Pretty much the entire series is set up for the Worf effect. That's the main reason for having ranked protagonists and antagonists in this show. Effectively a grid has been overlaid across the Shinigami and the Arrancar, and knowing their place in the grid allows you to judge the level of threat of any given situation, as well as altering relationships across the grid when unexpected things happen. It sets up expectations that are then realised or subverted in different ways. The thorough overturning of the rules in Kenpachi's 11th Division is a case in point. The squad does not operate in the same manner as the others, for example the revelation of Ikkaku's bankai forces you to reassess all the relationships he's had with other characters up to that point. Unexpected events therefore have a ripple effect across the grid and effect other characters who may not necessarily have been directly involved in that event.
Like many apects of Bleach it is a trope of virtually every Shonen show taken to its logical conclusion (it could be said to be an extention of an obsession with social status in Japanese society, honorifics taken to ever greater extremes). You could absurdly oversimplify the analysis and state that every single character in the show exists purely to illustrate the power levels of the main protagonist and antagonist, in that knowing where Ichigo is on the map compared to Aizen is the principle storytelling device that tells us how far we are from reaching the series' conclusion, and that this is the ultimately the point of every battle in every Shonen series. Recognising it is rather like recognising a Western by noticing the guns, hats and revenge narratives, or a mecha show by noticing that it, well, has lots of robots. What's important in the analysis of any given show is not that these tropes exist, but how they're used. You could ask yourself why Ichigo needs to be beaten up by Grimmjow twice in quick succession, for example... until you realise that Ichigo needs to be invested in how Grimmjow lost his arm and how he has regained it, and what that moment of realisation might do to his quest to save Inoue who restored it (another of Aizen's psychological traps, further evidence that she is willingly working for him).
Let's use the example of the two Chad fights in this episode. We can take as a given that Chad's role, like that of every other character in the series, is to illustrate who Ichigo is and how powerful he has become at any given time. An analysis that stops there is like an analysis of a show in which kids pilot giant robots that stops at the point at which the robot is compared to the teenager's own body as it reaches adulthood, sometimes working in the way the pilot intends, sometimes not. In a show that has as its central premise the relationship between Heaven (Soul Society) and Hell (Heuco Mundo), it's important to know that the Arrancar and Heuco Mundo arcs are about the breakdown of a conventional understanding of this relationship as being one of binary 'good' and 'evil.' Chad's powers come from a place that we are now being taught to frame as something other than out and out 'bad.' His reference to his grandfather's soul existing in The Right Arm of the Giant cannot presently be dismissed as metaphor in a series in which there is life after death and souls regularly inhabit unusual objects. The revelation of Chad's power throughout the fight therefore has deeper implications than just how powerful Ichigo might be (as well as the immediate risk to Strawberry from the other antagonists): it is a potential key to his character and history (if it really is his granfather, how has he become seemingly involved in the world of Heuco Mundo? And if Chad's right arm contains his grandfather's soul, what is contained in his left arm?), as well as a key to unlocking the mysteries and cosmology of the show. If Chad has Hollow powers it potentially causes us to question exactly when Ichigo became a Vaizard, because up to now we have been schooled to believe that it is Ichigo's overflowing reiatsu that has altered his friends. Chad had The Right Arm of the Giant before Urahara helped Ichigo uncover his own Shinigami abilities. Up to now I had assumed that the process by which Urahara did this was central to Ichigo obtaining Hollow powers and that it was done intentionally for that result. A Chad that gains Hollow powers from Ichigo before that moment throws this whole theory into doubt.
Again, Chad's seeming inability to wound Nnoitra should not just be interpreted as a clue to how powerful Ichigo and Aizen are at any given moment. Restating: those are the mechanics behind any Shonen show, from Dragonball to Inuyasha to Naruto to Pokemon, and so we take that as a given and look at what else is being achieved using that device. What's important in this situation is the factionalism within the Arrancar and how that illustrates one of the series' overiding themes: that of reform. Gantenbainne's reaction to Nnoitra is important, in that it proves that Dordonni's feelings towards Aizen's Espada are not just unique to that character. The Privaron Espada are all outclassed cast-offs in Aizen's grand reform of the power heirarchies within Heuco Mundo, and as a result their loyalities only go so far. Dondonni displays this by taking on the Exequias in order to buy time for Ichigo (although this is ambiguous, as we really don't know what they are or what their orders are. Are they ordered to pick off everyone involved in the fight, or just the loser?). Gantenbainne's concern is for Chad, and rather than gloating that his former opponent is about to be killed by a comrade-in-arms he screams at him to run. It also reinforces the geography of Las Noches, the inner city that is the Espada Pavillion.
Personally I prefer the order in which events take place in the comic (I still haven't read ahead of the anime, in case you're wondering). In the comic Chad arrives at the Espada Pavillion first, and Nnoitra is the first Espada that we see (his comment that Chad is leading the charge makes reference to it, but is a little out of context here). When Rukia enters the Espada Pavillion herself she feels the damage done to Chad and is concerned about him before she faces off against Kaien/Aaroniero. Not only is Chad being first to arrive more of an achievement for that character (which he seems a little robbed of here), it is also a greater indication of the risk to Rukia, especially when Aaroniero is playing a psychological game with her as well as outclassing her in terms of power.
I think its essential to understand this arc in terms of the subtle subversion of our expectations regarding what Hueco Mundo is and who lives there. As well as the aforementioned effects of reform upon Arrancar society (and the diverse reactions from various characters concerning how they feel about that), we are also seeing Hollow in their own environment, from the comments regarding the non-threatening smaller Hollows to the in-hindsight canny filler inclusion of the Menos breeding grounds. Our heroes are allied with three Hollow (well, more like two Hollow and an Arrancar), all of whom seem like rather decent sorts (although that might change). As well as factionalism between the Espada and Privaron Espada, there are conflicting agendas withint the Espada themselves, with personalities seeming to be as diverse and conflicting as those within the Gotei 13. Every extended fight that has taken place so far has been an examination of differing attitudes of loyalty towards Aizen's regime, with Hueco Mundo being set up as a mirror image of Soul Society, one in the process of reform, the other recognised as being in dire need of shake up and reform. |
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