Bleach Episode 59
What an amazing episode! So much happened that there were still plenty of screenshots I wanted to take, but I’ve decided that I’d only do 9 per episode, so I’ll stick with that. Anyway, this felt like 3 episodes worth of action and probably 6 episodes worth of Naruto episodes. I watched this episode almost a week ago when Bleach-Society released it, but I got Lunar’s version today and rewatched it and decided to finally post it on my blog. Dattebayo already released Bleach 60 last night, but I don’t particularily like Dattebayo’s works.
Spoilers:
In the last episode, you saw Ichigo release his bankai. In this episode, Byakuya releases his bankai’s true form, which stops being defensive and sacrifices everything to kill the enemy. One thing I couldn’t figure out was why don’t all the swords attack at the same time? Is it because Byakuya thinks too highly of himself or is it because he can’t or is it because he believes it’d be unfair? Either way, Ichigo started to get tired and started to lose it. When Byakuya was about to end him, Ichigo’s hollow form suddenly overtakes him and starts pushing Byakuya way back where he couldn’t even keep an eye on Ichigo. The hollow form busted out a new move that even Ichigo didn’t know: Kuro Getsuga (黒月牙) which translates to Black Moon Fang.
But Ichigo didn’t let him continue to fight and overtook that body because the hollow was fighting for the wrong reason. This left Ichigo and Byakuya one final move. Before the final move, Ichigo asked one more time why Byakuya wouldn’t rescue Rukia. Byakuya said he’d tell him if he won. So the ultimate move of Byakuya vs the only move that Ichigo learnt from Zangetsu (残月). Ichigo somehow defeated him, and Byakuya tells him his reasoning:
Laws were created to be followed and enforeced. Those who break the laws should be punished. As a member of one of the four noble houses, one should be even more strict when the law is broken to set an example for the rest of Soul Society. Feelings and kinship are useless things which prohibit us from doing our job.
I call a bunch of bullshit. I actually lost a lot of respect for Byakuya just because of his reasoning for killing Rukia. But it was Ichigo’s victory!
The episode ended with the chibi captain (I forgot his name and #) and his big breasted lieutenant trying to enter the center office, only to find that the locked door was not gaurded and the alarm didn’t go off when they broke through. Only the next episode will tell what really is going on in there.
Nakama (仲間) vs Tomodachi (友達). I’ve always associated nakama with comrade and tomodachi as friend, but the subtitled translated nakama to friend, which I found insulting to Rukia. To me, being called comrade means a lot more than being called a friend. Of course I don’t really believe I’ve ever called anyone a comrade, but I guess best friends come the closest to that definition. Basically someone who you’re willing to risk yourself in helping. What do I mean when I say risk yourself. It doesn’t always mean that you’re risking your life, but it can. It means basically from anything that’s inconvenient for you to you losing something in order to help. Rukia was more than just a friend to Ichigo and the clan and as I said before, I felt that the subtitles insulted her.
In the subtitles, I found it strange that they capitalized that the translation of shinigami (死神) was Death god where Death was capitalized and god was not. I understand if it’s not the “true” god, you’re not suppose to capitalize the G, but it brought up an interesting point and that was if Death is normally capitalized when used in literature. According to Wikipedia and Answers.com:
Death, personified is a personification of death as an anthropomorphic figure or a fictional character who has existed in mythology and popular culture since the earliest days of storytelling. Because the reality of death has had a substantial influence on the human psyche and the development of civilization as a whole, the personification of Death as a living, sentient entity is a concept that has existed in all known societies since the beginnings of recorded history.
In modern-day, European-based folklore, Death is also known as the Grim Reaper. In the Septuagint version of the Bible, Death is portrayed in the book of Tobit (considered apocryphal by Protestants) as Azrael, the angel of death. Father Time is sometimes said to be Death.
So I guess you do capitalize Death when he’s personified! What I’m also curious about is if the bible acknowledges Death. I know Lucifer is mentioned, but is his messenger Death ever mentioned in the bible?