One Piece Chapter 781 – Law’s Revenge

Just badass. Purely badass

What a spectacular chapter; of course Law wasn’t dead, but to think he would mount such an intense counter attack on Doflamingo using his own life to create a vulnerability within Doflamingo’s perspective. Law’s ability to utilise the overwhelming effects of his Ope Ope no Mi is definitely master class and expressive of how powerful the Ope Ope no Mi is in capable hands. From Law catching Doflamingo off guard and landing his “gamma knife” to Doflamingo tanking all Law could throw at him and revealing the hidden use of his Ito Ito no Mi – being able to perform emergency medical treatment on himself, everything about this fight focused on in this chapter was amazing. But what truly made the chapter was the final page when Doflamingo attempted to end Law’s life and Luffy intervened stopping Doflamingo’s foot with his own, that just screamed badass, especially with the two glaring at each other with such serious intent. It is on, the real final battle has begun!

Bleach Chapter 621 – The Enemy Of The Soul King

Will the Soul King’s excess “power” serve a greater purpose than being a distraction for the Shinigami?

Did I just hear Jugram right that the enemy of the Soul King are the Shinigami? I was under the impression that it was the Quincy who hated the Soul King and reactionary acted to dispose of his existence – the “Quincy” blood in Ichigo. I can understand why the Soul King would hate the Shinigami if they were the ones who sealed him in order to act as the existence to balance the world’s, but why exactly would the Soul King not hate the Quincy for wanting to kill him? Did the Quincy originate from the “Soul King” or what? And if so, why would they in the first place want to kill him instead of free him? So much confusion…

One Piece Chapter 780 – Fading Life

Doflamingo just began to unleash the frustration boiling inside himself since yesterday

So the question left hanging at the end of the last chapter continues to remain hanging at the end of this chapter – is Trafalgar Law dead? I do like how Oda rewound the events a bit to detail what happened to Law before being “killed” by Doflamingo while Luffy was distracted by Bellamy, yet for the chapter to end with the same cliff-hanger as the previous chapter, I can’t help but feel my interest slightly neutralised with the lack of movement in the story. I don’t think Law is dead, as elements have been set up already to cater for his survival, but I do appreciate the tension Oda is trying to create with the possibility that Law could die. The threat of the Bird Cage now being real is a welcome development, I love how there is a ‘timer’ of sorts for this climatic battle.

Bleach Chapter 619-620 – The All-Mighty King

Things sure look ominous…

Oh Uryuu, how thoughtful of you to act as the villain and create an exit for Ichigo and Co. to survive their encounter with Juhabach, all in order so they can regroup and come up with a place to actually take down Juhabach and his “All-Mighty”/”All-Seeing”/”All-Trolling” power. Uryuu understands the terror Juhabach represents and he has come up with an elaborate ruse to fool the Sternritter and keep Ichigo and Co. alive. Badass.

One Piece Chapter 779 – Luffy’s Anger

Those bunnies…

We are finally getting into the business end of the arc where Luffy finally gets serious about facing and taking down Doflamingo. With Luffy having to take out Bellamy with his own hands, he has come to terms with what kind of person Doflamingo really is and I believe Luffy is now ready to fully unleash his fury onto Doflamingo. The sadistic, cruel and menacing figure that is Doflamingo, Luffy now has his sights set solely on him.

Bleach Chapter 618 – Ichigo VS Juhabach (Part I)

Show us why you are the greatest Ichigo!

Finally, finally, FINALLY! Ichigo is standing up to Juhabach and not getting himself trolled (or so it appears). It is terribly awful when Ichigo falls prey to the main antagonist plans time and time again, but when he picks himself up and begins to REALLY challenge the overwhelming nature of the antagonist, he is insanely badass. Hopefully in this case with his battle against Juhabach beginning, it is the latter.