Got to admit, this is a fantastic colour spread. Happy 14 Years Bleach!
I thought as much, Pernida was far from done, it had much more up its sleeve than it was revealing. Pernida referring to itself as a Quincy was expected due to Yhwach referring to the Soul King as his father and himself as the origins of the Quincy. With Pernida’s statement, it seems we have the confirmation needed to conclude that the Soul King was in fact a Quincy and ended up being used by the Shinigami to balance the worlds. With Pernida advancing/evolving with each attack, the notes about the Left Hand of the Soul King which Mayuri read in past also appeared to be confirmed as true – that the Left Arm of the Soul King governs “Progress”.
I had expected Zaraki to be part of this battle as well, but I really wonder if he will. If Mayuri does end up defeating Pernida, who else will be left for Zaraki to battle, one of the other Sternritter? I doubt it, there are too many other Shinigami running around for one of the few Sternritter’s remaining to be defeated by one Captain. Zaraki will likely shake off the effects of Mayuri’s paralyzing poison and join in on the battle against Pernida near the end when Mayuri is backed up against a wall.
The Soul King originally being a Quincy does make sense
I really wonder why Mayuri thought it was okay to insult Pernida for referring to itself as a Quincy when Mayuri himself does not even know exactly what the Soul King is =/. Mayuri earlier insulted Zaraki for asking a question which Mayuri obviously had no answer to due to insufficient information, so why is Mayuri right now basing a judgement on uncertainty and minimal facts? It seems out of character. Anyway with Mayuri’s sudden need to stroke his ego with petty insults, he has found himself in a situation where he was all but cornered. If not for Nemu, Mayuri would be dead. It is a shame Mayuri didn’t fall to make way for the focus to shift to other characters, but I guess Nemu being brought into focus is something which I can look forward to.
The secret surrounding Nemu wasn’t all that surprising and shattering. It seemed apparent from their relationship that Nemu was something other than just a subordinate, that she was likely developed by Mayuri if not reconfigured given his occupation as a mad scientist. Relatively early on, it became indirectly obvious that Nemu was Mayuri’s Frankenstein.
Hopefully with Nemu’s appearance, we get to a different side to Mayuri, a human coloured side
It is touching that the Master/Slave relationship is developing more into a Father/Daughter relationship, so it will be interesting to see how this battle changes the dynamics between the two and what emotions Mayuri will be forced to feel when Nemu’s life is put in danger. What was surprising about Nemu’s secret was her name – Nemuri Nanagou, that she was the seventh creation of Mayuri’s.
Hopefully with Kubo-sensei casting Nemu into the focus, he maintains that and continues to use her as opposed to discarding her after she has just saved Mayuri’s life. It would be a real downer and slap in Nemu’s face if he has Mayuri continue to fight Pernida alone. With this battle being on the last few in the manga, now seems like a good time to highlight Nemu in a battle. Nemu could effectively become a weapon Mayuri can use, especially if he developed Nemu with a few combat-focused additions. Very much looking forward to the next chapter.
12Dimension 