Bleach Chapter 372 – The Metal Cudgel Flinger

Bleach post by J-sama. Please visit the Bleach blog to comment.

Download Bleach Chapter 372
Barragan is finally out of the picture and I must say it’s quite the surprise to see him die before Hallibel. On the other hand, who wants to look at that smelly old geezer when he can look at the gorgeous shark blondie?!

Anywhoo, after witnessing Hacchi’s surprising victory over Barragan, Love and Rose, who have apparently been losing to Stark ’till now, decide to get serious. Or at least as serious as they can be…

I have to admit that Rose has always looked like a boring and dull aristocrat of some sort, but it turns out he’s actually quite loose. The fact that there is comical relationship between the two Vizards makes me think that they’re a very successful team. It’s an unwritten law that in manga dysfunctional tag teams are the strongest ones. Although we don’t see Rose actually fighting (or even supporting Love), it’s still interesting to see Love’s shikai.

Love is only the second of the Vizards to reveal his sword’s name, the only one before him being Kensei. Love’s new weapon is “Tengumaru” – a ridiculously big cudgel, which strongly resembles a cactus. In Medieval times peasants used to carry such weapons and mythology – ogres would do the same. In addition to his Hollow mask, which is that of an ogre, his weapon is a cudgel and his fighting style is quite reckless and destructive. Thus Love is truly an “ogre”, even though his name suggests the exact opposite.

Seeking an opportunity to finish things quickly Love makes the first move. he believes that Stark is disturbed by Barragan’s death and also seems to be a follower of the theory that “he, who strikes first, strikes hardest”. His fight with Stark isn’t very long, they both use their most basic attacks. Stark tries to get a hit using a few Ceros, but Love’s iron club is completely unaffected by them. There really does seem to be something wrong with Stark, as his speed decreases immensely, which allows his foe to land a direct hit on him, sending him flying right into a building.

Stark becomes depressed, which is not something unusual for a person like himself, and requires some cheering up by Lillynette. Their conversation is quite intriguing, mostly due to the fact that Stark seems to dislike death. He doesn’t want his friends to die, by which I understand that he considered even Barragan his friend. It’s not easy to have friends when you’re “The Lonely Cowboy Espada”, so even if he didn’t get along with the others, he must have considered them friends. Or it could be that he has a thing for Hallibel… Another interesting piece of information was leaked out – Aizen decided that Stark is stronger than Barragan. And if Aizen decides something, then it’s definitely gotta be right! Right? He also decided that he doesn’t care if the Espada get wiped out like bugs.

The Primera Espada recovers from his state of desolation and confronts Love once again. Sensing that his opponent is now serious, the Vizard dons his mask for a maximum power increase. He then attempts to deal Stark a devastating blow, which completely destroys the building underneath the two fighters.

The destruction doesn’t look like it was caused from fire, though. The attack more probably affects the air- the cudgel moves at an incredible speed, which causes the air beneath it to become a pressure cannon. The intense friction with the air molecules causes the very weapon to set itself aflame. The attack misses, unfortunately and Love loses sight of his target. Stark suddenly appears behind him, followed by a pack of wolves.

The wolves don’t appear to be Hollows, though. They seem to be a materialized form of Stark’s reiatsu. This is just another conformation why he was chosen to be the First Espada. As I suspected back when Lillynette started to talk as a gun, Stark is the hollow who has most perfectly tapped into his inner shinigami’s power.

Also, as of this week, I’ve decided to add a bit of One Piece funnies after each chapter,in hopes that you Beach fans might get interested.

Bleach post by J-sama. Please visit the Bleach blog to comment.