#Kubo's chapter titles are rarely defeated

[troius]

As I hope you're aware, I've really enjoyed reading your thoughts on BLEACH during your reread! I was thinking today though: do you have a personal top 10 chapters or a favorite chapter [so far]? Totally okay if you don't want want to answer this, I was just curious.

No, thank you, that's a very good question! And an interesting one, since I don't tend to think of Bleach in terms of chapters. Unlike in anime, where the episodes have clear dividing lines with the openings and endings, manga chapters just sort of blend into one another when I'm reading them. Even during this reread, where the plan is to do roughly one chapter per day, I'm actually just posting my thoughts on interesting pages, so some chapters get more or less time depending on how much stuff catches the eye.

But I think it'd be an interesting exercise to see what chapters I do really like as isolated works of art! And if it encourages anybody to reread these chapters, or read them for the first time, so much the better! Troius's Top Ten Bleach Chapters (limited to those I've covered in this reread) under the cut.

34. Quincy Archer Hates You. A funny thing about looking at individual Bleach chapters is that they are clearly designed to run together, to keep the reader interested in what's going on so that they buy next week's copy of Weekly Shonen Jump. So they often are part of an ongoing storyline, and include several scenes, some of which are characterization and some of which advance the plot. This chapter, IMO, is the first one that does all of that and still feels "complete". Yes, it ends on the cliffhanger of Uryu's introduction, but that's the natural culmination of all the scenes in the chapter, including a really good one about low-stakes discrimination to set us up for the Quincy. Excellent stuff.

98. A Star and a Stray Dog. For once, Kubo uses one chapter to tell one story, end to end, and it's a tour de force. Granted, it's in the larger context of the Ichigo/Renji fight, and the Soul Society arc as a whole, but the entire Renji + Rukia relationship flashback is in this chapter, and it's magnificent. Renji starts the chapter as the closest thing Ichigo has to a rival, and by the end, Ichigo is the closest thing he has to an ally.

124. Crying Little People. This chapter title kinda sucks, and the title page is a pretty boring illustration of Ichigo, who doesn't even appear in the chapter proper. But as an Uryu stan I could not in good conscience leave off the moment where he sacrifices his powers and his childish aspirations for moral principle. The fathers-and-sons dynamics here are impeccable, and the Quincy worldbuilding flawless. I can't recommend it enough.

159. Long Way to Say Goodbye. It turns out that while single chapters often don't tell a complete story in Bleach, they do frequently tell one complete story, and that's the patented Bleach Characterization Flashback, where Kubo cuts away from the end of the fight to give you the backstory of whoever's fighting. In this chapter we get Soi Fon and Yoruichi's history, and it's incredibly effective once again in turning an antagonist into a sympathetic character.

168. Behind Me, Behind You. A complete change of gears -- the Byakuya/Ichigo fight wraps up in the previous chapter-- this is a complete information dump that nonetheless Extremely Works in getting the reader invested in the Hitsugaya/Matsumoto Spirit Detective plotline. Those two, Kira, Momo, Gin...none of these are the main characters of Bleach, but even if you didn't have strong emotions about them coming in you will once the chapter's over.

169. End of Hypnosis. This is just a run of killer chapters, and this one features both the start of the Matsumoto/Kira fight, as well as, uh, Aizen revealing himself. Now, obviously the latter is probably one of the more notable moments in all of Bleach (and maybe shonen manga in general), but what actually makes the chapter work is the taste of violence introduced in the opening, which is then tied to the Gin/Momo/Aizen stuff with just the briefest flashback-- one page! But it's essential to making the story cohesive, and to putting the appropriate focus on Gin, who would otherwise be overshadowed, I think.

171. End of Hypnosis3 (the Blue Fog). Okay, I promise I'll stop in a second. But I just cannot get over the pacing of this thing, starting with Unohana walking in on Aizen right as he finishes gutting Hitsugaya, and the tense standoff where Aizen reveals how he pulled it all off. And of course, that exposition is interwoven beautifully with the inevitable reveal that Tosen was in on the plot all along. When the chapter finally closes with the reminder that "oh yeah, Rukia was the target of all of Aizen's schemes" . . . it's magnificent. I don't know if anybody's ever paced anything better.

221. Eat the Worlds End. This chapter is just excellent when it comes to working with the existing concepts and characters to develop Ichigo’s character further-- and not in a good way! It’s basically Bleach’s version of inception, with Ichigo’s inner hollow letting Ichigo get the “victory” over him, while at the same time using the image and likeness of Kenpachi Zaraki to get Ichigo to embrace his “killer instict”. Really well done.

268. You Are Forbidden to Die. It’s another end-of-fight flashback chapter! This one might be the best though, as Rukia’s journey back into her memories to honor the Kaien she knew contains the thesis statement of the series as a whole, and makes for a very satisfying last couple of pages where she stabs Aaroniero in the face.

283. You don’t hurt anymore. The Grimmjow/Ichigo fight has so many layers to it, but what makes this chapter stand out is that it works independently of all that. You don’t have to know that Orihime’s concerns about Ichigo are extremely well grounded, or that Ichigo’s been fighting a massive battle about how much he should lean in to his dark side, or that Grimmjow is fighting in part because he’s scared about what he’ll feel if he doesn’t fight. The story the chapter tells in isolation-- of our hero being given the strength he needs to fight by the person he’s rescuing-- works well enough on its own.

#Bleach #Top Ten #Kubo's chapter titles are rarely defeated #(shout out crying little people because what the hell was that) #ask Troius

[littlenekosfan]

Friend - visual narrative

this is going to be a long thread bc i have a LOT of panels, so read under the cut!

since im reworking with Friend chapters panels, i paid attention to the details more than ever before.. and wow, the way these chapters are narrated is absolutely amazing

lets start off with my one of my fav panels

if there is a theme between these two that keep recurring it’s “duality” (whether when it comes to their character or the way their story is told) we will also find a lot of parallels with it.. this panel above starts it very well, one left, one right, they both call each other’s name, the expressions completely different, even the background is reversed

there we go again, all this in one chapter, i simply love how they have the same pose/image but reversed, its a really nice contrast with how different they are and yet are at the same level also, look at their speech bubbles, most of the time, jugram has a round one while bazz a sharper one, its the case here and the previous panels aswell

AGAIN! kubo gives us each’s pov with the same image/paneling, i love that method bc he treats them the same, even if one is stronger than the other and ppl will most likely root for/side with one more than the other, they both get the same treatment, also, we get to see how both lives the same struggle, it both conflicts them this whole fight considering the past they had together

the transition is also really nice, the black background outside the panel and the partial grey shading that matches with it inside the panel.. we will get to see that technique again, but here?? lovely.

a whole page not showing their face even if you guessed who they were, you get that little surprise with the face reveal which comes out really nice

the chapter reveal!!!! its so pure and empty (no dialogue and it’s only one panel), it perfectly empathize on the title and its meaning

i love how discreet bazz motive to help out jugo is shown here, obviously none of them would speak about it (jugo is pretty closed and bazz despite being loud, he isnt obnoxious and he’s smart) so it had to be shown without any words and these panels do it so well!

the first panel is just so beautiful and you can tell how jugo is just, happy. and then, the moment his uncle speaks, his face drastically changes, from white to black, kubo loves to work with that contrast of b&w (just look how the ritters/espadas are dressed vs shinigamis.. there is also the sun/moon theme and so on... its not called bleach for nothing lmao) kubo uses contrast very often and we can tell he loves to do it (and he does it super well!!)

i know we dont have any colour on these pages, but both pages are from the same chapter, first one (right) being their fist meeting on a normal day (probably an evening so the sky is orange ish) and the second page is again a jump to a flashback but this time it’s not the sky that we are shown in the last panel, but rather flames, the same colour as the day they met... the two last panels look the same but arent....

there is also the absence of facial expression in some panels, which imo conveys the mood much better, we are not left up to interpretation, we clearly know what kind of feelings that are expressed yet they didnt need to be shown...

again with the parallels (left/right) and using the same image from younger to older to show their growth? nice.

the built up with the grand reveal... wow, love it, also, that panel was such a surprise to me when i first read it... still give me goosebumps today ngl..(if you are a manga reader to likes to have the book, well, this the end of vol69... what an ending :))) just look at the build up, the bg is dark and you get that white and empty panel right after like, wow 

AGAIN WITH THE SUPRISE AND WOW IT HURTS, also the title being in capital... OOF, im going to loose it

ppl like to call kubo lazy with his titles, but is it?? i mean, here, i really cant think of a better title, remember how the first chapter friend was introduced? so sweet and smooth and then you get this... the fact friend is written here is a good call back to their relationship, what it is, what it really means, and the current situation

the way bazz recalls all the things he had heard about this.......th-that hurts (we’re like in his mind, we’re just as shocked as he is) also, it shows well how bazz recall all these moment in silence and does all the realization without saying a thing, bc no, he didnt say a thing ever since yhwach started to talk..

the left panel is yhwach talking (as he was for like the whole chapter) and there is no dialogue going on, the two boys didnt say a thing... as the slience was taking place, bazz breaks is with a shrieking voice, just looking how the letters are written in japanese, we went from pure, clear panel to a messy and dark one....

jump back to present, with both jugrams having the same pose but they both don’t convey the same feeling, with the shading and how cut it is (not being able to fully see jugo’s eyes) you can tell the first one is more disturbing/devastating than the second one

there we go... we get to see both of their expression at the same time and it change within the following panels,.. (im telling you, kubo love both of them, not just one.., both.)

this is one of my favorites moments, the way know bazz has lost his fight and how HE is self-conscious about it..., the way he monologues about jugram is really depressing, and how we are only given images that illustrates his struggle...the images are so strong, desperate and yet, his words are so empty, powerless, he knew he lost.. (the moment i start reading it, i cry on the fucking floor)

i mentioned earlier how i loved kubo’s choice in not showing the face, well we have it here again in a flashback and the end of the fight... jugram turning his back to bazz, he did it in the past and did it after bazz’ death..  it’s his way to avoid to face his feelings. (the fact we are shown he did it in the past and the reason to it, let us know why he did it again even later)

here again with empty panels, the fact it’s only bazz who is talking.... feels really heavy and the way he clings to jugram with burning hands....... you really need to look at every panel carefully to feel that heart wrenching moment,, there is no crying or screaming, he just softly admits his defeat and that’s it, like, im sorry but that’s fucking sorrowful

here again with kubo choosing to not show the face, but in this case, it’s harder for us to tell which expression jugram has (since he’s so closed about showing emotions or his intentions) but the fact kubo deliberately chose to hide it proves jugram has something to hide from us, something he didnt want us (readers) to see.........

these panels? concludes their story perfectly you have jugram walking up the stairs leaving bazz-b alone laying behind, being reminded of the day they met where bazz was the one standing high while jugram is on the ground the setting: the cold empty castle during nighttime vs the warm summer day met in a forest at daytime bazz reached to jugram and jugram left him behind, they met with touched hearts only to leave with empty ones, bazz used to look down on jugram and now, jugram does, they used to be so different and still do but only now, their role are inverted...

thank you @equipollency​ for that remark! i think your post does it much better if yall wanna read it !

i mentioned earlier how the background (outside the panel) would change from black to white, we know the black means the past,  but i love how its broken here, going back and forth from the past and present (within the same page) to show how things are still the same between them, the same struggle, the same fight over and over

also, the “not yet” is just so perfectly placed, i cant, it just emphasize even more on my point earlier (how things between them never changed on that matter)  and it finally concludes the flashbacks (with the way it’s presented: the b&w,, and the words themselves, how they weight so much)

the black shading like that is rarely used with kubo but when he does, you know it conveys extreme emotions (we didnt get to see it with bazz bc it wasnt as intense as jugram has it but also)  the trigger to these emotions for jugram are related to trauma, the first one being his uncle and the second being his friendship (im not calling his relation with bazz traumatic, its how important this relationship was to him and how ended up broken that triggers him)

but NaKi ThErE iS ThiS pAneL wHerE baZz Is ShaDeD bLacK! yes i know, but it’s not about bazz expression nor emotions, its about the scene, the situation (the white bg vs the black silhouette: perfect), so no it doesnt count, but its still a very nice panel just like with the jugo’s reveal with everyone “kneeling” to him.. white bg was The way to go

i forgot to talk about how i like their fight, how there is so little dialogue and how there are a lot of empty pages just to let place to the fight... it lets you enjoy their fight while we suffer with their flashback, anyways, im not a fan of endless dialogue in fights unless it really changes something, here, they both already know each other and they know what they want, so it was a good pick to just, us reader, witness their story through their mind instead of them narrating/recalling it to us

i know kubo uses that technique outside of these chapters, but the grey shading... i love.. he also has a LOT of close ups with eyes bc we all know how expressive eyes are;... i love that too

i know i talked about some facial expressions, but really, kubo’s art is amazing, the way he can convey certain expressions that are so precise... here, have some panels that i think are underrated naki your boys are underrated.. bc i love kubo’s art so much

i had the chance to see the colored version only once, and to be honest, the black and white is just, Amazing. nothing close to that, kubo’s use of b&w and how he keeps his panels pure is MADE to stay that way

anyways, im really in love with how Friend was made and thought out in it’s visual narrative (and story wise too ofc), kubo didnt just do a side story, these chapters are fucking amazing and ppl often ignores that sadly..

#bleach #jugram haschwalth #bazz b #Friend #naki using her brain #ok so tumblr was a dick and deleted some part of that fjhdf #i hope i didnt miss anything... #oh well #guess ill just add it later lmao #im simping hard for these chapters yes shut up