User blog:Xilinoc/Everything but the Rain op. 8 - "The Defenders"

And there goes all the things we thought we knew.

So Masaki wasn't actually cured of the Hollowfication, which is interesting. I applaud Kubo for not pulling a plotkai moment and making her magically okay again, and instead making it an alternative which also ties into Isshin himself. Props for not taking the easy way out.

Now we know how Urahara stabilized the souls of the Visored. While the process seems a bit complicated, I get what he's saying, and it's a lot more thought out than I believed it would be. Ryūken, while mainly sitting in the background for most of that chapter, provided a remarkable contrast between his current and past self with his outbursts and reasoning, which I like.

And as for Isshin, well, wow. Now I can see why Lemurs wanted to spoil the chapter last night so much. So 1. he's just as in the moment and stubborn as Ichigo, which resulted in two very hilarious dafuq faces from Urahara and Ryūken, 2. his echoing Masaki's speech to Ryūken was a great move on Kubo's behalf, and 3. (the part Lemurs really really wanted to spoil) his losing his powers is actually a result of saving Masaki, not of using Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō, which is a pretty big surprise, but one I appreciate. Him giving up almost everything he has in order to save someone's life is much more appealing to me than him doing so to beat an enemy, and I applaud Kubo on that as well. I'm guessing this chapter is the last one in this sub-arc, and I'm happy Kubo tied up so many loose ends and explained so much while still making it a proper arc instead of just listing things or whatnot.

Once again, this was a great chapter, and while all the chapters in this sub-arc have been great, I will openly say this one is the best out of all of them, and one of the best ones we've had in a while, which also applies to the sub-arc itself. But I'm well aware my opinions are not always that of the majority, so feel free to say what you think down below.