I think it fairly obvious that Ichigo is a Vasto Lorde class Hollow/Vaizard/Arrancar now. In fact, I won't be surprised if Kubo found a way to return him to life or something. His physical body is still at Urahara's shop, isn't it? One last use of the Hogyouku before it is destroyed - fuse all of Ichigo's various classifications like Vast Lorde, Vaizard, Shinigami and his physical body to create the ultimate being or some such thing.

 

Yeah but if you hadn't noticed, when Ichigo gets an upgrade, that's generally his ace-in-the-hole until he goes up against a more OP opponent. I mean he flips out his Shikai to match the regulars in Seireterei, then the Bankai to match that dude with the flower sword (personally I think Ichigo shoulda gotten pwned by Kenpachi but then we'd have no storyline so meh). He whips out the Vaizard mask when he has to go up against the regular arrancar and now he's gotten the upgrade of Vasto Lordedness. Even if he has the choice of using between these, we're never gonna see his old existing forms again because they simply cannot match the new bad guys that's being thrown at him. Ulq is No.4, and Bankai + Mask can't keep up therefore, super Hollow (or an equivelant) will be the new constant in chapters from now.

Personally, I think that Kubo's going to use the whole Vaizard looking thing for temporary purposes where he shits all over No.4, nearly kills one of his friends, regains control of himself and gets a whole new costume.

 

You have to realize Nuebus that Ulqiorra is unfortunately the most powerful of the arrancar, his new fangirl form is something that none of the other arrancar have or even know about. It's a level above, which is why it's a bit frustrating, cyclical empowerment is pretty common in fiction (both fanon and canon) and yet Bleach particularly does it very badly. I assume that there will be precedent for Ichigo's form as well because like the Vaizard thing it could be something he only discovers the truth about later.

I don't know when the Vaizard are going to intervene but I hope they do soon, considering around 3 of them were captains I expect they could put up a hell of a fight. I don't know if they will interfere directly with Soul Society, I expect they will confront Aizen and co directly though whenever Aizen reveals himself.

 

I'm not so sure about Ulquirria being the strongest. Or his claim that he's the only one, or that no one knows. Can you really picture Aizen NOT knowing about the second form? He could have had a number of other Espada fulfill the role Ulq did. I think if he was really the strongest, he'd be #1. You can't pull something like this over Aizens eyes. Even if he's the only one to achieve second form, he's likely still weaker than the top 3. Ulquirria has talked a lot of shit, but not shown a ton of proof.

Unless this is another of Aizens "All is going according to plan" schemes.

 

THIS.

His faggot-form doesn't necessarily make him the most über opponent ever. I'm just hoping that Ichigo kicks his butt soon so we can go back to the interesting fights, like Shunsui or Ukitake fighting... And MOAR Vaizards would be appreciated

 

New Chapter:

Ulqy spouts a bunch of arrogant bull shit and Hollow Ichigo WTFPWNS him for it.

"Don't underestimate me because you ripped off my arm. I can regenerate any body part except for head and vital organs."

Ichigo then proceeds to take Ulqy's most powerful attack with his bare hand, cut him in half, and obliterate him with a cero.

Does anyone think that Aizen just traded in his 4th espada to gain Vasto Lorde Ichigo?

 

What the hell is the point of trading strength for regeneration when he can't regenerate organs?

"Oh, I'm totally invincible... unless you hit me in my torso or head. Then I'm screwed."

 

Atleast Tito cut the fight relatively short for once instead of dragging it on for another few chapters of trading powerup for powerup.

 

This.

But why do I get the feeling he's gonna cut back to what's happening in Karakura Town v2.0 rather then show us what happens after Ulq got deaded?

 

I actually would prefer if he showed what happens in Karakura 2.0, because the situation Ichigo is now in can only mean:

- he will fight Hichigo in his mindscape again;
- Orihime thanks to the holy power of love and friendship will somehow reject his transformation;
- Unohaha comes and cleanses Ichigo.

Out of all those scenarios I prefer the 3rd one the most, but, IMO, even that isn't as interesting as what is going on in Karakura.

[EDIT]
Found spoilers at MangaHelpers, so:

Spoiler

Source: Bleach Asylum
Credits: Spacecat
Verification: Confirmed

The chapter starts with Rukia, Chad and Renji.
Yammy appears in front of them (falls from above). ()
He says "That four eyed bastard, I'm gonna kill him!"
The he goes to attack the three of them but suddenly they can all feel a huge reiatsu.
Rukia asks "Is that Ichigo's reiatsu?"

The scene changes.

We see Ulquiorra who still has his head, right side and lower half intact.
Ichigo tosses him away but then walks towards him intent on chopping up what is left.
Ishida stops him. "If you go any further you won't be human anymore, stop this Kurosaki."
Ichigo faces Ishida and then draws his sword before stabbing Ishida in the abdomen.
While Orihime is walking towards Ishida she can hear Ichigo talking.
"He..help...I will help." Ichigo mutters as if it's a mantra.
Orihime is astonished (it's like she is disappointed in herself because she came here to help and then just ended up relying on Kurosaki kun again).
She says "stop it Kurosaki kun" but Ichigo just moves towards Ishida. He is about to kill him with a cero from his horns however Ulquiorra who was meant to be dead helps Ishida by cutting off one of Ichigo's horns and folding the other (Ulquiorra's body is fixing itself little by little).
It ends with a big explosion over Ichigo's head.

sidetext: The last attack (the spoiler writer commented that maybe it means Ulquiorra used the last of his power to save Ishida, though this is just speculation).

The title is the Lust 6.

 

Awesome a possibly repenting Ulq and a chapter filled with more Orihime sappy bullshit-ness. Truth though that i'd be interested in seeing whats going on in the town, particularly the fight with Stark and was it Ukitake or Juushiro?

 

Ukitake Juushiro is one person (13th squad, Rukia's captain, the sickly white haired guy) and Stark is fighting Kyoraku Shunsui(8th squad, wears pink and is the character Stark was made as a mirror of, what with their laziness.) and yes, I want to see that fight too.

Shunsui is the man.

 

Oh well shit, cant believe i fucked that one up, cheers Psychotic Cat.

Anyone know the release date for fade to black on DVD? Keen to see some Rukia action despite my minor anamosity to her.

 

New chappy up, not bad, don't know about DVD but this week does see some Rukia so enjoy.

Spoiler

lol @ dumb cunt Ishida

 

Unfortunately Lord Osiris you're not going to have much luck with the third movie. I'm not sure if you're looking for a subbed or a raw version, but either way both of those require a DVD to be released in Japan. The DVD of the third film is not likely to be released until September it then has to be subbed and put up. The reason I say Sept is that both of the previous Bleach movies were released in December and the DVD was not put on sale until September of the next year. Dattebayo have for example only just finished subbing the first movie (although that has been available for sale since October in the US).

Tl;Dr Nothing till September at the earliest. No release date for the DVD and even then we have to wait for it to be ripped, subbed and put up for download. A legitimate version? Probably not until late 2010 at the earliest I'd guess.

Back to the chapter though, I loved Ishida getting owned, that shit was epic. Reformed Ulqiorra? I ruddy hope not. I do foresee the potential for Orihime going up and hugging Ichigo and thus returning him to some sort of normalcy. If he didn't get changed back, that would be kind of awesome as well, if he became her ridiculously overpowered and demented guard-dog.

^^ my avatar agrees.

Seriously though I hope we get back to the captains versus the top 3 arrancar soon, my Halibel hottie sense are a tinglin. Even better would be if we got to see Yamamoto kick some more ass .

 

Not sure if it was Jon or Shezza who I argued with that Ulq would survive, but whatever, I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO! :awesome

God I fucking hate typing on my ps3 ;_;

 

Spoiler

Are you sure about that?

 

Oh Ulq is gone alright. And 'quietly...' too. Ichigo returning from the dead a second time (or is it third, or fourth?) is really the low point of things. I mean at this rate, he can't be killed. It's the second time he's got a hole ploughed though his chest and survived. Maybe that's the power that'll defeat Aizen? The power to not die no matter what.

 

You're forgetting that the more dead he becomes, the more powerful he becomes.

Shit, not wonder he wanted his arm and leg to get cut off. He's be Jesus level at that point.

Frankly, I'm pretty tired of this manga by now. The author can draw a fight (somewhat, because half the panels are white with black streaks or black with white streaks), but he sure as hell can't tell a story.

I don't even understand what the hell the point of all this is anymore.

Protect some king we've never seen? I don't think the protagonist is even aware of this - correct me if I'm wrong.

Rescue a girl who you may just like? In the last chapter he'd rather get maimed just so he could have a fair fight.

Ichigo may be the most lifeless protagonist I've ever seen. Frankly I don't know what his motivations are nowadays.

Fail.

 

I read this pretty much just because I've read it for so damn long I feel I have a vested interest in the characters. The story fails and has been failing for a long time. Now I'm just looking forward to when they finally finish with the Ichigo bit and get back to the fights in Karakura.