Tag: Bleach

Tite Kubo and Sodium Hypochlorite

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Just recently Weekly Shonen Jump announced that Bleach was entering its final story arc. I don’t think it is too uncommon a sentiment even among fans of the series that this is a good thing. Bleach has already lasted over 50 volumes and has wandered around enough in the plot that wrapping everything up would be for the best. I assume that the sales have dipped low enough for Shonen Jump editors to want to end the series but it still does well enough that they will let it have a graceful exit from the magazine. That might not be the case but it is the most likely scenario.

That aside, Narutaki and I have a few thoughts on the manga now that it is going into its final act.

No one could possibly be sad that Bleach is finally wrapping up. And I’m saying that as someone who really enjoyed it, for a time, and would like to see an ending. But we aren’t here to complain about the past missteps . . . totally. Instead, we want to frame it as what can be done right for this final arc.

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The New Adventures of Samurai Deeper Ichigo

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Haha! I am a powerful villain. I defeated Ichigo. Look at him have to run away. Now look how I take out these side characters.

Arrrg! We are defeated!

Hoho! I am back and now I have a new power!

Your new power cannot stop me Samurai Deeper Ichigo!

But you are already defeated!

What are you talking about Samurai Deeper Ichigo? Your heart is weak!

You can do it Samurai Deeper Ichigo! I believe in you!

NEW POWER!

NOOOOOO!!! Your new power is too much Samurai Deeper Ichigo!

hisuiconI have enjoyed Bleach for several years now but he problem is that I have felt that the manga’s popularity has led to some padding in the manga. Due to this padding the series has truly fell into a very familiar pattern. A pattern in the same vein of the infamous shonen Samurai Deeper Kyo. One of the main problems with Samurai Deeper Kyo was Kyo never progressed as a character. Most of the time he would simply declare that he had gotten stronger and then he would use a new attack and win. The thing is  Samurai Deeper Kyo is so bad it is entertaining but Bleach has had some grace to its fights and to Ichigo’s progresses. When he leveled up you felt like he had changed as a person as well. Ichigo had to work for it and it showed in the fights. I no longer feel this is the case. I am still entertained enough to buy graphic novels without regrets but I just wanted to use these new mini posts to get that feeling off my chest.

Ongoing Investigations: Case #071

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At some time in the past I used to have some amount of skillz, but no more. Nothing has proven this more than me playing the New Super Mario Bros. Wii. You can play it like a standard Mario game in which case it plays pretty much like every old school 2D Mario platformer. It really reminded me of Super Mario Bros. 3 quite a bit. The other way to play it is is multiplayer which just adds to the madness. The second you add another player on the screen the game changes completely. It makes many things in the game that were simple very hard and several hard tasks very simple. If you play the game with the right people it will add to the fun especially if you use the bubble trick during some scrolling parts and if you use the team ground pound. Also partners can make getting the coins so much easier. But if you play with some other people death by scrolling and “stolen” powerups can lead to some petty grudges. Our little group pretty well together. We beat the game proper without too much difficulty but having some very good players did not hurt. We still had to go back and get all the star coins but I think we had a great time.

Playing New Super Mario Brothers Wii with 4 players is the only way to roll, seriously. It is fun, it is insane, it is hysterical, and it is deadly! Biggest issue that we all had was when someone would get hit there would be a slight pause of delay which totally threw off your rhythm causing much mayhem and plenty of extra deaths. This was never more evident than in the hidden world in World 8 with the rollercoaster-like contraption. I also found the game to be the right mix of difficulty, which is certainly ramped up with multi-player. While I agree that is references Super Mario Bros. 3 a lot, I think it really took a ton for Super Mario World, possibly my favorite, and things from Mario 64 and even Super Mario Bros. 2 U.S. This game was a wonderful culmination of great pieces from each older game and I have faith that when they make a sequel, they had better make a sequel, that they will fix some of the annoyances and add even more fun stuff! I can’t recommend this game enough, it’s a gem, Mario’s still got it!

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