Loneliness, But It Loves Me”
Post Author: Shinigamisubject
Download Bleach Chapter 361
This is a first for me so I hope I do justice to the awesome writers who share with us their voices and opinions every week.
But on to this week’s chapter; we rejoin Soifon after she unleashes her Bankai, ‘Jakuho Raikoben’ on an unsuspecting Barragan. Can you say giant missile or what?!
It looks as if Soifon scores a direct hit, possibility taking Barragan out of the game!! It seems that the sheer concussive force of her bankai destroyed the steel sash that secured her to the building, propelling her into her personal punching bag Omaeda. Now I don’t want to seem biased but as everyone suspects, this dance of death seems to be over far too easily. I just don’t think it would be as cut and dry as it seems…..
But back to the chapter; Stark looks on as his comrades have seemingly been taken out of the picture and asks Kyoraku if all bankais are that powerful. From what we’ve seen, depending on the person’s training, discipline and spiritual power, a bankai can vary in ‘power’. Kyoraku tells Stark that their bankai’s are indeed powerful, being their ‘secret weapon’. His interest piqued, Stark goes even further asking Kyoraku whether or not his or Hitsugaya’s bankai is more powerful. Hitsugaya being young means his bankai is underdeveloped, seeing as his bankai has a time limit for use. Kyoraku tells him that Hitsugaya is a genius and that with time, 100 years, he could possibly become more powerful than he is. Sensing that Stark is about to get serious, Kyoraku throws Ukitake his haori and prepares for the real match to begin. Weirdly enough, Stark sheathes his zanpakuto, letting Kyoraku know of his desire to see their bankai’s. Stark calls Lilynette to his side, causing Kyoraku to question why she was being drawn into the fray. Stark states that in fact, he and Lilynette are one. He goes on to explain how most arrancar split their power between their bodies and their swords but somehow they split into two bodies.
I thought something like this might show up but I definitely have to say I was kinda caught off guard. The idea of an arrancar being split in two isn’t completely foreign but it just didn’t strike me until I saw it happen. I mean, earlier when Ishida had lost his powers and was fighting the arrancar that his father saved him from, there were two arrancar working in tandem. But to see Stark and Lilynette acting as two independent entities with two distinct personalities is way cool!
Stark goes on to to let the shinigami know that once he and Lilynette become one again, their full power would be released. Gripping Lilynette’s head he uses the command ‘Kick’ to release his zanpakuto ‘Los Lobos (The Wolves)’ while Kyoraku prepares by releasing his zanpakuto ‘Katen Kyokotsu’.
When the smoke clears, Stark appears crouched holding twin guns with the remains of his mask a band that goes around his head that forms almost a hole over his eye like Lillynette has/had. I’m getting the feeling it’s kind of like Pride/Wrath from FMA’s ‘Ultimate Eye’. It can probably lock on to any target, in his sights or not.
That being said, I get the feeling that this fight isn’t quite over; that the Espada are just testing the waters of the shinigami’s true powers. Whatever the case, Stark especially makes me wonder about things, his aspect of death being loneliness therefore when his powers were sealed he split in two; creating a companion. I think the whole ‘wolf’ concept deals with the fact that wolves travel together in packs, not unlike hollows, and with Stark being a Vasto Lorde (I presume) it created a division between him and the other hollows. It could be my skepticism playing a major role but somehow I think the sword that Stark sheathed may play a more vital role than Stark portrays. Like Ulquiorra, the sword may equate to a second tier of power unseen even by Ulquiorra. I also have the feeling that Ukitake noticed that the flame prison Yamamoto locked Aizen, Gin, and Tosen in may have just been broken….only time will tell….
Tags: bleach manga chapters
manga | shinigamisubject | 
June 12, 2009 8:53 am
12 Comments
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By Byakushi, June 12, 2009 @ 9:06 am
Whoa, pretty awesome, man! Great work, I gotta say. Welcome to BleachedIchigo, glad to have you on the team! I was gunna write this review, right after I finished the Naruto one, but you beat me to it. You make some very good points and I also like your writing style.
I just wanna add a few things:
#1 Stark seems pretty confident that he can make both Ukitake and Kyouraku use their bankais. That alone speaks for how much power he must have.
#2 I think that Stark really is a Vasto Lorde, perhaps the only one in the Espada, but still a Vasto Lorde. Stark’s and Lilynette’s swords are both nameless. Instead Lilynette is Stark’s ‘key’ to activation. It reminds me a lot a shinigami’s bankai – how the sword takes a material form (like we’ve seen Zabimaru do). But Zabimaru was only visible to Renji and couldn’t attack anyone by itself, while Lilynete, though not more powerful than an ordinary Menos, still had a much better physical form. In those terms you could say that Stark has truly surpassed all shinigami, including captain-class ones, which would make him a Vasto Lorde.
By Pretend3r, June 12, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
I think stark is a nice contrast to Ukitake. Since with his shikai it actually creates his second sword. I dont think he is underestimating the two captains. He might assume Ukitake will join in since he fused with Lilinette.
I wonder what the fusion will happen to this new espada, if you will, personality wise. Stark seems to be the dominant force but still.
Im intresting how this form of these two will fight, and well, its name. The Wolf reference might be as simple as the ‘Lone Wolf’ term you hear sometimes. Stark doesnt seem to interact with the other Espade.. at all..
By Captain Hitsugaya, June 13, 2009 @ 12:42 pm
@shinigamisubject- Welcome here and great review btw.
). I also think that Ukitake and Shinsui will have to fight together against Primera Eespada(they fight only once before and they fought together – battle with old Yammamoto). So I think their zanpakuto are well matched and work great when they’re together.
Things are stepping up. We’ll finally see what awesome powers Strak(and Lilinette) posses. Yeah!!!
That two guns look so cool(I’m hoping they’re golden one’s
Why we all have feeling that 3rd and 2nd Espadas ain’t finished? Is it because they vent down to easily? Is it ’cause we haven’t heard any sad story about their though life from them before they died? WTF…I’m hoping they’re gone for good.
It won’t be cool if they come back from the dead and Vasards have to come to a playground to help captains to handle some hollows(strongest of strongest..but still hollows). Who will kill Gin,Tosen and Aizen if captains lost to a low-life hollows? And you all know that our 3 backstabed friend are WAY to stronger than this current top 3 Espadas.
By mart1, June 13, 2009 @ 5:42 pm
“Shinigamisubject” who’s that? good job though where’s the music?
maybe this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igt-jW4e8ts cuz the espada are all in now
By Captain Hitsugaya, June 15, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
Coll song mart..Idk is it suited well in terms of describing all fallen Espadas but I really enjoyed listening it.
P.S.J should go back to putting songs that goes along with your review..rimestien is not my favorite band but their music work well with your blogs.
By shinigamisubject, June 15, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
First off, I’d like to thank everyone for their great comments and words of encouragement; I am happy to be apart of the Bleached Ichigo team!!
Byakushi: Thank you for your kind words! I agree wholeheartedly with everything that you’ve surmised about the power of a Vasto Lorde versus the power of a Shinigami captain.It does prove in a sense that the Vasto Lorde have excelled far beyond limits of a captain-class shinigami. If the physical manifestation of Stark’s power is Lilynette and she is weaker than a menos, it still means that she can affect the world around her, where as zangetsu or zabimaru are noncorporeal manifestations of their zanpakuto and can only be seen by their master. Automatically I would think that puts Stark in a class o his own. Plus, as you said, I think he was definitely confident in his ability to handle Kyoraku’s bankai. It’s definitely going to take more than him to handle Stark.
Pretend3r: I kinda see Stark as being the same gloomy monotonous kind of guy he already was, I don’t really believe Lilynette is going to change him drastically, I just think he may be a tiny bit more expressive. Also, Lilynette might work kinda like an AI system, giving him a kinda ‘network’ for his attack.
Captain Hitsugaya: I think the twin guns look hot too!!! I just can’t help but feel like it isn’t over with the espada. There are so many arrancar we were introduced to that haven’t made a second appearance like Wonderweiss. It just feels unfinished…
Mart1: Shinigamisubject is me
! Most of the time I don’t think of what music would play to a scene. In the meantime, you can play whatever music you feel works best!
Just a random thought: I think I would DIE if Kubo decided to jump back to Hueco Mundo this next chapter. Yami still hasn’t completed his rampage. I remember him saying that the espada went from 0-9 but didn’t Shawlong Qufang say it went from 1-10? Have we been purposefully misled? I think so…. Another thing, even if Aizen manages to create the Ouken (King’s Key) I highly doubt he’d get farther than the gates, the zero squad is made up of elite shinigami who I believe could be possibly even stronger than the captains!
Enough with the randomness, I hope to have a chance to write again soon. It has been a great pleasure.
By mart1, June 16, 2009 @ 5:17 pm
I should have been more specific: 1. are you from Shannaro as well? 2. Are you an Author, editor, a Bob (whatever he happens to be)
I’m going to add you to the conspiracy theory anyway…
On the Chap. 1. Stark and lillinette aren’t really comparable to Shinigami in the Zanpaktou sense, the guns represent those, I think lillenete is just the reverse process of Hollowification (the creation of a hollow), in Hollowification, Hollows eat eachother to grow in strength, the Shinigamification process seems to have the opposite effect on lil. Stark. I’d say it’s more similar to “Allon” and his three component Arrancar than a Zanpaktou sword.
As for the 0-9 thing, Shawlong Qufang is probably out of the loop about Yami or Yami is really weak anyway. The 1-10 think still holds true in the unreleased state though so that could be what he was speaking of.
By plusBLACK, June 16, 2009 @ 6:49 pm
I really enjoy this site and its chapter summaries. I too REALLY REALLY hope Kubo doesn’t jump back to Hueco Mundo right when Stark is about to unleash his can of Vasto-whoopass.
By ssj sousuke, June 16, 2009 @ 8:33 pm
Whoa been gone for a while…
anyways, good job shinigamisubject, well written, good thoughts.
about the chapter, my response may be a little biased since i just read the spoilers, but i’ll try to ignore that.
I don’t think barragan is dead. if he is, it would speak miles for how strong that attack of soi fon’s is, but if he isn’t, she is definitely too tired to continue. the same probably goes for halibel and toshiro.
I think it would make sense for the top 3 espada to actually beat their current captains because i think some of the vaizards will step in to fight them. vaizards are the polar opposite of arrancar, a fight between the 2 is too epic to pass up. it also would leave a good match up in the aizen-gin-tosen fights. I think yamamoto would fight aizen, sajin would want to fight tosen, and someone else, maybe a vaizard like shinji would fight gin.
stark is so far living up to our expectations. i find it interesting how confident shunsui is that his bankai and himself is stronger than hitsugaya, and how confident stark is that he can draw out shunsui and ukitake’s bankais. almost like he is playing with them. the fact that his power is so immense and developed that when de-masked, it didn’t turn into a zanpakuto, but an entity with its own zanpakuto illustrates that he is on a whole ‘nother level. and guns? very interesting…
By Lord Necros, June 20, 2009 @ 11:30 am
“Who will kill Gin,Tosen and Aizen if captains lost to a low-life hollows?”
- I think Ichigo had already demonstrated himself as being above most, if not all of the captains when he had only -just- achieved Bankai, having defeated Kenpachi with just Shikai, and then Byakuya with Bankai. (Although if Kenpachi can ever achieve Bankai it’d be worth revisting that.) When he first began using his hollow powers his power increased enormously, and his latest escalation is yet another massive step beyond what he was previously capable of.
So I’d say worse comes to worse, Ichigo goes apeshit, and kills everyone.
Also, on the subject of Barragan and Halibel, Soi Fon seemed extremely confident of the relative strengths between herself and the arrancar. She spent a great deal of time with Barragan’s Fraccion gauging its capabilities, before fighting Barragan.
She was also extremely pissed she had to use her Bankai, but was also completely unconcerned it might not be enough. Clearly, in Soi Fon’s estimation, if she’s going to go to the trouble of pulling out the Giant Laser of Ultimate Doom, it’s game over for you.
Hitsugaya, on the other hand, made a strange comment about Halibel not dying until all hundred flowers bloom/fall. So I’ve still got hope for her. (I admit it, I’m biased. I just want her babies.) Though, to be honest, I don’t know what Halibel would do if she did come back, unless she has a monstrous amount of power she’s held in reserve up to this point.
By ...., August 13, 2010 @ 1:05 pm
is there any song that could be used to explain starrk?