"Spirits are always with you!" - Bleach manga

[Dark Soul # 7]

Huh.

In a moment of unexpected self exploration Mayuri reflects upon his attachment to Nemu and his personal philosophy as a scientist. And his thoughts are represented as Szayel taunting him. Probably because he thinking "What would the man whose ideals clash with my own say in this situation and how can I do the opposite of that?".

A rather nice chapter and it seems like the fight ends here.

[Reverse Happy]

I'm surprised Nemu ran out of juice after a single 8% hadouken. And that her brain survived the explosion intact. I guess Mayuri could stick it into a new body if he felt like it.

It was weird seeing a mental Szayel out of nowhere.

Not sure if the fight's really over, or if Mayuri just upgraded Pernida into a Tetsuo-esque sentient cancer monster.

[Dark Soul # 7]

I'm surprised Nemu ran out of juice after a single 8% hadouken. And that her brain survived the explosion intact. I guess Mayuri could stick it into a new body if he felt like it.

If he survives this arc I can totally see him sticking the braing into a new body for Nemu 2.0.

Not sure if the fight's really over, or if Mayuri just upgraded Pernida into a Tetsuo-esque sentient cancer monster.

Always a possibility, would be a very Kubo-esque twist. But I'm hoping that it's really over now.

It's been a fun fight but it's time to move on to other things.

[Totoro Man]

I also hope this fight is over. I think any dramatic purpose it might have served has already been fully explored. Mayuri, IIRC, has never had a truly boring fight (like some of the other captains, LOL). I think we all knew that Nemu was going to die as soon as we heard her full name. although it would be nice if he used her brain to bring her back to something like what she was before.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Fight over! One down, five or six (depending on whose side Ishida is on) to go.

I'm surprised that Toshiro and Rangiku have been revived. Bit disappointed since it hammers in that long term bad consequences are not for the good guys in this series. Oh well.

Kenpachi will probably get revived in time for his own big fight scene.

And it is Shunsui vs. Lille Barro up next. ...Shunsuo fights a lot of dudes with guns.

[Reverse Happy]

I was half-expecting Mayuri to get sniped by Uryu after the fight, but I guess Uryu's got a date somewhere else.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Shunsui is showing his serious side this time, as always he's actually prett damn creepy when he goes all out.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Hmm.

I like it. I'm not entirely sure how to describe the two effects after the first one, but I like it. It's creepy and potent.

Askin continues to be great.

[Reverse Happy]

I just realized Mr. X didn't lose his right eye when Shunsui did the wound-mirroring trick.

Now Shunsui's got a mortal wound he can mirror, but I doubt a torso hole will do the trick if decapitation didn't. Not sure how he's gonna get out of this one.

[Robotech Master]

Well, I think specifically the wound mirroring shares wounds either inflicted after the Bankai is launched, or perhaps even specifically only wounds inflicted by the enemy.

Either way, he did say last chapter that regardless of the severity of the shared wounds, they can't die from the shared ones.

Even Drowning the enemy isn't going to work if the enemy is essentially a...head of Reishi puppeteering a body?

Maybe Kyouraku has a reprise or encore ability. The other possibility is that Nanao comes in to help and maybe we see some of the dangers of his allies seeing/experiencing his bankai.

[Reverse Happy]

Well, I think specifically the wound mirroring shares wounds either inflicted after the Bankai is launched, or perhaps even specifically only wounds inflicted by the enemy.

He had the wounds before going bankai, so it's not the former, but it could be the latter.

Either way, he did say last chapter that regardless of the severity of the shared wounds, they can't die from the shared ones.

I assumed that was just referring to his earlier complaint that the wounds he got were painful, but not lethal.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Or it could be that it only duplicates wounds within a certain time period.

Also, I think that the bankai got deactivated after Lille fell down from the decapitation, the surroundings seem brighter.

Nanao having a part in the battle has been hinted at and she does need to actually do something sooner or later in the series.

[Sacred Knight]

I definitely think Nanao should get involved in this battle, but unless she's hiding something major there's no reason to think she'll have much luck defeating him beyond showing off an ability or two.

My guess is the attack Lille just unleashed had an unintended side-effect: destroying the keys that bind Aizen. He'll then kill Lille. If he's an Angel, then get a God to kill him.

[Totoro Man]

so.... what did Shunsui's bankai do apart from make everything dark, cold, and allowed him to do what appears to be super-powered kido spells? I guess his bankai takes on humanoid form, so hopefully it will do something that makes it unique from his shikai. I guess I'm slow on the uptake-- but I didn't see how his bankai was required for the things he did after releasing it.

maybe Nanao will show up, do something, and Shunsui's bankai will attack Lille at the same time. maybe the reason he didn't want Nanao caught up in his bankai's sphere of influence is because his bankai would treat her as a rival/threat more than anything else. not real impressed with his bankai ability at this point. after waiting forever to finally reveal it-- it was just underwhelming. heck, Nemu's feats seemed more impressive on the face of it.

[Robotech Master]

so.... what did Shunsui's bankai do apart from make everything dark, cold, and allowed him to do what appears to be super-powered kido spells? I guess his bankai takes on humanoid form, so hopefully it will do something that makes it unique from his shikai. I guess I'm slow on the uptake-- but I didn't see how his bankai was required for the things he did after releasing it.

maybe Nanao will show up, do something, and Shunsui's bankai will attack Lille at the same time. maybe the reason he didn't want Nanao caught up in his bankai's sphere of influence is because his bankai would treat her as a rival/threat more than anything else. not real impressed with his bankai ability at this point. after waiting forever to finally reveal it-- it was just underwhelming. heck, Nemu's feats seemed more impressive on the face of it.

Essentially it's a series of reality altering effects.

Keep in mind that Lille's Vollstandig renders him incorporeal, even to Kido, but Kyouraku's bankai inflicted things on him more through reality alteration than by literally touching or hitting him with anything.

The Wound sharing is a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing for his opponents. Any wounds they inflict on him will just appear on themselves. The disease part is an auto-inflicted illness, though at the moment we don't really know how severe its affects are. The third part alters the entire sphere of the bankai's influence to be under water, which is both extremely cold and prevents people from ever reaching any edge or surface. The effect of "Drowing" in this water seems to be that you lose your energy, and essentially everyone in it will die when they reach zero. The fourth appears to be an auto-decapitate effect, again trumping someone who previously phased through both physical and energy attacks.