Bleach Chapter 681 - The End Two World/The Seven Deadly Sins Chapter 182 - Unconditional Warmth

Written by: Pomelote

  Bleach 681 - The End Two World

Renji yells at Ywach to stop and takes a swing with Zabimaru. As it reaches Ywach, it disintegrates and falls apart, affected by The Almighty. Ywach disappears completely through the gate.

 "Peace out, y'all." *mic drop*

Below, Haschwalth collapses after being Auswahlened. Uryu looks at him with a sympathetic expression. Lying there, Haschwalth asks Uryu if he thinks he'd feel betrayed at this - it's just the opposite, he asserts. Ywach chose to drain Haschwalth's power and not Uryu's (although I thought the whole thing with Uryu is that Ywach can't Auswahlen him - whether he wants to or not...), and he feels honoured that he can be useful to Ywach in that way, which Uryu isn't/can't be. 

Uryu doesn't reply, and he turns and starts to leave. Haschwalth tells him to wait and come closer, so he can exchange the wounds between them. He says that he's going to die regardless, so having Uryu's injuries won't really make things any worse for him. Uryu is understandably confused, and Haschwalth mockingly asks if he's taking pity on him. It seems more like Uryu would be suspecting a trap because that's completely at odds with what Haschwalth just said a second ago about wanting to be useful to Ywach, but sure, "pity", if you say so...

He tells Uryu that he put everything he had on his "scales", advising him not to just float along and follow others, without really weighing his decisions up (like Haschwalth himself), or he'll regret it. He advises Uryu to go and save his friends. 

Time passes, and Haschwalth, with Uryu's wounds, thinks to himself that even if it doesn't change the outcome, there's something to be said for having convictions and acting upon them - you don't have any regrets. The hand holding his sword goes limp, revealing that the hilt of his sword had been made with the coin/brooch Bazz-B gave him when they were children. Awww.

"I'm not giving this to you - I just want it cleaned and brought back by tomorrow. "

Above, Rukia tends to Orihime and expresses shock and disbelief at Ywach's power. Orihime wakes up and apologises for being unable to heal Tensa Zangetsu, and hypothesises that she won't be able to reject anything Ywach will be doing in the future.

Renji grabs broken-baby-bird-Ichigo and tells him to get up. Rukia yells at him that they need to form a plan before going after Ywach, and Renji yells back that there's no point in forming a plan against Ywach. Ichigo, still dejected, agrees that there's no point in forming a plan. Suddenly, he's stabbed through the chest.

 

 "Do you honestly think Kubo wrote me a motivation?"

... it's Tsukishima. Uh-huh. Of course it is. Audrey Hepburn could show up to restore Ichigo's powers right now and I wouldn't blink.

Ginjou's also there, and Yukio pops his head up behind them, explaining how they got there so easily. Tsukishima says that Ginjou says that they're on Ichigo's side now. Ginjou corrects him, saying they're only there to repay a debt to Ichigo.   

Tsukishima tells Orihime that she can't reject Ywach's futures because they're so powerful, but if he changes the past using his power, he can make it so that these futures were never implemented in the first place, and Orihime can "reject" the changes there. 

 

Orihime then Kisshuns Tensa Zangetsu back into existence, and a suddenly-renewed Ichigo declares the debt repaid.

The exact reaction of nobody reading this chapter.

Thoughts:

Yes, this is how you do a climax! Two minor characters who haven't been seen in a hundred-and-fifty-ish chapters (and that was a cameo, at best) magically turn up and instantly revert the consequences in a single chapter, then disappear into the ether, their plot purpose served! Take notes, everybody, this is pure writing gold.

I honestly can't tell if Haschwalth's complete change of attitude right in the middle of the conversation if supposed to be from Haschwalth's conflict of loyalties (wanting to remain loyal to Ywach because that was his decision, but simultaneously wanting to help Uryu because he regrets how that decision led to him killing Bazz-B) or just bad writing.

In recent Bleach news, the promotion for Volume 74 included in Volume 73 claimed that 74 is going to be Bleach's final volume - meaning, if it has the usual number of chapters, that there are only three or four chapters remaining. If you think that's utterly insane, you're not alone. Both the Japanese and English fandoms are speculating about the meaning of this, the accuracy of the promotion, and whether or not Kubo is being forced to conclude Bleach earlier than planned, but nothing has been established yet. It could be an error, the volume could be planned with more chapters than usual, there could be a downer ending-and-sequel-series-continuation planned - it's all up in the air. The sudden truncated pace of this chapter does seem to support the theory that the series is being abruptly cut short and Kubo's struggling to fit the major story beats in, though.

Good things:

Um, vaguely-satisfying closure to the 'Friend' mini-arc and that tease of the dead Fullbringers however-many chapters ago?

Bad things:

Everything else?

Arbitrary numerical rating: 

1 out of 5 tokens of bygone friendships

The Seven Deadly Sins 182 - Unconditional Warmth

 In lieu of the usual summary, please enjoy a collage.

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There's also some backstory about Meliodas being hired by King Baltra, forming the Seven Deadly Sins with Merlin (who advises him to find the other five so that they can defeat the Ten Commandments), and Meliodas talking about some kind of curse he's under that may or may not be connected to his longevity/immortality. Then it cuts the present Meliodas talking to somebody in Purgatory. But, really, who even notices any of that when the story's protagonist is canonically revealed to be a child-grooming paedophile and the story is presenting it like it's charming?!

 Purgatory? Guess again, asshole.

Thoughts:

That earth tremor you're feeling right now is from every single reader simultaneously dropping this manga. This series has had its share of creep-tastic moments and frustrating fanservice before, but the tone of total unawareness to what a twisted development this is really is a new low for The Seven Deadly Sins.

Honestly? I wouldn't blame anyone who dropped this and never looked back.

Good things:

N/A

Bad things:

N/A

Arbitrary numerical rating:

N/A

Pomelote




Pomelote is the physical embodiment of first-world millenial entitlement. You can contact her on Skype with the name suukebind or Twitter at @poorlicoricekid, if you know any good spam bots. Harsh words. Harsh, confusing words.