Saturday 18 April 2015

Bleach Chapter 623 Review

Shooting Down Heaven DENIED!
Aizen has made good on his word of destroying the shroud with his reiatsu, as the Vice-Captain and Ikkaku look on in fear of Aizen about to attempt this monumental feat.

The only one among who tries to act to prevent Aizen from doing so is Rukia, but she is grabbed by the shoulder by Kyoraku. To me, it is clear why Rukia is the one who tried to stop Aizen from shooting down the Soul King Palace. Ichigo and Co are still up in the Soul King Palace (as far as they all know), and Aizen shooting it down would endanger them as well.

But Kyoraku had good reason for stopping Rukia - Aizen didn't need to be stopped as all, since all the reiatsu he was gathering for the technique that was going to shoot down the Soul King Palace (can I assume that thing would have been Hado #99 or something like that?) suddenly dispersed, surprising even Aizen.

As Kyoraku explained, Aizen's restraints are designed to restrain his reiatsu around his body, meaning it was futile for Aizen to try to shoot down the Soul King Palace, and calls the restraints the pinnacle of Soul Society's technology, the proud controller of that technology being Kurotsuchi Mayuri.

----------------------------------------

Now, people have complained a lot about the inventions that people like Urahara and Mayuri have created in the past (exempla gratia, the Reiatsu Amplifier), but I do not have such complaints. After all, look at the technologies that humankind has pioneered in the last century alone. Modern medicine, automotive vehicles, nuclear energy, computer technologies, the Large Hadron Collider, the space station, the Lunar landing, cloning, anti-matter, et cetera are all examples of how much humankind has accomplished with science.

Hell, we've even gone and done the once-impossible by achieving Negative Kelvin temperatures and learning they're hotter than infinitely hot temperatures.

As a result, the various inventions of the Bleach scientists - including Mayuri - do not surprise me, especially considering that some of them mimic the abilities of certain characters anyway. I'll be truly impressed if Mayuri decides to go full-on mad scientist and creates a spiritual nuclear bomb, or anti-reishi.

The Immortal Sinners of Muken


As to why the restraints exist, here we have Mayuri drop a very fascinating piece of information about the prisoners of Muken - all of them are immortal.

Mayuri tells us that, as long as a Shinigami's heart keeps beating, their body will produce reiatsu. The reason why such restraints are needed for the Muken prisoners is that they cannot killed, and because no one in Soul Society could stop their hearts. That is why Soul Society's technological prowess was focused towards creating something capable of restraining their reiatsu along with their body. Mayuri can control the extent of this restraint, which explains why he could use Kurohitsugi - Mayuri loosened the restraints enough for him to use it, and completely shut him down when he tried to shoot down the Soul King Palace.

While it does act as a means of not showing us the full scope of Aizen's power just yet, it does bring to light a very interesting plot point that I wish Kubo will address in the future. I really want to know exactly who the prisoners in Muken are, how they cannot be killed, and what did they all try to do that got them locked up down there in the first place.

But what is more is what it entails: not even Yamamoto could kill these prisoners with all his power, even Zanka no Tachi. The Sokyoku could not kill them either, and that thing has enough concentrated power to destroy Soul Society, if it was ever used for that purpose. In other words, we seem to have a group of truly immortal characters inside the Muken.

While we don't know who they are, we do have a number to them - six prisoners in Muken, counting Aizen (that's all I will say on the matter). From the old "Spirits Are Forever With You" novels, Azashiro Kenpachi was among those other five prisoners. I can imagine some people will not be happy if Azashiro is made canon.

Either way, there is a lot of potential to be had with the other four prisoners, and I hope that Kubo will take the time to make use of them.

Attack of the Remnants

Although Aizen is interested in testing whether or not his reiatsu can break the restraints, he is stopped from doing so by an interrupting NaNaNa, who unveils his ability and we finally learn the name of his Schrift - Stern Ritter "U - The Underbelly". NaNaNa, by observing the opponent's reiatsu, can establish a grid pattern on the enemy by which he can target the holes in the target's reiatsu, and paralyze them by attacking those points - which he does so against Aizen, who is not even made unconscious by the attack.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It seems we now know why NaNaNa was so confident in taking down Renji, having observed him for so long, but it also shows how circumstantial his power is. If the enemy does not give NaNaNa enough time to analyze their reiatsu (e.g. against Byakuya), his ability cannot be used. But still, to have an effect on Aizen as he is now shows how dangerous the ability is.

In addition to that, we now have one of the remaining three Letters revealed to us. That only leaves "N" and "K" as unrevealed, which makes me think that Kubo still has something planned for their holders. I have a feeling that Robert is not going to stay dead, if my idea that his letter means "The Never-ending" comes true.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Accompanying him are Liltotto, Giselle, and Bazz-B, and NaNaNa states that the Quincy have issues with Aizen shooting down the Soul King Palace.

As Kyoraku said, their timing couldn't be worse, and he asks for a progress report on the gate. As we saw last chapter, they lost all the reiatsu they built up for the Gate, meaning they now have to start from scratch, and Kyoraku decides to buy time for the Shinigami by taking on all the Stern Ritter by himself.

"The Priorites of "B", "G" and "Z" do not Match with "U"


More of Giselle's zombies show up, and Mayuri states that he's actually surprised by that turn of events, guessing that Giselle must be a zombie herself/himself, to which Giselle just makes the silliest face of mockery at Mayuri imaginable.

Kyoraku then asks if NaNaNa having the same problem with Aizen shooting down the Soul King Palace means the Quincy have come to join forces with the Shinigami, to which NaNaNa answers in the negative, stating that Yhwach is up in the Soul King Palace.

This goes to show the different views the Stern Ritter all have of Yhwach. While Liltotto and Bazz-B were visibly upset at Yhwach targeting them for the Auswahlen, but NaNaNa still remains loyal to him despite being one of the Auswahlen's targets. It is possible that NaNaNa is one of the older Stern Ritter, and that his views of Yhwach are different from Robert's own.

While NaNaNa is confident he can paralyze all the Shinigami with his Morphing Pattern (what Mangahelpers calls it), Bazz-B fires a beam of heat clean through NaNaNa, putting him down for the count. Does this mean that NaNaNa is dead? No, I do not think so. No one has been killed by the Burner Finger yet. NaNaNa might be different because he's weakened from the Auswahlen, but it'd be a shame if he was killed off just like that.

Bazz-B then states that the Quincy will help the Shinigami, because the Vandenreich exists in the Seireitei's shadows, and the fall of the Soul King Palace would mean Seireitei's destruction as well, which is bad for the Quincy too. While Mayuri clearly does not trust Bazz-B's words, Bazz-B does point out the condition on which their help will be received: in exchange for the Quincy helping them to rebuild the Gate, they want to go up to the Soul King Palace with the Shinigami to kill Yhwach for forsaking them.

I still do not know what the Gotei 13 group or the Quincy think they can do against the Schutzstaffel and Yhwach - the same individuals who defeated the Royal Guard - but I suppose that is not a concern with the end of the world potentially approaching. This will undoubtedly be a shaky offer for many of the Shinigami to accept, so I hope that certain Shinigami (i.e. Rukia, Renji, Kyoraku) will help along the alliance.

The Power Taken

Now, onto the fact that the Stern Ritter still have their powers. Given the nature of Auswahlen, it was likely assumed by all of us that the Stern Ritter had their powers completely taken from them, and some of them their lives. Since Meninas and Candice are not in this group, I will assume that they were the other two who had their life-force taken alongside Robert to revive the killed Schutzstaffel (I don't think Askin was killed by Nimaiya, just incapacitated).

As to why they still have their abilities, I assume that what Yhwach took from the Stern Ritter was the Schrift. Remember, the Schrift did not "give" the Stern Ritters their abilities - the Schrift is a means of imparting a more powerful part of Yhwach's soul onto an individual's soul. The Quincy, like all races in Bleach, possess their own, natural-born abilities.

Because of this, I believe that the Schrifts are also the source of the Quincy's Vollstandig. When the Auswahlen came down, one of the things that we saw happen was the wings of Liltotto's Vollstandig disappear. As a result, I believe that the Vollstandig takes advantage of the power of the Schrift bestowed upon the Quincy to activate the form. It also fits with the Auswahlen's concept of "Power Redistribution": Yhwach took the Schrift he had distributed to the Stern Ritter and redistributed the power they accumulated to the Schutzstaffel.

In other words, while the Quincy still have their natural abilities, they no longer have the ability to access the Vollstandig.

----------------------------------------------

While the Shinigami are back to square one in creating the Gate, they now have the Quincy assisting them in their endeavour to reach the Soul King Palace, which promises for interesting interactions in the future. Furthermore, Mayuri's explanation about Aizen's restraints also revealed that the prisoners of Muken are immortals that no one in the Soul Society could kill.

Thursday 2 April 2015

Bleach 622 Review

The Face of the Devil Even when everyone seems to despise him, Aizen never misses an opportunity to be formal with anyone so long as he has the upper hand. He's so formal that you'd almost think that Aizen never had that breakdown that he did in "Deicide" (unless he faked it because he knew that someone would release him to deal with Yhwach). He even congratulates Rukia on becoming a Vice-Captain, and amicably states that it's great that her achievements against the Arrancar were recognized.

On the other hand, Rukia has the reaction that I knew was likely to be coming since last week: she angrily asks why Aizen is there, to which Aizen responds that he had been let out. When asked by Rukia, Kyoraku presents himself and reveals he is the one who set Aizen free.

Pride Cannot Save the World

Kyoraku knows all the Shinigami well, so he knows what is best to say in the situation he's in. He starts by answering everyone's first question: he states that he decided that the Gotei 13 need Aizen's power.

It might just be me, but Rukia seems more distraught at Kyoraku's actions whereas everyone else is angrily biting at him. Hisagi and Renji demand to know what Kyoraku is saying and if it really is okay; Ikkaku and Yumichika state they can't understand why they'd need Aizen's power and that they cannot give their consent to all this; Soi Fon finishes the protests by calling Kyoraku shameless.

This is when Kyoraku shuts everyone down: "You're talking about pride. Let's talk about Gotei. Pride won't save the world. I don't think it's a bad thing to use evil to throw evil over." He shuts down everyone's complaints so completely that even Aizen comments on the argument being over.

In this situation, Kyoraku is absolutely correct. I'll explain by addressing the three above points:

Yes, Kyoraku knows full well what he is saying and, although it is a dangerous choice, Kyoraku choosing to release Aizen is the best chose they have right now.

Kyoraku was not asking for anyone's consent to the matter, just their acceptance. As the leader of the Gotei 13 now, he has to make all the hard choices, and this is one of them. As for needing Aizen's power, the situation in the Soul King Palace (which they know nothing about) answers in the affirmative. To have any chance of survival against a Soul King-empowered Yhwach and the Auswahlen-empowered Schultzstaffel, they need to have Aizen backing them up.

The current situation is the Godzilla Threshold of the Bleach universe - the point where releasing Aizen from Muken could not possibly make the situation any worse; the point where he's the only viable response left to Yhwach's victory.

Soi Fon might call Kyoraku shameless, but Kyoraku's concern is not about pride or any foolishness like that. Kyoraku summed up his own personality quite well after his killing of Starrk - once you step out onto the battlefield, both sides are evil. Only a rookie can afford to get caught up in things such as manners, style, or even pride.

To reference something Ukitake once said, there are two kinds of battles: the battle to protect your life, and the battle to protect your pride. The current situation is not a battle for the latter, but the former - a battle to protect the lives of everyone around them. Kyoraku knows at least this much, and that is why he is stating that it is not bad to use evil to overthrow another evil - life is what will save the world, not pride. They need to fight in order to live, not to fight in order to protect their pride.

The Devil Bares his Fangs


With the argument over, Kyoraku and Aizen once again enter into their verbal banter as Aizen asks for the restraints on his arms to be removed. However, Kyoraku reminds him that he could only use three keys, and he already used them for Aizen's left eye, mouth and ankles, and that he lacks the jurisdiction to undo any other seals.

The reason this is a game is because Aizen had already undone the rest of his seals by the time Kyoraku unsealed his mouth. As a result, Kyoraku is playing by the book just to play verbal jousting with Aizen. After all, it is but a game to Aizen, and Kyoraku is also a man who likes to play games.

Aizen asks Kyoraku how he expects him to clean up the Gotei 13's mess while bound to the chair, with Kyoraku responding that Aizen should not have any troubles even when bound to the chair, calling it a "minor nuisance" at best, showing that Kyoraku is not underestimating Aizen in the slightest, even though Aizen states (with a hint of sarcasm I believe) that he doesn't have that kind of power right now.

Kyoraku informs Aizen that it is not about whether or not he has the power to do so, as he knows that Aizen won't let the Mini-Mimihagi chew away at him, as Aizen blocks a torrent of Mini-Mimihagi from descending upon him and Kyoraku, to which Aizen comments that Kyoraku is a difficult man. Kyoraku accepts the compliment...right as he realizes just what Aizen is about to do. Kyoraku immediately orders everyone back into the laboratory as Aizen fires off a chantless Kurohitsugi that begins to envelop the area.

Once they are down below, Byakuya finally gives his say on the matter - he states that Kyoraku releasing Aizen is an insult to all of them, a sentiment that Kyoraku knows to be true, and he states that he will allow the others to kick him as much as they want for it after the Seireitei is saved.

I have to admit, it must be hard for the Shinigami to not think about this with Kyoraku's words to them after Yamamoto's death. He reminded everyone back then that it is their job to protect the Seireitei, and now he's pulled Aizen out of Muken to fight against the Quincy, something with all the Gotei Shinigami must find insulting to them as individuals. With Kyoraku saying they need Aizen's power, it's like him saying that the Gotei 13 do not have the means to protect the Seireitei or to defeat the Quincy.

Sadly, as we are about to see, Kyoraku is correct either way...

Breach the Firmament and Shoot Down God's Throne

When Kurohitsugi dissipates, there is virtually nothing left in the area it encompassed. No Mini-Mimihagi, none of the rubble, not even any remaining structures are left standing aside from a few pieces of wall remaining stuck on the foundation. The Kurohitsugi annihilated virtually everything in the immediate area - reduced it down to nothing.

Even Urahara himself comments on it, stating in no uncertain terms that, for Aizen to have cast a chantless Kurohitsugi with that much power behind it, he had to be even stronger than when he fought Ichigo. This understandably shocks Renji (he is the guy whose goal was to get strong enough to fight Aizen, after all), who calls Aizen a monster.

Meanwhile, Aizen casually comments on the chair's durability being the same as his restraints, leaving Renji to comment that the reason why he used Kurohitsugi was to attempt to release himself. Given he already undid the majority of his restraints beforehand, Aizen is probably just playing a part at the moment. After all, there's no way the Shinigami would tolerate it if he was actually out of the chair.

As Soi Fon tries to aim Jakuho Raikoben to destroy the dome again, Aizen tells here there is no need for that because his Kurohitsugi's gravity already put cracks in the dome, and that all he needs to do is exert his power to cause the dome to self-destruct. As he begins to do so, all the power he is putting out begins to disrupt the Gate the Shinigami have spent the last nine chapters storing up reiatsu to open, causing the gathered reiatsu to gather, and Rukia pleads with Aizen to stop before that happens.

I said it before, and I'll say it again: Urahara said they'd need the combined power of all the Captain class Shinigami to open the Tenshiheiso Gate to the Soul King Palace. They need that much reiatsu, combined with the energy gathered from the distortions, to bridge the hundreds of thousands of kilometres (perhaps millions of kilometres) of distance between the Seireitei and the Soul King Palace with the Gate. The reason why it hasn't been activated yet is because they lacked the manpower to power up the gate fully, even with the number of powerful Shinigami there and Mayuri's Reiatsu Amplifier.

However, Aizen's not concerned with the Tenshiheiso Gate, and drops this line at the end of the chapter:

"There is a hole in the barrier of the Soul King Palace, right? Now, since you have business to tend to in the Soul King Palace, I'll shoot it down."

In other words, Aizen has so much power at this point that he intends to shoot down the Soul King Palace from a distance comparable to Snake Way's length at minimum. Keep in mind that he is going to do this in restraints that confine his reiatsu around his body. He cast the Kurohitsugi in that state, he's going to destroy the dome in that state, and he's going to shoot down the Soul King Palace in that state.

This is probably the reason why the Soul King Palace has 72 barriers surrounding it in the first place - to keep guys as powerful as Aizen from performing god-level sniping on the Soul King Palace. They certainly did their job, because Aizen had planned to create and use an Ouken to get up to the Soul King Palace before.

And people were joking about Aizen not going to the Soul King Palace when Sado, Inoue and Ganju all went up to the Soul King Palace. Aizen's not "going" to the Soul King Palace because he's going to shoot it down and bring it to him. Given the distance involved, I can only assume that Aizen has some means of yanking it down to the Soul Society within minutes.

This definitely shows the differences between Aizen and Urahara's methods: whereas Urahara utilizes scientific solutions to problems, Aizen will choose to use force when he can do so.

It also shows just how much power Aizen still possesses: it was going to take the combined reiatsu of all the Captains of the Gotei 13 to power the Tenshiheiso Gate; Aizen just decides to shoot down the Soul King Palace with his power alone.

If the Special War Potentials are all individuals with the potential to reach this level of power, then who could the remaining two possibly be?

Bleach 621 Review

Beyond Their Sights
As I was wondering about last week, Yhwach absorbing Mimihagi did indeed have an effect down below, as we see Ukitake collapse and Mimihagi flow out of him completely. Immediately afterwards, as Urahara comments it seems to be being absorbed, the black arrow that Yhwach fired down last week from the Soul King Palace reaches the Seireitei and encompasses it in a dome.

Here's where both Mangastream and Mangapanda messed up last week - better translations (including Viz Manga) have Yhwach say he "will put a lid on the Seireitei", thus ensuring that no one gets in his way as he absorbs the Soul King. So he wasn't "leaving Seireitei be", but ensuring that no one could come from there to interfere. This leaves the Gotei 13 with a big problem, as the Tenshiheiso seems to need a direct path between one location and another in order for the Gate to connect the two places. Otherwise, as it was with the King's Barriers, it will not work.

Unless Urahara is putting up an act and he actually knows what is going on, this shows that even Urahara is possibly out of his depth in dealing with the current situation, which relates to the title of this section of my review.

From what I have observed, one of the keys behind Yhwach's success as a villain is how little the protagonists know about him. Yamamoto believed that he knew all there was to Yhwach's power, and even Squad Zero's intelligence on Yhwach came from Yamamoto's fights with Yhwach. All those signs point towards Yhwach not using "The Almighty", the Auswahlen, or the wider range of his abilities one thousand years ago during the Shinigami-Quincy War. This makes it quite a glaring detail when Isshin expressed knowledge of the Auswahlen whereas the Squad Zero had no knowledge of it (adding further to Urahara likely putting on an act).

On the other hand, not only does Yhwach knows his enemies well, but he knows how to manipulate them, and he is able to use his true ability to full effect in battle as a result of his enemy's lack of knowledge of his power. Even now, when he's effectively won the war, we still don't know the true extent of his plans, and he has yet to utilize Zanka no Tachi for anything, having done all this under his own power and not the power he stole from Yamamoto.

This is not the same as Aizen was in the Arrancar Saga, where we all knew what Aizen's ability was (even if he never bothered to use Bankai in the entire arc), and we all knew what his main plan was. What we still don't know, however, was Aizen's true reason behind wanting to kill the Soul King, as his dialogue at the end of "Deicide" points towards new territory.

With Yhwach, we've only learnt about the nature of all his abilities recently, and we don't know what is going to happen in the following 7 of the "Final Nine Days". Given he's killed the Soul King and is in the process of absorbing his power, there's very little left for Yhwach to do (unless there something to do with Hell in the future of this arc).

Speaking of the Soul King...

The Horror of God

Back in the Soul King Palace, Yhwach has staggered in the process of absorbing the Soul King. As Lille Barro tries to ask Yhwach if he is alright, these things begin pouring out from Yhwach's body:

In case anyone is wondering, I put together the above image.

As the Mini-Mimihagi begin to swarm out from Yhwach's body, Haschwalth steps in to explain to Lille what they are: a torrent of the Soul King's power that has been at last released from the seals placed upon it by the Shinigami. Because the enormity of the power is such that Soul King/Yhwach (depending on current translations) cannot contain it within their body. As such, they have little choice but to escape in powerful streams.

He also states that they are of no danger to the Stern Ritter, "for the Soul King's enemies are now/only the Shinigami", as the Mini-Mimihagi flow down the black arrow and proceed straight for Seireitei.

Again, it depends on translations and interpretations, but the end result has the same impact. The visuals alone are enough of an indicator for some dark implications regarding the Soul King's true nature.

Looking back on "Deicide", Aizen was speaking nothing but the truth when he called the Soul King "that thing", and I do believe he may also turn out to be right in regards to his rage at Urahara for allowing himself to be controlled by the Soul King. The fact that the Soul King's power alone is flowing out in the form of these small shadow abominations not only demonstrates the vast power possessed by the Soul King, but also its inhuman nature.

Given the appearance of Mimihagi, and the existence of these Mini-Mimihagi, I would not be surprised if the "Human" appearance we have seen the Soul King take on thus far is actually just a shell, and the Soul King's true appearance is as some kind of shadowy abomination of unfathomable power. That would explain the missing limbs and why the Soul King is sealed in a chrysalis - the Chrysalis seals the King's power and contains him within a Human form, and the missing limbs are a further precaution to separate and divide the Soul King's power.

But whoever did all this to the Soul King did so a very long time ago, to such an extent that the Soul King's Right Arm became a folklore figure in the Rukongai, and it is entirely possible that none but the Squad Zero (and Haschwalth) might be aware of the Soul King's true nature.

The fact that Haschwalth knows this much in the first place further demonstrates his unique character and position in the Vandenreich. He knows things that no other Stern Ritter is aware of, and in ways he's more like Yhwach's other half than a separate individual.

But that is enough speculation on my part regarding the Soul King for now...

The Assault of Shadows

Back down in the Seireitei, we see Hisagi asking what is going on, while Soi Fon tells him that it has to be the work of the Quincy, stating that the Shakonmaku has a piece missing, which the Right Arm used to make its way towards the Soul King Palace, and asserts that the gap will become a convenient target for the Quincy.

While she's right about the shroud being the work of the Quincy - Yhwach's work, to be precise - I do believe she's wrong about the gap in the Shakonmaku being a convenient target for the Quincy. Firstly, there are no active Stern Ritter left in the Seireitei (that we know of) who could try to take advantage of it. Secondly, she does not know why the shroud came down (Yhwach wants to keep the Shinigami in the Seireitei).

To punctuate her words, she exits out of the lab and activates her Bankai in order to destroy the shroud. If there's one thing I know about Soi Fon from reading Bleach, is that she has a lot of confidence in herself. She does not know what the shroud is - only that the Quincy are behind it - yet she's confident that she can blow apart that shroud with her Bankai. Given that Yhwach made that shroud with the power of the Soul King's Right Arm, it's going to take a lot more than a giant missile to destroy the shroud.

But she doesn't get the chance to test whether or not she could destroy the shroud, as the Mini-Mimihagi finished their descent and immediately began swarming Soi Fon, who was about to be completely engulfed in the swarm if not for Omaeda's assistance, who she promptly chastise for his concern and hits him for "taking so long". Look Soi Fon, we all know Omaeda's not perfect, but at least show some appreciation for his efforts instead of playing Tsundere to the hilt.

Following immediately behind are Hisagi, Ikkaku and Yumichika. While Ikkaku already has Houzukimaru released, we see Hisagi and Yumichika release their Shikai without needing to utter the release command, which likely indicates that the both of them do indeed have Bankai.

However, they too are quickly swamped by the tide of the Soul King's power, and even Byakuya's Senbonzakura was only able to push back one swarm of them which was only replaced by another.

NOTE: If this is just the normal Senbonzakura, then Byakuya's Shikai received a massive power-up in proportion to Byakuya's own increase in power, since I can only recall him using so many petals before when he was in Bankai.

Given that the Shinigami do not know what these things are, it is likely their attacks are not working because the Mini-Mimihagi are not physical entities, but personifications of the Soul King's vast power. As such, the swarm will continue going for as long as Yhwach continues absorbing the Soul King's power. They might stop when he's completely finished absorbing the Soul King's power, but that's not an immediate solution that the Shinigami can wait around for.

Fortunately for them (sort of), they have help from their worst nightmare...

The Man Who Became God

As it seems like the Shinigami will be overwhelmed, the Mini-Mimihagi are suddenly crushed under an incredible power, as a familiar voice mocks the Shinigami for using their Zanpakuto against the Mini-Mimihagi, when they could simply use their reiatsu to crush them in one fell swoop.

Enter Aizen, sitting on a chair, still in the restraints that keep his reiatsu confined around his body (which doesn't seem to be an issue for Aizen's reiatsu-crushing the Mini-Mimihagi).

You got to hate his smug personalities. He states things like they are something that can obviously be done, but knows there is a distinct difference between himself and his enemies (or allies). It's like he's mocking the Shinigami for needing to bring him out of Muken to help against Yhwach.

We already know that Rukia's shocked at Aizen's return, so that leaves the reactions of everyone else unaccounted for. Doubtless the Visoreds will be very mad to see him again - especially the hot-headed Hiyori. As such, I can only imagine how people will react to learning that Kyoraku is the one who released him from Muken. The Gotei is not going to be happy with its Captain-Commander...