After months and months of speculation, the arrancar arc is FINALLY OVER! The later parts of the arrancar arc(particularly the fake karakura and deicide sub-plots) have made this my favorite arc in Bleach. To me the main problem I had with the Soul Society arc was it was rushed for me. It was fight,fight,fight! It did not really give me anytime to become emotionally attached to anyone, it only got really good at the last 10 or 15 chapters. The arrancar arc to me was more emotionally satisfying without getting too shojō(as Tite Kubo has mentioned he does not like fake lovey-dovey crap(coughs Twilight) he writes actually emotional stories and most of Kubo's most loyal minions...fans are female. But, anyway my thoughts on the chapter.
Ok first the summery:
Mayuri is beginning the process of transporting real Karakura back to the world of the living and Captain Unohana is healing the visoreds and Shinji thanks Unohana for saving Hiyori's life. Then Byakuya, Kenpachi and Yachiru return to their squads in the Soul Society. When Kenpachi is asked by a squad member how his fight was he responds to it as being "boring." Then the scene switches back to Las Noches to a dying Yammy, where his only "companion" is his dog(which I have named Taco) comes to his side as Yammy lays bleeding. Yammy then asks the dog why has he come and then Yammy(presumedly) dies. Meanwhile back in the Soul Society Urahara has just sealed Aizen and Ichigo and Urahara have a little heart-to-heart about his friends and Aizen and his motives. Then, Orihime, Rukia, Chad, Uryū, and Renji(who are all for the most part except for Orihime were severely injured in the fights in Hueco Mundo) meet Ichigo and have a happy little reunion. Then suddenly, Ichigo falls to the ground screaming in pain.
Ok, I thought this chapter was very fulfilling, it tied up a lot of loose ends without it being too rushed. I believe in the coming weeks we will have more things cleared up and then a whole new set of problems will pop up, this is technically Shonen afterall. I like how we kinda get a clean slate, Aizen is gone(for the time being, I mean we all know this can't last too long), Ichigo is going to start fresh..and no he is not turning into a hollow. Tensa Zangetsu and Hollow Ichigo fused and they are on-in-the same so Ichigo no long has Soul Reaper or Hollow powers. There are a lot of other possible explanations, but that would be going into speculation, so let's not go there.
Overall I would give this chapter a rating of 8.5 out of 10.
I wish I could do blogs like this every week like Lia and Godisme, but I do not have the same commitment that they do. I will only be doing these when it is really ground or mind breaking. As much as I love Bleach, I cannot honestly commit myself each and every week.
Anyway what were your thoughts on the chapter, what do you think will happen next(no crack theories please), who do you want to see come back. Take care and BANKAI! --Lemursrule (talk) 03:26, October 1, 2010 (UTC)