Fade to Black

The third Bleach movie Fade to Black quite nice and didn't disappoint as much as Diamond Dust Rebellion did. So I guess my fears were all unfounded. Phew! What a relief.

It's quite interesting, packed with enough action and fights to satisfy bloodthirsty!Fi, contains captains' and lieutanents' zanpaktou releases (in fighting Minor Baddies), has several flashbacks from the earlier arcs to lend it a tinge of melancholy and has a rather interesting insight into a part of Rukia's past as an orphan in Inuzuri as well as focuses quite a bit on the dynamics between Ichigo and Rukia which had my inner fangirl going "Squee!" However, there's no further development to their relationship than what is already known i.e. Ichigo and Rukia have a special connection, are more than friends, but are not in a romantic relationship as quoted by Tite Kubo. Sighz.

Basically it's about Seireitei (as usual) being under attack under mysterious circumstances. As a consequence, everyone's memory of Rukia was immediately erased. In the real world, Ichigo's memory was also affected temporarily, however, as he slept that night, he dreamed of her and hence suddenly remembered again who she is.

Being the "save-everyone-Ichigo" that we all know and love, he immediately went to Seireitei to sort things out. And as per any Bleach movie (or episode for that matter), Ichigo has to fight against disbelieving Shinigami as well as the Big Baddies to save Rukia once again.

You can watch it Fade to Black here.

Being finicky!Fi, of course I have some complaints of the movie (heh, coz maybe my expectations were too high) with the main one being the quality of the drawings. To me it seems that the drawings are getting progressively uglier. It's like the animators are becoming lazy LOL.

In addition, there seems to be a discrepancy in the plot i.e. Rukia met the twins when she was older than when she met Renji, so where's Renji in the whole flashback thingy?

And wow, they've released the name of Shuuhei's release BEFORE it was revealed in the manga (Karakura Arc), bearing in mind that this movie is already a year old? Cool eh?

But anyways, FtB is definitely a must-watch for Bleach fans.

The Laws of Anime

I've been watching so much anime nowadays (Kure-nai, Ryoko Case Files, Lovely Complex, Tokko, Library Wars, Kare Kano, Code Geass plus the old staples of Bleach and Naruto, to name a few) that I've actually forgotten half of what I watched. Old age = poor memory I guess. So, I was supposed to write a review for each of the anime I watched to solidify the fact, however, laziness and sluggishness got into the way that I've ended up with lots of half-assed drafts, sigh. However, I came across this cute cute posting bout anime in general, that I felt must be shared with all other anime lovers, if just for the lulz. So, let me present to you, the Laws of Anime!!

Originally compiled and edited by Darrin Bright and Ryan Shellito

---

Law of Metaphysical Irregularity

The normal laws of physics do not apply.

Law of Differentiated Gravitation

Whenever someone or something jumps, is thrown, or otherwise is rendered airborn, gravity is reduced by a factor of 4.

Law of Sonic Amplification, First Law of Anime Acoustics

In space, loud sounds, like explosions, are even louder because there is no air to get in the way.

Law of Constant Thrust, First Law of Anime Motion

In space, constant thrust equals constant velocity.

Law of Mechanical Mobility, Second Law of Anime Motion

The larger a mechanical device is, the faster it moves. Armored Mecha are the fastest objects known to human science.

Law of Temporal Variability

Time is not a constant. Time stops for the hero whenever he does something 'cool' or 'impressive'. Time slows down when friends and lovers are being killed and speeds up whenever there is a fight.

First Law of Temporal Mortality

'Good Guys' and 'Bad Guys' both die in one of two ways. Either so quick they don't even see it coming, OR it's a long drawn out affair where the character gains much insight to the workings of society, human existence or why the toast always lands butter side down.

Second Law of Temporal Mortality

It takes some time for bad guys to die... regardless of physical damage. Even when the 'Bad Guys' are killed so quickly they didn't even see it coming, it takes them a while to realize they are dead. This is attributed to the belief that being evil damages the Reality Lobe of the brain.

Law of Dramatic Emphasis

Scenes involving extreme amounts of action are depicted with either still-frames or black screens with a slash of bright color (usually red or white).

Law of Dramatic Multiplicity

Scenes that only happen once, for instance, a 'Good Guy' kicks the 'Bad Guy' in the face, are seen at least 3 times from 3 different angles.

Law of Inherent Combustability

Everything explodes. Everything.

• First Corollary - Anything that explodes bulges first.

• Second Corollary - Large cities are the most explosive substances known to human science. Tokyo in particular seems to be the most unstable of these cities, sometimes referred to as "The Matchstick City".

Law of Phlogistatic Emission

Nearly all things emit light from fatal wounds.

Law of Energetic Emission

There is alway an energy build up (commonly referred to as an energy 'bulge') before Mecha or space craft weapons fire. Because of the explosive qualities of weapons, it is believed that this is related to the Law of Inherent Combustability.

Law of Inverse Lethal Magnitude

The destructive potential of a weapon is inversly proportional to its size.

• First Corollary - Small and cute will always overcome big and ugly. Also know as the A-Ko phenomenon.

Law of Inexhaustability

No one *EVER* runs out of ammunition. That is of course unless they are cornered, out-numbered, out-classed, and unconscious.

Law of Inverse Accuracy

The accuracy of a 'Good Guy' when operating any form of fire-arm increases as the difficulty of the shot increases. The accuracy of the 'Bad Guys' when operating fire-arms decreases when the difficulty of the shot decreases. (Also known as the Stormtrooper Effect)

Example: A 'Good Guy' in a drunken stupor being held upside down from a moving vehicle will always hit, and several battalions of 'Bad Guys' firing on a 'Good Guy' standing alone in the middle of an open field will always miss.

• First Corollary - The more 'Bad Guys' there are, the less likely they will hit anyone or do any real damage.

• Second Corollary - Whenever a 'Good Guy' is faced with insurmountable odds, the 'Bad Guys' line up in neat rows, allowing the hero to take them all out with a single burst of automatic fire and then escape.

• Third Corollary - Whenever a 'Good Guy' is actually hit by enemy fire, it is in a designated 'Good Guy Area', usually a flesh wound in the shoulder or arm, which restricts the 'Good Guy' from doing anything more strenuous than driving, firing weaponry, using melee weapons, operating heavy machinery, or doing complex martial arts maneuvres.

Law of Transient Romantic Unreliability

Minmei is a bimbo.

Law of Hemoglobin Capacity

The human body contains over 12 gallons of blood, sometimes more, under high pressure.

Law of Demonic Consistency

Demons and other supernatural creatures have at least three eyes, loads of fangs, tend to be yellow-green or brown (but black is not unknown), and can only be hurt by bladed weapons.

Law of Militaristic Unreliability

Huge galaxy-wide armadas, entire armies, and large war-machines full of cruel, heartless, bloodthirsty warriors can be stopped and defeated with a single insignificant example of a caring/loving emotion or a song.

Law of Tactical Unreliability

Tactical geniuses aren't....

Law of Inconsequential Undetectability

People never notice the little things... Like missing body parts, or wounds the size of Seattle.

Law of Juvenile Intellectuality

Children are smarter than adults. And almost always twice as annoying.

Law of Americanthropomorphism

Americans in Anime appear in one of two roles, either as a really nasty skinny 'Bad Guy' or a big stupid 'Good Guy'.

• First Corollary - The only people who are more stupid than the big dumb Americans are the American translators. (Sometimes referred to as the Green Line Effect.)

• Second Corollary - The only people who are more stupid than the American translators are the American editors and censors.

Law of Mandibular Proportionality

(from A. Hicks)

The size of a person's mouth is directly proportional to the volume at which they are speaking or eating.

Law of Feline Mutation

(from A. Hicks)

Any half-cat/half-human mutation will invariably:

1. be female,
2. will possess ears and sometimes a tail as a genetic mutation,
3. and wear as little clothing as possible, if any.

Law of Conservation of Firepower

(from Tom Williams)

Any powerful weapon capable of destroying/defeating an opponent in a single shot will invariably be reserved and used only as a last resort.

Law of Technological User-Benevolence

(from Tom Williams)

The formal training required to operate a spaceship or mecha is inversely proportional to its complexity.

Law of Melee Luminescence

(from Tom Williams)

Any being displaying extremely high levels of martial arts prowess and/or violent emotions emits light in the form of a glowing aura. This aura is usually blue for 'good guys' and red for 'bad guys'. This is attributed to Good being higher in the electromagnetic spectrum than Evil.

Law of Non-anthropomorphic Antagonism

(from Tom Williams)

All ugly, non-humanoid alien races are hostile, and usually hell-bent on destroying humanity for some obscure reason.

Law of Follicular Chroma Variability

(from Spellweaver)

Any color in the visible spectrum is considered a natural hair color. This color can change without warning or explanation.

Law of Follicular Permanence

Hair in anime is pretty much indestructable, and can resist any amount of meteorological conditions, energy emissions, physical abuse, or explosive effects and still look perfect. The only way to hurt someone's hair is the same way you deal with demons... with bladed weapons!

Law of Topological Aerodynamics, First Law of Anime Aero-Dynamics

*ANY* shape, no matter how convoluted or odd-looking, is automatically aerodynamic.

Law of Probable Attire

Clothing in anime follows certain predictable guidelines.

Female characters wear as little clothing as possible, regardless of whether it is socially or meteorologically appropriate. Any female with an excessive amount of clothing will invariably have her clothes ripped to shreds or torn off somehow. If there is no opportunity to tear off the afore-mentioned female's clothes, then she will inexplicably take a shower for no apparent reason (also known as the Gratuitous Shower Scene).

Whenever there is a headwind, a Male characters will invariably wear a long cloak which doesn't hamper movement and billows out dramatically behind him.

• First Corollary (Cryo-Adaptability) - All anime characters are resistant to extremely cold temperatures, and do not need to wear heavy or warm clothing in snow.

• Second Corollary (Indecent Invulnerability) - Bikinis render the wearer invulnerable to any form of damage.

Law of Musical Omnipotence

Any character capable of musical talent (singing, playing an instrument, etc.) is automatically capable of doing much more "simple" things like piloting mecha, fighting crime, stopping an intergalactic war, and so on... especially if they have never attempted these things before.

Law of Quitupular Aggultination

(from Daniel Mikula)

Also called "The Five-man Rule," when "Good Guys" group together, it tends to be in groups of five. There are five basic positions, which are:

1. The Hero/Leader
2. His girlfriend
3. His Best Friend/Rival
4. A Hulking Brute
5. A Dwarf/Kid

Between these basic positions are distributed several attributes, which include:

1. Extreme Coolness
2. Amazing intelligence
3. Incredible Irritation

Law of Extradimensional Capacitance

(from Jason Bustard)

All anime females have an extradimensional storage space of variable volume somewhere on their person from which they can instantly retrieve any object at a moment's notice.

• First Corollary (The Hammer Rule) - The most common item stored is a heavy mallet, which can be used with unerring accuracy on any male who deserves it. Other common items include costumes/uniforms, power suits/armor, and large bazookas.

Law of Hydrostatic Emission

Eyes tend to be rather large in Anime. This is because they contain several gallons of water, which may be instantaneously released at high pressure through large tear ducts. The actual volume of water contained in the eyes is unknown, as there is no evidence to suggest that these reservoirs are actually capable of running out. The reason water tends to collect in the eyes is because Anime characters only have one large sweat gland, which is located at the back of the head. When extremely stressed, embarrassed, or worried, this sweat gland exudes a single but very large drop of sebaceous fluid.

Law of Inverse Attraction

Success at finding suitable mates is inversely proportionate to how desperately you want to be successful. The more you want, the less you get.

• First Corollary Unfortunately, this law seems to apply to Otaku in the real world...

Law of Nasal Sanguination

(from Ryan Pritchard and Jason Aylen)

When sexually aroused, males in Anime don't get erections, they get nosebleeds. No one's sure why this is, though... the current theory suggests that larger eyes means smaller sinuses and thinner sinus tissue (see Law #38 above). Females don't get nosebleeds, but invariably get one heck of a blush along the cheeks and across the nose, suggesting a lot of bloodflow to that region.

Law of Xylolaceration

(from Lyndon Harris)

Wooden or bamboo swords are just as sharp as metal swords, if not sharper.

Law of Juvenile Omnipotence

(from Erin Alia)

Always send a boy to do a man's job. He'll get it done in half the time and twice the angst.

Law of Quadrotriscadecophobia

There is no Law #43.

Law of Nominative Clamovocation

(from Luiko-Ysabeth and Adrian Hsiah)

The likelihood of success and damage done by a martial arts attack is directly proportional to the volume at which the full name of the attack is announced.

Law of Uninteruptable Metamorphosis

(from R. A. Hubby)

Regardless of how long or involved the transformation sequence or how many times they've seen it before, any 'Bad Guys' witnessing a mecha/hero/heroine transforming are too stunned to do anything to interrupt it.

Law of Flimsy Incognition

(from Conrad Knauer)

Simply changing into a costume or wearing a teensy mask can make you utterly unrecognizable to even your closest friends and relatives.

Wahahaha. True rite?

That saying, I also want to promote my brother's fanfic, yup, my Little Cute Brother also known as Slimy!Sheldon's fanfic. For a guy, I admit he writes pretty good fluff. Although his style of writing is a bit... pretentious. And too self conscious. But he gets the characterisation down quite well.. Wow, too much praise already!! It could also be because he's my brother and I'm biased. (But then again, if I'm biased, then it should be twice the criticism rite? LOL). Anyways, the most important flaw in his writing is that... he writes Ichigo/Tatsuki!!! Terrible!!! But at least it's not Ichi/Hime or I won't admit we're related anymore. (Must persuade him to write Ichi/Rukia one day..) Anyways, go check it out, it's not too bad, haha. Now why can't I write something besides these inane blog posts, haihz.

Of Shinigamis and Karatekas.

Bleach Crossover LOLZ

Honestly, who hasn't seen this coming? They're both powerful, young and short. Plus they share the same seiyuu hehe.

LOLZ. There're lots of Naruto x Bleach crossovers due to the similarities between Naruto and Ichigo and Sasuke and Ishida.

Evilly cute! Wahahaha.

Go Zabimaru the new Pokemon! LOLZ.

I like this pic the best of all. This is a hypothetical situation in which Ichigo and Naruto switch places. Oh the LULZ. :)

Credit to CAPSLOCK BLEACH for the piccies. :)

I Love to Crap (An Exam Oriented Post)

Figuratively of course. Not literally.

When I look back in the past, it seems that it's the only thing I'm actually good at.

I've refined this technique over the years, crapping in debates in secondary school when I don't have a script nor any points (since I'm often the third speaker in Parliamentary Debates who's just supposed to rebut everything the opponents say), crapping sometimes when Million asks me super tough questions in A-Levels (I really got to thank her for my strong foundation in Chem though - it's thanks to her relentless whys that I actually got to thinking more than just memorizing all those facts), crapping bout lecture notes when they are actually not self explanatory, crapping during exams when I forgot the facts and so on.

But these are too much:
1. Explain the differences in CNS pharmacokinetic profiles of DepoCyt and conventional cytarabine following intrathecal administration. (8m)
- Depocyt has a longer half life of 87+/- 15 h hence distributes evenly in the CSF compared to conventional cytarabine with a half life of 2-3 h.
- Depocyt is eliminated via biphasic elimination whereas conventional cytarabine follows a first order decrease.
The end.

Seriously, what else is there to write bout these to merit the 8m? Absorption here doesn't play a role since they're administered directly into the CSF, neither will metabolism (via deaminases) since they only want the CNS pharmacokinetic profiles. Sighz.

2. Explain how the stratum corneum prevents water loss from the skin. (10m)
- By acting as a barrier to water loss.
The end.
And really that will be the end of all my marks too :P.

Ok, technically I can talk bout the structure of the skin bla bla bla but that really will not contribute all the other 9m.

Anyways, these are all too boring to talk about for long since they really a sleep-inducing topics. So to make this entry somewhat palatable, I bring some funny Bleach stuff.

Cute rite? Haha. Renji vs Ichigo for Rukia! With Byakuya as the judge in the background too. LOLZ. By Etania.

"Oh, Rukia! Our children have already grown so much!"

"Shut up." Kaien said grumpily from his seat. "Why do you keep that stupid poster up, anyway?"

Rukia sighed, putting dinner on the table. "Idiot."

Like father like son. LOLZ. By TigerShinigami.

Now, that makes life a little more bearable. :)

Fade To Black

Promotional posters and the movie guide for the newest Bleach movie, Fade to Black is already out.

This 3rd movie hopefully will do better than its predecessors in being more than just a shounen filler extragavanza.

Anyways, this movie sounds and looks promising, basically it's about Rukia and the rest of Soul Society losing their memories due to some incident.... hence, it's Ichigo to the rescue again! However, what makes this different compared to the other movies is that KT has some input in this movie - the title of the movie, Fade to Black is his idea as well as the Japanese subtitle - Calling Out Your Name.

Fans of Ichiruki all over the world are also eagerly awaiting this movie as there has been not much development in the Hueco Mundo arc where the focus was mainly on Orihime - so, is this a hint of what to come pairings-wise in Bleach as KT apparently has a say in this movie? Will there be anything concrete occuring? Is this a subtle acknowledgement of Ichiruki? Well, maybe FTB will answer some of this burning queries but IMHO, this is and will remain just a filler. Granted, Byakuya saving Rukia against the Bounto Yoshi and in Memories of Nobody are fillers as well and he really did save her again in the canon arc (i.e. against Zommari). However, it must not be forgotten that fillers are merely fillers - i.e. no further progress on Hitsu/Karin despite the soccer episode, Ashido is about to be forgotten, Cloud, Nova and Ririn are memories of yesterday, to illustrate a few examples. Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but I think it's better to go with low expectations and to be pleasantly surprised rather than vice versa (despite being a BIG fan of Ichiruki as well).

Enough with all this meaningless chatter, here are some FTB movie goodies:

Kubo: From the 2nd movie the subtitle was brought up by me. From the time when I first heard that the memory of Rukia will be disappearing inside everyone an image came into my mind that Rukia’s memory of Ichigo and the gotei 13 will be disappearing. From there the meaning of “Disappearing into black” became the subtitle “Fade to black”.

After coming up with the English subtitle "Fade to Black” they asked me to come up with the Japanese subtitle (laughs) So after carefully digesting the scenario I searched for some scenes that can be the key word or words that I can use, and found that in the plot, someone calling out someone’s name, especially in this story where Ichigo calling out Rukia’s name was a strong expression that even though no one else remembers you I do, and I found out it had an important meaning behind it. So that’s how I came up with the subtitle “Calling Out Your name”

- An excerpt from an interview with KT about his role in the upcoming movie.

Go here for another tidbit of a translated interview with Ichigo and Rukia's seiyuus as well as links to Bleach TV for a sort of behind the scenes of the movie (too bad it's not subbed though) - credit to Bleachness.

If you're interested to know what happens in the movie, go here for the translated version of the movie (of course it still doesn't beat watching it but we'll make do with what we have).
- credit to all the people on Ichiruki BA.

Here's the movie preview on the current episode's opening and closing credits.

Another trailer for the movie - the background music is the movie's theme song by Porno Graffiti - supposedly a famous band in Japan.

Here's part of the lyrics:
Tonight where does the moon illuminate
With the thick clouds covering the sky
Tonight who will you be embraced by
You wander in the lost road you escape the wind by the thunder cloud
You even start hating your true self
You even pretend you are a traveler
Alone, you let the rain pour on you
If you are going you rather go to a wasteland
Tonight, I wonder if you can you see the moon
Even, tonight if you can't find the place where the moon illuminates I will make sure I'll find you.

Sounds pretty shippy (I like! :P).

Despite trying not to, I can't help but feel quite excited bout this movie.. Looking forward to next September then (when the subbed version will be out). :)

Bleach Parody

When I read this, I was like... OMG ROFLOL!

It is superbly humourous! Think Tite Kubo @ Uryu Kubo as a fashion designer (instead of a mangaka) who's famous, with well known faces as his models: Kurosaki Ichigo, the main front face of his line, Inoue Orihime, with her generous bust, Chad, as his favourite foreigner who enhances Orihime's pics, Abarai Renji, a world renown model, Kuchiki Rukia, the antithesis of Orihime and the delicious Kuchiki Byakuya.

Not to be forgotten too are the fans of his fashion line (not going to mention coz don't wanna spoil the fun). LOL.

Really well written, and the pics - gosh, the way they're interpreted are just priceless.

Nice.

River of the Night Sky

I'm going back to Bleach fandom! Episode 197 is just full of Byakuya's charisma, that I couldn't help but start to re-fangirl him again.

In my quest to find out everything about Byakuya, I found Yozora no Kawa or River of The Night Sky, a Byakuya character song from Bleach Beat Collection Season 4 - Byakuya and Rukia. I find the tune haunting and sad, yet calm and stoic, resigned to fate much like the Captain of the Sixth himself. Byakuya's seiyuu sang the song, and although he wouldn't win any singing awards any time soon, his deep melancholic voice fits it perfectly. The translation is also poignant, but is rather ambiguous on whether he is singing to Rukia or Hisana. Here, have a listen.

Here are the lyrics and translation:

Kanashimi no iro o oshiete iru you na
Shizuka na yozora ni
As though teaching me the colour of sadness
In the peaceful night sky

Kizukanu to shitara
Kizukasete hoshii
Shirubeki subete o
If you don't understand
I want to make you understand
Everything that you ought to know

Tooku ni mieru nuguenu namida
Mamorikirenai kotoba ga hibiku
From far away I can see your unwiped tears
The words that I can't hold on to are ringing out

Sekai ga owaru nara
Sono toki ni wa wakaru darou ka
Kotae o shiranu mama hitotsu mune o tojita
If the world should end
Surely in that moment you'd understand
That without knowing the answer, my solitary heart closed

Kanashimi no oto ga kikoenai you na
Sewashii sekai ga
The hectic world goes on
as though the sound of sadness can't be heard

Mukiau koto o toozakeru nara
Sukoshi kobameru odayaka na hibi
If meeting face to face is still a distant thought
Then I'll reject just a little this peaceful daily life

Subete o tsuranuite
Tsuyoku arou kokoro midasazu
Saigo no negai sae kanaerarenu yoru ni
Penetrating through everything
A heart with strong resolve won't be swayed
Even on a night when a last wish can't be granted

Yozora ni azukete wa
Tojita mama no kokoro no kawa wa
Dare ni mo shirarezuni shizuka ni kagayaite
Relying on the night sky
The river of my closed heart
Silently shimmered without anyone knowing

Sekai ga owaru nara
Sono toki ni wa ieru darou ka
Afureru omoide o nazoru you ni tsugeyou
Hitomi ga kasanatte hitotsu mune ni saita
If the world should end
In that moment, surely, I'd be able to say it
Like tracing the overflowing memories, I'll tell you that
Reflected in your eyes was the bloom of a solitary heart

I guess I just have a soft spot for all these stoic, powerful characters. LOLZ.

Bleach Colour Spread

Wow, is Bleach changing its color scheme from blue to green?

But nvm that, look at Ukitake! Don't you think he looks absolutely fabulous here? Didn't realise his eyes were so greeeeeeeeeeeeen.

*goes into fangirling mode*

Bleach Pic Recs

Nice pic rite? It's cool that it's done with the theme of Zombies Ate My Neighbours (loved that game). And the placement of Aaroniero/Kaien as a zombie is simply hilarious. But what cinches it all is the goodie at the back - Orihime being chased by an evile zombie! LOLZ.

This was done by a brilliant artist by the name of Gogeta-gal-159. Go visit her profile at deviant art for more pics.. :)

Bleach At The Beach

I'm on a Bleach-y roll here!

Here's another rec from me - an omake chapter of Bleach at the Beach.

It's funny, it's hilarious, it's filled with all the characters we love, and it's wonderfully Bleach-y.

Also love the sibling love between Byakuya and Rukia. LOLZ.

The ending is also cool - with a cameo by everyone's favourite Hitsugaya!

It's just something to brighten up my day. :)

Hitsugaya Toushiro's Roots

Hehe. I found out that Bleach Wikia actually exists! Cool rite? The info there is also pretty accurate except the fact that they said that Senna was more popular than Rukia. WTH. Riiiiiite. Then, pray tell why Senna only merits a page in fanfiction.net whereas Rukia has 142 pages?

But I digress. In reading about Hitsugaya, I found something super cool. I found a chapter (by Tite Kubo himself) on Shiro-chan's roots, i.e. how he found his sword, why he became a Shinigami even though he told Hinamori that he's not interested (in the flashback episodes when she first joined the Academy), the first time he met Matsumoto...

Read bout it here.

It's pretty nice and well done (though the movie kinda suck - see my short review on Diamond Dust Rebellion here). Should be a treat to all those Hitsugaya fans.

And here's something I didn't know bout Hitsugaya (courtesy of Bleach Wiki)

Back in his childhood in West Rukongai, he was so skilled with spinning tops that he became the local undefeated champion. He works very hard, but his motive seems to be that if he finishes quickly, he can return to his afternoon nap. He believes in the saying "a child who sleeps will grow up", and hopes to grow quickly, a wish shared by his subordinates. Naturally, they do not voice this fact in front of him.

LOL. He likes sleeping??! Hard to believe that, as he's always chastising Matsumoto for sleeping on the job. And the part where he wants to grow up quickly, that's just too funny for words.

Now, I'm crossing my fingers on a nice piece on Rukia in anticipation of Fade to Black. LOLZ.

Some Bleach Recs

Since I've been shamefully neglecting my Bleach fandom for some time now (partly due to the lousy filler arc, the disappointing movie and the fact that very few of my favourite fanfics are updated currently), here are some recs to bring back the Bleach (and Ichiruki) love. Enjoy.

1. Counting Stars by Hakuren
You seriously can't expect me not to rec a fic without stars in any part of the fic right? :P Anyway, this is a very lovely angst-y fic about Ichigo on New Year's Day. The tone of reminiscence, Ichigo's utter pain, the flashbacks which are portrayed so smoothly, the really in-depth characterisation of lonely!Ichigo... This indeed sets the standard for all angst pieces. This one-shot really leaves you wanting for more coz it's so good that it actually hurts.

2. Circles by Jaina
After walking a straight line your whole life, what do you do when there's nowhere left to go?
In my opinion, Jaina is a very talented author. This piece is a future-fic taking in the possibility that Rukia is banished to the real world. The slight bitterness on Ichigo's part, Rukia's acceptance on her fate, Kurosaki family dynamics... They all mesh together well enough to give this wonderful fic.

3. If I Had Never by Maiden-Chan
Can there be love without memories? IchiRuki, AU.
Another lovely angst-y piece about Rukia losing her memories. What's with me and angst today? :P

Diamond Dust Rebellion

Doesn't really live up to my expectations I'm afraid.

It's the typical shounen filler movie extragavanza... Hero with a brooding past and guilt haunting him, fighting within ranks, order for execution, realisation by main hero of the brooding hero's suffering, fighting with villains and losing, main hero to the rescue with some canny advice, gasp-the-world-as-we-know-it-is-going-to-end scene, fighting with main hero giving brooding hero a chance to avenge his past and let go, brooding hero finding peace withing himself and letting go, all is well again, end.

Seriously, what I've just detailed is a brief summary of Diamond Dust Rebellion (why the name? There's no diamond dust anywhere..), but after the ham that was Memories of Nobody, I should have known better. Guess I thought that since there's the deliciously icy Hitsugaya as one of the main characters in it that it should be better. *Shivers*. Hope Fade to Black does not suffer the same horrible fate as Diamond Dust Rebellion. It has Rukia as one of the main characters in it, but somehow I feel that the fate of being a shounen filler movie is going to befall it as well.

Man, I hate fillers. Why doesn't KT take time off to devise the plot of the movie this time?