A short post today since it’s a billion degrees this week and I have other stuff I need to get done. This season we’ve got sequels to Danmachi, Overlord and The devil is a part-timer, amongst others. Danmachi last had a season 2 years ago which is relatively recent, but still a while ago. Overlord III aired in 2018 according to My Anime List. And lastly, The devil is a part-timer had it’s first season air all the way back in 2013, nine years ago. We’re even slated to get a third season of Spice & Wolf after around a decade.
At least Overlord never stopped having banger opening songs
That brings me to the question I have for my readers. What do you think of anime getting a sequel after more than two or three years? I know Danmachi did a pretty good recap episode leading up to this season which allowed me to remember a lot of what happened when we last watched it, but I have no idea what the last season of Overlord looked like. The devil is a part timer is a bit more iconic so at least I still remembered the core plot, but some of the characters were completely lost on me. I like that we’re getting sequels to these popular franchises, but I do feel that a lot gets lost due to the time difference. We even ran into that problem with Attack on Titan back in the day. There’s a limit to how long people will keep being invested in your franchise especially with how many good shows there are these days. I think it’s a real shame and any show doing a new season after more than two or three years almost owes it to their viewers to air a recap episode. With how many good shows there are, I don’t have the time to go back and watch three seasons of Overlord just so I can understand what season four of Overlord is going to tell us. It’s for this reason that I’m not even watching the new Utawarerumono even though I remember thoroughly enjoying the previous season. I just don’t really know who’s who anymore, so when I started the first episode up I was utterly lost.
My shiny teeth and me!
But that might just be me, maybe you guys think very differently about it and are so happy that these sequels are even here in the first place. Let me know in the comments down below which I will check from my chair outside in the shade. Thanks for reading and if you’re in my part of the world, remember to stay hydrated!
Having skipped over the Bount arc, we go right into a whirlwind of a continuation of the Soul Society arc where we’re just barely recovering from Aizen’s schemes. Luckily we get to do so in great company as Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku, Yumechika, Rangiku and Hitsugaya all join us in the world of the living. I am going to also skip the filler episodes at the end of this arc, so do keep that in mind. This recap will cover episodes 110 till 127. It’s a short bit, but a lot happens here so let’s strap in.
It’s everyone’s favorite irritatingly charming boy: Shinji Hirako! I’ve always loved the Visoreds, ever since they first appeared and it’s good to confirm that after all these years they’re still great.
Besides a bunch of the soul reapers appearing in Karakura as a forward scouting force, we also have Shinji Hirako, the creepy masked guy who is part of a group called the Visoreds. They’re soul reapers that have hollow powers as well and he offers Ichigo to help him control his inner Hollow if he joins them. Ichigo refuses and they’re kind of at a stand-off for a while due to it. We also finally get confirmation that Kurosaki Isshin is in fact a soul reaper. Not only that, but he also works with Urahara Kisuke.
Not only is he friends with Urahara, he’s a Captain-level Shinigami. That implies he has a Bankai too!
But we’re probably all wondering about the Arrancar at this point, aren’t we? That’s right, they’re the new big bad guys. Aizen created humanoid hollows that can wield a Zanpakuto. Their version of Bankai enhances their hollow powers. We also learn that there are three kinds of arrancar. The important ones are the espade, the ten strongest numbered Arrancar and Aizen’s main followers. The first Arrancars we encounter are Yammy and Ulquiorra, who come to kill Ichigo on Aizen’s orders, but only if they deem him to be dangerous. At this point in the story, Ichigo is still seriously struggling with his inner Hollow and doesn’t seem to be a threat. They do get their butts kicked by Urahara and Yoruichi, but the rest of the gang has now realized that they’re pretty weak. Yammy and Ulquiorra retreat and we get some scenes with Aizen which include another Arrancar by the name of Grimmjow, who seems to be less eager to follow orders. He takes his personal goons with him to Karakura town to kill everyone who has even a tiny bit of soul power.
There he is, crowd favorite edgy boy Ulquiorra. He looks like a more mature Sasuke in a way.
Several unimportant Arrancar get their butts kicked by the forward scouting squad which includes Rukia showing off her snow Zanpakuto as well as both Hitsugaya and Ikkaku going bankai during these fights. It does show us viewers that the Arrancar mean business and even these less important ones give captain class soul eaters a run for their money. They can’t sit on their laurels just yet. Ichigo ends up being rather useless and when Grimmjow retreats due to Tousen showing up, Ichigo feels like he didn’t win at all. Defeated and down on his luck he decides to go find Shinji and force the Visored to help him control his inner Hollow. Here he gets his butt kicked until his Hollow takes over and the entire squad jumps on him to subdue him. His training then starts. In his training he fights his inner hollow as well as some other previous antagonists in an effort to figure out what knowledge he can use to control this power. The Visored lock him in a barrier and take turns keeping his Hollow form subdued while he battles it out. Fortunately, Ichigo eventually manages to beat his inner Hollow and now has control of his Visored form.
Couldn’t make a post about this without showing off Ikakku’s Bankai. What an absolute legend this guy is. And he’s rocking that bald head. With the way my hairline is receding I’ll join him soon enough.
In the meantime, both Sado and Renji have been training with Urahara in his underground cave. Ishida is still training with his dad and has promised to never work with Soul Reapers again. I’m sure that’s a promise he’ll keep. Ishida’s dad is kind of a dick, but I suppose Soul Reapers did kind of genocide the quincies. What are they, Europeans with access to undiscovered land? Moving on, Hitsugaya and Rangiku get a call from Yamamoto Genryuusai. While they take the call Orihime shows up as well. It is her apartment after all. After she asks to leave, Yamamoto tells her to stay because they’ve figured out Aizen’s goal and it’s important for humans too. He wants to make the Ouken, which is a key that unlocks the dimension in which the Soul King lives. Only the Captain Commander knows where the key is held so instead Aizen decides to figure out how to make his own key instead. To do so, you must sacrifice 100.000 souls and find an area with highly concentrated spirit power. That area, you’ve guessed it, is Karakura town. So they now have limited time to prepare a welcome for Aizen as he waits for the Hogyoku to mature enough to set his plan into motion. Hitsugaya gets to talk to Hinamori Momo through the same demonic TV as well. Zoom really looks different in Soul Society. They make up which I’m sure really helps Hitsugaya’s mood. She does go back to thinking Aizen might still be a good guy and Yamamoto has to put her to sleep. It is slowly dawning on me that Kubo made the Soul Society more villainous early on and is now dialing things back a bit because they are supposed to be the good guys from now on.
Grimmjow is great. That’s all.
One thing I will spoil for later is that I’ve always found both Sado’s and Orihime’s characters to be wasted in this series. I know shonen manga has the habit of making one character super powerful and neglecting the rest, but shows like Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer are showing us that it doesn’t have to be that way. Sado and Orihime end up as fodder which is unfortunate since Sado’s a super cool character and Orihime could have been so much more, as we’re shown here. She’s able to pass by the super powerful barrier that is protecting Ichigo’s training with the Visored. After talking to the Visored and Ichigo for a second she leaves again where she is found by Yoruichi, who asks her to come to Urahara’s shop. Upon arrival, Urahara tells her to sit out the fight because she’s too weak. She appreciates his honesty but is still understandably heartbroken by the request. It’s not unreasonable from Urahara to say this, and she knows this as well, but even though she’s weak, she wants to help out. Her and Rukia talk for a moment before Hiyori shows up and kidnaps Orihime. She brings her back to the Visored hideout where Hachi asks her if he should repair Tsubaki for her, which she gladly accepts. He tells her something similar to what Urahara has told her, that fighting on the front line is not ideal for people like him and her, who have similar powers. Orihime says she still wants to fight and Hachi tells her to follow her heart. We end this arc with Ulquiorra visiting Yammy, who’s arm has just been repaired. To test out his newly attached arm he smashes the nurse that helped him recover to pieces. Real evil guy stuff. It’s also revealed that Yammy is part of the espada, number 10 to be precise.
This is one of my favorite shots/panels in the entire show. We learn pretty early on that the Visored are tight with each other and they seem like goofballs for most of the time, but when one of their own is in danger they don’t fuck around.
Now, the next 10 episodes are filler content, so I will once again be skipping those. As of posting this, I literally just finished the last two episodes of this arc. There’s a heatwave approaching The Netherlands at high speeds and the next five or six days are going to be borderline unlivable by our standards. Our houses, like those in similar EU countries, are built to retain heat as opposed to letting it escape, so they literally turn into an oven at high temperatures. We also do not have air conditioning, that’s for fancy rich people and we’re not that. I will probably buy a cheaper aircon for upcoming years though, but that’s not here yet. So I will probably not do a lot of writing and I don’t know how much I’ll be in the mood for watching Bleach. I’ll probably chill in the back garden instead, enjoying the last two weeks of my vacation before teaching again. What I’m saying is, the next recap might be in two or three weeks instead, so bear with me in the meantime. It’ll cover episodes 138 through 167. Following this arc is another filler arc which I will skip. Thanks for reading.
Round five of children suffering to atmospheric music. I believe we should be getting some volume 7 stuff now, unless they change up the order of the material again. Either way, let’s dive into this again, shall we? With Nanachi and Mitty reunited under the watchful eye of a hauntingly terrifying Belaf we start off the episode again and jump right into the opening. The episode is titled “concealment.”
Spooky scary Belaf still sends shivers down my spine.
Reg is lost and still being chased by a Turbinid-dragon. The creature is strong enough to damage Reg’s armor and send him flying. Luckily the village guardian is nearby and rescues him. He requests Reg to leave because he will turn the village to ruin. The guardian explains some things to Reg and uses some abilities that are similar to Reg’s abilities. Faputa wants to restore Reg’s memory. The guardian calls himself an Interference Unit and assumes Reg is the same even though they’re different. Most Interference Units can’t leave their layer, but Reg can for some reason.
I’ve played enough Bioshock to know how dangerous these guys can be.
We cut back to Riko and Maa in the restaurant. I never know how many a’s are in Maa, so it might change on a week by week basis. After the other patrons leave, Riko talks to the restaurant order about a quick Duolingo session about the language of the Hollow. I’ll be honest when I say this is where the manga kind of lost me. The logic behind how the language works feels very alien to me, how can you assign a percentage value to a part of a word? Maybe I’m missing something or maybe it’s supposed to be completely alien by design. Either way, Riko learns some basic words. Riko then goes to find her friends.
I already speak two languages fluently and although I want to learn a third at some point, this one isn’t it.
She goes to a place on the edge of the village with Maa and Meinya to explore. Apparently the villagers can’t enter this place because they’ll be physically unable to do so. For outsiders it’s no problem but it still looks creepy and unpleasant. Then there’s suddenly a voice in the darkness, that’s not eerie at all. And now it’s revealed where Vueko is. Both of them are surprised by how the other looks human.
Vueroeruko, or Vueko in short.
Vueko is locked here with chains and they talk for a little bit. Vueko helps her find her friends, but she’s very nervous. She reveals that she has something to do with the origins of the village being not very nice. She tried to avoid it from happening and was locked up here instead. Vueko considers herself to be a bad person for this reason but Riko very clearly disagrees and immediately frees her. She has a somewhat similar sense of morality as Gon from HxH where she doesn’t care too much if people are bad or good, as long as they don’t do anything bad in their vicinity. And thus Vueko has been freed from her chains. She leads Riko the Belaf’s home.
The gang’s all here!
We find Belaf with Majikaja, Nanachi and Mitty, where it seems like Nanachi is unconscious. Belaf introduces himself and explains that Nanachi sold herself in exchange for Mitty. This means Nanachi and Mitty will both stay here forever. So much for being a good guide Majikaja! At least they seem regretful of their actions. Remember how last week I talked about how messed up this manga is? Yeah, Mitty has literally been here just to serve as food. Worse even is, Riko reckons it’s the exact same Mitty as the one who was with them earlier in their journey. It makes me wonder how Mitty got there. And just like that we learn that the Sovereign of Dawn is the one responsible for bringing Mitty. It turns out that Belaf used that knowledge to create a perfect copy of Mitty in the village at a pretty steep cost to his own body. So it makes sense that belaf would want something extremely valuable in return. Now it’s time for Riko to bargain like her life depends on it because, well, her life depends on it. Belaf requires either her legs, eyes or half her innards. Pretty steep price but it does match up with what Belaf had to offer up to get Mitty in the first place. And like that we’re at the ending credits of another pretty crazy episode of Made in Abyss. Next episode is the luring, so get your butts ready for more craziness. What did you think of this episode though? Did it give you more questions than answers? I do feel this show is more comprehensible in anime form but it could also be that it’s to do with this being the second go around of me consuming this story, so I have a better framework. Either way, I have still been enjoying the anime, even though it’s very, very weird. Thanks for reading.
I thought we’d seen enough of this creepy bastard, but no.
A couple of months ago I made a post about some of my favorite anime themes in recent seasons. Today I figured I’d do something a little bit different but in a similar vein. Anime openings and endings are great, and I will absolutely post more of my favorites here in the future because I love music and what I’m actively listening to changes a lot. I’ve been listening to the band Creepy Nuts recently, who does the opening and ending themes for Yofukashi no Uta, for example. But instead of opening and ending themes I want to look at songs that are part of the OST. Some shows have amazing songs running throughout and I just wanted to share some of my favorites today. I hope you enjoy!
Carole & Tuesday is one of the most memorable anime from the past 5 years to me. Like I said in the previous paragraph, I love music, and this anime is basically just an excuse to write an album. It has a story to tell as well, about how people are racist and we need to not be racist. It’s not a particularly original premise, but it’s executed decently. Now I could have picked any song from this show, and I’m doing several songs a disservice by not picking them. From start to finish this anime is filled with absolute bangers and I have most of the songs in my playlist and listen to them regularly. But after the fire makes me feel like creating something myself. There’s a line in the song that goes: After the fire new maps are drawn. I can’t quite explain why, but I love that sentence, it makes me feel like I’m listening to something inspiring. This is an 8 out of 10 anime with a 10 out of 10 soundtrack, and I would highly recommend you give it a watch and/or a listen.
Kekkai Sensen – or Blood Blockade Battlefront – is an anime based on a manga by the author of Trigun. Now I personally haven’t seen or read Trigun, but I do know it’s considered a classic and if it’s got any of the swagger that Kekkai Sensen has I probably need to watch it at some point. It tells the story of Leonardo Watch, who has a special eye that allows him to see things other people can’t. With his powers he goes to an alien and fantastical creatures infested city where he joins up with an organization of super powered folks who help keep the city safe. Relatively speaking at least, it’s not safe at all. Unfortunately for me, it’s been hard to get a hold of the manga, so I’ve so far not bought any. I have seen both seasons of the anime and will highly recommend it to anyone. One of my favorite songs of all time has been used for the first opening, and the second opening as well as both endings are all bangers. But we’re talking about the OST here, which is a jazzy playlist reminiscent of Baccano. The second season, however, has more hip-hop inspired music but in both series it’s clear that there was a lot of effort put into the soundtrack. Catch me if you can is a fast jazz track that takes you by the arms and swings you across the dancefloor.
It’s no secret to anyone reading this blog that I’ve been rewatching Bleach in anticipation of the new season. I hadn’t watched it since the first season ended and I didn’t really remember why it was considered one of the greats, seeing how the manga ended up being confusing and kind of disappointing towards the end of its run. Having finished the Soul Society arc I remember why this show was once considered the best of the best. And supporting some of the most hype moments is the track number one which is just *chef’s kiss.* I have nothing but the utmost respect for the people in charge of putting together the OST for a show because I don’t know how they do it but they somehow manage to find or create the perfect songs out of thin air. I assume many of you are already familiar with this show and subsequently the music, but if for some reason you’ve been on the fence about consuming one of the coolest stories ever written, then here’s my seal of approval. What are you waiting for? Watch Bleach so now you can also feel like number one!
Fairy Tail’s music is iconic to me. It has celtic inspired tracks that are often very similar to the main theme, but have just enough variance that they effortlessly support any scene on screen. Fairy Tail as an anime is not the best. I love early Fairy Tail, and the show will always hold a special place in my heart because it’s one of the first shows I truly got sucked into, but it’s not the best. Saying that, I think this show would go from a 7 out of 10 to a 4 out of 10 if you removed the current soundtrack and put in a more generic track. I still get chills when I listen to some of the songs on this OST. It’s so perfectly aggressive when it wants to be yet tender enough in those quiet moments where it hits you like a brick wall. If you haven’t seen Fairy Tail yet, I highly recommend the first few arcs, maybe even the entirety of the first season if I’m being generous, but what makes this show special is the music. As with all of the previous shows, of course Fairy Tail has some amazing opening themes as well (and some pretty awful songs mixed in here and there), and as much as Hiro Mashima isn’t the best author, he knows how to write a powerful scene and if you take those with the right music you find yourself highly invested. I know I did at least, the music was powerful enough to make me care about the later arcs somehow.
It was hard for me to pick a song from this soundtrack that really stood out to me because the entire OST is good. I considered putting Feather by Nujabes in this spot but I forgot that wasn’t actually on the OST and just another great song by the late great Nujabes. Instead I went with another song by them called Tsurugi no Mai. Samurai Champloo, for those unfamiliar, is an anime about samurai. It’s a gritty and depressing show with some humor sprinkled in for good measure. It shows a bleak world which makes it feel real. And underlining this story is a plethora of hip-hop beats and vibes. This show becomes memorable because of how it sounds. It’s one of those shows that creates an atmosphere and is good because of its consistency to this atmosphere. It’s the same as with Fairy Tail here where I legitimately don’t think the show would be half as good if there was a mediocre soundtrack. I’m always reminded of Guilty Crown, which was an absolute trainwreck of an anime but I still remember the music vividly because it gave me chills whenever I listened to it. Unfortunately even the soundtrack couldn’t save that one. But for a show like Samurai Champloo, where I don’t think I would have really enjoyed the story on its own, it can definitely elevate a show and make it better than the sum of its parts.
And that’s it for today. If you’re looking for more shows with good soundtracks I was considering putting both Durarara and Baccano on this list, as well as One Piece, although both Bleach and Fairy Tail have more memorable soundtracks. But that’s me and my opinion, who knows what I’m forgetting about. All this has done is make me want to rewatch some old shows again. I might go through some of my favorites in the near future and write some reviews about them. The problem with that is that a lot of my favorites are super popular already so who needs a millionth review of Durarara? Well, I might just write it for myself. With that out of the way, thanks for reading. I’m going to try to stick to my schedule for the rest of the week, but this week is one of my busiest in a while. With that said, Hesitant Hero could be a day late if things go poorly, but I’ll try my best!
One of the biggest reasons for the massive success of Bleach is the structure of its different groups. And the main group that we encounter early on in the story is the Gotei 13 or the 13 guard squads. Each squad is led by a captain and a vice-captain with several seated officers ranked by their power. Some of the squads have their own niche, like a healing squad or a ninja squad or a violent squad. In today’s post I want to quickly go over each squad during and at the end of the first big arc. When we reach the end of the anime I’ll go over the structure of the squads as well as some of the other organizations going into the Thousand Year Blood War Arc, so everyone is up to speed. I hope that’s useful to people because I don’t really remember the state of the Soul Society at the end of the anime, nor do I remember the state of the Soul Society at the end of the manga either. But that’s for later, for now let’s jump into the thirteen squads.
First Division Captain: Yamamoto Genryuusai First Division Lieutenant: Chojiro Sasakibe The first division’s leader is the captain-commander, the leader of the Gotei 13. Yamamoto is an old man with one of the most powerful fire zanpakuto available. His power was shown in fighting both Kyoraku and Ukitake during the Soul Society arc, intimidating both captains. His lieutenant was shown getting beaten by Ichigo with ease.
Second Division Captain: Soi Fon Second Division Lieutenant: Marechiyo Omaeda The second division is basically the ninja & kunoichi division. They do stealth operations. Yoruichi Shihoin used to be the captain, with Soi Fon working for her, before Yoruichi and Urahara went to the regular world.
Third Division Captain: Ichimaru Gin (former) Third Division Lieutenant: Izuru Kira The captain of the third division was the always smiling Ichimaru, who was one of three captains to betray the Gotei 13 and leave to Hueco Mundo. His Lieutenant, Kira, is friends with Renji, Momo and Hisagi. He is used as a pawn in Aizen’s schemes but turns out to be a good guy in the end. The third division is without a captain at the end of the Soul Society arc.
Fourth Division Captain: Unohana Retsu Fourth Division Lieutenant: Isane Kotetsu Another squad that is very specialized. The fourth squad is the healer squad and are looked down upon by the other squads because they’re not as strong. Their captain does command a lot of respect and is seen as quite strong. She’s been around for a long time as well. Her zanpakuto is focused on healing people and it’s the same for some of the squad members.
Fifth Division Captain: Aizen Sosuke (Former) Fifth Division Lieutenant: Momo Hinamori (Unavailable) So yeah, the fifth squad contained Aizen, who is the big villain so far. He orchestrated everything around Rukia’s execution, getting the Hogyoku and killing all of Central 46. He almost killed his lieutenant Momo, but she seems to have survived. The last we’ve seen of her is that she’s unconscious and Unohana has been taking care of her. As of now, the squad is without leadership.
Sixth Division Captain: Kuchiki Byakuya Sixth Division Lieutenant: Shirogane Ginjiro Byakuya is a major antagonist during this first arc and is the moment where Ichigo first uses his bankai. He’s from one of the four major noble families and because his deceased wife was Rukia’s sister he has since adopted her into his family. He is a big proponent of law and order.
Seventh Division Captain: Komamura Sajin Seventh Division Lieutenant: Tetsuzaemon Iba Iba is one of the cooler lieutenants in the Gotei 13. Komamura is a wolfman, who was close friends with Tosen Kaname. He hides his face for most of the story so far and he ends up fighting Kenpachi while things are going down in Soul Society.
Eight Division Captain: Kyoraku Shunsui Eight Division Lieutenant: Yadomaru Lisa When I was watching Bleach for the first time, Kyoraku was my favorite captain. He was both cool and laid back. He wears a pink outfit compared to most who wear the basic white and black ones, and he has a straw hat he often wears. His favorite things are lazing around and (borderline) sexual harassment. He’s not too bad for an anime character but if he was a real person in an office he’d probably be in trouble for his behavior.
Ninth Division Captain: Kaname Tosen (Former) Ninth Division Lieutenant: Hisagi Shuhei Tosen is one of the three captains that ended up betraying the Soul Society, alongside Gin and Aizen. He is blind and his zanpakuto makes other people blind too with its bankai. He claims he wants to find the most peaceful path and he seems to think Aizen will lead him there. According to the wiki; the ninth division oversees art and culture, like the news magazine. I did not know this, so here’s a fun fact that I learned while writing this.
Tenth Division Captain: Hitsugaya Toshiro Tenth Division Lieutenant: Matsumoto Rangiku Hitsugaya and Matsumoto are both fan favorites and they play a pretty big role early on. Hitsugaya is the one who ends up figuring out that something is wrong at Central 46 and faces Gin and Aizen there. Hitsugaya uses an ice zanpakuto and is the youngest captain. He’s voiced by the same voice actress that voices Al from FMA: Brotherhood and they both have a height complex, which is pretty funny.
Eleventh Division Captain: Zaraki Kenpachi Eleventh Division Lieutenant: Kusajishi Yachiru Kenpachi is the fighting crazy captain that Ichigo first fights in Soul Society. He loves fighting and nothing else. His lieutenant, Yachiru, is often riding on his shoulder. Notable members of the squad are Ikkaku, Yumichika and Renji. Iba, the seventh division lieutenant, is also a former member of the eleventh division.
Twelfth Division Captain: Kurotsuchi Mayuri Twelfth Division Lieutenant: Kurotsuchi Nemu Kurotsuchi is a creepy guy with a strange mask on his face. We do get one shot of him in the shower looking somewhat normal, with blue hair. Reminds me of Hisoka from HxH. He treats his Lieutenant extremely poorly because he created her body so it belongs to him. He killed Ishida’s grandfather and is defeated by Ishida, but has an emergency escape plan. He wasn’t really present towards the end of the arc because he was still recovering. His division is in charge of research and development.
Thirteenth Division Captain: Ukitake Jushiro Thirteenth Division Lieutenant: Shiba Kaien (Former) Ukitake is a friendly man with long white hair. He’s been ill for a very long time and is often staying on the sidelines. Kiyone and Miyako both take care of him and share the third seat. Rukia is a member of Ukitake’s squad and was there when the lieutenant died. Ukitake and Kyoraku both face Yamamoto when they realize that the orders coming from Central 46 are weird as well as the urge to protect Rukia. They’re probably the two nicest captains in the squad.
And there you have it, a round-up of the Gotei 13 early on. There’s a lot to remember but I’m sure this will serve as a nice list. Next week I’ll be talking about the Arrancar arc, which comes after the Soul Society arc in the manga and after the Bount arc in the anime. Thanks for reading!
We’re back right where we left off last time, at Reg meeting Faputa. Faputa asks what happened to Reg’s arm, triggering old memories in him. He realizes he might have met Faputa before. Reg is from the Abyss after all and lost his memories, so there’s definitely a chance he had an encounter with Faputa at some point. Faputa and Reg run away from the crowd of onlookers with the guardian. We hear Vueko narrate a little bit about Faputa before we jump back into the opening theme. The opening is still brilliant by the way, I’m really enjoying it. The episode title is Friend and it’s pretty safe to assume this is referring to either Reg or Faputa. Unless something else happens.
Same here, I like my peace and quiet too.
Nanachi is a little bit worried about Reg, but she follows Majikaja around town. The CG actually makes the hollows more eerie and I can’t say I dislike it. We get told once again that truth and value are extremely important here but Nanachi has some questions. When asked what is valuable, Nanachi answers Mitty and her friends. Majikaja then agrees and says that Belaf currently has Mitty, who was left behind here by the masked man.
Yeah, explain yourself!
We cut back to Reg and Faputa. Reg is still very much on edge around Faputa and for good reason. The latter has realized that Reg has memory loss. She doesn’t seem hostile so Reg asks her how they know each other, which she doesn’t seem to like. Faputa is voiced by Kuno Misaki by the way, who we might know as Hawk in Seven Deadly Sins, Momo in 3-Gatsu no Lion or Serara in Log Horizon, among a long list of other roles. It’s a very recognizable voice. Faputa wants to inspect Reg to make sure he’s Reg. Faputa stabs Reg in his belly button and licks off the blood, which is par for the course I suppose because Made in Abyss is freaking weird as hell. Oh, she also smells his crotch. The most interesting part of this conversation is that Reg’s name was also Reg when he met Faputa even though Riko gave him his name. Reg decides it’s high time to get out of there, leaving Faputa to cry alone.
That’s fucked up, Faputa.
Outside of Faputa’s lair, Reg sees the guardian, who looks as intimidating as ever. He ponders some things about his existence and then wonders how his friends on the surface are doing. We now cut to Riko who is naked on the toilet. Have I mentioned that this manga is weird yet? At least the toilet has the Made in Abyss equivalent of a bidet, which is just tongues. She asks the Bed & Breakfast host where her friends went and she just points outside. Calling for her friends gets the attention of a whole bunch of hollows who look fairly creepy. No Reg or Nanachi though. With a crudely drawn map of the town, Riko and Meinya head out to find the market. She quickly attracts a crowd of hollows that follow her around. Some of these hollows are extremely terrifying. A whole bunch of them attack Riko and Meinya, but Ma comes in with the save. Turns out they weren’t quite dead yet. Ma is very distressed though and Riko befriends the strange creature.
What a catch.
Nanachi and Majikaja are still on their way to find Mitty. Ma and Riko find their way to a restaurant. We get another flashback for advice on what to do when you have diarrhea and Riko remarks that with the food smell is a hint of poo. Have I mentioned yet that this manga is weird? It turns out the food is actually pretty good, but very spicy. It turns out the restaurant owner speaks the common language. Also, the food she just ate was tesicles. And here we meet Wazukyan of the three sages as well as Belaf of the three sages. It’s strange though, because neither of them look remotely human. We now get to why I thought it was a good idea of the anime creators to put the flashback to the three sages arriving in the abyss earlier in the story. Because at least now we have context for who they are. And it turns out that Belaf does have Mitty. And to top off the three sages, we see a quick shot of Vueko as well, but she seems to be captive.
I lived, bitch!
With episode 4 done, we’re now well in the thick of things. This arc still has a while to go but we’ve now covered most of Volume 6 as well as bits from Volumes 7 and 8. I’m still engrossed in the story and grossed out by some of the other things. I know it’s almost a joke at this point, but this is truly one of the weirdest stories I’ve ever consumed and I can’t really put into words why I’m still watching and reading it. I suppose that if you stare at the abyss for long enough, it’ll stare back at you. Either way, thank you for reading and let me know what you thought about this week’s episode in the comments down below. See you next week!
We took a little bit of a hiatus but here’s volume 6. Before we dive into it, I do have to say I’ve read it in batches over a long time so some of my memories of it are a little bit spotty. I’m going to try my best to cover it properly though and I’m keeping it short because although this was a pretty fun volume when all was said and done, not terribly much happened.
We pick up right at the end of the previous volume. To give a quick recap, Lawrence joined forces with Eve to make a massive amount of money but was betrayed at the very last moment. Luckily he came out of it alive and with enough funds to buy back Holo from the slavers he’d given her to as leverage. A messy situation all things considered but the two are still alive and not completely broke. Holo is furious at what Eve did to Lawrence and vows to get her back. And so our two main characters set off to the harbor to find a ship that can sail them further north, after Eve.
Quickly finding a ship, captained by a man named Ragusa, they make their way upstream. At a toll stop they encounter a young boy, Col, who has been swindled and is trying to get on a boat with papers he bought that turned out to be false. Luckily, Holo and Lawrence decide to help the kid out and pretend they know him. Thus Col joins Lawrence and Holo on their journey north.
Arguably not a lot happens in this volume. Holo and Lawrence grow closer, which I can go in depth about, but is more fun to read for yourself. Col shows that he’s a clever kid and has a bright future ahead. Ragusa kind of wants him as an apprentice but Col shows no interest.
There’s a sunken ship in the way which causes a lot of the ships to be stuck and our friends have to take a break. Lawrence even has to walk through some fields to make room on the ship for a while. Joined by Col on this walk, they talk a bit here and there before meeting up with Ragusa at the sunken ship. The merchants and sailors try to get the ship out of the water, but it’s a massive waterlogged ship so of course they can’t get it out.
After a night of partying instead, they all wake up hungover. Col, Holo and Lawrence have a talk about gods, and how they’ve been looking for the fossilized leg of a dead wolf god. Holo and Lawrence both realize there’s probably more truth to this story than Col thinks. Their conversation gets cut short by some strange sounds that are identified as a ship getting loose and about to crash into the other ships. All the sailors jump up to deal with it quickly though, with Ragusa in the lead.
After saying goodbye to Ragusa and Col, they continue their journey towards Yoitsu where they will eventually part ways. After a little bit Col comes after them to join them. They agree and show him Holo’s true form which definitely scares him. He then tells them the secret behind the missing coins. And now our duo has become a trio.
I didn’t enjoy this volume as much as some of the earlier ones if I’m honest. I’m still going to read the next one, because it consists of side stories which could be interesting. But let me know how you felt about this volume. Did you think it’s getting a bit repetitive too, or is that just me? Either way, thanks for reading!
We’ve made it to episode 3, aptly titled “Village of Hollows.” And we immediately see a whole legion of creepy crawlies. Majikaja, who introduced themselves briefly last episode, is leading them towards where they need to go. Nanachi explains that the forcefield isn’t present in this village, so they can ascend the stairs without issue. We get a quick nod back to Bondrewd, the Sovereign of Dawn, who was a major antagonist in the previous arc, before we make our way into the place where Prushka is. This was the first hint in the manga for me that this arc was going to be weird. Prushka is being chiseled away at, but when Reg jumps to defend the whistle, Riko says that Prushka strangely doesn’t seem to mind. The whistle as it was isn’t her true form, and the creature working on it is changing it to have the right value. That word is going to be important so keep track of it.
“Because the stone’s not in its true form” – Kaja
Kaja explains their real body consists of smells, and this is just a vessel they’re using. Second hint for me that this arc is weird. And now we’ve arrived at the circus of value, hahahaha. Sorry, I’ve been replaying the original Bioshock and the vendor machine boldly exclaims that. What I meant to say is that we’ve arrived at the market of value. Reg’s noticed the trend as well. Riko finds a part of her mother’s letter but she’s told to turn herself into value. The symbols on the money, Nanachi notes, are the same as the threatening symbols on the threat letter they received. The person who wrote that assigned value to Nanachi and Riko, as if planning to pawn them off, but not to Reg. Riko is way too unbothered by the strange things happening around her. In a sense it’s clear she was made for a journey like this in how easily she adapts to the craziness around her. We get introduced to a bunch of vendors and Kaja explains that hollows’ bodies have the shape of their desires. Meinya jumps on the head of one hollow who proclaims “maaa” and then very quickly kills Meinya.
Squish
That’s what it seems like but after some quick inspection Nanachi shows that it’s fine. Just a bit hurt by the squishing. The discussion is interrupted by a scream which Kaja refers to as the balancing. The hollow known as Ma quickly runs away in fear. Ma is caked up by the way, which is a strange sight to say the least. THey get enveloped by strange tentacles that take things straight from their body to balance out the attack on Meinya. The customs hollows have are very different from Riko’s sense of justice. There is no such thing as subtlety in the way they deal with things. It’s a very interesting way of looking at things. Oh, and Ma gets part of their body brutally torn off. This place is pretty metal. Riko quickly switches gears and tries to talk to the locals. They’re looking for a bed and breakfast and Riko learned the word for it. With Kaja bidding them goodbye, they move on.
This scene is freaking brutal. Poor Ma.
They’re led to what looks like an inn of sorts and the innkeeper just kind of blindly stares at them and takes some of their money. The rooms look pretty good, the toilet and the food less so. There’s also insects everywhere. Riko takes some shots at Nanachi’s cooking and they eat the awful looking but surprisingly edible food. Should not have done that, should not have done that. The author’s obsession with little girls pooping has quickly returned. I’ve been saying for months this season is going to be weird and I’m even reminded of exactly how weird it is. A commotion outside catches the attention of Reg and Nanachi. Kaja explains that it must be Faputa, the embodiment of value. Faputa can go anywhere and usually isn’t seen. Reg goes to see Faputa. Here we finally meet Faputa, princess of the hollows and her bodyguard. Once again it confirms for me that the human expedition from Volume 8 is important, as we’re shown a quick flashback to the young girl that they picked up at the edge of the abyss. Having now made their way to the hollows, we’re shown a little bit more from their story, although not much. There isn’t much room to look at the splendor though, since the hollows they found are almost immediately attacked.
The creepy stalker from last episode is revealed.
So that gives us the conclusion to this episode. Like last time, this covers more of Volume 6 of the manga, with a hint of Volume 8 in the last minute of the episode. Can we all pour one out for Ma who just wanted to play with Meinya and ended up watching all their prized possessions destroyed before being shredded to bits. The village of hollows don’t fuck around. Where the first two episodes were fairly tame, this episode really started upping the weirdness that I’ve come to know from this manga. At some point the manga went from a curious and cool idea to a challenge of how weird can it get before people lose interest. I think that’s the reason I’m still reading this manga. It’s so incredibly bizarre and I’m pretty sure the author has some issues with the way he likes to portray little children but at the same time it’s also such a compelling story that I can’t look away. And the show’s popularity makes me think I’m not the only one. Enough rambling from me though, I’m already looking forward to next week’s episode. And as always, thanks for reading.
I remember thinking when I first watched Bleach that the Soul Society wasn’t very believable. It was this authoritarian run place where the rich elite did whatever they wanted while the poor suffered. No branch of government seemed capable of communicating with other branches and half the people in leadership positions were basically sociopaths or downright violent idiots. It’s now 2022 and when I look at the ruling class in many parts of the world I’m starting to think that Soul Society wasn’t nearly as unbelievable as I thought it initially was. And it’s a good thing that Soul Society is such an uncoordinated mess because if not for that there is no way Ichigo’s group would have been half as successful as it was. But let’s not jump too far ahead.
What an absolute queen. The fact that it’s been ten years does not excuse me forgetting she exists.
The crew lands in what is basically the slums after going through a strange tunnel that connects Soul Society to the real world. We’ll see quite a bit more of this tunnel as the story continues but for it did its job. The gate into Soul Society proper is guarded by Jidanbo, a massive soul reaper wielding two axes. Without too much issue, Ichigo manages to defeat him and he turns out to be a pretty reasonable guy. A loss is a loss and he opens the gate for Ichigo and crew. Unfortunately they’re not lucky enough to just waltz into the premises. Instead they’re met with one of the Captains of the Seireitei: Ichimaru Gin. He’s a creepy looking dude who’s always smiling like he’s scheming something. His Zanpakuto is able to extend at rapid speeds and he pushes everyone out of the gate, firmly shutting it, without much issue. He doesn’t finish off the intruders though, I wonder why that is.
The gang is now in need of a plan to enter into the Soul Society proper, which is guarded by barriers that they need to get through. Luckily, Yoruichi has some contacts in town, one of which is Shiba Kukaku. I forgot about this character completely if i’m honest but immediately fell in love with her design again. If memory serves, she doesn’t appear much later on, but hot damn does she look stunning. Ichigo and the gang need to train with special orbs and pour their spiritual energy into them so they will help them pierce through the barrier. How are they going to be sent to the barrier? That’s simple, we put them into a massive cannon and just launch them. Sounds good? Great, let’s do this!
Ikkaku was my favorite character for a while in early Bleach.
After making their way through the barriers, all hell breaks loose as the 13 squads are on high alert because of these Ryouka intruders. This is where the severe lack of communication comes in handy, because everyone’s just doing their own thing, allowing Ichigo and friends to make their way through the streets fairly easily. Ishida shows off his new gears and bullies a soul reaper. Ichigo and Ganju, who is Kukaku’s brother and joined them to help out, fight the two joint third seats of the eleventh squad: Yumechika and Ikkaku. Ikkaku is a great character, he’s a brute with an awesome fighting style and Ichigo has a tough time against this opponent but manages to beat him in the end. Ichigo brings up Urahara during the fight and there’s a moment of recognition on Ikkaku’s side. We know that Urahara has soul reaper abilities and was rejected by the gate to Soul Society, and now we know that he is a known person in the Soul Society. Ganju beats out Yumechika with trickery and the two then head towards where Rukia is. Ikkaku told Ichigo where to find her, but later also tells Zaraki Kenpachi, the eleventh squad captain, where he sent Ichigo. They find a squad four member who helps them out through the sewers and before long Ichigo and Ganju find themselves in front of Abarai Renji once more, who is defeated by Ichigo after a drawn out battle. Renji tells Ichigo to save Rukia and we get a flashback of their past where it shows their life in the poor Rukon district before joining the soul reaper academy.
Renji gets bullied quite a lot this arc. It’s to atone for being a dickhead early on.
Meanwhile the thirteen captains aren’t sitting still either. Some of them are moving about town and trying to find the intruders while others seem disinterested or are just doing their own thing. Ichimaru Gin, who we talked about earlier, is also under suspicion of doing some treacherous things but we don’t learn much yet about what this could be. The meeting is cut short regardless because that is the moment where Ichigo and friends entered through the barrier. We do see some of the captains. There’s thirteen in total, as the name implies. I’ll go over all of them when they become relevant to the story, so for now just know that most of them are very cool and one of them has the same voice as Edward Elric and also gets made fun of for being short. He’s great by the way. Moving on, and bear with me since this post is getting long already.
This fight was so cool back in the day and, spoiler alert, still is!
Things escalate very quickly from here on out. First Sado runs into first division captain Kyoraku Shinsui and gets defeated easily. Kyoraku is a very laid-back person who doesn’t want to put in too much effort. But he recognizes Sado’s resolve and fights him seriously at the end, defeating him with ease. A moment after that fight ends he gets the news we as viewers already know. Aizen Sosuke, captain of the fifth division, has been murdered. We don’t have much time to process this as viewers because we dive straight into Zaraki Kenpachi fighting Ichigo, dealing him a grave wound in the process. But why does his Zanpakuto’s human form appear before him? This is the first good look we get into Ichigo’s Zanpakuto. From his flowing cape he summons a bleached (get it) looking version of Ichigo to help him out. They’re working together, with the old man being called Zangetsu and the other Ichigo seeming to have their own will yet also being a part of Zangetsu. After this second wind Ichigo pushes Kenpachi quite a bit and the latter has to remove his eyepatch. Keep in mind he’s supposed to be the strongest captain of the strongest squad. So barring Yamamoto Genryuusai he’s probably the strongest Soul Reaper in the Seireitei. Either way, his second wind isn’t enough to secure the victory and instead the fight ends up in a draw.
It’s the artist formerly known as Zangetsu! He’s here to personally help our boy Ichigo out!
Next up we see Ichigo retrieved by Yoruichi who reveals her (that’s right, her) real form. Turns out she’s a very attractive woman and former leader of the stealth squad. Ichigo then runs off to help Hanataro and Ganju fight against Byakuya but before he’s allowed to do so, Yoruichi intervenes. Due to her interference and Ukitake being present, the worst case scenario is avoided. Ichigo now starts his training to unlock his Bankai, the second state of release that a Zanpakuto has. Elsewhere, Ishida uses his trump card to fight the captain of the twelfth division, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, defeating him but giving up his powers in the process. After being given the antidote to Kurotsuchi’s poison he goes towards Rukia but is quickly defeated by the captain of the ninth division, Kaname Tosen. With Sado, Ganju, Ishida, Inoue, Rukia and Renji all caught in some way by the Soul Reapers, we start the second leg of this arc. I wanted to cover quite a bit in this post because things quickly ramp up from here on out. I’ve left out a few details that I will talk about in the nex post, it just makes more sense to move these around a bit. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I’ll see you next week for the next installment!
One of the coolest characters in this show. No doubt about it.
Here we are, episode two of the new Made in Abyss is out. I have my volume 6-8 at the ready behind me to see if I can keep track of what’s been moved around, assuming there is anything. You can find my discussion of last week’s episode here. I talk about what changes were made in the order and my thoughts on them doing so, if you’re curious about that. If not, strap in with me for episode two!
Riko and Meinya are ready for whatever comes their way.
The squad has only just arrived in the sixth layer and Riko almost immediately gets into trouble. Luckily it’s nothing major but it does show that the ground there isn’t walked on too often, seeing as she falls through it with ease. And just like that we jump into the opening, that wasn’t there last week. We see a nice cut of Riko and friends arriving, juxtaposed against the sages and their group arriving. It really gives a sense of adventure and it’s making me realize how much darker the black and white makes everything seem. I’m sure it’s going to get plenty dark as this arc continues, but the lack of color makes everything more eerie I think. Anyway, the opening music is fine but it’s not particularly memorable. I don’t really remember the opening from the first season either. What I do remember is the soundtrack and just like with the first season, Kevin Penkin is on board as a composer for this one too. He recently featured on the Trash Taste Podcastthat I listen to at work and gives some great insight into his process there if you’re interested in that stuff.
I love this parallel the show makes, very well done. So many great little moments in the opening.
From here on out it’s really a mystery what they can find. It is interesting to hear them talk about creatures who can move in all dimensions unbothered by the curse. That immediately gives me the hope that there is a way to negate the curse and freely travel the abyss. It’s probably how Riko’s mom brought her to the surface. The gang finds some strange creatures and their eggs before being barraged by a firestorm of poisonous fire. Riko’s enthusiasm is still endless as they prepare and eat the aforementioned eggs. Riko gets nostalgic about her home and the friends she left behind and they decide to write them a letter. I don’t think the letter is making it all the way up though. The scene ends with a quick look at a character I’m very excited to see more of, spying on the gang.
That’s a bad omen if I’ve ever seen one.
The gang wakes up to some serious creepy problems. Someone managed to retrieve their failed mail balloon, circumvent their protection and leave a threatening letter as well as steal Prushka which was on Riko’s person. Things go from zero to a hundred very fast. They go on the pursuit. Not only that, this person apparently took some of Riko and Nanachi’s hair and then sewed it into the corpse of an animal. We’re reminded that the Abyss doesn’t mess around and isn’t a fun place for a jolly adventure once more. It’s the quieter moments where I’m already starting to notice how much the OST is adding. It’s already so good and so memorable. Just listening to it improves the atmosphere. Across a bridge they see the same symbol that was on the threatening message, so they decide to head there as the music and the sound effects get more ominous. With that in mind they cross the hauntingly beautiful bridge as their adversary watches them from afar.
“If your fears can take shape and manifest in your body then couldn’t your wishes also take shape and become reality?” This line is taken directly from the manga and for good reason, it’s very powerful.The sheer scale of it all has me in awe. It’s impressive that Reg picks up the voice they hear from that distance.
After crossing the bridge and pushing past a barrier we find ourselves at the capital of the unreturned, the golden city, the village of hollows. Strap in folks because things are about to get weird. We meet Majikaja who speaks a combination of broken Japanese and a language completely foreign. They’re in a village surrounded by strange creatures. This episode seems to cover the introductory part of this arc, until about halfway through chapter 40 in early volume 6. We’ve had no more jumps around in the content like last time, but I do still think it’ll be a boon to watchers to have already met Belaf, Wazukyan and Vueko ahead of the rest of the arc. It also makes it so that the opening theme animations make sense. All in all there’s not much I have to add to this episode’s discussion. It’s faithful to the manga, hauntingly beautiful in a way that the manga can’t be without color and sound and makes me very excited to see more of the capital of the unreturned. But for that, we need to come back here next week and do this all over again. Thanks for reading!
Nice to meet you too Majikaja, what a fantastic voice cast choice, they sound so gentle.
