Downtown Khazan: Ice Cold Utopia

[Dark Soul # 7]

Shinobu was hilarious this chapter. And yeah...**** went down real quick. Kinda love how chaotic it was with Nami, Robin, and Brook getting little moments to shine as they made their escape.

Kyoshiro remains an enigma and his goals a mystery at the moment. But I'm starting to think he's got more of a connection to the Kozuki clan then initially shown.

As for Big Mom...no idea where this is going, but I wonder if this'll lead to her remembering something about her past.

I do love that Brook's big plan was just to scare the enemy into running away. It kinda reminds me of Han Solo chasing Storm Troopers in Star Wars. And in both cases the bad guys realize that they don't have to be scared.

I'm really wondering what's going to happen with Komurasaki. She was so hyped up and got a ton of focus that I doubt this is the last we'll see of her. And her connection to Kyoshiro adds to both of their mysteries.

From this chapter I'm getting the sense that Orochi is the kind of dude that relies on the raw power of his devil fruit and that he might not be especially skilled with it.

I'm just hoping that we don't get a redemption arc for Big Mom. Oda could pull it off, but I like her as a crazy old pirate lord.

[Nik Hasta]

You know, while the lack of over-arching direction for Ichigo is a problem, I've always appreciated that he doesn't have the same kind of lofty goals as Luffy or Naruto and other protags like them. It made him feel more grounded.

He's just got this innate sense of right and wrong and acts upon that as best as he can. The rest of the factions of the series are all wrapped up in their own politics, power struggles and self-centered agendas, and then there's Ichigo who's just trying to do his best to help out. It's a dynamic that's touched upon but was never explored as much as I'd hoped.

While I agree that you could do the more reactive character type well, it just continually puts Ichigo at odds with the narrative he's in. It's quite hard to say what he really wants, even if it's not the lofty ambitions of his contemporaries, he doesn't really have a thing that drives him or, more accurately, he doesn't have a thing that drives the narrative or is tangible enough to make his agency drive said narrative.

Like, there's a lot in there that could have worked. They could have done more with the mystery of his backstory but Ichigo never seems to really care that much, if they'd gone the "group of friends fight monsters," route that was mentioned earlier it could have been more focused on "But what are hollows really and why are they the way they are?" or have Ichigo be more proactive in trying to curb their incursions into Karakura Town.

There was stuff there but Kubo clearly didn't have a clear idea of what it should be or explore it as you say. Ichigo just needed a reason of his own to do things.

[TheLastDalek]

While I agree that you could do the more reactive character type well, it just continually puts Ichigo at odds with the narrative he's in. It's quite hard to say what he really wants, even if it's not the lofty ambitions of his contemporaries, he doesn't really have a thing that drives him or, more accurately, he doesn't have a thing that drives the narrative or is tangible enough to make his agency drive said narrative.

Like, there's a lot in there that could have worked. They could have done more with the mystery of his backstory but Ichigo never seems to really care that much, if they'd gone the "group of friends fight monsters," route that was mentioned earlier it could have been more focused on "But what are hollows really and why are they the way they are?" or have Ichigo be more proactive in trying to curb their incursions into Karakura Town.

There was stuff there but Kubo clearly didn't have a clear idea of what it should be or explore it as you say. Ichigo just needed a reason of his own to do things.

I think Burn THe WItch introduced an interesting concept, that destroying Hollow's is a backwards practice that the Soul society do and that other branches of the afterlife actualy contain them and put them somewhere that they can't hurt anyone.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

So fun little thing I just learned.

In 2015 a phone scammer tried to scam an older couple (in their nineties). He threatened them when they refused to pay and even said he would burn down their house.

What the scammer didn’t know was that he was calling the house of William Webster.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Webster

You know, the only man who was head of the FBI and CIA, and now sits as the Chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

...........

You done screwed up.

The scammer is currently in jail.

[Nik Hasta]

I think Burn THe WItch introduced an interesting concept, that destroying Hollow's is a backwards practice that the Soul society do and that other branches of the afterlife actualy contain them and put them somewhere that they can't hurt anyone.

I don't think I'm familiar with that. That's a cool addition to the lore.

[Dark Soul # 7]

I don't think I'm familiar with that. That's a cool addition to the lore.

It's a one shot Kubo did for some Shounen Jump celebration issue.

It takes place in London and follows two witches that work for the western branch of Soul Society.

It was quite fun.

[Dark Soul # 7]

My Hero Academia: The series is still going for the whole "Deku and Bakugou are now traditional rivals" bit. But it does feel a bit lacking since the relationship does have the big issue of Bakugou being a shitty bully to Deku for most of their lives hanging over it without actually being adressed all that well. And it's so weird since everything else about Bakugou has been handled really well. But this one fairly important aspect feels like it's been pushed to the way side and it kinda takes away from what Horikoshi is trying to build here for me.

Which is why I enjoyed Deku and Todoroki's little interaction quite a bit more. It feels much more enjoyable and balanced. And I got a good chuckle out of Endeavor stopping midfight just to check that Shoto send him a PM.

Eri is squishy, floffy adorableness as usual and her reaction towards Monoma is comedy gold.

It's a nice chapter to round up the arc and set up things for the future, I see that name Mic dropped about a third buddy to him and Aizawa. Not sure which storyline I want the next arc to focus on though. But I do want an update on the League of Villains.

[Gryphon]

I got to see an early viewing of the pilot for the boys.....I need episode 2 now!!!!!

[FistofIron]

I got to see an early viewing of the pilot for the boys.....I need episode 2 now!!!!!

Sweet! How does it compare to the comics?

[Gryphon]

Sweet! How does it compare to the comics?

Much Much Much Better

[Nik Hasta]

Much Much Much Better

That's a low bar but I'm glad it cleared it.

[FistofIron]

Much Much Much Better

Oh nice. Is Butcher still awesome?

[FistofIron]

I’m reading 100 Bullets at the moment and I’m enjoying it.

[master of read]

my waifu drew this.

[Gryphon]

Oh nice. Is Butcher still awesome?

Yup, thanks to Karl Urban!

Wasn't sold on Hughie being American at first but Simon Pegg playing his father (with an American accent!) was a nice touch.