User blog comment:Godisme/BORN IN THE DARK/@comment-5691171-20121102002209

Although a weekly reader of this blog I have never decided to participate in the discussion. Let me say in advance kudos to Godisme for a regular analysis with abundant literacy theory. I feel compeled to take part in this weeks discussion since for most parts I have disagreed on many counts with Godisme for a while now and since the Quincy Invasion seems to be over, or drawing to a close. First of all my feeling is that Kubo planned for Ichigo to have Quincy powers/potential from the very start. I say this because of the fact that he is a spiritually aware human. As far as I remember, there has never been hinted that Shinigami were spiritually aware humans when they were living. So the fact that he was able to see and communicate with souls categorizes him more as a Quincy than a Shinigami. It is certain (as many have said so before) that the famous Aizen phrase "because you are a human and a..." doesn't contradict the recent turn of events since Quincies are humans. This also aplies to Masaki as well. So this isn't Kubo trolling his story. From my point of view this is Kubo commiting himself to his story. This is further supported by the fact that Isshin's past has been concealed for such a long time. And it is also supported from Kubo's interview about the mystery behind Masaki's death. I mean there is a story there that has been developed to some degree from the beginning and is yet to be revealed. I, too, am extremely reluctant to conclude that Juha Bach's last frase was literal. And that brings us to Isshin. It is (considerably) certain that Aizen and Isshin knew each other. That being the case, Isshin had to be around at approximately the same time as Aizen in Soul Society, or at least some time after the events of the Turn Back the Pendulum arc. We know that he wasn't a captain when Aizen was a Vice-Captain. Considering this and the fact that Aizen was not aware of the existence of Royal Guard at the time, Isshin's status within it, at least at said time, seems a little unsupported. Meaning that he became a captain after those events, and if the theory presenting him as a Royal Guard member turns out to be accurate, that also means that Isshin became a member some time after that. We could maybe glean at the situation which drove Urahara, Yoruichi and Tessai out of Soul Society and come up with a similar theory for Isshin's departure. I think that this is further advocated if we look at Ichigo's age. Isshin can't have fallen for Masaki and be exiled from Soul Society because of his mating with a Quincy at the time of the Quincy extermination since ichigo isn't so old. Something must be said on the contrary as well, and I feel that Juha Bach's attempt to bring Aizen to his forces could be important and throw away my previous arguments regarding timelines. That hints other instances of interaction between Aizen and Isshin. Is is obvious that Aizen continues to taunt the story. I also think that Aizen's interest in Ichigo was exactly because of his lineage. Aizen's goal was to trancend Shinigmai and Hollows alike, and a being like Ichigo must have been pretty enticing to investigate. Nevertheless, Isshin being a member of the Royal Guard is a theory that I am more than willing to accept, mainly due to sentimental reasons. That is something that is going to be interesting nonetheless. Regarding storytelling, I am one of those that are happy with the pacing af this arc so far and the griping atmosphere it has created. And let's look at the facts: Yamamoto couldn't kill Juha Bach all those years ago. That is what Mayuri said. So him being able to overpower Yamamoto seems plausible. And I don't think that Yamamoto wasn't able to defend himself more properly. It's just that he was unwilling to do so. Judging from the flashback with the young Shunshui that is my cocnclusion. There are many things left to develop and reveal, like this Shatten Bereich and I, for one, think that revelations will happen and that many parts that at the mon=ment seem disconnected will be explained in a way that would prove them to have been already hinted or thought of. I do not wish for this argument to be a defence for Kubo. It is just my opinion on the matter.