I just got major chills…
Overpowering and incomprehensible, the King of Darkness played with fate at the amusement of his whims yet through his unstoppable reproach at the form of existence, the pride of his supremacy deformed the interpretation of the very fates he sought to reform. Blinded and distracted, Yhwach fell prey to the sight of his own fate. It is quite ironic, without his ego that led him on this path of destruction, he would have been godlike, but as it is, he is just a flawed man driven by his ego with a power too great for his own capability. The moment Yhwach felt nothing could stop him was the moment he opened the door to his own defeat.
Kyouka Suigetsu – the power to troll even a “God”
These last few chapters of the climatic battle against Yhwach has been astonishingly satisfying, especially the moment Yhwach found himself outplayed by Aizen. In that moment, no matter how overwhelming and godly his “All Mighty” ability was, it failed to prevent itself from falling prey to Kyouka Suigetsu, just like all its previous victims. I am particularly glad Kubo-sensei made use and mention of Aizen never using Kyouka Suigetsu against Ichigo. After many years of anguish at the fact that Aizen had to weaken himself to be defeated by Ichigo, we finally have a genuine reason (that is not Aizen hating being a Shinigami) and purpose for Aizen never using Kyouka Suigetsu against Ichigo (Aizen would have defeated Ichigo if he did). Wonder what will happen with Aizen now that he seems to have been swallowed up by the darkness of Yhwach =/ Will Aizen finally become the Soul King? Also RIP chair-sama.
So there was a purpose….
Ginjou and Tsukishima, ah, so that was the purpose of their roles in this final arc. Sadly it wasn’t to directly join in on the battle, but screwing Yhwach’s ability over through Tsukishima rewriting Ichigo’s past into on where Yhwach never destroyed Ichigo’s Zanpakutou in the future. What a fantastic use of Tsukishima’s ability Kubo-sensei. It may not have been much, but I was satisfied by their coverage and lack of being trashed to hype up Yhwach some more.
I did say this before “Gerard may just end up being defeated off-screen with only his defeated body shown on-screen at the end of the arc”, while it didn’t play out exactly as I predicted, Gerard was offed in two dam pages…after all that time dedicated to Gerard being a major opponent for Kenpachi, Byakuya and Toshirou, he gets defeated in two dam pages and not even by any of the Gotei 13 Captains. Well whatever the case, guess I should thank Yhwach for that, we were saved having to endure more of Gerard. Thank you Yhwach!
Is this how Yhwach was stopped in the past?
On that note, did Yhwach take all his power from the other Sternritter back? Jugram was also affected, although he wasn’t completely drained of life afterward, so it makes me wonder if Candice was also affected by Yhwach’s soul sucking trolling. Seeing as Uryuu was unaffected, I guess Yhwach’s targets were specific ones and may have only been Gerard and Jugram (and possibly Lille). Fingers crossed that Candice (and Meninas) walk out of these events alive.
Has he been defeated? Or…
Regardless of the flaws Bleach may have, I personally found myself satisfied at how Kubo-sensei managed to progress the battle against Yhwach across many phases and found a use for many character abilities to pick Ichigo up as he fell to the despair of “inevitability” time and time again. In those moments Ichigo’s journey through the manga was highlighted and it is because he is who he is that he has gained allies who wish to lend him their hand in this desperate time. Ichigo needed everyone’s help to guide him to this end and thanks to the bonds he formed, a fragment of hope was able to find it’s way through the cracks in Yhwach’s conceit. Ichigo may have delivered the final(?) blow but this battle was won through the assistance of everyone standing against Yhwach and the end of existence. With both excitement and sorrow, I am very much looking forward to the final chapters of Bleach.
12Dimension 