Bleach 404 is Up

[qwirky.livejournal.com]

MangaStream's translation of Bleach 404 is up.
(Direct download here.)





Urahara/Yoruichi arguing is ridiculously cute and reminiscent of certain other relationships in the series <3333 (We already knew that Yoruichi topped in that relationship but it's always nice for Kubo to reaffirm it.)

The armor was designed specially by Urahara, so it's not Yoruichi's shikai. Some nice shots of Urahara, Yoruichi, and Isshin's faces~ *wonders about the fate of Yoruichi* D:

Interesting how Gin said that Aizen put the hougyoku in without Gin's knowledge. Then he says that "everything's fucked," which seems to imply that even Gin can't predict what will happen (especially given Aizen + the hougyoku). His rather laid-back attitude and words suggest he realizes that his own future is uncertain, hence him not answering Ichigo's question. We still don't know the true nature of Gin and Aizen's relationship or what exactly ties Gin to Aizen (other than Aizen adopting him early on as his protoge), so how deep does Gin's loyalty to Aizen really go?

Gin says that Ichigo seems to have a belief he'll die. Perceptive, or just egging Ichigo on with mind games? He's certainly baiting Ichigo. He claims he won't let someone cowardly like Ichigo fight Aizen, but is that really it? That Ichigo is too useless to waste on Aizen seems far too trivial - is he just annoyed by Ichigo? Does his sadistic side just want a battle? Does he have some deeper purpose - wanting Ichigo to become more powerful to face Aizen later? (If so, to what end?)

Ichigo's hollow mask appears... is IchiThing forthcoming?

RANGIKUUUUUUUUUU~! D: Rangiku/Gin coming up? And maybe Kira will be there...

Comments

[nehalenia.livejournal.com]

I agree with all this except for Gin thinking he's screwed, too. To my mind, Gin is all about survival. Well, survival and mayhem -- he likes mayhem -- but just like any fox, I still think he's out for himself most of all and has more escape hatches than anyone guesses.

I definitely agree that Gin is riling Ichigo up and probably sees him as the best (only) choice to oppose Aizen, but I'm pretty sure he's still planning to get out of this alive if he can.

Overall fabulous chapter. Much better than I was expecting.

[escarboucle.livejournal.com]

Oh I do agree that he's all about survival, but Ichigo is his best chance after all. If Ichigo dies, then he's fucked up, because he gives up on his own choices.

[nehalenia.livejournal.com]

The one thing all sides seem to be in agreement on -- whether they've openly expressed it or not -- is that Ichigo is the only one who has a chance of defeating Aizen. While I don't think Gin is a double-agent or in any way a 'good guy', he is one of the sharpest cards in the whole deck of characters and surely knows that the moment Aizen's path is unimpeded, he's just as f***ed as everyone else. I think Gin is all about the 'balance of power', i.e. as long as the Bleach Super-Powers have other fish to fry, he's relatively safe.

I also don't discount the fact that Gin is someone who enjoys setting the cat amongst the pigeons and sitting back to watch the feathers fly. ;)

[manonlechat.livejournal.com]

I agree with all this except for Gin thinking he's screwed, too. To my mind, Gin is all about survival. Well, survival and mayhem--

I agree. I think Gin was referring to Ichigo's situation, not his own, when he said "everything's fucked now." Although I think Gin may also be suppressing his own suspicions and fears--look at the bottom right panel of page 13 (http://mangastream.com/read/bleach/93663580/13). Gin shows no interest in resuming the fight with Ichigo until Ichigo brings up the question of Gin's own survival. This may be me reading into things, but it seems like Gin's fear of dying is once again being subtly referenced---I wonder if it will be a plot point in the near future?

Also... I think Aizen is going to turn on Gin. (If Gin doesn't turn on him first.)

[connaka.livejournal.com]

This may be me reading into things, but it seems like Gin's fear of dying is once again being subtly referenced---I wonder if it will be a plot point in the near future?



That has been my exact train of thought, and something I've been wondering about ever since Ichigo and Gin began their fight. I mean, with Gin calling Ichigo CREEPY?? Talk about the irony! Even though I do get that he's mostly referring to Ichigo's large amount of reiatsu and what he likely knows Ichigo's capable of.

But still, there were a couple of instances during their fight that had me questioning whether certain things he said were spoken with the sole intention of simply screwing with Ichigo's head, or whether those were subtle references to his fear of dying being thrown in by Kubo. Or possibly BOTH. I don't know.

Guess we'll have to wait and see! And with Ran-chan likely making her way over to where Gin is ATM, it should be interesting to see how it all plays out from there.