ohmygodohmygodohmygod.

[misora]

OMG'ing forever... *pant pant hyperventilate*











Raw/Rough Translation (courtesy of Bleachforums.com, since Bleach Asylum has exploded again):

First translation of the spoilers from pikeish @BA:
井上助けに向かう
Inoue goes to help
阻まれる
she is stopped
石田助太刀 光の雨(リヒト・レーケ゛ン)
Ishida goes to help.. Light rain(rihito re-gen) -- I don't get it. XD
井上、瞳孔開いてる一護みる
Inoue's pupil widens and looks at Ichigo
どうしようどうしようどうしようどうしようどうしようどうしよう
What should I do.. What should I do.. (repeat)
石田が吹っ飛んでくる
Ishida was blown off
左手なくなってる
His left hand has gone missing (prob. from the blow)
また向かっていく
He then goes to face him (ulq) again
やられていく石田
Ishida gets beaten
それ見てパニクる井上
seeing that, Inoue panics
くろさきくんくろさきくんくろさきくんくろさきくんくろさきくんくろさきくん
くろさきくん
kurosaki kun kurosaki kun kurosaki kun kurosaki kun kurosaki kun kurosaki
kun kurosaki kun
たすけて黒崎くん!!!!
save/help me kurosaki kun!!!!
一護髪の毛伸びる
Ichigo's hair grows



Apparently Orihime is totally losing it, as evident by the last panel...and Shirosaki is about to come out. (Ichigo's fully-hollowfied form is that of a lizard complete with tail and an orange mullet, lol.)

Shirosaki is going to kill Orihime...or at least try to. Anyone remember his activity with the Vizards? They all had to practically jump him to prevent him from killing Hiyori. I wavered a bit earlier, but now I have faith that while Ulquiorra is on a killing rampage with respect to her friends, he's not going to let anything happen to her.





*wibbles*

Comments

[suzu-no-hito.livejournal.com]

Well, looks like this is going to be a fun ride. Also, that HAS to hurt. But we all know as resident lancer, Ishida is not allowed to beat anyone Ichigo can't beat, so he wasn't going to win anyway.

Odds of impending Ulquiorra flashback to prolong the moments before the Shirosaki beatdown?

High.

[misora.livejournal.com]

HOLY SHIT, POOR ISHIDA-KUN ;________;


I can't believe Ulqui took his arm off. D:

A bunch of us were lamenting the fact that it looks as though Ulqui's been lumped in the official "EVIL DOER" category -- and we all feel cheated, like "why did Kubo spend SOOO much time developing Ulquiorra's obvious attachment to Orihime, if he just intended him to be all 'LOL I KEEL EVERYWUN' in the end?"

BUT, I have faith with this new theory...that Ulquiorra will redeem himself by protecting Orihime from Shirosaki....because we all know how apeshit Ichi's hollow form is, and he won't give a fuck about her.

*bites nails OMG BELL IT'S GETTING CRAZZZEEEEE NAO*

Appropriate icon is appropriate

[mercury-sparrow.livejournal.com]

I can. Ulquiorra, when he lets loose-- and really, all Bleach villains, when it comes down to it-- have been extremely brutal in their tactics. Given Ishida hasn't mastered his dad's "I shoot a bow with just one hand" style yet, it's pretty much impossible for him to fight optimally without his left hand. It's very Ulquiorra-- a calculated move designed to crush the enemy's hopes of winning completely.

Since I'm not much of an Ulqui fan, I'm not sure that's what we'll see... but I won't deny it's a distinct possibility. It all comes down to whether Kubo wants to support the ship or sink it.

A few points of interest, though: His second release, if what he says is true, means that, despite his apparent loyalty, all along, even before Orihime, there IS something he's been holding out from Aizen on: his loyalty isn't totally unwavering. But either way, yes, it's getting even crazier. As if it hasn't been pretty crazy these past few chapters already. >D

Re: Appropriate icon is appropriate

[misora.livejournal.com]

is that your rivelata account? :D

I know the Espada are supposed to be brutal. I guess based on what we'd seen previously of Ulquiorra, though, I was thinking we'd see another "let Ichigo off the hook" move...Ulquiorra didn't seem, from earlier chapters, to relish fighting someone -- not like Nnoitra or Grimmjow. He didn't seem to have that Adjuchas animal-like behavior.

I agree, Ulquiorra is nothing if not calculating. He knows where peoples' strengths -- at least with regard to fighting -- lie. And he *could* have crushed Ishida easily, I suppose...but then again maybe he was hoping to make Orihime choose whom to save.

And yes...it's apparent after that that he *was* hiding something from Aizen all along. To me that little tidbit of information sealed my faith that he's going to be redeemed...because so many of the other Espada have been so unwaveringly loyal and honest with Aizen, even if they didn't outwardly adore him like the Loly twins did....and here's Ulquiorra, Aizen's little right-hand-man, all-seeing-eye and Hime-warden, hiding something from Aizen-sama. Makes you think.

Man, I *can't* wait to see what Shirosaki does. It's going to be insane.

[mercury-sparrow.livejournal.com]

I don't think so, really. Ulquiorra has now essentially killed Kurosaki (I find it amusing how it's more natural for me to refer to him as Kurosaki now than Ichigo because I've been playing Ishida so long) twice. If anything, JUST removing Ishida's hand is relatively merciful. Either that, or he sees Ishida as so far below him that he's not worth actually killing, like Kurosaki is.

At the same time, though, I wouldn't rule out that Aizen knows about it anyway. He may have been sacrificing Ulquiorra, knowing there were at least 5 captain-level shinigami in Las Noches, and that Yammy probably couldn't even win against one of them-- as evidenced by Yammy's brutal beating at the hands of just Bankai!Kurosaki. Or he could have known about this, and have counted on Ulquiorra to use it to crush all of them. Byakuya and Mayuri would probably be crushed by him, just by sheer weight of statistics. Unohana and Kenpachi are probably the only ones on par with Ichigo in Vizard form.

That said, Aizen also knows that the Captains' concern will be getting back to Karakura, while doubtless he anticipated that Kurosaki and the other ryoka would go after Hime and confront Ulquiorra on their own.

Still, Ulquiorra doesn't know that Aizen probably knows. Which leads to an interesting development, I'm sure. The question of WHY he's hidden it from Aizen will be an interesting story, doubtless.

That said, even if he does turn coat and eventually join the ryoka, I've got a feeling he won't see much screen time. Hopefully he won't be as badly off as Renji happens to be, but at the same time, the alternative is becoming like Byakuya, who almost never shows up, but kicks serious ass when he does.

Also, we have to consider the balance of the forces of good and evil.

Tousen is powerful, but not overwhelmingly so. Kenpachi beat him, and I doubt that was part of Aizen's plan, which means that right now, Aizen has four major pawns left in play (Gin and the top three Espada), and the ryoka, the Captains, and possibly Ulquiorra against him. Assuming the captains against the top three lose but don't die, he's still in a damn tight spot.

Unless the Vizard join his side, rather than attacking BOTH sides and becoming the new villains, Aizen can't afford to lose Ulquiorra storyline-wise unless we're approaching the end of Bleach more rapidly than I think, or at least the end of Aizen being the main villain.

Kubo won't let this end without showing off the Vizard's abilities, if we know him at all. Heck, he still has a couple lieutenants he's probably got fights planned for. So just from a storytelling perspective and the balance of the sides, I'm not sure Kubo can afford to have Ulquiorra switch sides.

[misora.livejournal.com]

It's true, Ulquiorra attacked Ichigo (lol@ your use of 'Kurosaki' :D) twice, now...but he was much more lenient the first time. "If you can stand up and walk away from here...do so." The hole he's just blown in Ichigo's chest in 348 was WAY bigger than the one he did with his hand, earlier. This time he's about the srs damage.

I have the feeling that the balance of good ane evil in this arc (and by that I mean the Arrancar arc) lies with Orihime. I refuse to believe, despite Kubo's insistence on making her seem the helpless damsel and shrieking "Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun!" every five seconds, that she's not going to get the development she deserves and that we've been waiting for all along. I mean, she showed such promise prior to the SS arc, when her powers first awoke to protect Tatsuki. We know she has it in her. She just has to hit rock-bottom emotionally (which, given her expressions in the last two chapters, it's likely she has).

That said, who has been most affected by Orihime out of all the Espada? Ulquiorra. We've seen it, Ichigo's seen it -- hell, probably even Aizen's seen it by now. (And I have my own theory as to why Aizen left Ulquiorra all by his lonesome while the remainder of the Espada and Gin and Tousen accompanied him to Karakura....of course it's slightly cracky, but then again so is UlquiHime shipping. :D) I'm convinced that somehow the turn of the tide will come about via the interplay between Ulquiorra and Orihime.

I agree, we have yet to see the Vizards entering the fight -- and it's most likely we will. However they might be assisting the captains in Karakura, and not in Hueco Mundo...I have the feeling that Kubo intentionally set up the entire Ulquiorra/Ichigo/Orihime setting to play out a possible change of heart on the part of Orihime, in some form or another, or to give her her big dramatic development moment.

...I just really have no idea what that is.

Isn't it possible, after three hundred fifty chapters, that Bleach might end soon? Or no? I mean, it's got to end sometime. It can't go on and on and on like Inuyasha. :/

[mercury-sparrow.livejournal.com]

At the same time, though, the blow he dealt to Kurosaki then was fatal. What he just did to Ishida? Brutal. But non-fatal. I think it returns to the fact there that, to him, Ishida is trash, too weak for him to need to kill.

Well, it depends. There are the proponents of the theory that Ulquiorra's going to pull a Byakuya... but we have to keep in mind that Rukia didn't do ANYTHING to affect that fight, and wasn't really able to come into her own again until the next arc. Admittedly, Hime's development is very different in this arc, and is leading her to become stronger... But, honestly, I'm more ready to believe that if she finally DOES stand up for herself and enter the fray, it will be for one of two things: to face Ulquiorra herself and fight against him, or to force down Shirosaki without fighting him.

I meant that they'd probably end up in the Karakura battle, sorry if that wasn't clear. That said, those stuck in Hueco Mundo and those in Karakura will both have to regroup at some point, and right now it's looking like it's overwhelmingly in the good guys' favor OVERALL. Which is kinda weird.

Define soon. Remember, we first saw the Espada, what... 200 chapters ago? Three still haven't released. And we know all of... what, ONE shikai of the Vizards? He's got at least another hundred chapters to go, love, ESPECIALLY if you consider the "negative number" chapters and the fact that they indicate he's going to fill out even MORE background info with more of them later on.

It's not over, love. Not by long shot.

[misora.livejournal.com]

That's true, re: seeing the Espada 200 chapters ago. Gah. Time moves sooo~ slowly in Bleachland.

The whole Ulquiorra/Byakuya comparison still stands, I feel, even if Orihime is involved. It might be exactly because of Orihime -- or some danger he perceives to her -- that makes Ulquiorra switch sides. *shrug* It's just a theory, at this point. Who knows what Kubo has up his sleeve.

I see a third way that Orihime could stand up for herself AND end the fighting...and that is to embrace her powers, not destructively, but in a shielding way -- maybe even rejecting something. (Or someone.) I still don't know if she'll fight Ulquiorra hand-to-hand, and I have a hard time seeing her face down Shirosaki...she's terrified of that guy. I think she's actually less afraid of Ulquiorra's released form, than she is of Ichigo's Hollow.

♥ I don't really want it to be over, truthfully, but it's just so suspenseful right now that I can't wait to find out what happens next! It's nervewracking...