And there’s the conclusion to this arc. Ultimately, the point of all this was to show off Ichigo’s buffness and create/introduce some allies.

Hehe, the current “superpowers” could make a helluva RPG party. You got Ichigo as a frontline swordsman, Chad as a frontline melee, Ishida as range, Orihime for defense and support, Rukia as support… all they’d need is a healer and maybe a caster and they’d be set!

EDIT: Gawd I’m a geek.

Since Chad’s power was revealed, it was no surprise that Orihime would awaken in this ep. I also thought her powers came about later on too. This Quincy Archer story arc involved much more then just a battle between Ichigo and Ishida… ooooh, it made things much more interesting.

Orihime has a cool ability. Overall, it’s more of a support ability even though she has a means to attack. Given it’s diversity though, she could be a formidable fighter. Of course, I’m biased towards anything she does… hehehe.

The main part of this story arc is kicking in now. It’s already been quite tense but it should really pick up starting next ep. My short break from Angelic Layer might just have to be longer, heh.

EDIT: WTH, I used pic in the last entry but why not here. Boooooring.

I wanted a break from Angelic Layer so I started Bleach back up. There were several convenient coincidences that caused this.

I started collecting the (official US licensed) manga and have up to volume four. It turns out, the episode I stopped watching waaaaay back when the series started just happened to be right near the same spot I am up to the manga. Meaning… ep 11 of the tv series is about the same as the end of volume 4 of the manga. Since I recently read what I had of the manga, I don’t feel I’m missing out anything in the anime by starting at ep 12.

Plus, Bleach is tight. I’ve just been biding my time on getting back into it. It’s been a couple years since I read the (scanslated) manga so a lot of this stuff should feel new for me again. I also found out the anime recently passed up where I left off in the (scanslated) manga so once I get current in the anime, it’ll be all new stuff for me.

Anyway, this ep kicks off the Quincy Archer story arc. I forgot about the intensity of this anime. The serious and dramatic scenes feel more real than in other shounen action shows. I will be thoroughly enjoying my overdue continuation of this anime.

Even though I could sorta call this a “re-watch,” technically it isn’t. I did read 17 or so volumes of the (scanslated) manga but I never watched the anime past this ep. Plus, I read nearly all that manga in one night so it’s safe to say I *TOTALLY* overloaded myself with it. I somewhat remember events as they happen but I don’t recall the timeline. The point of this is to mention that I didn’t realize Chad got his “power” so soon. I thought he got it after the crew went up to soul society. It was pimp how he got it though, heh, and his character contrasts well with Karin. Even during this intense fight, they had some hilarious moments.

Oh, and despite possibly being ridiculed for being an otaku, fanboy, or any other nerd-esque description………

I love Orihime…

She’s cute.

She’s funny.

She’s silly

She’s stupid

She’s just too lovely.