#and that is why Renji is out here saying some bananas thing

[bleachbleachbleach]

[Bleach 079]

Renji????? Excuse me, but respectfully, what. Aizen-san? Aizen-SAN? What is this?

I cannot conjure a single reason or reasonable circumstance where anyone in the Gotei--vice-captain and below--would not refer to a captain with the honorific -taichou. Maybe this read-through will prove me wrong, but I don't... I don't think so? Especially Renji, because I have always felt that if any VC were going to win a speedrun of "list all the captains," it would be Renji. (Nanao also knows this info well; Renji can just shout faster.) I should probably revise this headcanon based on the fact that he doesn't remember that Hitsugaya exists and he's out here Aizen-san'ing his former captain, but I shall not be.

Renji just seems like the kind of person who would study all the captains, and kinda have them all clocked. I feel like if Renji and Rukia had spent more time in school together, they would have ended up making Captain trading cards. Renji would supply all the info, and Rukia the illustrations. They'd be study guides, technically, but Rukia figures, I am not drawing all these dumb captains unless we can monetize this, and they start a whole trading card micro-empire. (Renji does propose this to Kira and Hinamori, but Kira thinks its gauche and Hinamori doesn't think anyone would need captain trading cards because there's only 13 of them to memorize. Just keep writing your share of the kidou flashcards, Renji, there are over 9000. Well, maybe one captain flashcard.)

Punk vibes he may have, but Renji's also well aware of how rank works and he will walk the walk; he's a company man. (Yes, he challenges his own captain in open combat in the middle of an active invasion. He does do that. But he knew that's what he was doing, and the contrast is the point--)

Renji does later call him Aizen-taichou, so there's that:

What momentary madness took him over. Was it the squiggly dialogue that threw him off? Was it the stress of dropping Rukia off at her execution tower? Who has he been hanging out with who'd call Aizen 'Aizen-san' and poison his BRAIN like that. Though lol, Ichimaru does refer to Byakuya as "Kuchiki-taichou-san" when he and Zaraki go pop in at the 6th, so maybe it was thinking about Ichimaru that addled him.

Because we also have Renji and Ichimaru, who at least in his internal narrative Renji doesn't seem to respect all that much. He says "Ichimaru no yarou," which is a masculine, crude way of referring to someone. To a superior officer (or honestly any co-worker), it's rude as hell. Though, granted, Renji is only being as rude about Ichimaru internally as Hitsugaya is rude about Renji out loud, so. XD Take that as you will.

But it does make me wonder about what their VC-subordinate relationship was like, what the circumstances of Renji's leaving the 5th were, and whether Kira's devotion to Ichimaru came out of his time in the 5th or whether it was cultivated only afterward, in the 3rd. And if it was in the 5th, how did this impact Renji and Kira's relationship? I'm in love with all of these potentials. Honestly I'm kind of into the idea that the Nerd Squad were all kind of mid about Ichimaru as a VC, and that when Kira eventually ends up becoming VC of 3rd he's resigned about it--only for the relationship to change. And at some point Renji realizes he can't joke about Ichimaru with Kira any more, like they used to.

[robinofinashiro]

drabble: daiya boys getting jealous to you wearing another guys jersey ! 

characters: multiple characters x fem! reader

request status: OPENED / all fandoms pinned to the top of my blog as well as rules and req status! happy sending! 

Miyuki Kazuya: 

- mans so confused? why are you wearing Eijun’s jersey. he had specifically gotten you a jersey that had his number for you to wear and the fact that you were wearing his pitchers jersey was completely throwing him off. especially because it was a game day and you were helping the girls with their cheering today and he wanted you to be in his jersey while you did it. 

- you were talking with Eijun and Nori, trying to get their pre-game jitters to settle the tf down. it didn’t even seem like you bothered by the fact that you wearing Eijun’s jersey and although Miyuki did not want to cause a scene, a part of him wanted a explanation. 

- as he was about to walk to you for an explanation, you got dragged away by the girls as he was called onto the field. he saw you a bit later on the stands, you were talking with the girls, every so often, the in field camera would pan to you and show off you wearing Eijun’s jersey. his eye continuously twitched at it and it wasn’t until the end of the game when he finally got the chance to approach you about it. 

- “why are you in his jersey?” he asked, lifting the jersey as if it was dirty. you laughed, sensing that he wanted you to take it off so you did, “i got Red Bull over the spare one you gave me and Eijun offered to take me to the locker room to get another one of yours but i guess i grabbed his spare by accident,” you laughed. Miyuki sighed understandingly but took his sweaty jersey off and putting it on you, “yours stinks you know,” you told him, giggling at his possessiveness, “i know but i’d rather you smell like dirty me than to have that idiot smelling line you.” you laughed, kissing his cheek as you heard a few of the girls call you over to catch dinner, “i’ll see you after dinner!” you screamed as he watched you, finally satisfied that you were wearing his jersey now. 

kuramochi youichi: 

- you thought you got off easy with miyuki? MANS WAS PISSED. you were adorning Shinji’s jersey when he had specifically given his to you. kuramochi walked up to you, seeing you talking to a few of your friends in front of your home room. he didn’t even ask, he practically dragged you over to a corner. 

- “what up with the jersey?” he asked, pointing to Shinji’s number. you rolled your eyes, “um, this is the one you gave me? what the hell are you on?” you asked, trying to see the number. he shook his head, “the fuck it’s not. you’re wearing Shinji’s jersey!” he exclaimed, “take it off,” he stated, as he yanked your back pack off you and watched you annoyingly take it off.

- kuramochi looked at the time. you had about ten minutes before class started and that gave him enough time, “come with me,” he said, dragging you out of the hallway and basically darting to the boys baseball locker room. you were screaming at him, asking him where the hell he was dragging you off too. it wasn’t until you saw the boys locker room approaching when you finally realized. 

- he told you to wait a second and not even a minute after, he walked out of the locker room, holding his jersey in his hand and throwing Shinji’s into the hallway, not caring where it landed. Mochi put it on for you, making sure his number was showing. you looked at him and saw a blush on his cheek, realizing that he was flustered by how you looked with his jersey on. 

- you leaned up, giving him a kiss on the lips before smiling, “i like this one better,” you giggled. he gave you a hearty laugh, before returning the kiss, “you better because it’s mine,” he said in-between kisses. the kiss seemed to go on longer than you had realized as the two of you heard the two minute bell ring off, “race you to home room,” you told him as the two of you basically darted off to class. 

Narumiya Mei: 

- GODDD, you got the whiniest of the bunch, omfg. he sees you wearing Carlos’s jersey and he immediately starts getting dramatic. he complains to Itsuki about why aren’t you wearing his and when he finally approaches you, you could see the whiny look on his face, “why are you wearing Carlos’s jersey!” he said. 

- “i decided to wear everyone’s jersey as a way to support the team as the manager,” you said, not bothering to play into his attitude. he could tell you were annoyed by his attitude and figured since you were being this way, two could play this game. he knew you found his fan girls annoying as FUCK so he went to the common area and immediately got flocked with attention. 

- you had walked into that same area to get a water for yourself and saw the commotion around Narumiya. you saw the way girls were basically hanging off of him and realized this was his way of revenge for wearing Carlos’s jersey. you felt slightly annoyed, kinda jealous but knew the best way to get him back for it. and that way was to openly flirt with Carlos when he finally made his way to the dugout. 

- once you got Carlos into the plan, he waited until Narumiya arrived to take his shirt off in front of you. you had seen this plenty of times before but acted ‘flustered’ to get a reaction from Narumiya...which is exactly what you got. you flustered expression around Carlos made Narumiya pissed as he saw Carlos basically laying it on thick. he was being extremely flirty around you and even wrapping his arm around you for a few seconds at a time until Narumiya finally had enough. 

- he, without hesitation, took off his own playing jersey and yanked Carlos’s off, “wear it....now,” he stated, darkened jealous eyes showing. you had never expected his reaction from him before but giving yourself the benefit of the doubt, you slipped his on but still saw the expression written on his face, “we’ll deal with this later,” he murmured as crashed his lips onto yours, giving everyone in the dugout a free show. you were stunned with silence as Narumiya let you go and wiped away the lipstick you wearing in front of Carlos. 

Sanada Shunpei: 

- you were wearing Todoroki’s jersey and frankly, he was upset but not as much as he should’ve been bc i mean, it was Todoroki, you couldn’t get mad at that cinnamon roll for a long time. it was hard when Raichi was basically a walking two legged version of the sun but that was besides the point, he hated seeing you wearing another number that wasn’t his. 

- you were talking to Todoroki, giving him a few tips on how to keep his bat in decent care when Sanada finally approached the two of you. he had a tight lipped smile as he sat next to you and putting his hand on your thigh and giving it a tight squeeze, causing you to squeal slightly in the process. Todoroki hadn’t noticed as he continued to blabber on about his precious bat. 

- finally, his dad had called him over for something, causing Todoroki to run over there as Sanada looked down to you, “what up with Todoroki’s jersey?” he asked, making sure he emphasized his name. you shrugged, still smiling at him, “felt like supporting him,” you explained, “he’s like a little brother to me and i wanted to make sure he knew he had someone’s support on the stands.” Sanada’s heart fluttered, any sign of jealousy leaving his body as he heard what you were saying. 

- he loved the fact that you were so sisterly to Raichi. there would be days where you would bring all three of you lunch on the field as you knew that if Raichi didn’t eat school lunch, he’d practically be running on a banana diet for the entirety of the day and you were not about to have that happening. 

- you leaned up, giving him a quick peck on the lips, “don’t worry, the only other person’s jersey i would wear is yours,” you whispered into his ear, “and if you win today’s game, you can see me in just that and nothing else.” Sanada instantly perked up up, agreeing to what you were saying as he got dragged up from the bench by a few of his teammates. 

hongou masamune: 

- he’s seething and that doesn’t even begin to explain it. one of the first things he did as your bf was give you his jersey to make a statement that you were his and to back THE FUCK off and now here you were, wearing Renji’s jersey for some god awful reason. he knew Renji was his best friend but seeing you wearing Renji’s jersey just ticked him off more than usual. 

- Hongou approached you, dragging you away from the team as you tugged yourself back, trying to get him to explain why tf you were getting dragged away from everyone. when he finally got you to himself, he didn’t even hesitate to yank off Renji’s jersey, “why?” was all he asked as you sighed in disbelief, “why am I wearing Renji’s jersey?” you asked as he nodded, “because i lost a bet with the fucking idiot and my punishment was to wear his jersey to a game.” 

- Hongou didn’t really like the idea of this bet so he practically gripped his best friend’s jersey and took his off in the process, “you’re wearing mine and that’s final,” he stated, walking back to the loccker room to get his spare jersey from his stall. he shrugged his on as the two of you walked back to the team and he practically whipped Renji’s jersey back to him, “take yours back idiot,” he screamed to Renji making you laugh. 

- you shrugged, not really knowing what to say to Renji as he was caught off guard, “told you he’d react that way!” you exclaimed, laughing now, “you act like you don’t know your own best friend,” Renji silently agreed knowing you were right. you saw Hongou on the field, practicing extra harsh as you silently apologized to the other team for the ass kicking they were about to receive bc of Hongou. 

- you waved to Hongou throughout the game, whispering ‘i love you’s’ you him to try and get him to calm down but you knew that was no use. being Hongou’s gf meant that you were going to have to get used to dealing with his constant angry attitude and you knew that nine times out of ten, you were going to repay for your little bet with Renji bc of it. Hongou’s punishments on the other hand weren’t as bad as you liked to make it seem tho. you usually got some pretty good aftercare from him when it was all said and done. 

[recurring-polynya]

Bleach Sword Beasts Arc Recap: Episode 263

I have been putting this off, but It Is Time: I am going to review the episode where Zabimaru and Senbonzakura get stuck in Squad 12.

The episode starts out with Saru and Hebi very competently taking out a sword beast, and a bunch of Squad 6er’s get really hype about it. I love this. Please more of this.

No one ever cares what I think, though, because they don’t finish the job, and Senbonzakura has to do it. Not only does he steal their thunder, he does it in such a way that when the sword beast turns back into a sword, it breaks into two pieces, and one piece falls on each of their heads. It’s honestly a great piece of physical comedy, behold my lightning fast screenshotting reflexes:

Squad 6 are a bunch of bootlickers, so they immediately start fawning over Senbonzakura instead. You cannot care about the opinion of Squad 6, Zabimaru! The only way to win is not to play!! Then, to add insult to injury, Renji makes them write apology letters. I cannot overemphasize how deeply tired Renji is throughout this episode, and I am here for it. This is a man who has filled out so much zanpakutou-related paperwork. Also, there is a very cute little scene where Saru is protesting the letters and slapping the coffee table that is so, so reminiscent of The Desk Slap. I am utterly charmed with the idea that zanpakutou and their shinigami share mannerisms. Oh, also, I guess Squad 6 has some fancy-ass guest chairs? Well, they do now.

Renji implies that he has also been getting shit about how Captain Kuchiki’s zanpakutou is better than his. Zabimaru take this poorly, and decide they are going to return the broken sword to Squad 12, leaving this little love letter for Renji:

This poor, beleaguered man. For the record, nothing good happens to him this episode.

Anyway, Zabimaru head off to Squad 12, but no one is answering the door. I am sure they are just all playing Counterstrike with their headphones on, but that doesn’t help get the door opened. They break in through a window, there are some unnecessary jokes about Saru’s perfectly fine caboose, and it turns out Senbonzakura has beaten them here. He lectures them on breaking into someone else’s barracks, despite the fact that he, himself got in by knocking a giant hole in the wall.

Look, one of my favorite things about Byakuya is his utter, blatant, completely un-self-aware hypocrisy, like when he lectures people on how their arrogance will be their downfall, and the fact that Senbonzakura is just Like That 100% of the time is delightful to me.

Since they’re here, they decide to go stick the broken sword in a containment chamber. Saru explains that she knows how the controls work because she’s seen Renji do this before. Senbonzakura decides he also knows how the controls work because he is a self-important idiot, and manages to set off an alarm and get them trapped behind an emergency barrier (naturally, he blames Saru for “startling him.”)

Senbonzakura tries to use his sword to break them out, nearly killing Saru and Hebi in the process (also classic Byakuya behavior). Saru suggests that maybe they could just… wait for someone to come let them out? Senbonzakura is for it, until it turns out that the waiting may be longer than 10 seconds, and he absolutely goes feral. God, I love this episode. Unfortunately, he causes so much of a commotion that Ashisogi Jizou shows up. Obvs nothing good will come of this.

Ashisogi Jizou can’t hear them through the glass, but he tries to be helpful (?) so he gets a banana (??) which sends Senbonzakura into a rage (?????) We know from that one omake that Byakuya has sort of a thing for bananas, so I feel like there is some epic backstory for this, and the fact that no explanation is given makes it even more magical.

Anyway, Ashisogi Jizou breaks the remote and then runs away because Senbonzakura scared them. Saru and Hebi once again discuss that they will just have to wait for someone who knows what they are doing to show up, but Senbonzakura has no time for this and goes directly to bankai.

This works in the sense that it frees them, but it’s bad in the sense that it destroys the lab and sets of a bunch of defenses. Senbonzakura sets off running and Hebi and Saru chase him, only to realize that he has no clue where he’s going, he’s just running because he likes to be in front. There’s all kinds of blast doors closing on them, and rest assured, they do an Epic Maneuver, but it was too hard to capture, so just picture this only with more sliding:

I tell you, I would give you all the money I have in my pocket to see Byakuya and Renji do an Epic Maneuver, but this is pretty good, I'll take it.

Immediately after this is the classic scene where Senbonzakura’s mask crumbles and he immediately pulls out another one, we’ve all seen it. I do want to specify that Saru and Hebi definitely did see his (presumably) impossibly beautiful face for the split second it was visible.

Anyway, they are now in the Squad 12 control room, where you can spy on anyplace in the Seireitei. I am obsessed with cataloging which modern technology they have in Soul Society and what they don’t, and this scene is amazing in what it reveals. Urinals? Yes. Washing machines? Yes. Treadmills? Yes. What the f’ing f are Hisagi and Kazeshini doing? Are they making milk for Kazeshini’s baby? Didn't he re-home it? Also, why are Kira, Iba, and that annoying guy from Squad 4 all using the same bathroom at the same time? This scenes answers some questions, but it asks a lot more.

Senbonzakura is a tireless advocate for privacy rights, so he is enraged and starts button-mashing again. It turns out you can control everything in the Seireitei from this control room, and water and flames start shooting out of every conceivable place water and flames could shoot from. I cannot emphasize enough how good the physical comedy in this episode is, and I can’t even add much to it, you should just go watch it yourself.

The episode goes completely off the rails at this point. Stuff starts blowing up, and Senbonzakura claims Saru and Hebi are at fault by virtue of being in the same vicinity as him. Ashisogi Jizou goes to bankai. Senbonzakura goes to bankai. Zabimaru finally snaps and goes to bankai. Squad 12 is destroyed. There is a scene featuring the worst-drawn Renji in the history of Bleach, which I categorically refuse to show here.

In the crater of what used to be Squad 12, every Soul Reaper in the the Seireitei, except, notably, Byakuya, show up to yell at them. Senbonzakura, pristine and uninjured, claims total innocence in these shenanigans.

Even Renji has no sympathy for his poor zanpakutou, and he, Ukitake and Kyouraku give them stacks of paperwork to do in punishment. At this point, you’re like, “yeah, great episode, hijinks are done, let’s wrap–” and Renji says “Senbonzakura is nothing like his master!” and Kyouraku is like, “Wee-elll….”

::chef’s kiss::

[bleachbleachbleach]

who is your fav fav character from bleach?

if you want you can separate answers for male/female or for shinigamies/arrancars/etc 🤲🤲🤲

meow 🐱 have a great day

Whipplefilter:

Hitsugaya! 😭🥰 He was my favorite when I first read Bleach ~15 years ago and he’s still my runaway favorite now, having come back to it in 2020. He’s who I think about every day, whether I’m spinning out fanfic scenes in my mind or lovingly returning to some microdetail in canon or just building out completely inert, ephemeral headcanons that have no intended use. He’s who I’ll go full Close Reading on—every bodily expression! Every linguistic tic! I want to know it! He’s a character about whom I feel so intensely that I feel like the only way I can convey that love with the fullness and specificity I’d like is to write him in fanfic, and even that is something I think is really, really hard. I’d say the impulse, "I want to write you" is peak love for me, but I guess really it’s "I have to write you," which is the peak atop the peak. I just really love him, I cry.

I think he has such an interesting way of perceiving the world and of understand who he is and where he’s placed in it. He has these really incisive reads of things while also simultaneously knowing absolutely nothing, and often knowing that he knows nothing. Like, he’s willing to accept the WIP of it all, but is really aggressive about doing the work. Narrating your fights is a typical convention of shounen, but I am so tickled by the fact that at multiple points an opponent issues a taunt or points out a weakness and he’ll just be like, "Yes" and go on to explain in detail where he thinks there’s room for improvement. I find this completely bananas but also very endearing. He manages to be very forthright and straightforward and the squarest person alive while also constantly doing or saying things that are inscrutable and/or outright arcane. This doesn’t even get into the other 119 things I Think Are Core to Hitsugaya, which is why I feel like I can’t actually tell, I need to show. It also feels very personal, so I get self-conscious and shy about it/worried that I am going to overburden everyone around me with the magnitude of my blorbo feels, even though this is literally what fandom and Tumblr are putatively for.

After Hitsugaya, my favorites are Byakuya, Renji, Rukia, Matsumoto, and Hinamori; they move around in terms of in what order they appear. Then Hisagi, Akon, and Mayuri. Thennnn probably like… Ashisogi Jizou (Zanpakutou Rebellion Arc) and Sasakibe. I’ve probably made some horrible erroneous omission here and there are characters that outrank Ashisogi Jizou and Sasakibe but this is what my heart is saying right now.

ippoddity:

One time I tried to make a list of my favorite Bleach characters, and then I realized that it was impossible to make a tiered list. So then I tried to make a mind map thing of my favorite characters and it was so sprawling and ever-changing that I had to scrap the whole thing. If I had to choose some favs that are consistently at the top of the heap, I think I would have to go with Aizen and Renji. Aizen has long been my fav, ever since my first go-around with the series years and years ago. I think he’s probably one of the best manga/anime characters of all time. The deception! The motivations! The power! But also, the fallibility and the loneliness 🥲. Renji because who doesn’t like an underdog story? Renji is one of the first characters to bring humanity to the shinigami, because he shows that they are more than just their military training, they have regrets, and the capacity to love. Plus, he just looks really cool.

Other favorites which I am incapable of ranking: Hisagi, Byakuya, Ishida. And then the next batch includes Akon, Mayuri, Matsumoto, Ukitake, Ichigo. These groupings have very permeable membranes, and characters move in and out of them all the time. If you asked me in a month who my favorite characters are, I would probably give you a different answer lol.

[bleachbleachbleach]

HELLO.

I just wanted to say that I love, love, love your tags on that character/tool post a lot! Some of my favorite shows/books involve characters that can't keep it together and just barely make it to the end of the story or make it there in an "inconvenient way" and tbh I find that usually the narratives that follow these characters don't really work away from them either--the narrative is just usually more questioning instead of fully formed.

Like, 'what if/how would', y'know? There's less of a clear meaning and more just 'what if they hadn't done that. what if they had done that. what if all that meant nothing. what if that struggle was all there was'.

But oh boy, when they DO work away from the narrative. *chefs kiss*

I mean, most of my favorite Bleach characters are narrative nightmares who either hinder or cut off lines of theme in the story entirely. And, in general, I think there are A LOT of characters in shonen--a genre known for very long narratives that can't possibly complete every thought but also can't just abandon all those characters introduced ESPECIALLY the fan favorites or personal favorites--work in the way you described.

Tbh i think your tags really highlight why so many ppl get drawn to these characters/why they're so fun to play with in fanfiction.

If you have more to add or more thoughts about this you want to lay down I am here, eagerly awaiting and ready to pick them up.

Also, who do you think in Bleach is the most fun characters who sort of drop kicked the story, in your opinion? Who's the one you like the most? And who's the one you dislike the most?

[For posterity the referenced post is this one.]

Aww, thank you! That’s really lovely to hear. I was anxious about even putting it in tags because I don’t think I presently have the capacity to explain it well—and even if I did might still sound bananas to many. Or at least the bit about negotiating with characters and how *they* feel about being subjects in stories. Because as much as that really is my practice saying it out loud takes me back to like… FFN in 2003 where every store was prefaced by extensive chat-form back-and-forths between the fic author and their character "musies" and that is not something I think fandom would benefit from bringing back in force, hahaha. But anyway.

Here’s the part where I disappoint because I don’t think I actually know Bleach well enough to speak to it in this context. WHICH SOUNDS DUMB EVEN AS I TYPE IT BECAUSE LOL WTF IS THE NAME OF THIS BLOG WE ARE CHARLATANS AND POSERS FOR CLAIMING AS OUR NAMESAKE NOT ONE BLEACH BUT THREE BLEACHES but truly, my experience of Bleach has a shallow depth of field. I feel like I have weirdly intimate knowledge of some severe rabbit holes but a non-existent to uneasy sense of the gestalt.

Like idek man, in my "slow re-read where I am actually paying attention" Ichigo hasn’t even met Byakuya and Renji yet. ToT

I'm gonna put this behind a cut because it spidered all over the place, but in summary:

characters and their capacity to produce narrative failure

the charm of longform serialized series and their invitations to imagine stuff

me attempting to talk about Hitsugaya and feeling a fool, as usual

I guess in general terms, I’m really interested in characters and their capacity to produce narrative failure. Not failure as in 'bad' but failure as in things that break form or are circuitous or are actively detrimental to a narrative arc. All my strongest examples of what I’m thinking of are from a different fandom and therefore not relevant to this blog, alas. By comparison I think anyone in Bleach can keep it together better than the characters that are immediately coming to mind, lol. But I think this idea dovetails often with trauma narratives, or depression narratives, because these things are often… non-narrative? Like, there’s no fourth or fifth for minor fall or major lift. Sometimes it’s the same thing over and over again, or maybe nothing. Maybe it’s the exact same self-sabotage narrative dictates could have been avoided. Maybe it’s some act that emanates forth but cannot be explained because it cannot be explained and will never be explained. That’s a version of what I’m talking about, in any case, though not the only version.

Your note about longform shounen definitely resonates with me, too. In my mind I don’t like long things and I prefer series that are more self-contained but whenever I have ever landed in a long-term fandom, with a piece of media I felt obliged to carve out chunks of my life for, and to interact with at that level of creative fannishness, it’s always been something stupid long and serialized by the seat of its pants. I know plot holes or dropped threads bother a lot of people (makes total sense, don’t get me wrong) but I find these things incredibly attractive. I see them as invitations to join in the fun. Especially when it’s so much a part of the form and genre to have this, as you said, lack of real expectation that every thread will be followed to its conclusion (or that it would be worthwhile to do so) and every thought completed.

There’s this piece by David Grann that was published in The New Yorker in 2004 that I really love that speaks to part of this idea, albeit in terms of fictional universes versus fictional characters. But Grann is talking about Sherlock Holmes (Doyle original) and the ways that Sherlockians would like, approach apparent lapses in narrative and then solve them according to the established rules of the universe. I just love that. There’s also the line, "Never had so much been written by so many for so few," which LOL if that ain’t fandom I don’t know what is!!

I feel like I’m actually talking about three distinct but related facets of these thoughts in this post, except all at once and without clear transition, uhhhhh.

Gah, I am broken and now can ONLY think of examples from my not-Bleach fandom, but to try a different tack and add yet another facet to this already funhouse-mirror post, my various attempts to write Hitsugaya often feel like they come up against a version of this. I think Hitsugaya has aggressive side character energy, and I find it difficult to make him the center of a story and have it feel right to me. He feels different to me than writing other minor characters, where they can be the center of their own stories even if their story is not the main story. Like, two of my fave characters in my other fandom have literally like… three lines in 350+ episodes and it feels easier to imagine THEM at the center of their story and I think what it comes down to is that Hitsugaya probably prefers what he not be written. And when he does become more narrative I think he’d prefer that none of it was happening in the fist place. But at the same time he always seems to be…around??? whether there is really a good reason for him to be present or not. XD So while, say, he and Bartleby "would prefer not to" (because THAT'S what this post needs, a Melville reference), Bartleby actually opts out and Hitsugaya out here volunteering.

He also often feels non-narrative to me because he feels very declarative, if that makes sense? Like, the coming-to-decisions or coming-to-realizations parts of existence happen pretty quick, or are approached perfunctorily. I feel like I find narrative in the "coming" part of that equation and instead Hitsugaya will be like, well, I’ve already done that part without you, and/or plan to do that part in the future and it will still be without you, the audience. Anyway, here’s the determination I’ve made, here’s what I’m going to do, and here begins the long and probably tedious process of my doing that thing (off 2 go train in a cave for a bit). I don’t think he actually believes the world is that simple, Tab A into Slot B, but I do think he’s already made that assessment and can see coming to terms with that as a horizon, if that makes sense. So even if he doesn’t know the answer to something, or is completely at a loss of what to do (what to say to Hinamori? how to productively address the number Aizen’s done on him) there’s still not necessarily a story there. Maybe the answer is you grind, and it is repetitive and boring. Maybe you just hold things. There’s not even the act of learning how to hold things, necessarily, just the practice of doing so.

Wow, that probably doesn’t sound good! I feel like I need to suffix this with the assurance that Hitsugaya is my absolute runaway character in the whole series and this was true 15 years ago and it is still true now (truer, even) and everything I just said are reasons why I love him.

[recurring-polynya]

🔆 — obviously they end up married and procreating, but in your headcanon, do you see them expanding their family? Having more kids? Being content with just Ichika? She seems like 2 kids in one kids body. Where do you see the Abarai family in the future?

🔆 do they see themselves together for the long run ? like , getting married , starting a family , and all that jazz ?

So, when I first found out the timing on Ichika, I was honestly pretty upset about it. Part of it is that I think it’s nice for people to be married for a while without kids. We don’t know when Rukia and Renji actually started seeing each other romantically, but my personal preference is that it happened late, possibly during or after the TYBWA. We do know from WDKALY that they had a pretty short engagement, and then conceived Ichika almost immediately following the wedding. It’s kinda depressing to me that they would have this huge separation, followed by two years of slow burn, followed by six months of dating -> engaged -> married and then BAM preggo. Dang.

Secondly, even though she’s been a lieutenant for a year, tops, Rukia is now acting captain of a squad that has just taken enormous losses, one of her top officers has just transferred to Squad 4, and the Soul Society is in ruins. This seems like... a terrible time to have a baby?

On top of all this, Rukia has never struck me as a person who has always dreamed of being a mom or would be particularly delighted to find herself pregnant. I’m not saying she wouldn’t want to be a mom, or that she wouldn’t be a good one (I am not a particularly maternal mom, and to be honest, I think we could use some better representation). I think Renji would both like to be a dad and would be an excellent and intuitive dad, but he loves Rukia for who she is. He would accept not having kids before he would try to talk her into doing something she didn’t want to.

I am a compulsive fix-it person, but within the confines of canon, so I spent a lot of time trying to make sense of all this. In my ongoing, low-burn, canon-spanning fanfic epic, I tried to put in a few earlier scenes where Rukia interacts with some Kuchiki family members who have babies, and starts to feel some stirrings that having babies doesn’t mean quitting your job and your personality. She’s always valued her independence, but she’s also been alone for a really long time, and at the same time she is trying to adjust to the idea of maybe she would like to have a romantic partner, she’s learning the trials and tribulations of having a sibling, and she’s really re-examining her entire concept of family.

I have never been particularly fond, either, of the idea that Ichika is somehow the Kuchiki heir (and I don’t think she is, especially since she has Renji’s name, but we really don’t know for sure and it’s a common enough idea in fanfic), because the entire Kuchiki family is kind of a drag and also they are problematic billionaires and I don’t like Rukia and Renji just blindly assimilating into that. As a compromise, I came up with the idea that maybe Byakuya named Rukia and Renji a branch family to the Kuchiki (his favorite branch family, don’t tell anyone), so they’re part of the family, but pretty far off from the actual succession and they have a lot of freedom to Start Shit and make the other nobles clutch their pearls constantly.

Bringing it all together, I can finally start to make some sense of this. Rukia and Renji get married with the sense that they would like a family, plus they are somewhat obligated to generate an Heir. It’s shitty timing for sure, but the timing is only going to get shittier. I have heard of women who get PhDs and have babies in grad school. On one hand, this is an absolutely bananas thing to do. On the other, if you know that’s what you want, it is entirely rational, because at least most grad students have a flexible schedule and it’s better than having toddlers when you’re trying to get tenure. If you can manage it, this is actually a really effective way to manage a scientific career. So, in other words, they had their (1) baby, and then Rukia got down to brass tacks, training her bankai and getting her squad in shape. I can definitely see Renji in a primary caregiver role (I think they have a nanny, but he scales back at work and takes care of a lot of stuff), and that also partially explains why he’s still a vice-captain. (If any of this is compelling to you, I did write a short story about it once)

Now, I am actually going to get to your question and the answer is: it depends on what happens in a theoretical continuation of Bleach.

Rukia has just been officially been named a captain in the Bleach epilogue. I think that if things continue to be peaceful, and she settles into her role, after a few years, I could definitely see them sitting down at dinner and saying “you wanna have a big family?” Maybe two or even three more. Ichika is practically an adult at this point, but given the longevity of souls in Soul Society, I feel like it’s not uncommon for kids to have even multiple decades between them. I don’t think she would have any bitter feelings about this, she has always appreciated as being an integrated part of their lives, even when it got a little hectic and also she really loves her baby sibs.

On the other hand, if there’s another big war or an extended period of low-level conflict, I don’t think they would have any regrets if Ichika turned out to be an only child. Rukia and Renji have had a tremendous number of awful things happen to them in their life, and I think they have a tendency to focus on what they have instead of what they don’t.

The primary thing that I think would put a crimp in further kid plans is if Renji had to take a captaincy. I don’t think Renji particularly wants to be a captain, although he would be an excellent one. The way the setup of captains is after the timeskip, I cannot imagine anyone retiring, so I can’t see this happening in the peaceful scenario. I have no idea whose place he would even take. In fact, even if some captains got killed in some future conflict, I would think that by that point, Kira or Hinamori, for example, would be more likely to step up and take over their squads than to bring in Renji. Renji certainly wouldn’t take 1, 2, 4, 12 or 13, and they already blew the storyline where Byakuya dies and he takes 6. I suppose he could take one of the other squads if they lost both captain and vice-captain. Renji becoming the new Kenpachi is the spiciest possible take and I would read the shit out of that.

The actually family development I would like to see would be for Byakuya to get married, dude it is your job. Are you guys ready for my dream Byakuya love story that I will never, ever write because I do not ship him with any existing characters and I would die if I had to tag something Byakuya x OC? TOO BAD, here it is anyway: I think Byakuya doesn’t think he could ever fall in love again, and up until the main Bleach storyline, the idea of being remarrying is abhorrent to him. After a few years of being an ancillary part of the Abarai family, though, I think he could finally bring himself to find some suitably noble wife to Bear Him an Heir. In Byakuya fashion, I imagine he would dig through a bunch of genealogy records and find some woman who is the dead end of some old lineage of Great Soul Society Generals or some shit and out-of-the-blue proposes to her. This woman is the Spinster to End All Spinsters. She is like, 400 years older than him. She is not conventionally attractive and wears a lot of sweaters she knits herself. She has a lot of special interests, including carnivorous plants, and is extremely hardcore about her hobbies. She is the Sybil fucking Ramkin of Soul Society. Her spiritual energy is bonkers. She and Byakuya do not get along at all, but that’s okay because they have big plans to ignore one another (aside from procreational intercourse). Rukia is losing her mind. Renji is trying to smooth things over. Nothing is smoothed. Hitsugaya rather likes her and keeps trying to give Byakuya pep talks. Finally, like, Byakuya’s prize orchid almost dies and she saves it and Byakuya goes full heart eyes for her, and he has to be romantic at her. He wears an ill-fitting sweater she makes.

So, to sum up: Rukia and Renji get married, have Ichika. Byakuya gets remarried, makes an heir or three. Twenty to thirty years later, Renji quits to go be the stay-at-home soccer dad he’s always wanted to be. Byakuya Jr. becomes Vice-Captain at the Sixth (or possibly Ichika? That would be fine, too). Rukia eventually becomes head captain. When the younger batch of Abarai kids get old enough, someone convinces Renji to run for office and he becomes the Leslie Knope of the Central 46. Bam. The best timeline.

[recurring-polynya]

otp request— 30 21 14 please

I’m gonna assume this is for Renruki, since it wasn’t otherwise specified. I’m gonna answer them a little out of order, I hope you don’t mind.

21. How have they changed each other for the better/for the worse?

This is a little tricky to answer, because they grew up together, and have been huge influences on each other’s lives, plus it’s hard to pull out what’s them and what’s Inuzuri and what’s their zanpakutou and what’s Byakuya, it’s just a real rich tapestry, y’know?

So, anyway, I’m gonna dodge the meatier part of that question (as if I haven’t written 300k words of fanfic on the topic) and focus on their post-reunion period.

For the better: I think Renji is an extrovert and Rukia is an introvert, and he’s helped her be more comfortable around large groups and to be more social generally. Rukia has helped Renji’s self-confidence a lot (mostly by yelling at him when he gets down on himself) and helped him take pride in his accomplishments.

For the worse: They both have absolutely bananas taste in fashion, particularly Living World fashion, and they bring out the worst in each other. Like, if they get dressed separately, Rukia will show up in a cute little t-shirt dress and Renji in jeans and a flannel. But if they go thrifting together, they’ll come back with Rukia in a muppet fur jacket over a tube top and Renji wearing one of those t-shirts that looks like a tuxedo and short shorts that say “Nasty” on the ass.

Exhibit A:

This also happens in a broader sense, where if one of them gets some gonzo idea, the other will not talk them down, they will get sucked in and things will tend to escalate into utter madness.

14. What would be a dealbreaker? 

I am not sure they really have “dealbreakers.” They've known each other a really long time, they were formative influences on one another, and I think they have a pretty similar set of values and life-philosophies. They both have a tendency toward self-sacrifice, so a bigger problem is that either one would “let go” if they thought they were holding the other back or getting in their way. In the fanfic trope where it looks like one or the other of them has some other romantic interest or there’s the threat of Rukia getting slapped with an arranged marriage, there’s a tendency for each of them to sort of hang back and not speak up their feelings until they’re concerned that the other is going to be unhappy. (This is kind of a weak trope and I do not care I fall for it every time)

There’s also the period right where they get back together when I think there were a number of moments that could have been dealbreakers but just... weren’t. I’ve seen a number of fanfics where Rukia is upset that Renji is more loyal to Byakuya than he is to her, except that a) when push came to shove, Renji actually did side with Rukia and b) Rukia is also a huge Byakuya stan for some inexplicable reason. Rukia also is really ride-or-die about her Karakura friends, and she has a few moments where she’s prepared for Renji to not be willing to say, risk his career by deserting for their sake, but this man is always down to clown (for friendship). Similarly, that time in the Fullbringer Arc when someone suggested that mmmmmaybe immensely powerful Substitute Shinigami with no accountability whatsoever were not in the Gotei’s best interest and then I guess the Captain-Commander made Renji deliver this news to Rukia because she would have murdered anyone else.

Look, he’s got an entire delivering-bad-news-to-Rukia stance, I can practically hear his soothing tone of voice: “You know I love and respect Ichigo, you know I would never do anything to prevent him going ham on this or any other plane of existence, I am just telling you that there have been concerns...”

PS: They would never cheat on each other. They might break up if one of them fell in love with someone else, or depending on who the third party was, I can definitely see them trying an open relationship, but cheating would be a huge betrayal for either of them. So I guess, in that case, it would be a dealbreaker. Now I am mad I even had to think about it.

30. Write a short exchange of dirty talk between them.

Anon, why? Have you met me? Why would you pick this one?

Ughghghghghgh, you all know I can only do dirty stuff if it’s high concept, so please enjoy this brief dialogue from a universe where they hooked up immediately after the Soul Society arc and are ogling each other in their Advance Team school uniforms (it’s like... PG-13 at worst, but also terrible)

“It looks like it fits pretty well to me.”

“It looks like it fits pretty well to me.”

“Well, it fits okay if I just stand here, but look what happens when I flex my arm.”

“Hmmm… is that uncomfortable? It is...very...tight.”

“Not really, but I’m a little worried about the shoulder seams.”

“Turn around and do it again... No, I don’t really think it’s a problem.”

“No? Oh, and look what happens if I try to reach for something.”

“Aah, your little abs are so cute!”

“You think so? But is that acceptable? I mean, this is school, right, like a place of learning?”

“Do the reaching thing again. And I don’t understand these uniforms at all, frankly. Look at this little tiny skirt!”

“It’s pretty inappropriate, in my opinion.”

“And I’m just standing here! Look what happens if I have to pick something up! Or tie my shoe! My shoes don’t actually have laces, but you are getting the idea, right?”

“I am… getting the idea.”

“Or what if I had to kick someone? You say stupid things sometimes, and I have to kick you, and I’m going to end up giving you an eyeful, that would be terrible, right?”

“I’ll just have to watch my mouth, then. Make sure I say what I mean to, eh?”

“Since when have you ever been able to do that?”

“Since I knew what the consequences were.”

“Mmmm… hey, Renji?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“How are the pants? They look like they might be a little tight.”

“They are definitely a little tight.”

[recurring-polynya]

It is time, once again, friends, for me to watch a Bleach Filler Arc and tell you about it. It is time for the Zanpakutou Rebellion.

I wasn’t really sure I wanted to do this one for a number of reasons, but we watched the second episode last night, and it featured Rukia and Renji fighting back-to-back, and sorry fam, we’re doing this, you’re getting the full force of my zanpakutou spirit headcanons whether you want them or not.

Chrome updated and stopped letting me take screenshots a while ago and I am too lazy to figure out another way, so I figured it would be easier to just illustrate these myself. Let’s see how this goes.

Okay, one thing up front. My attitude towards Bleach filler has always been that it’s just for fun, and it’s up to you, the reader/viewer, whether you want to take any of it as canon or not. I, personally, do not accept this story arc as canon, but I honestly don’t care if you do. My main problem is that I don’t think zanpakutou spirits should be humanoid as a rule, although I do headcanon that most zanpakutou can choose how to manifest themselves, and so they may have a humanoid representation, but that’s not necessarily how they usually appear, which also explains why a lot of the shinigami has trouble recognizing their zanpakutou. I also think Muramasa made Hozukimaru put on that skirt, Hozukimaru has the demeanor of a being who does not believe in pants of any variety.

Anyway, as usual, I am ahead of myself. We starts in a cave that looks exactly like the cave from the Bount arc, with some ominous stuff, but I don’t care, I want to talk about Byakuya! Fighting! Renji!  

I think every filler arc has an OP with Byakuya fighting Renji that never actually happens, but right here! First episode! Byakuya fighting Renji while Squad 6 stands around and jeers! Kyouraku and Ukitake are here, too, for some reason! It’s super lit! Byakuya stops paying attention halfway through, but he wins anyway and negs Renji a little, and Renji thanks him for the fight very earnestly and Kyouraku and Ukitake tell Renji he did a good job. This is honestly all I want out of Bleach filler. This is my happy place. Thank you, Zanpakutou Arc for these beautiful Squad 6 hijinks.

As if I weren’t on a big enough high, now we cut to Squad 10, where Matsumoto is lounging on the Crash Couch. Hinamori and Isane come in to hand-deliver an invtation to a vice-captains meeting (Aren’t they just… like… on Wednesdays?) and to complain about their zanpakutou (boy, I wish we got to see Isane’s zanpakutou in this arc!! But no!!) Matsumoto, once again, claims to be training for bankai, mostly by complaining a lot. Hitsugaya grumps around, grumpily.

All of this is so, so perfect, I just need a trip with Iba to the shinigami pub, but instead, everyone gets a mysterious invitation from the Captain Commander to come to Soukyoku Hill at midnight. Really? I would not go.

Regardless, everyone goes. This scene is great because there are too many characters standing around and this is filler meaning the animators phoned it in, so whenever one character is talking, there are at least three people in the background not moving and making a facial expression that does not go with whatever else is going on. For example, Sasakibe shows up and falls over, and his body is just… there. In the middle of everything. Also, it’s mostly captains and vice-captains, but also Ikkaku and Yumichika and Rukia are there. Someone’s like, “Hey, Ikkaku and Yumichika, why are you here?” and they’re like, “Uh, Zaraki and Yachiru are on a business trip” and then someone else is like “Hey, Rukia, why are you here?” and she just does Big Shrug Arms. This is perfect Big Filler Energy. They are here because we want to see their embodied zanpakutou spirits obviously, why must you demand explanations?

Anyway, Muramasa shows up in hall his Hot Topic glory and waves his scary fingernails and cries blood and announces that all the zanpakutou have rebelled. Then follows a hilarious scene where everyone tries to do their releases and it doesn’t work.

Episode ends/next episode begins.

Ichigo is bouncing around Karakura, like he does, when Rukia falls out of a senkaimon in the sky. (They can make them next to the ground, I don’t know why they never do) Sode no Shirayuki then shows up and it takes Ichigo a phenomenally long amount of time to figure out who she is. To be honest, I would love if this arc went in the direction that Shirayuki has it out for Ichigo for taking Rukia’s powers (Zanpakutou Headcanon #2: Zanpakutou spirits have zero perspective outside of their shinigami being the most important thing in the world to them, and Shirayuki, especially brainwashed Shirayuki, would love to take a piece out of Ichigo. Obvs, they would become best friends after Ichigo defeats her, as is his way).

After being suitable ominous, Shirayuki ollies out, and Ichigo takes Rukia back to the Shoten for Orihime-heals and flashbacks.

Rukia recaps back to Soukyoku Hill, except this time, Renji’s the only one trying fruitlessly to do his release. One reading of this, is that it’s just a recap, we don’t need to see all this again, except that then they cut to Byakuya making the Mariah Carey “I don’t know her face” for like, 10 whole seconds, and it’s sublime.

Anyway, everyone starts fighting, and Ikkaku tries to attack Komamura’s zanpakutou, which is such a colossally bad idea. I am always hoping that they will kill off characters during filler arcs and then have them be inexplicably alive later, like they used to do on Teen Titans GO! and I absolutely would have offed Ikkaku at this point if I were in charge. The zanpakutou spirits start absolutely trashing the Seireitei, mostly setting things on fire and causing ice avalanches, and just generally going bananas. I really wish there had been a montage of someone cutting heads off parking meters and spray painting “Fuck the Central 46” on the side of Squad 1, but no.

We then see Rukia and Renji running around, fighting together, and I ascended. This is all I ever want. Bless this arc. They get attacked by Sasakibe’s Gonryuu (I wish there was a running gag of no one knowing who he is, and maybe there is, later, I don’t remember) and Hisagi’s Kazeshini, who is the best zanpakutou in this whole arc, he is an unhinged Nightcrawler with sick abs and I love him. I don’t remember what happened next, because I was so distracted by my OTP doing Battle Couple, but Byakuya shows up, standing on a tower (dude likes standing on a tall thing almost as much as Rukia does), so of course, we have to do “Nii-sama!” “Taichou!” B L E S S.

Then Senbonzakura shows up, also standing on a tall rooftop, dunh dunh DUNH! It’s too bad that the Fullbringer arc sort of ruins this because the whole time, I was like “just nail him in the safety zone,” and honestly, Byakuya having a “safety zone” is… well, it’s kinda lame when you say it out loud. Anyway, Rukia flips out, and Renji’s like, “no, no, I’m sure he’s fine,” and then they get avalanched by Sode no Shirayuki and that’s all Rukia remembers.

As usual, no one is the least bit concerned for Renji, but honestly, if anyone can survive being repeatedly Senbonzakured and Hakurened, it’s that guy.

There’s a part where Rukia is telling this story and Ichigo puts his hand on his chest, and you can see the little wheels in his head turning, like, “where do I keep my zanpakutou? Is it here? What is the ‘heart’?”

Yoruichi shows up to provide more exposition, as is her Filler Arc duty, and they establish that the rebellion seems to have only gone as far as Soul Society.

Ichigo goes home to sleep in his clothes, but the Mod Souls show up to tell him that Rukia went back to Soul Society in the middle of the night. Man, the Mod Souls are in this arc, W H Y ? ? ?

Urahara agrees to send Ichigo to Soul Society why WHY W H Y would you send the guy with the awesomest and most DNGAF zanpakutou to the place where the zanpakutou are rebelling??? At this point, if I hadn’t seen this before, I would definitely assume that Urahara was behind all of this.

Some other points: Why would you not take Chad and Ishida and Orihime (and Yoruichi, for that matter), people with powers who don’t have zanpakutou? Truly, I tell you, Chad does not mind being woken up for this, and Ishida would love the chance to smugly show up and lecture a bunch of powerless shinigami. Also, if I were in Bleach, you better bet my first reaction to everything would be to ask Orihime to try to reject it, no matter how dumb it sounded. It’s worth a try! I would not go anywhere without Orihime. Orihime is the GOAT. Did we all forget the part in the Bount Arc where she killed some friggin’ ninja? I sure didn’t.

Anyway, that’s it for this time, keep tuning for next episode, where Ichigo will surely have regrets.

[recurring-polynya]

I am exactly one episode into the Cap’n Amagai New Soul Society Captain Extravaganza Filler Arc and I love it so, so much. Here are some things that have happened so far:

NEW OPENING!

There’s a part of the new opening where Renji fights Byakuya, both of whom Extremely Do Not Appear in this Filler Arc.

Cap’n Amagai has arrived. He looks like Ross Poldark.

No one knows which two captains witnessed his captain’s exam and this is apparently a deep mystery. Every time someone ponders which two captains it was, my husband or I yell “Who OWNZ ze Chiefs?!”

Kyouraku and Ukitake are definitely angling for a threesome with Amagai. Someone actually says, out loud, “oh, he ALSO fights with two swords”.

Squad 3 is extremely skeptical of their new captain and they trash talk him a bunch before he gets there. Look, fam, the power differential between shinigami captains and shinigami non-captains is BANANAS, and yet this happened when Urahara AND Kenpachi became captains. If I were a shinigami and a new captain showed up, I would be that electrician from the Feast of Alvis episode of Sealab drawling “I know enough not t’mess with ‘em.”

Kira is overcome by all this, so he consults Matsumoto. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, why would you go to Matsumoto for advice? I did not say that. Most of this arc is about how Kira is a high-functioning alcoholic. He went to Matsumoto to get ripped, and that is precisely what occurs.

Matsumoto suggests Kira throws a party. He does so. “This is the worst party I have ever been to,” Kira thinks. Maybe you shouldn’t have thrown a party for the Despair Squad, Kira.

Cap’n Amagai can’t hold his liquor. Kira realizes that there is no way he can relate to this guy.

Oh NO, there are thirteen Menos in the Dangai! Deploy Squad 3!!

This is apparently worth an extended split screen reaction shot featuring every one of the captains. It was so good, I watched it twice.

Why would you even bother deploying a squad to deal with this? I cannot emphasize enough that, based on Bleach 149, Renji could roll out of bed, still in his pink flowered bathrobe, Hihio Zabimaru 13 Menoseses in under a second (they’re all conveniently lined up in a row, the Dangai ain’t that wide) and shuffle back to bed without even completely waking up.

This is not what happens.

Oh, no, they forgot to turn off the Restrictive Current! There is extensive discussion about whether or not the request for turning off the Restrictive Current was properly filed! Also, the Cleaner is here!

The Dangai cleaner runs down a bunch of Menos like it’s the Trolley Problem up in this filler arc. It is the greatest thing I have ever seen. They show it twice. Remind me again why they sent Squad 3 down here?

Cap‘n Amagai shows up to fight the Dangai Cleaner!! Look, I have never made a scoring rubric for Filler Arcs, but someone fighting the Dangai Cleaner would be worth, like, 100 points at least.

After defeating the Cleaner, Cap’n Amagai wipes down his tuning fork sword with a bunch of Chipotle napkins he keeps in his kosode, and then throws them in the air like he’s making it rain at the strip club.

I love this show.