Is this Gin over Renji's shoulder?

[Renji's Girl]

I found this image at the beginning of anime episodes 197 and 198, but not in the other opening sequences before or after, and I was wondering if this looks like Gin to anyone else but me?



(The person on the left.)

Because I don't know who else it could be. The episodes were at http://www.go-anime.org/id134.html and http://www.go-anime.org/id133.html.

Someone tell me what they think!

[FlowerGirl82]

Hmmm... could be. I don't know. I watched that opening, and it looks like those are scenes from the third movie. In fact, I'm sure of it because Urahara was in his captain's outfit (not to mention Dark Rukia was in there, too, lol). So... My guess is if you want to know for sure, watch the third movie once someone subs it.

[Murderous Intent]

Yes, those are scenes from the third movie. Notice how at the bottom it says Bleach: Fade to Black?

Street date for the DVD in Japan is September 30. I give it less than a week before DB has the thing subbed and ready for our viewing pleasure. *drools over the thought of Urahara in his captain's uniform*

I'm okay... really. Just envisioning the amount of squeeing I'll be doing when watching the movie.

[Renji's Girl]

Shucks. Not Gin? Okay, but I still think Gin is going to turn traitor on Aizen.

September 30 sound good to me. Thanks so much for the info!

P.S. But Renji looks good.

[FlowerGirl82]

Actually... looking at it again... it MIGHT be Mayuri. Just remember what he looks like without the headdress. The hairstyle looks like it could be him, but it's hard to tell without color.

[Renji's Girl]

It could be Mayuri. He does have shortish blue-ish hair. Good question.

[FlowerGirl82]

Have you seen this week's episode yet? Your boy meets up with Zabimaru. Looks like there will be more interaction between them next week, too.

[Renji's Girl]

I'm watching that later today. I don't think Renji would like to take on Zabimaru in a fight. I did see the new chapter (371) for this week. It's got a flashback to when Aizen, Gin, and Tousen left Soul Society after Rukia's attempted execution, and they go to Hueco Mundo to encounter/meet Barragan, who's King there. It appears that Aizen hypnotizes Barragan and all the Hollows in the vicinity, so maybe all Aizen's followers are not so willing after all.

It shows Aizen wearing his glasses again and with his hair all messy, so I wonder if he wears the glasses so he doesn't hypnotize himself, because he did say that those who witness his bankai can't help but be under its spell even when they are aware of being hynpotized.

Which makes me wonder if Gin is under its spell, too. Tousen is blind, so it wouldn't work on him. I think Hisagi pointed that out at one time. Maybe Aizen tried it out on Gin when he was just a youngster. There was a flashback in the Pendulum chapters that showed Gin killing his Division's third seat officer as Aizen watched. Maybe it happened then.

And if Aizen just walked in to Hueco Mundo, hypnotized everyone, and took over, he's not as ultimately clever as I thought. he just stands on other peoples' shoulders instead of being a giant himself?

Lame. I thought he was more inventive than that.

[FlowerGirl82]

I personally think that Gin is the Severus Snape of the Bleach world. Yes, he really was bad when he was younger (like you said, he killed the 3rd seat of Squad 5 shortly after becoming a full-fledged Shinigami). But... If he really does have feelings for Rangiku - familial, romantic, or whatever - eventually it would hit him that she might actually end up dead because of this madman he's working for. That would have been the point where he turned double agent and started working for Soul Society from the inside.

Whether or not Gin is actually under the spell of Aizen's zanpakutou remains to be seen, too. Tousen wasn't able to be affected by it because he is blind and can't see it. Gin always has his eyes in those damn slits, so he could have easily pretended to have seen it and closed off what little sight he had whenever Aizen used it. Remember how Ukitake proclaimed he was a genius... if he was that damn smart, maybe he figured out Aizen's game long ago and has been playing him from the beginning. Or maybe... just maybe... he's immune to it for some weird, unknown reason.

Whatever the case, I like to think that Gin is going to end up betraying Aizen in the end. Hell, I'm planning on writing it that way in my stories, even, lol...

Is Chapter 371 the one where Soifon made Hachigen promise to lock away Urahara in one of his barriers for a month? Chelsea was telling me about that part and we hypothesized that it might just end up biting the Soul Society team in the ass... and if that's the case it could very well end with Urahara unleashing his Bankai in order to get out and help them.

[Renji's Girl]

It wasn't chapter 371, but it was a recent one, like 370 or 369.

I've thought a lot about Gin being a traitor to Aizen, namely when I did After War (fanfic) for NaNoWriMo last year when a friend of mine said 'What's he (Gin) really, actually done?' I realized he hadn't done much for Aizen except follow, and when I looked at some of the old volumes, a lot of his actions could have been far worse.

Like when Ichigo invaded Soul Society to save Rukia, Gin didn't kill him; just knocked him back out the gate. Gin didn't kill the gatekeeper either, and he didn't have a good excuse for Yamamoto OR Aizen later. And in Hueco Mundo, after Ulquiorra gets himself slapped by Orhime, he goes to Gin and Gin is working at some control panel thing and I think he was moving the hallways around so the rescue party wouldn't get to the worst parts of waiting Arrancar. He seemed suprised, like Ulquiorra caught him doing something he shouldn't be. He said he hates a sad story, too.

Anyway, that's my two cents. My 54,000 cents is called After War. Shameless plug.