User blog comment:Godisme/BORN IN THE DARK/@comment-2220308-20121031235611

Reading through all of these comments, I found so many points I wanted to address I actually had to write them all down haha. But I'm gonna start by also defending Kubo. Yeah, he writes on the fly. But he also has demonstrated he can plan far ahead. For example, Isshin. He wasn't always a captain, that plot twist was made after Kubo conceptualized Soul Society and the hierarchy of the Gotei 13, but from the beginning, Isshin has always been planned as a shinigami as well. Another (even better) example is Shinji. He was pictured in the very first chapter of Bleach, so we can assume Kubo had SOME kind of plan for him. Moreover, when shinji was introduced, Shinji wrote his name backwards on the chalkboard, and was later seen floating upside down, foreshadowing at his Sakanade's power.

Now, if we fast forward to the present, for the past month, when Yama dominated fake Juha Bach, everyone seemed to think Bleach would end soon. I am not quite sure why, as Kubo has stated multiple goals and things he would answer this arc, as well as mentioning he had finished drawing up the entire royal guard. Clearly, he has a general outline for this arc in the back of his mind. He also mentioned he would talk more about Isshin and Masaki, the latter of whom he revealed more about this chapter. So yes, Kubo leaves plot holes, but in this case, it seems for the time being Kubo still knows what he is doing. Yes, he still does, as in he never really dropped the ball. If you approach this arc as a once a week thing, it's very disjointed. But if you read this entire arc from the beginning, you would see the beginnings of the huge web Kubo is making. Yama had to die, a lot of the captains had to die/be defeated badly, Soul Society had to be mostly obliterated, Ichigo had to have some sort of new revelation as he enters the next cycle of his development. I'm not saying I like how Kubo did it, but I can see what he was trying to do. Another thought that just occurred to me was when Ginjo was revealed to be the ultimate mastermind in the Fullbringer arc, when Ginjo declared he was the one who attacked Ishida, and I remember you, Godisme, saying that when it was drawn the first time, it was very obvious that in fact Tsukushima was the one who did it, not Ginjo (but you forgave that error, bc you liked the plot twist). The next week, we got a flashback, and Kubo showed that exact scene, where Tsukushima sneaked up on Ishida, but it was Ginjo who actually attacked him. The overlying point is that we shouldn't just throw in the towel and say 'screw it', bc I still think Kubo is sticking to some plan, and that even though it's been a rough month or so, you can still see the direction Kubo is taking, and there aren't gaping plot holes yet.

Some other things I would like to comment on: someone brought up that they thought Masaki might not be full Quincy, and that she may have been a descendant of one. This actually sounds a bit plausible. I don't think Juha Bach is really Ichigo's biological father, I think he was hinting towards a more abstract relationship. But what Juha Bach said, at the closing of this chapter (according to mangastream) was "my son, born in the dark." Again, implying a more distant relationship than a direct father-son deal. If Juha Bach was the original Quincy in Masaki's family, or a direct descendant of Juha Bach was in her bloodline (so Juha Bach would still be in her side of the family), then that would make Ichigo by (an admittedly very far) extension Juha Bach's son, 'born in the dark.' Further expounding on this theory, if Masaki, assuming she has at least one, if not more, Quincies in her bloodline, if she married a shinigami and had a child with said shinigami, an enemy of Quincies, then Ichigo would be a son 'born in the dark' in the sense that he has a 'darker' heritage about him (in the eyes of a Quincy).

And on a closing note, to discuss if Masaki really was a Quincy, then her loving Isshin would have probably resulted in some Romeo&Juliet backstory, with the end result being that the both of them gave up their powers to be together. In that case, I feel that Masaki's first reaction would be to protect her son, not run away, and not pull out her bow bc she didn't have any more powers. Note that this is only if we're assuming Masaki herself was Quincy; this doesn't contradict the above theory, bc in both cases Masaki has no powers.

P.S. @Godisme: Didn't Kubo also say he would bring back Aizen? So at the very least, you will see Aizen getting some action before this series closes :D