User blog:Silver-Haired Seireitou/Sei-san's Classroom: Chapter 496 - Kill the Shadow

Hello hello, and welcome to the review for Chapter 496 - Kill the Shadow. This was written a bit earlier than I normally will, but I'm multi-tasking by studying for my analytical chemistry exam that is today, so... without further adieu, let's begin.

So, it seems Blondinekerl opens up the chapter with a somewhat Ulquiorra and Byakuya like seriousness, featuring an emotionless rapeface... which is never good. And he is cornering the group of 13th Division Shinigami with Kajōmaru at the head of them. Apparently, they're hoping that the blood of Sōsuke Aizen deep within Kajōmaru will save them from Blondinekerl. Lol, right. Also, I wanna note how the Aizen lookalike guy pulled off a Gandalf.

It'd would've been more epic if he stabbed his sword through the ground, and said it in a loud booming voice. "YOUUU SHALL NOT PAAAASS!"

And then, of course, get one-shotted like Izuru. But meh.

Moving on, we go back to Byakuya telling Renji to "not show mercy", which Renji mentally retorts that he wasn't. Renji then proceeds to tell Byakuya that Zanpakutō won't harm them. But, of course, they cut through Ass's hand, prompting a guy who looks like Alex Louis Armstrong with tattoos to ask why Ass couldn't stand up to that attack. Byakuya then, pulling off another classic, tells Armstrong to also not move. Byakuya tells Renji that if his Bankai ends up getting sealed, then he should defeat them with his.

We then progress to see the other four Captains that are currently engaged in battle. Byakuya, Tōshirō, Komamura (who is absolutely fucked, by the way), and Soifon. Each of them tell their Lieutenants to prepare in case their Bankai ends up being sealed. Which... of course, happens.

Probably what makes me happy the most is that we got a better look at Rangiku's new look :D

So, I'd like to take a minute to say this. I was not pleased by Soifon's release of Bankai. Not at all. I mean, Toshiro doing it was to be expected. Komamura, even more so. And Byakuya, considering he used Shikai already, it makes sense. But Soifon has Shunkō and a Shikai that can kill in two strikes, and I doubt these Quincy are as powerful as Aizen was (I mean, individually), so Death in Two Steps would most likely have worked. Plus, as she said, it goes against her pride as the Commander of the Onmitsukidō. So I was not pleased by Kubo just having her use it just so he could have the Quincy seal all four Bankai.

Anyways, it seems Byakuya confirmed something that I'm sure every single user on this wiki and on TBF already knew. Those devices don't seal Bankai, they take them. Now I'm sure the Quincy that took those Bankai will now use them against the Shinigami, which would explain why they'll lose this initial battle. So, from there, I expect one of two things. The Shinigami who lose their Bankai will try to regain them through Jinzen, meaning we get to see the canon appearances of Zanpakutō such as Senbonzakura.

Byakuya realizes that they're all fucked, meaning they really are. If Byakuya knows it, then it's an absolute.

Aaaand, that concludes the chapter. Comments are welcome, as always.