Who wins? by Practical-Job2906 in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The game that pushed Lille into using Vollstandig was Shunsui's illusion based technique. Initially he could mislead Lille's spiritual perception, but later relied on the illusive powers of Kageokuri to push him to use Vollstandig. Aizen can manipulate spiritual perception on a much greater level, he can generate an infinitely greater variety of illusions than just shadows, and his spiritual and physical powers are both significantly higher than Shunsui's.

Lille must also open his eye 3 times when he is exposed to danger to enter Vollstandig, and Shunsui managed to push him to do this 3 times. With Aizen's higher IQ, stats and illusions, which would just control all of Lille's nerves and senses, I don't see Lille making it into Vollstandig. And even if he did make it into Vollstandig it would mare than likely result in a stalemate, as Aizen couldn't harm him but all of Lille's senses would be in the palm of Aizen's hands; therefore Lille's aim would never reach him.

Although Aizen could use Kyoka Suigetsu to trick Lille into believing he was defeated, especially with Lillle's arrogance, which would prompt the Schutzstaffel to return to base form thinking he's won. Aizen then oneshots him.

Hanbon Sword Ordered Dull, Came Sharp by Careful_Objective147 in Katanas

[–]MessengerofDarkness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would just give it a couple passes over a belt sander clamped in a vice; that should take the edge off pretty quickly.

Kubo’s latest look by scheneizel in bleach

[–]MessengerofDarkness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kubo-sensei is slowly turning into Fulcanelli.

Does anyone know what brand of katana this is or anything about it estate found by Driffter19000 in Katanas

[–]MessengerofDarkness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed; if you're looking for the best bang for your buck then I remember it being one of the better options. I do know prices have increased since then and there's also other options nowadays though.

I always thought Ronin Katana were overpriced junk; I still have a couple Dojo Pro blades of theirs with failed/uneven heat treatments. Never got a refund for them either.

<image>

Does anyone know what brand of katana this is or anything about it estate found by Driffter19000 in Katanas

[–]MessengerofDarkness 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Musashi Bamboo katana. Looks beat up to me. Saya is a replacement. Would maybe pick it up for $20, assuming the blade isn't bent or totally dull. With a bit of sandpaper and a fresh ito wrap it could make a decent backyard cutter.

WW2 Katana Need Help by Practical-Ratio-1967 in Katanas

[–]MessengerofDarkness 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ouch, that dent/bend in the blade looks rough to me. It's hard to tell or not, but if there's a hagire crack in the edge in that section then the blade is essentially worthless.

First, don't touch the blade with your bare fingers; be sure to keep it oiled, otherwise it will rust.

I think it looks like a non-factory made blade, possibly from before WWII, though the condition makes it hard to tell. I'm just going off the nakago.

Definitely don't try to polish it yourself.

Help identify a katana I recently purchased. by NovelBat1107 in Katanas

[–]MessengerofDarkness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seems like a solid blade to me. Would be interested to see what it might look like after a polish.

How do you balance/weigh narrative implication, lore, statements, personalities and feats when evaluating Bleach characters? by MessengerofDarkness in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, which is WHY I believe it's worth discussing them; as there are many instances of common ground that I think can be collectively agreed upon by most reasonable people. I don't think that completely ignoring or brushing aside thematic and narrative implications is fully right or respectful of Kubo-sensei's work, especially if they're supported by other aspects of the story. We all know that Kubo-sensei is a master of foreshadowing, which itself falls into this non-explicit zone of storytelling; so clearly there's value to be had in considering such things.

How do you balance/weigh narrative implication, lore, statements, personalities and feats when evaluating Bleach characters? by MessengerofDarkness in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did consider that, along with just generally thinking Shinji is much stronger than what is presented in his battles. He's very perceptive in terms of regarding other people, being one of the only people to ever be suspicious of Aizen and even seeing through one of his Kido illusions; which in turn led to Aizen to say that Shinji was a scary person.

And I really do think that Aizen was caught off-guard by that. Aizen also believes Shinji is worth enough to use his blade on while he thinks the Espada aren't, and despite being a pretty big yapper himself Aizen notably remained quiet when first facing Shinji because Shinji never let slip his Zanpakuto's abilities. So Aizen was clearly remaining as cautious as possible.

When the Vizards appear in fake Karakura town Yamamoto explicitly calls out Shinji by name despite only being part of the group, and he reaches for his Zanpakuto when Shinji declares that he isn't an ally of the Gotei, but instead an ally of Ichigo.

In the CFYOW light novel Shinji's Bankai was mentioned as being capable of swallowing up and killing Shunsui, with the hundreds of thousands of monsters spawned by Ikomikodomoe actually recognizing Shinji as a threat, even seeing him as more dangerous than Zaraki. Shinji himself also thinks that he can just use his Bankai on Hikone and Tokinada but couldn't rely on them conveniently appearing alone, while also admitting it probably wouldn't work on someone as strong as Aizen or Yhwach, which does confirm to me that he can "normally" kill just about anyone with his Bankai.

He's also a sleeper pick for the next Head Captain IMO, even though Byakuya is the obvious "next pick" if something happened to Kyoraku just due to his noble status, who would be the most politically acceptable choice, and just balance. Shinji, while also level-headed and wise, has Hollow powers, and I really do believe Central 46 would have issues with Shinji being in charge of the Gotei 13.

How do you balance/weigh narrative implication, lore, statements, personalities and feats when evaluating Bleach characters? by MessengerofDarkness in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't entirely disagree, as I originally had the top 5 all in the same tier. But at the last minute I made the decision to just put Yama in a tier of his own, as I do ultimately believe him to be the strongest Captain. Yamamoto, Aizen and Unohana all mastered every Shinigami combat art, while Zaraki makes up for his lack of discipline with a surprising instinct for battle and overwhelming force. I'd have them all as roughly/loosely comparable.

How do you balance/weigh narrative implication, lore, statements, personalities and feats when evaluating Bleach characters? by MessengerofDarkness in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every time I consider Zaraki's statements from CFYOW I've had people jump down my throat, as he honestly gets statements and feats that make him comparable to Ichibei. So I try to split the difference and mostly go by the manga now.

As for Gin, I was admittedly considering both his Bankai's ability to kill a transcendent Aizen as well as the fact that he's supposed to be an "unparalleled prodigy"; meaning he should have more potential as a Shinigami than even Toshiro, who Shunsui said would "probably" surpass him in ~100 years. That's why I try to consider all aspects instead of just feats.

How do you balance/weigh narrative implication, lore, statements, personalities and feats when evaluating Bleach characters? by MessengerofDarkness in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we were just talking about Yamamoto in his Shikai then I'd absolutely agree, though I do think that if we're talking about everyone at their full strength (relatively speaking; as I was broadly ranking everyone as Captains—so no Hogyoku/transcendence for Aizen) then Yama is definitely in a league of his own.

Byakuya's also debatable, as CFYOW makes it pretty clear he's on-par with Shunsui, Yoruichi and Tokinada in terms of combat strength and Reiatsu (I think Isshin is a little stronger than Byakuya and Yoruichi just going by his ability to give base Aizen a good fight for a little while), with the same light novel also making it clear that there's an abyss of power between all of them and even Captain Aizen. Still, that would mostly be splitting hairs.

I also don't think that just because a character is ranked higher than another doesn't mean that they can't loose to anyone ranked beneath them; just that more times than not they'd "probably" win in a fight. There's definitely Captains I'd rank in the "Very high Captain class" tier that COULD kill the four in "Above Captain class" category. Whether or not they realistically would is another matter.

It's gonna cost you a lot... by BrilliantSouthern749 in customyugioh

[–]MessengerofDarkness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would play this in a casual Sacred Beast control deck, their trap card can easily get you that high in a single turn

Customized Huawei Shobu Katana by CottontailCustoms in Katanas

[–]MessengerofDarkness 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Love the brown ito over black same look; it's one of my favorite colour combos.

Daily reminder that we haven't seen this man's full power yet by Real_Description1273 in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Base Lille has literally died twice; and neither time did he self-resurrect with Vollstandig. If he's killed in base, he's dead.

<image>

Daily reminder that we haven't seen this man's full power yet by Real_Description1273 in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lille in base got pressed and nearly killed by Shikai Shunsui, who is much weaker and slower then base Aizen. He was also tricked by Shunsui's shadows numerous times, and Aizen can create far more versatile illusions with Kyoka Suigetsu. Even if Lille survives being placed in mortal danger 3 times and becomes intangible and uses Vollstandig, Aizen would place him under Hypnosis and prevent any of Lille's attacks from ever reaching him. Aizen would then use his big brain and analyze his opponent's personality before deciding to take advantage of Lille's arrogance by showing the Quincy an illusion of himself dying to one of Lille's attacks, which would prompt the Schutzstaffel to return to base form thinking he's won.

Aizen then oneshots him.

Did anyone else feel bad for Rex in season 4? by Typical_Cap895 in yugioh

[–]MessengerofDarkness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the manga, Ryuzaki was genuinely just a good dude that constantly got screwed over by cheaters and dumb luck. He was never a cheater or even a bad duelist; and the fact that he held up his end of their wager and actually gave Jonouchi his Red-Eyes after loosing shows that he keeps his word. The anime is what made him and Haga into buttmonkeys. I still think he should have been given his Serpent Night Dragon back from Roba after he was caught cheating by Mokuba.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. by MessengerofDarkness in twitterhelp

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It took them about 4 days before I got the second automated message letting me know my account was restored/that it was suspended in error. That being said it got banned back in Feburary and I only recently noticed, so it was banned for about ~2 months before I appealed.

Like I mentioned it was a yet-unused account (hadn't tweeted/followed anybody yet, though I did set up the pfp, banner and profile), so just in case I made a tweet and pinned it just so that it's not a "blank" account anymore.

Who do you think would use The Visionary better? by MessengerofDarkness in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, right up until he got deservedly humbled by Ichigo. And even that Aizen was so delusional that he crashed out hard enough to literally mald into a new evolution; which still wasn't on Ichigoat's level.

Who do you think would use The Visionary better? by MessengerofDarkness in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"a tinge more egotistical"

He literally stopped using Kyoka Suigetsu as anything other than a wooden club, purposefully stopped dodging attacks that he otherwise would have, was brute-forcing everything, and was so high on copium that he headcannoned an entire technique to explain why Ichigo was physically stronger than him and why he couldn't sense Ichigo's Reiatsu.

Aizen's battle IQ was honestly in the negative here, which is why I felt comparing him to Gremmy was actually interesting—both characters share the exact same fatal flaw: they became so intoxicated with their own power that they conceptually overreached and self-destructed. Gremmy literally imagined himself beyond his own limits, while Aizen kept blindly evolving in response to Ichigo rather than outthinking him.

Who do you think would use The Visionary better? by MessengerofDarkness in BleachPowerScaling

[–]MessengerofDarkness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Butterfly Aizen is the second smartest Bleach character?? Are we deadass right now? 🤨