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branchandrootKT's latest twist in Bleach leaves me with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, I have long held that KT isn't completely making the story up as he goes, that he has always had an organizing principle, that principle being, essentially, Ichigo's path through 'reincarnation' in six worlds (okay, probably only five) and on to eventual enlightenment. We've had the "introduce all these people arc", we've had the asura arc in Soul Society, we've had the hungry ghost arc in Hueca Mundo, we've had the human arc with the Fullbringers, and so far all of those things have been relatively well integrated. Some parts were more clearly off-the-cuff and unbalanced; in particular, I think KT couldn't quite decide for a while whether he wanted Sado or Orihime to be more associated with the hungry ghosts, and when he went with Orihime that left Sado with a bit of re-orientation needed. He didn't really put in as much narrative work as that re-orientation required, though, leaving Sado peripheral to what should have been the arc centered on him as much as on Ichigo. That was annoying.
I don't fear that will happen to Ishida; his centrality to the I'm-guessing-hell/Quincy arc has been signalled from the start. The part I think is really falling apart is the convincing integration of Ichigo's powers.
See, it made all kinds of sense that Zangetsu was the shape of Ichigo's Shinigami/asura power while his inner Hollow was the shape of his Hollow/hungry ghost power, and, above all that those two shapes were simply two expressions of a single core power. That point is made repeatedly in the earlier arcs, that Zangetsu and Hollow!Ichigo are the same entity. When Ichigo's connection to them was burned out, and he had to find the expression of his human power, it also made reasonable sense that the shape or contact point of that power should be his badge--the touchstone of his faith and belief and sense of responsibility. It also made sense for Ichigo to continue integrating the human shape of his power even after his connection to Zangetsu/Hollow!Ichigo was restored. He's been through all three worlds, and his power now is the sum of his experience.
But this last twist has got me going "...wait".
There must be a shape for Ichigo's Quincy powers, this is beyond question, and I'm willing to believe that KT planned for Ichigo to be part Quincy from the point that Grand Fisher calls him a pure-blood. But for it to have been Zangetsu all along, and for Ichigo's Hollow form to be his "true" sword spirit... no. That unbalances things completely. I mean, KT could save this by designating Ichigo's physical Hollow transformation as the shape of his Hollow power, but why, then, is the inner Hollow!Ichigo in the shape of a Hollow at all? This too might be saved by pointing out that the inner Ichigo has, perhaps, never been a Hollow, but merely Ichigo's inverse; he has always worn Shinigami uniform, after all. But that undoes the connection between Ichigo's Shinigami and Hollow powers! The black-white inverse was already reinforced as a Shinigami-Hollow thing by Aizen and co shifting to white uniforms that only gradually streamlined into Hollow styles. Besides, the physical Hollow transformation has consistently been presented to us as negative, dangerous, going too far.
Perhaps that's simply the nature of the hungry ghost life; perhaps that's the lesson of it. That power can be used, but must be controlled and limited. Fine. It's possible for all this to be re-balanced, and there are some indications KT means to do that. Isshin says that Shinigami are the opposite of Quincy and humans are the opposite of Hollows. Thus, having Zangetsu and the inner Ichigo be two expressions of the same power also works on the Quincy-Shinigami model, and a certain parallel between Quincy and Hollows is established to help explain their equally white motif.
But this kind of symbolic dislocation feels really forced. If KT had this in mind, I'd have expected more signaling, and all the peripheral signaling points in other directions, for example Sado's (eventually designated) human power being so very like Hollow power--and now those two are designated opposites. Honestly, I think KT only had the general shape in mind and decided that it was time for a Shocking Reversal, and gave us one whose edges really haven't been polished down yet. Some moments like this are bound to happen in a long-running serial; the question of who the Royal Guard is is an excellent example. Initially they were just mentioned as the extra strong unit that took care of most Menos Grande. After Menos Grande became the mere larval stage of arrancar, and arrancar were equated with captain-level Shinigami, obviously the Royal Guard had to be something else, and they became the five who guard who and whatever the King is. Messing with Zangetsu's identity to the great extent he is, though, isn't just a matter of re-purposing a side-mention.
I will wait to see whether KT actually manages to pull this off, to revision the symbolism convincingly, but as of this moment I'm skeptical.
On the one hand, I have long held that KT isn't completely making the story up as he goes, that he has always had an organizing principle, that principle being, essentially, Ichigo's path through 'reincarnation' in six worlds (okay, probably only five) and on to eventual enlightenment. We've had the "introduce all these people arc", we've had the asura arc in Soul Society, we've had the hungry ghost arc in Hueca Mundo, we've had the human arc with the Fullbringers, and so far all of those things have been relatively well integrated. Some parts were more clearly off-the-cuff and unbalanced; in particular, I think KT couldn't quite decide for a while whether he wanted Sado or Orihime to be more associated with the hungry ghosts, and when he went with Orihime that left Sado with a bit of re-orientation needed. He didn't really put in as much narrative work as that re-orientation required, though, leaving Sado peripheral to what should have been the arc centered on him as much as on Ichigo. That was annoying.
I don't fear that will happen to Ishida; his centrality to the I'm-guessing-hell/Quincy arc has been signalled from the start. The part I think is really falling apart is the convincing integration of Ichigo's powers.
See, it made all kinds of sense that Zangetsu was the shape of Ichigo's Shinigami/asura power while his inner Hollow was the shape of his Hollow/hungry ghost power, and, above all that those two shapes were simply two expressions of a single core power. That point is made repeatedly in the earlier arcs, that Zangetsu and Hollow!Ichigo are the same entity. When Ichigo's connection to them was burned out, and he had to find the expression of his human power, it also made reasonable sense that the shape or contact point of that power should be his badge--the touchstone of his faith and belief and sense of responsibility. It also made sense for Ichigo to continue integrating the human shape of his power even after his connection to Zangetsu/Hollow!Ichigo was restored. He's been through all three worlds, and his power now is the sum of his experience.
But this last twist has got me going "...wait".
There must be a shape for Ichigo's Quincy powers, this is beyond question, and I'm willing to believe that KT planned for Ichigo to be part Quincy from the point that Grand Fisher calls him a pure-blood. But for it to have been Zangetsu all along, and for Ichigo's Hollow form to be his "true" sword spirit... no. That unbalances things completely. I mean, KT could save this by designating Ichigo's physical Hollow transformation as the shape of his Hollow power, but why, then, is the inner Hollow!Ichigo in the shape of a Hollow at all? This too might be saved by pointing out that the inner Ichigo has, perhaps, never been a Hollow, but merely Ichigo's inverse; he has always worn Shinigami uniform, after all. But that undoes the connection between Ichigo's Shinigami and Hollow powers! The black-white inverse was already reinforced as a Shinigami-Hollow thing by Aizen and co shifting to white uniforms that only gradually streamlined into Hollow styles. Besides, the physical Hollow transformation has consistently been presented to us as negative, dangerous, going too far.
Perhaps that's simply the nature of the hungry ghost life; perhaps that's the lesson of it. That power can be used, but must be controlled and limited. Fine. It's possible for all this to be re-balanced, and there are some indications KT means to do that. Isshin says that Shinigami are the opposite of Quincy and humans are the opposite of Hollows. Thus, having Zangetsu and the inner Ichigo be two expressions of the same power also works on the Quincy-Shinigami model, and a certain parallel between Quincy and Hollows is established to help explain their equally white motif.
But this kind of symbolic dislocation feels really forced. If KT had this in mind, I'd have expected more signaling, and all the peripheral signaling points in other directions, for example Sado's (eventually designated) human power being so very like Hollow power--and now those two are designated opposites. Honestly, I think KT only had the general shape in mind and decided that it was time for a Shocking Reversal, and gave us one whose edges really haven't been polished down yet. Some moments like this are bound to happen in a long-running serial; the question of who the Royal Guard is is an excellent example. Initially they were just mentioned as the extra strong unit that took care of most Menos Grande. After Menos Grande became the mere larval stage of arrancar, and arrancar were equated with captain-level Shinigami, obviously the Royal Guard had to be something else, and they became the five who guard who and whatever the King is. Messing with Zangetsu's identity to the great extent he is, though, isn't just a matter of re-purposing a side-mention.
I will wait to see whether KT actually manages to pull this off, to revision the symbolism convincingly, but as of this moment I'm skeptical.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-17 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-17 03:59 pm (UTC)I suppose it could also be an editorial "you need to yank their chains to get their attention back", too. Which... yeah, it'll do that, Zangetsu is a really popular character. But wow can we say backfire potential?
no subject
Date: 2013-06-18 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-18 02:51 pm (UTC)