Discussion Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Separation

Episode 12 was great. Askin's ability is very confusing but he managed to stand up again, only to be slashed down again Tenjiro took down Haschwalt, Shutara fought Uryu. Yhwach was almost bodied by Ichibei but he used the Auswahlen. Now he has the power of all the Quincies in the Seretei. His buddies have revived as well. Squad 0 is in danger. Ukitake and Shunsui talk. Ukitake has something sinister brewing.

 

Episode 13 was amazing. The empowered Stern Ritters fought Squad 0, who were all taken down. Nimaiya then got serious and sacrificed himself along with Kirinji and Hikifune so that Shurata could get stronger(?) We saw Shurata's Bankai which is kind of her domain where she can **** you up in 6 different ways Ichibei's Bankai is ruthless, it can render you nameless and then give you another, in Yhwach's case it was a black ant, who was later clapped. Disaster averted, for now. But I am sure Yhwach will be back and clap them hard.

 

That was my first thought LMAO I thought Aizen somehow made it to the Quincys

 

You will see the importance of Yuha's eyes later on.

Also... Yes, Yhwach is indeed Soul King's son.

Shutara turning Nianzol into a pincushion and Oetsu blitzing the Schutzstaffel will never get old.

Oetsu is such a zanjutsu master that he took out for advanced captain level combatants without even using his own zanpakuto, and with an asauchi that he called a failure. And all while limited to a fraction of his true power by the Blood Oath Seal.

Yhwach escaped the womb using someone else's power. I won't say anything more for now in order to avoid spoilers.

Also... Keep that theme of Ichibei and names very much in mind.

Askin... One of the most broken motherfukkers in Bleach, and one of the hardest to kill.

Dude absolutely did not stand out early, but went on to become a fan-favourite Sternritter.

* Sad noises *

Episode 12 and 13 of Cour 2 were so great that I have watched them many times.

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Congratulations, you have met the second most broken motherfukker in all of Bleach: Ichibei Hyosube, the Manako Osho (the monk who calls the true name).

He is much more powerful and broken than Yamamoto, and the true "leader" of the Shinigami as a whole race. He is the pinnacle of the Shinigami, standing at the top for one million years. Yes, he is one million years old, and has been there since the current Soul King was installed, the current Soul Society was established, and he named every important aspect of Soul Society.

He is so broken that his sealed zanpakuto splashing ink around can erase names, thus taking away their power. In the Bleach universe, names have power. That with no name has no power.

Even Yama-jii would stand no chance against Ichibei.

Genryusai whips out Zanka no Tachi? Well, now it is a nameless asauchi. Ichibei then renames Genryusai to "gecko" and proceeds to slap him across a continent.

That reminds me...

Fun fact regarding Ichibei's Senri Tsutensho (heavenly palm of one thousand ri):

The distance he slapped Yhwach was indeed a thousand rei-ri (spirit miles), a unit of distance used by Seireitei. One rei-ri is 4.828 km.

So Ichibei slapped Yhwach a distance of 4,828 km and shunpo stepped instantly next to him. In the manga, he also slaps him back that distance with the business end of his paintbrush and then once again shunpo steps back that distance instantly. This means, on Earth, Ichibei could slap someone from Beijing to Bangalore and appear next to them in an instant, and at his top speed is very likely a respectable fraction of the speed of light.

Ichibei also has crazy control over his reiatsu. He isn't subject to the same Blood Oath Seal as the other members of Divison Zero. The fact that he could unleash his bankai without quaking the three realms as Senjumaru did indicates unmatched reiatsu control. And, mind you, the other four are nowhere close to Ichibei in power even with their limits released.

Sadly, the anime cut out something from the manga: Yushiro introducing himself to Sui-Feng and thanking her for her service to his sister, then Sui-Feng immediately blushing and commenting on how he has "grown up".

@Laraib

We all thought Sui-Feng was a lesbian. Nope! Her sexuality is just: Shihoin.

If someone be a Shihoin, she will be attracted to them.

Imagine pretty boy Jugram facing Ichibei.

I am the Sternritter B: The Balance.

Ichibei: You are now Sternritter B: The Beetle.

Jugram: Nani...?

Ichibei: Omai wa mou shindeiru! * Literal god stomp with spirit foot! *

I remember people saying the same about Hidetomo Kajomaru. But then we lost him in like three minutes. And Askin... Man, dude turned out to be an actual powerhouse and a quirky character that people liked.

For all we know, Askin could be Aizen. May be Ichibei erased the name of Sosuke Aizen and renamed him to Askin Nakk Le Vaar.

 

I don't like the "your current powers are a fraction of your true power because of XYZ reason" aspect of Bleach tbh, and this happens too often. It's just lazy writing to kill off or buff up a character later. Same happened with Ichigo and Zangetsu, Same thing happened with Squad Zero members, who died fighting Stern Ritters, btw. The fact that people who are supposed to be stronger than the entire Gotei 13 combined lost to 4 chad heist planners and 2 anemic femboys doesn't sit right with me.

There were multiple soul kings?

Yeah, Ichibei is him. John Soulreaper.

 

@Gobb
@Laraib

A fun fact about Senjumaru's bankai: The ways in which she defeated each member of the Schutzstaffel foreshadows a future battle which each will go through in the next two cours.

And two fun facts about Ichibei's Ichimonji erasing names:

(1) In the original manga chapter (chapter 63) where Ichigo meets old man Zangetsu (the manifestation of his Quincy powers) in his inner world - when old man Zangetsu attempts to tell Ichigo that he is actually "Yhwach", his name is censored with black ink. Kubo confirmed that this was because of Ichimonji erasing the name of Yhwach, meaning that he had conceptualised Ichibei even back then.

On that note: Kubo is insane with foreshadowing. He had Unohana's past and Ichibei conceptualised even back before we went to Soul Society. Speaking of... There is another bit of foreshadowing which some fans caught back in the Soul Society arc that will be addressed in Cour 4. I can't wait for Laraib to watch that and piece it together.

(2) When Ichibei cuts Yhwach's name in half, thus making it "Yuha" phonetically, recall that when Oetsu was fighting Lille Barro (the Quincy dude with the reishi sniper rifle) - Oetsu refers to him as just "Yuha". Fans originally thought this was just because of how Oetsu speaks. However, one of the two directors of the TYBW anime confirmed that it was because of Ichibei cutting Yhwach's name in half.

That is how freaking powerful and broken Ichibei is: His ability to erase and/or change names takes effect across all of time and existence. He is also likely some sort of primordial transcended being. Recall that when he unleashed is bankai, Yhwach stated that he could not sense Ichibei's reiatsu, which harkens back to how Isshin could not sense transcended Aizen's reiatsu and Aizen could not sense transcended Ichigo's reiatsu.

The complaint regarding Ichigo's powers is valid, I think. However, with the Division Zero members, there are valid reasons. They each have an Oken in their bones, which combined with their power, could really destabilise the three realms.

And regarding their deaths... Well, you are just going to have to watch Cour 3 first.

Hard to say. Perhaps I should not have used the term "current" Soul King for Yhwach's father.

Well, once again, I won't say more for now since I might spoil some shite. Let's just say the novels have some vague information regarding this.

Ichibei is fat Buddha Shinigami. THE fat Buddha Shinigami.

Meanwhile... Yhwach is evil Nazi Jesus.

 

That's very impressive. And insane actually. Kubo is a madlad.

Yeah I guess it'll all make sense in the end