Raw Chapter 152

[Ninjacowboy]

SPOILERS AHEAD!

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[ShamanQueenAnna]

Woohoo!! Rukia is the playtoy of choice for shinigami in the know. I love how Ichigo launches Rukia toward Renji. And then Renji amd Rukia totally chew him out (meanwhile, check out the death grip Renji has on Rukia's shoulder...I smell a love triangle coming on). Meanwhile, Ichigo is a bad mamma jamma. He's so friggen fast now! And I'm sorry, but just about any female around would melt from the sheer hotness of him...

So we get Byakuya vs. Ichigo next week? BRING IT ON!!!

[Hitsugaya]

yeah i can't wait ichigo is **** powerfull right now i lmao when he threw rukia omg, renji was also like WTF

[Djudge]

Finally Renji's back in the mix! but, we'll have to wait and see if he can actually make it back to the fight in order to lend a hand and be part of the action.

An EDIT is comin' soon with the summary for you guys.

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EDIT: A little late, but here it is:

152 - The Speed Phantom

The chapter opens up with everyone looking up towards Ichigo and Rukia in the aftermath of the devastating blow delivered to the base of Dual Terminus.
Needless to say, everyone is at a loss of words at how this mysterious Shinigami was able to pull off this feat, save for Byakuya who continues to coldly stare down Ichigo...

Meanwhile, high above the rest of the group gathered at Dual Terminus, Ichigo and Rukia once again have a few moments to themselves and talk about their current situation. Ichigo, like always, brushes off Rukia's concerns with his self-assured bravado. Rukia however, finally gives in to what she's always held deep down inside ever since she was taken into custody back to Soul Society by acknowledging just how powerful Ichigo's gotten in both his expression and raw power(romance blooming?).

The mood is interrupted however by the sound of a Shinigami dressed in ceremonial clothing hitting the ground. Ichigo and Rukia both look down and Rukia is the first to realize that Renji has finally made onto the scene! Renji, amidst the bodies of unconscious Shinigami and spots Rukia still allive under Ichigo's arm. Rukia then goes on to express her relief that Renji is alive and well especially after feeling his pressure drop dramatically only a few minutes before the execution. Yet, before she can finish her thoughts she and Renji are taken by surprise by Ichigo preparing to throw her! In a very comedic sequence of panels, Ichigo chucks Rukia down to Renji like a football at very high speed. Renji just barely manages to catch Rukia and they both tumble to the ground. Again, needless to say, they both get right back up and chew out Ichigo for the spontaneous throw, but Ichigo interrupts them both and tells Renji to take Rukia to a safe location before doing anything else. Without a second thought, Renji bolts out of the area with Rukia still protesting in his arm, while Ichigo spies Byakuya still standing at the base of the structure.

Oomaeda and Isane wonder what will happen now as Soi Fong barks out orders to all the Vice-Captains still loyal to neutralize the situation and apprehend both Rukia and Renji. At that same moment, Yama-jii's Vice-Captain draws his Soul Cutter and charges at the escapees with Oomaeda. Isane, unsure of what to do looks back at her Captain for orders. Unohana simply bows her head and also tells her to attack with the other two Vice-Captains. However, before the three can reach Renji and his cargo, Ichigo instantly materializes in front of them, twirls Zangetsu blade down into the ground and calmly makes his stand. Oomaeda delivers a battlecry as all three Vice-Captains unseal their Zanpaku to the Shikai level. However, just as they can utter their Zanpaku's names, Ooemada is knocked out of the fight and has his Zanpaku shattered (aka pwn'd; gotta love that panel) by a charging attack from Ichigo. Wasting no time, Ichigo takes hold of the 1st Vice-Captain's sword hand and knocks him out with a single blow to the chin. Isane, the only one left, can't even ready a stance out of pure awe/fear of Ichigo's blinding speed + the fact he's not even using his Zanpaku and she too is knocked out with one stroke. All three Shinigami fly back from Ichigo's position and surprisngly enough, Ichigo took all three of them out with only his bare fists! Zangetsu was, all the time, still stuck in the ground!

Yet, in that single moment, Ichigo detects a faint movement behind him and goes to retrieve Zangetsu just in time to block a surprise attack from a very pissed off Byakuya. The Captain of the Sixth looks down in irritation as he sees his Zanpaku stopped by Zangetsu's hefty blade. Ichigo calmly closes this chapter with an assured smile on his face by saying "Haven't I told you before? I can see you Byakuya Kuchiki."

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Love that last page.

NOTES:
*Can anyone tackle the names of Oomaeda, "Mustache-dude", and Isane's Zanpaku?

*Okay, seriously now, where is Yoruichi?

*Does Yama-jii actually fight? That whole sequence of panels that showed both his and his Vice-Captain's faces in unison seems to implicate that his Vice has traditionally done most of the fighting. Then again, Yama-jii does have a monster Zanpaku in his posession (see p. 44-45 of v10)
**Is that guy even his Vice-Captain? He seems to have a specialized white haori that's similar to that of a Captain's and he doesn't even sport a visible Division badge.

*Where exactly is a safe place to put Rukia in Soul Society? Hope Renji's got some ideas...

-Made a mistake about what Fong's orders were... lol, got caught up in the moment and failed to read the text right. (The summary's been corrected accordingly.)

-Made a mistake in perception, Ichigo's actually so fast that he didn't even have to dodge Mustache-dude's Zanpaku. Ichigo grabbed the guy's wrist before he could even register what the hell just happened. (Fix made.)

[Gaara]

OH MY ****ING GOD!

Nobody owns as much as ichigo does right now! HE'S SO COOL!


^________^

[Djudge]

As great as the action is right now, we still have to remember that several Captains that are on the scene haven't even joined the fray yet! But yeah, Ichigo certainly was impressive in knocking out three Vice-Captains like they were just flies! Awesome speed, almost Shyunpa like even... Hmm, I wonder, does the Shihouin crest have anything to do with that? or is it just a result of the Bankai training?

[Gaara]

I can only say that Bleach is the best manga right now cause of the GODLY drawn pages. Every single panel is GODLIKE.

I think that Ichigo has learned Shyunpa in the bankai training :)

[Aulzon]

owah... what a great chapter.. thanks for the detailing djudge.. anyways by the way its going ichigo should own byakuya unless byakuya has some trick up his sleeve... Aiya... it would be great to see Ichigo go against all five captains there (shunsui, fong, unohana, ukitake, and byakuya) at once... not to mention yamamato...

oo... interesting...

[Blackpawn]

Not really byakuya hasent really strained himself yet so you don't know his real limits. You can't say that it will be instant defeat for him

[teferi]

yeah but neither has ichigo strained himself either(so far)

as for yoruichi i bet shes just hiding somewhere nearby( i mean they just finished the training, she cant leave SS, has an interest in ichigo beating byakuya-'cuz she trained ichig- and she probably wouldnt want to miss seeing byakuya getting his a$$ kicked by a n00b shingami

and a safe place for rukia would probably somewhere outside the SS in the plae where all the non-shinigami ghosts are 'cuz it'd be harder to find them mixed in with veryone . Even so i dont think its likely but thats all i could come up with unless they ran off with some sympatheti captain or something

[Djudge]

Hiding Rukia outside of Seireitei eh? Heh, sounds like a good reason to get Shiba Kuukaku back into the story! ^_^

[ShamanQueenAnna]

Maybe Yoruichi is off awaiting Rukia somewhere? Although I think she should swoop in and assist Ichigo in pwning all the shinigami...

[ichobi]

Now Ichigo side has more men.
He have 4 Captain and some vice along his side also include 4 of his friends! Also inculde Yoruichi san.

Only ichigo can beat 2-3 captain or somemore.( Lookback from his ability to knockdown Zaraki who was the second of the strongest among the Captains.)

Cant wait to see the next chapter. Everything is getting better :)

[superspacemonkey]

Does anyone besides me feel that Ichigo's tremendous progress is a little... hard to believe? I acknowledge he was strong before, but I'm skeptical about him being able to learn what he has in just the space of 3 days... I suppose it's essential for Rukia's rescue, but sometimes I just feel it's a little unfair that he seems to get so strong so easily. Yes, I know he underwent 'vigorous' training... it just seems unreal to me. I hope Byakuya puts up more than a good fight. Part of me wants him to win... after all, when we talk shinigami, we talk shinigami who've been in the business for decades. For Ichigo to just waltz in and sweep Rukia unfair would be a little obnoxious.

Just my two cents, I don't mean to offend any Ichigo fans. ^^;

PS: The Renji/Rukia bits in this chapter made my day~

[ichobi]

Byakuya said that he had trained for hundred years!?
In Byakuya Vs Renji fight . Renji fight hard enough to made Byakuya used his Ban Kai.
But Ichigo is better than Renji. So may be will see the unexpectable fight next chapter.
us :) I think Kubo sensei will surprise

[SyfexBlade]

152? I thought it was supposed to end at 150...

[Ninjacowboy]

152? I thought it was supposed to end at 150...
noy by FAR!

[teferi]

geez someones got either a low opinion of the manga or just a pays no attention to realease of RAWs

[ShamanQueenAnna]

Does anyone besides me feel that Ichigo's tremendous progress is a little... hard to believe? I acknowledge he was strong before, but I'm skeptical about him being able to learn what he has in just the space of 3 days... I suppose it's essential for Rukia's rescue, but sometimes I just feel it's a little unfair that he seems to get so strong so easily. Yes, I know he underwent 'vigorous' training... it just seems unreal to me. I hope Byakuya puts up more than a good fight. Part of me wants him to win... after all, when we talk shinigami, we talk shinigami who've been in the business for decades. For Ichigo to just waltz in and sweep Rukia unfair would be a little obnoxious.

But it didn't really come easily did it? I mean he trained with Yoruichi...Yoruichi who barely broke a sweat with Byakuya. With a method created by Urahara...the uber genius. Urahara trained him in 10 days and made him massively stronger, so it's not too unrealistic. Ichigo seems to be an exceptional case all around...


PS: The Renji/Rukia bits in this chapter made my day~

Well the Ichigo/Rukia bits made my day ;)

[hasukawa13]

Ichigo has always been insanely strong. Even without his training, he was impressive. But when he was molded a little bit, all that potential came to the surface. And by gaining his bankai, his power is increased five times. As for the method, consider it a sink or swim kind of thing. One way would be to patiently practice until you are able to summon the bankai form. The way Ichigo did it was putting him in a situation where he needed to take control at the risk of his own life. By risking serious injury by fighting Zangetsu, he was not only training his swordplay but also increasing his strength at the same time. So it doesn't seem so farfetched that Ichigo had gotten so strong in a matter of days.

And I am very much glad to see Rukia and Renji back together. I doubt he'll be letting her go anytime soon.

And I hope that there is a slim chance of Kuukaku coming back, too. She was awesome! Btw...about her, was she by chance a shinigami, too? I could see her in the role. Or was she simply always in the fireworks business?

[superspacemonkey]

And I am very much glad to see Rukia and Renji back together. I doubt he'll be letting her go anytime soon.

Literally. XD

I still think Kubo makes it all look too easy for Ichigo, though. In the fights with Ikkaku, Renji and Zaraki, the outcome was pretty predictable. Ichigo fights, gets hurt/ridiculed, and then all of a sudden he'll come up with something and win. In the fight with Renji though, he was saved by his hollow mask. Ichigo is a very lucky dude.

*is sore because she is a Renji fan*

[Djudge]

Hmm, I'm pretty sure that Kuukaku is nothing more than a fireworks technician. However, one should note that chances are the blades both she and Ganju carry are similar to nameless Zanpaku since they could probably cut spiritual bodies (otherwise why carry them? unless they also serve as a catalyst for their strange spells).

[teferi]

all the swords and SS can cut spirits; doesnt necessarily mean they're zapakus , ti could be that zanpakus are distinguished from regular blades in SS by their ability to cleanse hollows as oposed to just "killing" spirits

[Djudge]

That's pretty much what I figured as well, that and the fact that Zanpaku are also sentient beings once their weilder calls out its name.

[teferi]

i think its more likely that the user "makes" it sentient and based off the user's personality and other factors they "make" a personality and appearance to the being in the zanpaku

[Djudge]

That could be the case, seeing as how so far, the Bankais of each Captain-level Shinigami have had a small theme relating to their wielder. Then again, we don't know anything about how a rookie Shinigami goes from a generic Asauchi Zanpaku to a full-fledged officer and above with a named, Shikai-able Zanpaku. Still, I like your idea and it wouldn't be totally out of the blue if that indeed has something to do with that certain process.

[Babbo]

Hmm, I'm pretty sure that Kuukaku is nothing more than a fireworks technician. However, one should note that chances are the blades both she and Ganju carry are similar to nameless Zanpaku since they could probably cut spiritual bodies (otherwise why carry them? unless they also serve as a catalyst for their strange spells).
They way that Yoruishi (the cat, can't speel ) talked to her.....I'm thinking it's a Zanpaku

[allmightybaboon]

Well the Ichigo/Rukia bits made my day ;)

amen to that! i`m a huge fan of renji, but i`m a bigger Ichigo/rukia fan.

[Djudge]

Curious Babbo, just where did you pick up on that?

[raikiri]

Just curious, how often does Bleach come out? Every month?

[ShamanQueenAnna]

Just curious, how often does Bleach come out? Every month?

A chapter a week in Japan barring major holidays (like Golden Week) usually. In English in the US, they put out one graphic novel (around 8 chapters) every couple months...

[hasukawa13]

That could be the case, seeing as how so far, the Bankais of each Captain-level Shinigami have had a small theme relating to their wielder. Then again, we don't know anything about how a rookie Shinigami goes from a generic Asauchi Zanpaku to a full-fledged officer and above with a named, Shikai-able Zanpaku. Still, I like your idea and it wouldn't be totally out of the blue if that indeed has something to do with that certain process.

I would agree that the swords themselves don't contain the spirit, but are rather convenient outlets for the spirits to manifest. I assume that each trainee is given their sword and if they are capable of reaching that spirit within, they can reach their first level of release. It is a great way to weed out the strong shinigami. if they don't have the potential withint themselves to draw out their spirit, they merely remain at the same level, never getting stronger. No shinigami is given special treatment by receiving some special, all-mighty sword. They are all the same and it is up to them on how powerful they become.

[Patrioil]

The Golden week is coming up? O_O
YES!! That means we get a double Bleach chapter after the Golden week!!

...at least Takahashi Rumiko-sensei does that

[ichobi]

Yes! Double Bleach ! Love to read a bit longer ~

[Djudge]

Bleach is part of the Weekly Shonen Jump serial in Japan. So, for the most part, when Jump hits the stands there (is it Monday or Friday?) it should only be a matter of days before someone puts out scans.

[ShamanQueenAnna]

Is it me or have we been getting the scans way early? I mean I can usually get the actual Jump here not too long after it's released in Japan, but the last couple of scans have come out way before I could get it here.

And Golden Week is in March...or is it April...sometime in the spring. I was just using that as an example. Because heaven knows I love any country where they take a the large part of a week off!

[Lst2touchdasky]

arent the scans 18 or so chapter behind the actual releases though?
edit: nm i thought you were talking about hte scanlations ^.^;

[Lss]

well thats a problem for jap to english translations which takes time. i have been able to find scanlations of up to chapter 152 for chinese which is close to jap and thus easier to translate.

[Soushi]

*wishes he could read chinese*

[Djudge]

Well, I'm not too sure, but if Jump comes out on Monday there, which would be Sunday here, and we get scans of the raw on around Tuesday or so (Wednesday there) then, the timeline should be about right.

[Lss]

speed demon just makes me wonder what will happen in 153. will there really be a big fight?

[teferi]

umm..why wouldnt there be? he just kicked the crap out of the vice captains and byakuya probably wants to kick ichigo's *** to see if he s as strong as yoruichi said he would be nad he ll probably have to get by ichigo to get to rukia so yeah..

[Djudge]

Not to mention that not all of the elements either present (Ukitake/Shunsui) or approaching/somewhere (Hitsugaya/Ichimaru) are directly involved with the action right now.

[teferi]

yeah that and the proven manga tradition of bad guy beats good guy , good guy goes and trains, goog guy either a0 nearly gets beaten but then wins because hes such a nice guy or b) good guy kicks the crap outa bad guy but lets him live cuz hes sucha nice guy.

[jubilee]

speed demon just makes me wonder what will happen in 153. will there really be a big fight?

It looks like there will be a big fight. Ichigo & rich boy have been itching to fight each other since the bridge incident :p & the captains & their subordinates are all on different sides. My guess is Ichigo & rich boy will fight for several chapters & then we'll get to see what everyone else is up to. & then maybe we'll get some more info on the conspiracy. I don't think the info in Aizen's letter was all that accurate, that is if Aizen wrote it at all.

[Byakuya]

wow that was awesome... but how did Ichigo gain 4feet in height...

[Cheese Ninja]

He seemed a bit too tall to me too. Rukia's really short. (4'9", 144cm; light too (33kg, 73lbs, but that's unimportant) Ichigo's only around my height. (5'8.5", 174cm) But looking at the end of 151, he's not even standing straight up and it looks like her head would only reach his abdomen. (4 feet sounds about right to me) I suppose it's a side effect of the bankai training. :D

With the power that Ichi has shown so far, it doesn't seem like Byakuya should have any chance of winning. I hope that it's not completely boring, as much as I like insanely powerful main characters. It's also still possible that he has some sort of aid from Yoruichi.

Personally, I like Renji x Rukia more. Ichigo x Rukia make better friends than lovers.