BLEACH!

YES! Byakuya has arrived on the whole Yammy scene! But before I get to that bit, I’d like to clarify a few misconceptions I had: It would appear as though Yammy really is as strong as his number would suggest. I mean, not that I’d expect any better from Ichigo, him being so badly injured and all. Ichigo’s Getsuga Tensho barely did any damage to Yammy at all, and in contrast to that, just a simple bala from Yammy was enough to floor Ichigo. And what’s more, something seems to have debilitated his mask, and he can’t summon it anymore. Just as Yammy was about to crush him, Byakuya appeared! Along with Zaraki. The fact that we have Ichigo, Byakuya and Zaraki fighting the same fight should say a lot about the enemy’s strength. Anyway, that was a super hot Hado 33 from Byakuya. And oh, Yammy has tons of legs, as I noticed today. Man, all of a sudden this whole boring, seemingly clichéd fight scene became all too engrossing, and man, if only I had the patience to wait until next Friday to find out what happens next, how this potentially epic fight progresses, and how Ichigo and Rukia take to the arrival of their saviors (I generally like seeing people’s reaction to the arrival of help in the nick of time).

As for the anime, Episode 242 was disappointing. They only showed Byakuya in the beginning—a pusillanimous, debauched, back-stabbing Byakuya, quite unlike the one I talked out in the first paragraph—walking away from the fight unfazed while Senbonzakura kept Ichigo busy. Renji and Zabimaru seemed to have engaged Byakuya in a skirmish immediately after, but we got to see nothing of that, because the anime writers seemed to think that showing how Ikkaku regained control over his Zanpakuto was far more interesting. Sheesh. And guess what? The whole episode focused on just that.

On a different note, I think it’s outrageous that we’re going to have another Phase Test on November 16. It’s just not right. Darn it all.