Bleachness

Ah, some of this news isn't exactly hot off the presses in that it's a few days old but I've been busy all week. But  I know many of you aren't Bleach fanatics like me & don't get up every morning and look all over the net for Bleach stuffs but still appreciate a round-up of info. Maybe you haven't seen some of this stuff yet.

*   From ANN:  http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-12-02/bleach-kubo-congratulates-gorillaz-on-10th-anniversary
Cuuute drawing. The band guys are in shinigami garb.


*  Volume 53 came out. Surprise no Rukia on the cover but Kubo continues with his high contrast Western-style comic style drawings of Fullbringers. Yukio is in a gorgeous pose. High Quality cover of Volume 53 from Zangetsu01 HERE. I really like Yukio, and I'm wondering if Jackie will be the next cover (Giriko's not important enough--he was zapped by Zaraki so fast) or if it indeed it will be Rukia this time. Or Bya or Ichi? Seems like it's Rukia's turn, but I'm desperately rooting for a Jackie resurrection.

*  Doodles/Endpages and Info pages from Nyaro~n HERE. Apparently the characters are all commenting attributes of their new appearances. Kenpachi can't remember why he wore bells in his hair. lol. Rukia is smiling about some secret regarding her VC badge (ARGH, Sensei, why so many secrets about Rukia). The doodle about Orihime is really creepy and shows blood over the pic of Sora/Tsuki and little Hime following the "Why Me Sad" chapter. The text is "Sometimes a Past is Poisonous." I'm already villified for my opinions about Orihime so I may as well wonder aloud if the text doesn't refer to her real past with her brother or her real feelings for Ichigo rather than the inserted Tsukishima past. You know how Kubo loves his puns. That chapter was so sad--the weight of Orihime's sadness seems to be in a history of personal pain; Tsukishima's violation of her and others will be fixed with manga magic but whatever Orihime has to overcome in order to grow as a character seems deeper and preceding him. Speaking of growing, Hime didn't get to grow any in her stat page. No fair. Ichigo and the boys got growth spurts. Hime's breasts got larger but she's still 157 cm. Oh well. That's my height and I stopped growing around that age too.

*  Translation of Yukio's poem w/ comment by tenshi no hane from BA here :

The fact that I am so very young
And inexperienced
Seems to be unforgivable
To those decrepit
And perfect adults

I like it. It shows the envy of adults towards children for their youth. Nice contrasts as well: young vs decrepit and inexperienced vs perfect.

I like it too--it shows the ironies Kubo's poetry is famous for, as well as states Yukio's case--the "is he or isn't he guilty?" that makes him so controversial around fans. Unforgivable inexperience is a fascinating concept. He's quite adept at what he does--but does that make him innocent?

*   The new rock Bleach musical came out on DVD and caused a sensation with the closing scene of act 2 where Rukia dies and Ichigo takes a face dive into her boobs mourning her while the cast sings. I haven't watched the whole thing yet--I have a real affection for the musicals but they always take warming up to for me. The clips I've seen are fun--Ukitake is a twirling dancing BEAST of loveliness and the lead villain has a great voice. The singing is better than ever. The new Ichigo is a little youngish and not that attractive to me but the production seems fun and high quality for the most part.

Kubo-sensei really digs these musicals. If they're good enough for him, I can't complain about them. XD

long clip:


Lyrics plus translation of boob dive scene by Nacchan from BA IchiRuki FC HERE