Forum:How do you think the next few months will go?

I am curious to see how other people believe the series will continue from this point. Speculation obviously, but just thought it would be neat to see in what directions people expect to see the series taken. I don't follow too much more than the manga, anime, and what I see on here, don't have the databooks, and/or pay attention to the interviews and statements by the author, so just putting that out there but here goes.

I think Aizen will find a way to retreat (with or without gin, but I think that since Gin has released his Bankai he won't survive much longer. Sorry Tinni and all those Gin fans). Maybe not even retreat, just get away from this situation. Then the series will explore a bit of Isshin's past and fill in some holes in the story. Aizen will find a TRUE army of Espada/Vasto Lordes. And we will see more training and getting stronger from some in SS like Kenpachi perhaps learning the name of his sword, new attacks from Sado or Renji, maybe a new Bankai by another Lt. such as Hisagi or Matsumoto. The current crop of Espada while powerful, never really caused the strongest Captains much trouble. Shunsui defeated, yes with help, but the #1 while only in Shikai after the Espada's full release and Toshiro potentially had Harribel finished with his Bankai and taking minimal/moderate damage until Wonderweiss saved her. We still have yet to see the Bankai's of Aizen, Shunsui, Yamamoto, Isshin, Urahara, Yoruichi, Jushiro, not to mention all the Vizards and a few others. I don't know if he cares, but ending the series without showing the most powerful Bankai's and other attacks in the Bleach universe would be devastating to me and I'm sure a few others because we have speculated as to what they would be for years. So I feel that the series will "retreat" from battle a bit, show everyone healing, and the next time the two groups truly fight, it will be THE last battle of the series that will end in some way with Aizen being killed by a combination of actors, but primarily Ichigo. Thoughts? Orionradar 20:41, May 3, 2010 (UTC)

Based on what Kubo has said recently, Bleach is not due to end anytime soon. Idk if you've read the last chapter, but Aizen's just getting fired up. I really don't think he's going to retreat anytime soon. And besides, "true Espada?" Really? I know Bleach tends to drag things out a little, but that would be absolutely ridiculous. Aizen's been the only proper mastermind of the series so far. We need at least one more grand evil to defeat before the series is over.

After Aizen has been taken care of, I agree that it's likely some sort of pause will be implemented. Kubo's got some ground to cover (Isshin, Vaizard/Urahara history, Espada pasts, etc.) so the plot won't be racing ahead just yet, I think. Afterwards, though, there needs to be a new enemy of some sort. I'm voting for the giant Thing seen inside the gates of Hell as a villain, but the King of Soul Society hasn't been covered very thoroughly either.

Development occurs naturally over the series as a whole, though the scale of the current battle in particular may instigate some growth. And besides that, keep in mind that not all Shinigami can ever achieve Bankai at all, though I'm waiting for Rukia to be a bit less of a deadweight.

The top Espada are not to be lightly dismissed, either. The Primera was defeated through the combined effort of the two most experienced captains in the Gotei 13 (one of which essentially voided Cero Metralleta effectiveness), excluding Yamamoto. Halibel, iirc, was handling Toshiro without too much difficulty before he pulled the whole "strongest ice Zanpakuto" thing out of thin air (I really don't see what all the fuss about 'lil Shiro is). Barragan was practically invincible - if Soifon's bankai/nuke launcher couldn't kill him, I don't think much besides Yamamoto and Hachi's barrier thing could've beaten him.

So yeah. Ratiqu 00:51, May 4, 2010 (UTC)

Let me clarify a bit about what I meant in response to a few of the comments. I did not mean that Bleach would end anytime soon, few months more or less just referred to a few new chapters of the manga and the finishing of this arc (maybe). I also don't mean that Aizen will retreat SOON...but I think it will happen. This transformation he is undergoing will probably lead to yet another revelation, and he will then leave saying he has accomplished what he wanted. Even for Aizen, I think that fighting against Urahara, Isshin, and others is too much. I say that knowing full well that he decimated Shunsui and other Captains without a sweat, however they were all injured and tired from their fights with the Espada. Isshin and Urahara are not, and they are both obviously formidable fighters in their own right.

By saying "true espada" what I meant wasn't that these 10 were somehow fake, it was a bad choice of words. We heard that if Aizen had found a group of Vasto Lordes he could've EASILY (I believe is the word) taken SS to task (Hitsugaya I believe said it, not sure). So I believe there is another batch of people protecting Aizen OR to the other point made, Aizen unknowing to the rest of us, is actually working for someone else we have yet to meet (not sure how plausible that is, however the storyline for that is not new). To the idea that we shouldn't take the top espada lightly. I agree about Barragan, but you have to realize that he is a special case, there really were not very many shinigami that could fight with him individually. Harribel, "until he was handling Toshiro without too much difficulty before he pulled the whole "strongest ice Zanpakuto" thing out of thin air." He did, whether it was poorly written or not, who knows, but he had her left for dead until Wonderweiss' appearance freed her. Starrk on the other hand, the reason I usually downplay how powerful he was, wasn't because it took 4 captain-level combatants to fight him (Shunsui, Ukitake, Love and Rose right?) because that is a feat in itself, but because NONE of them, thought of him of being enough of a threat to release Bankai. And while Shunsui's zanpaktou is most certainly unique in its abilities and Starrk had to learn the rules, it was clearly stated that he basically instantly figured it out. Shunsui then killed him in a matter of moves. It seems to me that most of the fight on Shunsui's part was posturing. He didn't really ever take the fight seriously until he had to. Starrk also did not take out Ukitake, Wonderweiss did, from behind.

Again, I have no more information than anyone else, I just think the story will break fairly soon. To me, the arrival of another hero (Urahara) after the arrival of Isshin, tells me from the storylines that I can remember from other media, cartoons, manga, movies, etc. This is the time that the villain realizes that he is not going to win until het gets stronger (finishes transforming with the Hogyoku) and he'll retreat until he knows more about what his new powers are. Maybe I'm wrong, always possible.Orionradar 01:16, May 4, 2010 (UTC)


 * Clarification is a good thing.

It is certainly true that Isshin was practically wiping the floor with him. If you throw Kisuke into the mix, he wouldn't last 5 minutes. The Hogyoku's impossible power (even greater than Kyoka Suigetsu's, which I found impossibly powerful to begin with), though, will throw things heavily back into Aizen's favor. His objective was to make the King's Key. Yamamoto has been neutralized (and Wonderweiss is dead), most of his own troops have fallen, many of the defenders are heavily injured and he currently has one of the most powerful objects available literally under his command. There is no reason to fall back, and every reason not to. The only way he could currently gain more power, since the Hogyoku essentially grants wishes, would be by getting the King's Key and going after the Spirit King's power. Which he is currently in the process of doing.

What would happen, do you think, if all 10 Espada and all the troops Aizen had in his command launched a surprise attack on Soul Society all at once? Properly done, they could, combined, take out the captains a few at a time before turning their attention to the remaining little guys. Soul Society would fall.

An idea came to me while finishing that first paragraph. Suppose Aizen manages to make the King's Key and sets off to kill the Spirit King. Add pursuing Vizard/Gotei 13 and throw the Royal Guard into the mix and you've got a whole new arc. Ratiqu 02:25, May 4, 2010 (UTC)

I think that theres going to be a chapter or 2 of standing around talking about something,issin releases his shikai at some point, Urahara finally shows off his bankai and creates a bloody mess *pun intended*, aizen mocks people some more, gin dies in a spectacular explosion, ichigo uses his hollow mask again but still fails miserably, issin shows off his bankai, urahara needs to get another new hat because his current one gets wrecked, and just for good measure groin kick gets inserted somewhere. I think that covers all the cliche stuff plus a couple things. I dont think that we'll see aizens bankai anytime soon in the series because his shikai is perfect hypnosis on everyone but the blind, and where can you go from that, its kinda like "my shikai destroys the universe" there isnt anything immediate that comes to mind when trying to improve on it.Lazychubb 06:10, May 6, 2010 (UTC)