bleachness

The scan is up at OneManga

I read it last night, was spoiled a few days ago and still the spoilers didn't lessen the impact--Hot DAMN, that was a powerful chapter.

WOW.

There are a few gajillion comments in previous posts I haven't even read yet to the chapter/spoilers/raw pictures etc and from what I've seen in forums of the fandom reaction, it's been intense. I'll post some of the more interesting links to meta on LJs as I get them here. I've said a bit here and there, mostly praise for Kubo's art and his juxtaposition of emotional contrasts--he sets up emotional dynamics the way the composes visuals. Ulquiorra, Orihime, Ishida are so beautifully in character here while their emotions move as fast as the action. And the contrasts! Ichigo's hollow hole, Orihime's eye. Ishida's white rain attack, Ulquiorra's black tears. Ishida saying he's calm when I've never seen Kubo draw his pupils like dots before. Is he telling Orihime a lie about applying analgesic? His face is sweating buckets of pain as he says it. Orihime's despair and Ulquiorra's restraint--yes, restraint. He doesn't kill. He efficiently calculatingly causes despair. And Orihime--the focus of this chapter--again the source of fandom uproar, losing her mind over Kurosaki's dead body as Ishida's is thrown across the panel in a gesture of huge sacrifice for her--more and more despair. She prays to Kurosaki like a god. Save me. And is it a savior or a monster that rises up? It is all so deliciously Kubo-esque, layered and horrible, the standard tropes fraught with ambiguity. The fandom yearns for the princess to save herself.

As someone said on BA, the next chapter is going to be SEX.

First LJ rec. A few thoughts on 349 by