So, a read through Bleach from the very beginning, in sequence... is actually rather a hell of a lot better than the earlier chapters of the anime. And reveals some very interesting details. Bear in mind I'm only on issue eight or nine, something like that, so there might be a few of these posts to come.
1) There are dinky little single panel sketches between each issue, the first of which solves one of my long standing questions about the story. It takes place immediately after the first fight that Ichigo has, Strawberry is laid out unconscious (for reasons unknown... passed out from too much power too quickly is probably the implication), Rukia is in her white outfit having just had all her power leached out, and there's a single sandaled foot in view as Urahara approaches. That solves my question from a few pages back, then (5. What happened to Ichigo and Rukia in the blank space between issues 1 and 2?): Ichi was just out cold.
2) There's much more emphasis on the pairing of Ichigo and Orihime than in the anime. Inoue herself is very up front about it from early on, indeed Strawberry is another of the reasons for her dead brother's jealousy and she's very easily distracted from Hollow Bro's rampaging by her orange haired crush.
3) The backstory for Orihime and Chad, along with their historical connection to Ichigo, is much stronger than in the anime. Rather than having barely any experience of Ichigo Inoue has known him (and fancied him) for ages. She's also the product of a much nastier upbringing with abusive parents who she fled with her older brother. Chad is introduced as having Ichigo's back from the first issue in which he appears, defending his friend from bullies at school (rather than this side of their relationship being introduced much later as it is in the anime). All in all this creates a much stronger bond between the central characters, mainly through creating a sense that they stick together because adults just cannot be trusted not to abuse you, go workaholic and neglect you, get caught up in weird displacement grief or just plain die on you.
4) Chad's line, "My only saving grace is that I'm tough." I know he says this in the adaptation, or something similar, but in stark black on white it put a lump in my throat. Chad = Colossus.
5) Rukia's line when she discovers that her gigai has no special tricks, "Those lunatics at the development department! They do nothing but pay attention to the unnecessary points!" So true, and the beginning of a theme that will run and run for years. And a neat foreshadowing of exactly what is going on inside her.
6) Last and by far the best is Isshin's furious conversation with the Karakura Town hospital when the car crash that injures Chad stretches their clinic past breaking point, "Tell your manager that this is a 'Request from Kurosaki!' Then tons of beds will open up!" It's a moment of practically unnoticeable foreshadowing that won't be explained until four and a half years later when Ryuken and Isshin are bitterly reunited when their sons go to Hueco Mundo... but by then you'll have long forgotten about such seeming irrelevancies unless you've gone re-read crazy.
Kubo is THE MAN. He'd have to be to have created Kurosaki Isshin so carefully, with such a sparing lightness of touch, from the very beginning.
319... exactly how many simultaneous battles are going on right now? Ichigo vs Ulquiorra, the Nakamakuras fighting an army of Exequias, Ikkaku vs Po, Yumichika vs Charlotte Coolhorn (great name indeed, potential for laughing at the cross-dressing Arrancar... not so great), Hisagi vs Findor, Kira vs Abirama, the Barragan sit-down face off against EVERYONE... it's all going a bit apeshit. I admit that I'm slightly disappointed by the early faceoff between the pillar defenders and Barragan's Fraccion pipping Captain-level ass-kickery to the punch. I was looking forward to Stark, Halibel, Kyoraku, Ukitate and Soi Fong getting moments to shine, but it appears as though the Law of Escalating Threat is in place to delay that orgasm for a while. Hisagi, Yumichika and Kira aren't favourites of mine, being a swotty hopeless hero worshipper, one-note narcissist (OK, two note given his hidden magic Zanpakuto) and doormat respectively (so far I'm only loving Kira in the anime filler). Ikkaku is freakin' awesome but we saw him blow his bankai wad ages ago. What more can we learn about him here?
Of course things may not be so simple in practise. Kubo loves to give his minor players a moment to shine. The initial thought of Ikkaku vs Edorad left me cold until the former pulled out his utterly unexpected finishing move that forced you to reassess much of his role in the Soul Society arc. And Hisagi's presence is made potentially much more interesting by the possible appearance of Kensei Muguruma.
As hinted above, I'm a little dubious of this Charlotte Coolhorn stuff... although the prospect of Yumichika fighting an entire battle with his eyes closed tight in transphobic disgust does have me uttering a teensy snicker despite myself. Maybe I can explain it as the enjoyment of seeing that preening narcissist having his androgyny reflected back at him through a lens that clearly makes him squirm (and many members of the readership, I'm sure). Isn't it funny (not haha) how *acceptable* androgyny is almost invariably virtually fully female in its depiction, with people getting very het up (pun intended) about the more blokish-looking gender bend? If the joke is firmly aimed at Yumichika then I'm very, very up for this fight. |
