#emilou apache

It turns out that glass wool, while not without its health risks, was not the nightmare material I thought it was-- the very thinness and malleability of the material means that falling on it will not slice you up, although you should always wear protective gear to prevent the fibers from irritating the skin and causing damage to the lungs. But Haineko’s power seems to be my juvenile worst-case scenario for insulation, something that looks nice and soft and harmless but which will slice you to pieces if you make that assumption.

Of course, it does raise the question of why this new being would be vastly more powerful than any of them as an individual. I suppose they must be pouring the greater portion of their power into it? Still, you’d think the three of them acting as a team would be a stronger force.

I want to highlight this though...Apache goes down, and Mila Rose and Sun-Sun immediately jump to Chad and Orihime’s defense. And look, it’s not like they don’t have reason to...but it’s also pretty much the least hollow-like thing they could do. Another sign of the growth of the Arrancars, and how we’re not so different after all.

Yamamoto doesn’t kill the Tres Bestias because he admires their spirit, and that’s not what I’d expect from the commander of an organization which counts killing/purifying hollows as its primary purpose. Does a code of honor really prevail over the normal standard of conduct?

I suppose nobody should be surprised at this point, but we are really exploring that hollow/human dividing line here. Harribel is straightforwardly analyzing Ichigo’s spirit energy as being like an Arrancar, but before that, she straddles the line herself...this talk of how her fracciones should savor the “primordial fear” of seeing Grimmjow’s resurrecion is classic hollow logic, but it carries with it the unspoken reassurance that they don’t actually need to be running in fear...because they have Harribel keeping them safe. That’s not something Hollows are known to do!

See what I was saying? This isn’t different in degree from Rangiku slicing them up with her razor dust, but it’s a difference in kind, and one that the bestias were not prepared for. And they’re about to pay the price.