Abarai Renji and the new Zabimaru – colour by aConst
Of course Mask De Masculine wasn’t dead, of course he still had his “ultimate form” hidden up his sleeve, of course there was no way an annoying character like him would submit to the readers desire of wanting him gone. Instead he reveals his true power and gives us ‘The S.T.A.R. Package‘, otherwise known as “the Seriously Traumatizing Artistic Remodeling package‘. I honestly did want to like Superstar’s ability because it is interesting, but that character design (that obsession with stars) and his attitude (that obsession with stars…) really drain any interest I have in his abilities. I just want the fight to be over with so we can move on to something more interesting, relevant and less reprehensible.
I had expected such a turn of events after the last chapter but I had hoped quite intensely that things didn’t turn out in such a way. We already know Renji is going be the victorious party in this fight, so getting the battle over with quickly would be extremely beneficial to the flow of the story. Instead we get the battle being dragged out in such a monotonous tone with this annoying Sternritter member with his ridiculously ‘star branding’ and repetitive battle twists. Mask De Masculine is bringing back memories of Charlotte Chuhlhourne from the Arrancar saga and all the damage my eyes suffered from such indecorous.
Every time I find myself starting to become impressed by Superstar’s ability, my admiration is immediately crushed the moment Mask De Masculine spews anything out of his mouth and when the focus shifts to the design of his character. The joke Mask De Masculine’s character represented has long since gone stale that whenever he engages in his one-way discussion of righteousness and carrying out justice, my mind cringes at how one-dimension a character Mask De Masculine actually is. If we were going to have Mask De Masculine’s battles cover so many chapter, I would have loved to see a flashback chapter first so I would be able to understand where exactly he is coming from rather than find myself grossly disconnected with such a character.
It is obvious that Renji’s power-up is the star (…) of the battle so hopefully we don’t see this battle drag out much longer. Would love it if the battle did end next chapter with the first move Renji unleashes with his new Zabimaru.
12Dimension 