Title: To My Death I Fight
Author: BahamutReishiki
Rating: M
Genre: Adventure/Humor
Status: WIP
Fandom: Bleach/Kill La Kill
Pairings: None as of yet
Summary: It's been seven months since Ichigo managed to defeat Aizen during the Winter War. Just recently settling into new life as a normal human, he is shocked when he finds out he has been accepted into the prestigious Honnouji Academy. Unwilling to go, but not having a choice in the matter, he reluctantly decides to attend but wonders just what the next year will bring.
Link: Here

I flip-flopped between throwing this up for review or simply putting it in the Barely Recommendable to Almost Good thread due to laziness, but decided to give it a whirl. This fanfic as of now is the only Bleach/Kill La Kill crossover on the site, and I find it to be really good. The author has been updating at a fantastic rate, with 10,000-12,000 word chapters every 5-10 days. Some spelling/grammar errors but nothing that distracted me.

I feel like his characters are done really well and are in character. A lot of authors struggle with off-kilter personalities, but Mako and Nui in particular are almost perfect. My worries are that he is going by the Kill La Kill storyline episode-by-episode rather than letting the story flow on it's own. So, he spends entire chapters with some of the KLK filler that could easily has been skipped or glossed over. To my point, the 19th chapter was posted a couple of hours ago and it was the equivalent to the first half of episode 7. Added to that is that this is his 2nd longest story to date and it makes me worry that it won't finish before he tires of it (like it looks like he has apparently done with all his other stories, which are all incomplete, though this is his most popular story to date so maybe that will keep it going).

Also, while it's not a big deal to me because I haven't read Bleach in about 4 years and the author has kept Soul Society out of the story for the most part, but as with other crossovers dealing with super-powered characters, some reviewers have been taking issue with power levels (on the Bleach side mostly).

No pairings as of now, and the author said that a pairing is possible but he won't shoehorn anything in. There have been passing instances in which Ryuuko have shown signs of having a slight crush on Ichigo and Satsuki "respects" Ichigo's strength and resolve. And there are other female characters that "care" about Ichigo as well for varying reasons, but not really in any romantic sense.

It's the story I look forward to the most right now, so I'll give this a 5/5.

 

Is knowledge of Kill La Kill necessary to read?

 

A good amount, yeah. You might be able to get by with a Wiki if there is one.

 

That's really my only gripe with this story. I wish the author was just a bit more creative :S

 

I actually find canon rehashes more enjoyable if you aren't familiar with canon at all.

 

Speaking as someone who went in knowing only that KLK involved sapient clothes in some way, I was actually kinda intrigued by the concept at first, but the interest quickly waned when I figured out it was nothing but a straight canon rehash (which was before chapter 3 ended, and I still have never seen an episode). The whole plot seems to move because the plot demands it moves; the characters appear to have no agency and every single scene feels like it's being railroaded to be exactly the same as canon, just with Ichigo added, despite how little sense it makes. It got painful to read pretty damn quick.

I also found myself despising the portrayal of the villain or whatever she is; the manic pixie girl thing that runs around stabbing people with half a pair of scissors. It came across as trying way too hard to make her seem ominous and threatening, again despite how little sense it makes.

 

I started reading this, but gave up after only a couple of chapters. KLK seems like the most outrageous nonsense. A fashion company that 'controls 90% of the world clothing market' which creates living clothes that boost the physical abilities of whoever wears them, and has created a school where they hand the clothes out to kids because reasons :facepalm.

I know it's basically just the plot of dozens of other manga with its own wallpaper pasted over the top, but it really is egregiously fucking stupid wallpaper.

Also, the young woman who is supposed to be in charge of all this shit - apparently purely by virtue of being the daughter of the founder of the fashion house - repeatedly declaring how much she totally can't stand nepotism in any way, shape or form was about to make me eat my keyboard in rage.

 

Updated today, just a few hours ago if I remember correctly. Here

I actually somewhat like the fic to be honest. Not exactly DLP quality, but not inherently bad. Having watched the anime in its entirety, I can understand people feeling that the entire premise is just bat-shit stupid and the characters are entirely overdone. It's true, though it isn't the authors doing, they were pretty much exactly the same in the show. All in all, I don't think the series was meant to be watched or regarded with an overly serious, discerning eye, because it sure as hell doesn't take itself seriously. But it is entertaining though, if you can get into it.

A pretty decent(well, more than decent) guilty pleasure that throws in a few twists here and there (or at least tries to for some). As for those saying it's just a rehash of canon, that's mostly true. In the beginning at least. It's around Chapter 13 or so that things start to change up a bit that actually sparked my interest and enthusiasm to continue reading. Nothing incredibly drastic, but more and more history seems to be revealed that simply does not follow canon which brings enough interest to continue reading. Not to mention that a few, notice my emphasis, characters are seeing some character development. If I'm being honest, a lot of characters in both Bleach and Kill La Kill are rather static, which makes them boring to read if not written properly. I don't know what the fuck is up with Kubo, but he can't write for shit. Because really, how basically static and simple is Ichigo's demeanor and personality?

I can understand someone not wanting to sift through 13 chapters in order for any bit of originality to come into play. And I can understand those of you who, despite the somewhat new or original content added, believe it to be a 100% canon rehash + Ichigo. But I don't think it's so bad that it should be inherently disregarded after just the first couple of chapters, though I know the importance of such chapters, as it can be quite entertaining. At least to me anyways.

So I suggest mulling through it in its entirety and seeing if it grows on you. It might, might not, it's entirely up to you and your preferences and the like. I just know that it grew on me.

(I didn't contradict myself too many times, did I? I tend to do that a lot.)

 

If we're recommended KLK fanfic, I did write a little thing called Nebulous Patches, which a full out AU.

Regarding To My Death: It's a very, very blatant rehash. Every chapter is taken straight out of canon, but Ichigo is involved. It's frustrating, because competent writing is behind this rehash, but never-the-less it might as well be an episode transcription, except Ichigo appears now and then.