triple bleach and other stuff

Bleach Episode 250 was entirely a flashback into Koga’s past. Koga, by the way, for those of you who aren’t following the arc but nonetheless for some reason have been reading all that I’ve been saying on the topic, Koga’s Muramasa’s long-lost master, who was sealed away in the World of the Living after his attempt at kicking up a Zanpakutō rebellion (which is what they had said earlier, and is incidentally inconsistent with the flashback) was thwarted. So returning to the nub, the flashback opens on a hill, where Ginrei Kuchiki and a guy who’s manifestly Koga are standing and staring at a small-scale Soul Reaper rebellion taking place below. It’s revealed than that Koga not only has “some sort of” relationship with the Kuchiki’s, but a very significant one. He refers to Ginrei as “father”, so go figure. Actually it’s later hinted that Koga was adopted by the Kuchiki’s. They said that Ginrei treated him “like a son-in-law”, but Koga’s full name was Koga Kuchiki according to the numerous referrals to him in the flashback, so he couldn’t have been a son-in-law. The only thing he could have been is an adoptive son, which is the idea that some people put forth in the comments section of the video as well. So anyway, Koga enters the battle scene, releases a sizable amount of spiritual pressure, thoroughly intimidating his enemies, and then proceeds to release Muramasa. (“Whisper Muramasa.”) Somehow I find it weird that a guy who has consistently come across as a guy despite the fact that everyone knew he was a Zanpakutō should be referred to as one would refer to a Zanpakutō. I mean, “Scatter Senbonzakura”, “Roar Zabimaru” and all sound cool, because the Zanpakutō in question have been introduced to us as Zanpakutō, something which is inferior to, or is rather a symbol of the commanding Soul Reaper—not a separate entity. So the fact that Muramasa, who is always shown to be in control of things, should be commanded by a Soul Reaper belies my earlier impression of him. Returning to the story, after a lot of equivocating, Koga was set up by the rebels, and sentenced to a hundred years’ imprisonment in the World of the Living. Muramasa’s power, which was believed to be a threat to peace (Ginrei had warned Koga not to let his Zanpakutō take over him), would be nullified. Ultimately, Muramasa materialized before Koga even when the latter was in prison and bereft of his katana, and freed him, killing the guards as they effected their escape. Koga was obviously recaptured, because otherwise he wouldn’t have ended up being sealed away. So Koga in the present releases a massive amount of spiritual pressure in order to blow away Ichigo and Rukia. He then proceeds to stab a bewildered Muramasa. I don’t know what the implications are: if he’s actually trying to destroy the power, his own power, of which he was so proud, and which resulted in his incarceration in the first place (if destroying your own Zanpakutō is even possible), or if he’s trying to regain control over his Zanpakutō by making it submit to him. The episode ends there. Footnotes: Muramasa’s gay. In the flashback, during a conversation with Koga, he says, “You are strong, and beautiful.” It would also explain his desperation to free Koga, although this could also be connected to his own failing health and the only means for him to stay alive. The hints at the possibility of Muramasa going out of control may have some sort of significance in the future episodes.

Next. Chapter 386 was fortunately not a drag. It turns out that when Tosen’s resurrection form is this ugly mutation: a cross between the Minotaur and a giant bug. Oh, he was so ugly that I almost laughed out loud on seeing him. By that I mean ugly funny, not ugly as in oh-my-gosh-I’m-going-to-throw-up, which might have been the case if this were some Hollywood movie and not Japanese manga. Anyway, Tosen could remarkably see. He had his little moment when a realization to this effect struck him, and he went all psychotic and started singing “I can see!” until he realized that he was making an enormous fool of himself. He started going, “So that’s how the sky looks!”, “This is how blood looks!”, and then rounded and Komamura and said the he was uglier than Tosen had thought. That was Kubo’s mistake. You see, Tosen who was blind by birth, was never in any real position to comprehend what the words “beautiful” or “ugly” mean, much less see them, so even if miraculously he was bestowed with that ability, the last thing that would come to mind are the concepts of “good” and “ugly”, especially since he hasn’t yet seen what a human looks like (Shuhei doesn’t count: he was injured)—the basis of comparison for Komamura’s “ugliness”. Also, he stopped way too soon in relishing his newfound vision, which although isn’t a bad thing, considering how much it would prolonged the events in the series, is not exactly realistic. I’m glad that they didn’t drag the fight on forever, as often happens in Bleach, and have Shuhei to thank for that. Well, Tosen lost his vision again, so it’s safe to assume that he’s dead.

A third, unlikely addition to this chain of Bleach-related articles (?): Today Bleach premiers on Animax in India, and as I am to understand, all over Asia. I don’t have any real need to watch the anime, since I’ve already watched it a sufficient number of times to keep my memory of past events fresh, but still, it’s an altogether different experience to watch it on TV. I don’t have to endure poor video and audio quality anymore, and besides, now that it’s on TV, it’s officially “there”. Maybe my parents won’t be so wary about it anymore. Just for the record, my parents singularly blame Bleach for all the repercussions I’ve suffered on the academic front lately, and although I concede that my obsession has somewhat led me astray in the past, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it actually influenced me this severely. On the contrary, I’d say it’s my idealism that makes me score badly whenever I do so, and I really don’t want to go there right now.

Today at school there was Eureka session that my chemistry teacher organized, in which there was this neat documentary on Dark Matter and Dark Energy. It was consistently interesting, not just because they were highlighting a previously unknown, never-before-heard-of scientific concept, but because I’m innately attracted to the subject of outer space, and have been so since I was a kid and my dad bought me this book on the Solar System. Astrophysics is in my opinion an extremely interesting field of science, and if I weren’t so firmly intent on getting a job that pays, I would have unhesitatingly, resolutely chosen to study astrophysics for the rest of my life. Maybe if I change my mind later on I might become an astrophysicist. Who knows, I might even get the Nobel Prize for Physics, and thus money and fame. A pleasing prospect.