BURN THE WITCH

[The1gairon]

The 3-part-episode movie based on Tite Kubo's one-shot manga was released yesterday on Crunchyroll.

What did you all think?

Edited October 4, 2020 by elfie

[ben0119]

Well at least someone made a thread for Burn the Witch, but I can't believe not until now!  You can spruce up the OP if you want, or not.  Either way is fine with me.  Saves me the time of making the OP.  It's funny you made this thread right as I was about to.  I'm glad it went up when it did though or otherwise I'd have made an elaborate OP for nothing.

I wrote down my thoughts after watching it the other night and here they are -

I don't like that this is a Crunchyroll exclusive. I'm not going to get a streaming service just for one show, especially when my anime needs are already pretty well covered by Funimation Now, Hulu, and Netflix. Enough is enough at some point. They shouldn't have done this. And it doesn't bode well for the show getting on Toonami. Demarco could get left out in the cold. And possibly some fans as well. And I really hope this doesn't happen with Bleach's final arc.

That 72% of deaths being caused by dragons figure really doesn't make any sense. I think Kubo is not good with numbers or scale at all. I remember reading the height and weight of the Bleach characters. Kenpachi is way too light for his height and would be fucking anorexic if he actually weighed what Kubo said. I don't think his intention was that souls weigh less than physical bodies, either. Maybe this is because there are so few people that tall in Japan, or, as I said, Kubo is justbterrible with math. But, I think I can pretty easily ignore the silly 72% thing and just enjoy the rest of the series for what it is. Just something I wanted to point out.

This is really beautiful art and animation. I love how this world is. Colorful, detailed, and charming. The creature and character designs are varied and cool. It's like a combination of Ghibli and Kubo.

Some good world building. The concept of the Reverse London, dragons, witches and wizards, the emergency procedures and containment zones. It is a really cool world.

I just don't see how it can be connected to the Bleach world at all or how anything in either series has any bearing on the other. Surely Hollows and whatnot are not an issue unique to Japan? Are there Soul Reapers going around taking care of Hollows in London while the witches and wizards are taking care of dragons?

Why couldn't this be a totally a separate universe with nothing to do with Bleach? It doesn't need to be a spin-off. It can stand on its own. It is a very unique and creative world too.

The first episode is called "witches blow a new pipe?" Really?

The show has been very organic with its explanations. Even after the first 3 episodes, we do not a lot of what is going on or how things work. There is no narrator giving us the rundown or characters explaining how things work that would already know. We'll probably learn things as Macy does, maybe Balgo to an extent.

And what is with these names? I guess Kubo wanted to give the characters more fantasy-like and whimsical names, to go with the world. Did he base these names off architects like he did with the weird Espada names? I wonder if some of them are code names, especially the captains or whatever they're called. A lot of the names used alliteration and one guy was named after a fucking trumpet. There's no way these can be their real names.

I like Noel and Ninny and they play well off each other. They had some really funny interactions. I like how cold Noel was at times. "You were rescued as a result of my actions." Hahaha. I didn't expect Ninny to be a secret pop star from a girl group. She really does look different with her hair in pig tails and the separate outfits.

Man, escort missions are the worst!

I wonder what it means when a dragon goes lights out. It survived without its head and turned all black and went on rampage!

Dragon insurance LOL.

I wonder if Kubo and/or this series will catch flak for having a perverted character like Balgo in the series in current times. Granted he is super tame compared to other pervy characters, like how Kon was. Of course, his behavior was considered wrong and he is rightly admonished and beaten up and chased by the others for his actions. Is that doggie dragon he has like a parrot and repeats the pervy stuff he says? And when he said the thing about accidentally grabbing Noel's boobs when he was riding with her. Did he say that all out loud? You're not supposed to say that stuff out loud dude!

One is doing it for merit and the other for money. But their boss wishes they had said the thing about doing it for society first.

Macy calling Noel a balloon-titted spanking.

Noel's face when Macy was crying and carrying on was priceless!

Hmm I wonder what will come of that horn/gun Balgo had turning into a knife.

Of course there are some sort of captains and governing body, and of course some of them are corrupt assholes, haha.

I really hate that Bangnyfe bunghole. He is well, *ahem* corrupt law enforcement of sorts. I hope he doesn't get away with his BS so easily just because he called off the death mark on Balgo. Although there were some points I wouldn't have been sad if he died lmao. But, Bangnyfe was willing to kill his fellow witches because they pissed him off and got in his way. He put the death mark on Balgo and tried to frame him with false charges. Even going so far as to instigate an attack on a tabloid (though at least no one was there at the time.) Guy is still a scumbag.

Ninny said Fairy Tales are bullshit. I was hoping Elly could be brought back under control and be Macy's dragon partner, but it wasn't to be, and they had no choice but to take her down. Like Ninny said Fairy Tales are bullshit. And well Elly is supposedly some kind of doomsday dragon. But I don't get why the other dragons need to be "conserved" like this is a wildlife refuge? I guess Wing Bind are conservation-minded? And yeah you guys should be the one casting those spells. And their boss is secretly a badass! Playing dumb all this time like Isshin! But booo at Bangnyfe getting the credit!

Uhh I don't think people would be bowing in London, Kubo.

I swore that Squire person was a guy, but I guess not.

So, over here the movie is split into 4 episodes. The way this was structured seems to work perfect as episodes, though. But 3 episodes were released all at once? Will they animate the rest of the series or is this it? Or will the 4th episode cover the whole manga? But I think I heard something about this was a shorter manga and Kubo already finished it and is at home playing Animal Crossing, but the chapters will still just be released one at a time? I don't know, it's confusing. But just from what I saw so far, I know I definitely want more.

[The1gairon]

Jus did some sprucing up on the post. Toonami's about ot start so I'll post my opinion of it later! I DID see it though! How could I not?

[AnimationFan14]

I want to see it and will check it out later.

[In Flames]

Ah. Thank you for reminding me to download this.

Also, uh...

Oneshot? I thought this is a full fledged manga now.

Edited October 6, 2020 by MoistDaddy

[The1gairon]

4 hours ago, MoistDaddy said:

Ah. Thank you for reminding me to download this.

Also, uh...

Oneshot? I thought this is a full fledged manga now.

lol the fact that this is a one-shot (but not anymore, they're planning a sequel anime now) will factor majorly into my review, which have been massively procrastinating on.

[In Flames]

4 hours ago, elfie said:

lol the fact that this is a one-shot (but not anymore, they're planning a sequel anime now) will factor majorly into my review, which have been massively procrastinating on.

tbh i'll drop it if bleach characters dont pop in eventually.

 

[The1gairon]

3 hours ago, MoistDaddy said:

tbh i'll drop it if bleach characters dont pop in eventually.

 

Not as of now. I don't know if Kubo expects to bring anyone from Bleach into this.

But there is this:

[The1gairon]

Okay here's what I have to say about it:

I waited for months and was very excited to find out Burn The Witch would premiere at the beginning of October, fittingly in theme for the Halloween month. However, a Bleach fan such as I was a bit weirded out that it wasn't really a one-cour series, but only 3 episodes. Some news outlets even called it a "movie" when the runtime is just over an hour. No plans were made for another episode (at the time- we now know they're planning on doing a set of more episodes). ONA, I suppose is the more appt term. This is puzzling to me that I didn't find this out earlier, but at the time it wasn't a big deal and I watched it anyway in one sitting.

And it turns out my suspicions were correct. Now I should state that most of it is really good. The premise is solid, the main heroes all show promise to be engaging and developed personalities once the manga gets really deep in, and the animation and performances are great. I loved the reveal at the end showing how this is a spin-off of Bleach that exists in the same universe. But somehow I feel like I'm only seeing 20% of what was intended by the writers.

Kubo is known to make his story front-loaded right at the start. Yet as of then, the story can only push so much content in our face without making the rest of it feel unneeded. This story alone introduces eight new characters, wizards who head the decision-making body of Wingbind on managing dragons, and we only get to see one of them in action! There's this one character Balgo who is considered a 'dragonclad', a .... set of humans, I guess, that attract dragons the more time they spend around them. The series does a very poor job of explaining what they are and why they exist. It really feels like a wasted opportunity for only three short episodes.

Not to mention that Ninny and Noel have good first scenes, but they're extremely troperiffic, and if they don't develop into complex roles other than "Blond Asuka" or "Boob-ed Waifu Incarnate", it's gonna be grueling to watch past these 3 episodes. I await the day men can act like anything other than perverts whenever Noel is within oogling distance.

While this is a great concept that was very well-planned and thought out, the release didn't do any favors for the viewer. It does take place in London, but the events, and even the indoor locations, make it very Japanese, to the point where I was even wondering if a pepper of British humour would make this feel more unique. This is not a complete "movie", and it is not a complete story, and anyone expecting a satisfying movie experience going in will be disappointed. I love the idea of mangaka taking short breaks between issues now, because it's less stressful for them, but the marketing wasn't great for these episodes.

[Distinct Lunatic]

Read all the chapters, didn't know the movie thing was released already.

All I know so far is I want to see more of this lady here,

[HardcoreHunter]

1 minute ago, Distinct Lunatic said:

Read all the chapters, didn't know the movie thing was released already.

All I know so far is I want to see more of this lady here,

Kubo it's hard to say you don't like Nazi's when you keep drawing characters that look like Nazi's and your vision of heaven is a place with the abbreviations SS. 

[Distinct Lunatic]

6 minutes ago, HardcoreHunter said:

Kubo it's hard to say you don't like Nazi's when you keep drawing characters that look like Nazi's and your vision of heaven is a place with the abbreviations SS. 

don't forget about this thing here, the anime didn't use that name and they also changed up the design some

[The1gairon]

Yeah that ......

 

..... Kubo may need to see somebody. This is the second manga he made with Nazi-esque uniforms.

[HardcoreHunter]

1 hour ago, elfie said:

Yeah that ......

 

..... Kubo may need to see somebody. This is the second manga he made with Nazi-esque uniforms.

I think that Kubo's use of it is more aesthetic. Japan overall does a poor job of teaching history. In America at least when I went to school History was a large bulk of what we learned. In Japan knowing history is more of an otaku hobby. It's more imperative in Japan to learn math and science since they're more likely to use that for a job. In comparison, I researched what the average Japanese History textbook weighs and its about 1.28lbs and covers "all" of Japans history that the government feels is important for Japanese to learn. In comparison an american textbook covering only the Revolutionary war weighs 3.75lbs. That is just one subject for our countries history that is much younger than japan.

Japan glances over WWII, it is covered but only elaborated upon if the subject is taken in college.  So the Japanese don't fully understand the significance that the rest of the world has for things like Nazi imagery. Part of the reason why these uniforms look as fashionable as they do is that they were made by Hugo Boss; renown fashion mogul who's company is still around today, much like other famous nazi brands like the VW and Fanta. So the japanese for the most part just see it as a cool uniform because many don't know the history behind it. 

 

[Distinct Lunatic]

32 minutes ago, HardcoreHunter said:

I think that Kubo's use of it is more aesthetic. Japan overall does a poor job of teaching history. In America at least when I went to school History was a large bulk of what we learned. In Japan knowing history is more of an otaku hobby. It's more imperative in Japan to learn math and science since they're more likely to use that for a job. In comparison, I researched what the average Japanese History textbook weighs and its about 1.28lbs and covers "all" of Japans history that the government feels is important for Japanese to learn. In comparison an american textbook covering only the Revolutionary war weighs 3.75lbs. That is just one subject for our countries history that is much younger than japan.

Japan glances over WWII, it is covered but only elaborated upon if the subject is taken in college.  So the Japanese don't fully understand the significance that the rest of the world has for things like Nazi imagery. Part of the reason why these uniforms look as fashionable as they do is that they were made by Hugo Boss; renown fashion mogul who's company is still around today, much like other famous nazi brands like the VW and Fanta. So the japanese for the most part just see it as a cool uniform because many don't know the history behind it. 

 

No surprise really, considering Japan was for the grand majority of its history an insanely cold blooded country, borderline barbarian. It wasn't until after WW2 when they were no longer allowed to have a standing army that they finally began mature. And even then Japanese are very bad at adapting to change, look at how insanely herbivore the average Japanese male has become due to women no longer being weak, and going on to make lives for themselves, they don't know how to adapt to that. Doesn't help that it's to be expected for fathers to have no presence in their family's lives since they're expected to always be working and providing for the family, mothers there idolizing their sons to the point where its an unspoken trend for a lot of Japanese mothers to have their sons first sexual encounters with themselves (can google that shit, not just me making it up) what this leads to in the end is Japanese youths seek out women like their mothers, but girls aren't the same anymore and often times nowhere near like their mother, and that's how you get 20-30+ year olds that never went on a single date with a girl.

otaku weebs in western countries idolize Japan, but that's a place I'd never want to live in. Even if I fully knew the language and had the money to make it happen.

[The1gairon]

6 hours ago, HardcoreHunter said:

I think that Kubo's use of it is more aesthetic. Japan overall does a poor job of teaching history. In America at least when I went to school History was a large bulk of what we learned. In Japan knowing history is more of an otaku hobby. It's more imperative in Japan to learn math and science since they're more likely to use that for a job. In comparison, I researched what the average Japanese History textbook weighs and its about 1.28lbs and covers "all" of Japans history that the government feels is important for Japanese to learn. In comparison an american textbook covering only the Revolutionary war weighs 3.75lbs. That is just one subject for our countries history that is much younger than japan.

Japan glances over WWII, it is covered but only elaborated upon if the subject is taken in college.  So the Japanese don't fully understand the significance that the rest of the world has for things like Nazi imagery. Part of the reason why these uniforms look as fashionable as they do is that they were made by Hugo Boss; renown fashion mogul who's company is still around today, much like other famous nazi brands like the VW and Fanta. So the japanese for the most part just see it as a cool uniform because many don't know the history behind it. 

 

Now it is Edumication Day for ther Elfie.

[HardcoreHunter]

14 minutes ago, elfie said:

Now it is Edumication Day for ther Elfie.

It's funny how so many people who read our comic thought I was japanese through my novice understandings of Japan. 

[The1gairon]

44 minutes ago, HardcoreHunter said:

It's funny how so many people who read our comic thought I was japanese through my novice understandings of Japan. 

Well I always count on you to be a ton more knowledgeable than me about Japan.

[MasqueradeOverture]

 

[The1gairon]

 

[ben0119]

So is that it for anime of this for now?  I thought the movie was supposed to be split into 4 episodes, not 3.  But no more episodes have been released this week.

[The1gairon]

23 minutes ago, ben0119 said:

So is that it for anime of this for now?  I thought the movie was supposed to be split into 4 episodes, not 3.  But no more episodes have been released this week.

There's going to be more episodes. They're going to be released in like 3-episode chunks and not at all weeks apart.

Edited October 11, 2020 by elfie

[ben0119]

On 10/6/2020 at 10:45 PM, HardcoreHunter said:

Kubo it's hard to say you don't like Nazi's when you keep drawing characters that look like Nazi's and your vision of heaven is a place with the abbreviations SS. 

I thought Android 17 looking girl was a guy at first haha.  Yeah the uniforms.

Spoiler

Although, the Wandenreich have Nazi-like uniforms, and they're bad guys.  They even made concentration camps for the Arrancars...

Were the Nazi uniforms really designed by Hugo Boss?  No wonder they look so cool!  Yep lot's of companies are still around that were previously doing stuff for the Nazis.

Good... lord.  I thought American youths came off dumb in those "man on street interviews," not knowing basic geography or history.  These Japanese are even worse!  Yes, we definitely learned a lot more about history in school. 

Only thing is, Columbus was completely white-washed, at least when I learned about him.  I even saw a documentary about this, lamenting how Columbus was considered a failure and ended up in a pauper's grave, despite his contributions.  Only thing is, neither that documentary, nor history class, talked about all the fucked up shit he did.  Forcing natives into slavery, making them carry his men on their backs or he'd have their hands chopped off, etc.  He was removed as governor of his colony by Spain for tyranny.  Even Spain thought he was too tyrannical!  Besides, if it wasn't Columbus, some other explorer surely would have discovered the New World eventually.  And the Vikings got there first anyway (they just didn't stay.)

Ah, got on a tangent there.  But American millennials (and presumably zoomers as well,) have less of an excuse for being ignorant of history than the Japanese do.  We learned all about this in school, and it is covered in tons of documentaries on TV as well, and books, online, etc.  It sounds like history education is pretty lacking in Japan.  And doesn't seem like it is something people talk about a lot, either.  But I can see why the Japanese government would want to glance over World War II in the education haha.

Edited October 11, 2020 by ben0119

[ben0119]

9 minutes ago, elfie said:

There's going to be more episodes. They're going to be released in like 3-episode chunks and not at all weeks apart.

Where did you see this?  When I looked it up I could not find anything about future releases.

[ben0119]

On 10/6/2020 at 2:14 PM, MoistDaddy said:

tbh i'll drop it if bleach characters dont pop in eventually.

Why would you want Bleach characters to show up?  If anything, this series shouldn't be connected to Bleach.  It can stand on its own just fine, and it doesn't even make sense that they're in the same universe.

On 10/6/2020 at 10:15 PM, elfie said:

Okay here's what I have to say about it:

I waited for months and was very excited to find out Burn The Witch would premiere at the beginning of October, fittingly in theme for the Halloween month. However, a Bleach fan such as I was a bit weirded out that it wasn't really a one-cour series, but only 3 episodes. Some news outlets even called it a "movie" when the runtime is just over an hour. No plans were made for another episode (at the time- we now know they're planning on doing a set of more episodes). ONA, I suppose is the more appt term. This is puzzling to me that I didn't find this out earlier, but at the time it wasn't a big deal and I watched it anyway in one sitting.

And it turns out my suspicions were correct. Now I should state that most of it is really good. The premise is solid, the main heroes all show promise to be engaging and developed personalities once the manga gets really deep in, and the animation and performances are great. I loved the reveal at the end showing how this is a spin-off of Bleach that exists in the same universe. But somehow I feel like I'm only seeing 20% of what was intended by the writers.

Kubo is known to make his story front-loaded right at the start. Yet as of then, the story can only push so much content in our face without making the rest of it feel unneeded. This story alone introduces eight new characters, wizards who head the decision-making body of Wingbind on managing dragons, and we only get to see one of them in action! There's this one character Balgo who is considered a 'dragonclad', a .... set of humans, I guess, that attract dragons the more time they spend around them. The series does a very poor job of explaining what they are and why they exist. It really feels like a wasted opportunity for only three short episodes.

Not to mention that Ninny and Noel have good first scenes, but they're extremely troperiffic, and if they don't develop into complex roles other than "Blond Asuka" or "Boob-ed Waifu Incarnate", it's gonna be grueling to watch past these 3 episodes. I await the day men can act like anything other than perverts whenever Noel is within oogling distance.

While this is a great concept that was very well-planned and thought out, the release didn't do any favors for the viewer. It does take place in London, but the events, and even the indoor locations, make it very Japanese, to the point where I was even wondering if a pepper of British humour would make this feel more unique. This is not a complete "movie", and it is not a complete story, and anyone expecting a satisfying movie experience going in will be disappointed. I love the idea of mangaka taking short breaks between issues now, because it's less stressful for them, but the marketing wasn't great for these episodes.

I mentioned before how some stuff like Dragon Clads haven't been fully explained.  But I like how explanations so far have been done organically.  No conversations of characters talking about things they would already know, exposition dumps, narrator just telling us, etc.  Since Ninny and Noel are already established witches, it doesn't make sense for them to tell each other (for the audience's benefit,) what things are and how they work.  But with adding Macy to the group, we will probably learn things through her since she has been a Top/Front Londoner all this time.  So I am sure more things will be explained in time.

I agree with you about it still feeling too Japanese despite the setting.  For one thing, characters would not be bowing to each other. 

Not sure what you mean about the architecture, though.  There have been some ugly skyscrapers added to the skyline of London that don't at all mesh well with the other decades' and centuries' old buildings.  I can attest that the look of London in the show is unfortunately very accurate.

Why a fucking walky-talky and an egg?!

And as it is, I can't think of how interiors of buildings in Japan might differ greatly from those in London, or the U.S., for that matter.

I do hope the perverted-ness surrounding Noel does stop as well, especially with Balgo.  It's not needed, and I'm concerned that the series and Kubo will catch flak for it in this day and age.

But yeah this isn't a really self-contained adventure, even though we got introduced to the world and its character, and had a big battle.  It was more like a pilot mini-series.

Edited October 11, 2020 by ben0119

[The1gairon]

Isn't connected to Bleach... the Soul Society Western Branch sign says otherwise.

[In Flames]

2 hours ago, elfie said:

Isn't connected to Bleach... the Soul Society Western Branch sign says otherwise.

Right?
It takes, what? 15 years after the events in Bleach?
It literally is part of the series description.

I'm sure Ichigo is viewed as the Soul Society's trump card now.

Edited October 11, 2020 by MoistDaddy

[The1gairon]

7 hours ago, MoistDaddy said:

Right?
It takes, what? 15 years after the events in Bleach?
It literally is part of the series description.

I'm sure Ichigo is viewed as the Soul Society's trump card now.

Oh my god. Adult Kazui in Burn The Witch!

[In Flames]

37 minutes ago, elfie said:

Oh my god. Adult Kazui in Burn The Witch!

Yea, Kubo would be silly to not incorporate Bleach entirely into this eventually.

I'm almost banking on it. 

But yea, no way Ichigo isn't viewed as a literal nuclear deterrent in this series. Like a final trump card, a myth even. 

[Swiftblade--]

Honestly, as big of a Bleach fan as I am, I really didn't like this as much as I was hoping to. I read the oneshot a few years ago but I waited to see the anime for the continuation. I guess I was just expecting something that had the same kind of energy that Bleach has. This just feels like an entirely different thing, and it is, which isn't a bad thing but... I don't know, I didn't love it.

[Chapinator_X]

I liked the few episodes they gave us, but Balgo is insufferable. Also, I’m hoping that if they do continue the story, they don’t include as many Bleach references.

Bleach ended too poorly for me to get hyped up for a new series if it’s just going to be the Bleach version of Boruto. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jiro_Dreams

[Distinct Lunatic]

6 minutes ago, Jiro_Dreams said:

I liked the few episodes they gave us, but Balgo is insufferable. Also, I’m hoping that if they do continue the story, they don’t include as many Bleach references.

Bleach ended too poorly for me to get hyped up for a new series if it’s just going to be the Bleach version of Boruto. 

Apparently Kubo will be doing manga releases in season format, which is kind of weird. I do think it's good of him to not do weekly releases again since that destroys mangakas health, but it's kind of a random way to go about releasing a manga series.

And Balgo is easily in the top 10 worst characters Kubo has made throughout his entire career. The guy legit has next to no brain function. I get that Kubo is likely going for another airhead type like with Orihime, but even season 1 Orihime was an actual character with a personality and feelings. Balgo is what you'd get if you sucked all of that out of a person. Without a character overhaul I don't see any possible way that you could have readers give a fuck about a character like Balgo or get invested in him to care about his story.

[Chapinator_X]

1 hour ago, Distinct Lunatic said:

Apparently Kubo will be doing manga releases in season format, which is kind of weird. I do think it's good of him to not do weekly releases again since that destroys mangakas health, but it's kind of a random way to go about releasing a manga series.

And Balgo is easily in the top 10 worst characters Kubo has made throughout his entire career. The guy legit has next to no brain function. I get that Kubo is likely going for another airhead type like with Orihime, but even season 1 Orihime was an actual character with a personality and feelings. Balgo is what you'd get if you sucked all of that out of a person. Without a character overhaul I don't see any possible way that you could have readers give a fuck about a character like Balgo or get invested in him to care about his story.

I think the appeal of Balgo was that he was supposed to be comically irritating to the point of having both Ninny and Noel express interest in wanting to kill him.

But Kubo did too good of a job at making him irritating to the audience too. When he’s not bumbling and yodeling his way into every fight scene, he’s trying to feel up Noel. Kon was this type of character, but he at least had his moments where he was funny or competent. 

[Distinct Lunatic]

14 minutes ago, Jiro_Dreams said:

I think the appeal of Balgo was that he was supposed to be comically irritating to the point of having both Ninny and Noel express interest in wanting to kill him.

But Kubo did too good of a job at making him irritating to the audience too. When he’s not bumbling and yodeling his way into every fight scene, he’s trying to feel up Noel. Kon was this type of character, but he at least had his moments where he was funny or competent. 

Doesn't help that even back in the one shot years ago Balgo was the one going on about wanting to see Noel's panties, the anime changing it to that pet thing.

So Balgo was from the very beginning meant to have zero development or thought put into, with that as his only desire.

[ben0119]

On 10/11/2020 at 7:31 AM, elfie said:

Isn't connected to Bleach... the Soul Society Western Branch sign says otherwise.

Did you misread what I said?  I said shouldn't.  Not that it isn't.  I explained it before.  This series has this whole other supernatural phenomenon going on that seems to have no connection to Hollows or any of the other creatures or things that went on in Bleach.  We get a narration saying that Dragons were once responsible for 72% of the deaths in London.  This figure makes no sense, but ignoring the number, it is basically saying that mysterious deaths and even some thought of as normal, Dragons were in fact responsible for.  Early in Bleach we were told things like, a husband or wife dies, and then the other spouse dies shortly after, Rukia said in many cases it was because they turned into a Hollow and killed their former spouse.  Now we have a whole other organization and faction in London to deal with these Dragons, with their own powers and fighting system.  It may as well be a different universe. 

Are we really supposed to believe Hollows are only a problem in Japan?  That makes no sense.  People die everywhere, people have to be escorted to Soul Society so that they don't turn into Hollows.  Soul Reapers are Grim Reapers, that is their main function.  But this Wing Bind which is referred to as Soul Society West Branch doesn't seemed at all concerned with dealing with Hollows, and only deals with Dragons.  And indeed, they all seem to be human and not dead people like the Soul Reapers.  So, who is taking care of the souls and Hollows in London?

Where is it said this takes place 15 years after Bleach?

I don't want Bleach characters coming in because they are going to overshadow the Burn the Witch characters and this new world and story.  And as I said, it makes more sense for the worlds to be separate than connected anyway.

Edited October 25, 2020 by ben0119

[ben0119]

On 10/8/2020 at 3:13 PM, elfie said:

 

I wrote the response to this video but forgot to post it.  Oh well, better later than never.

Wow, an anime Youtuber who actually isn't obnoxious. 

But why is he showing random game footage instead of stuff from the show he is talking about?  And Genshin Impact, at that!  A mobile game that has been getting whored out on YouTube in ads a lot lately.  Do not be seduced by its anime-esque style!  It is made by CHINA and has transactions up to a hundred dollars!

*ahem* Anyway. 

This is someone else who I wish would give citations.  Last I heard this is a short or limited series of sorts.  Kubo had said the series was already done and would release on its own while he sits at home playing Animal Crossing.  The guy in this video says it is a seasonal manga and Kubo will work on it, take breaks, and come back to it.  I agree that is probably how manga should be made, so mangaka aren't worked to death.  This should also put to rest the narrative some were trying to spin that Kubo was blacklisted or would never work in manga or with Shonen Jump again.  Not only has Kubo been brought back, but they are basically letting him work whenever he feels like it, basically.  If that isn't a sign of someone with some cachet, I don't know what is.

But again, I would like to have a source for this.  That this will continue and that Kubo can work at a steady and comfortable pace is great news.

I saw the similarities to Harry Potter, but not How to Train Your Dragon.  That was a primitive Viking village.  But yes, the whole hidden magical side of the world, protecting the normies, I loved it!

I think this guy is reading way too much into the designs at outfits.  They wear those mini-capes (I believe they are called mantles, and Black Clover also has them,) to keep warm while flying high in the sky?  Umm, Noel is wearing a skirt, and Ninny has something between underwear and shorts.  I actually don't know what those are called.  As for the spiked headbands... I am pretty sure they are just supposed to be alluding to dragon horns.  And Noel has them too, not just Ninny.

Well, she has one at least.

The green uniforms and plaid/flannel(did not know there was a difference,) are probably just to look cool.  They also give off a British feeling, though more Scottish to me than English.

Regardless, I agree that the characters look cool/good.

Edited October 25, 2020 by ben0119

[The1gairon]

He's probably showing footage of a game that has nothing to do with Burn The Witch because he got a copyright strike in an earlier video and he's trying to avoid it .................................. by showing footage of a copyrighted game instead. I don't support those games. Besides, my phone's too old and laggy to play them anyway.

It just occurred to me that in 15 years the Hollow invasion could have been defeated entirely, which is why the Western branch never deals with them. Of course you'd think this would be a big enough event to warrant a whole story unto itself, instead of just skipping over it.

I mean examining their designs is kind of something he just DOES. I would assume he would start a whole series just for that, but he doesn't for some reason.

[Distinct Lunatic]

One possibility is "Dragons" are just the western equivalent to hollows, and are still souls of dead that haven't passed on.

Though it would bring up the question of why does souls in Japan go the way they do, with the masks and holes in their chest, but in Western countries that doesn't happen? No clue, Kubo needs to explain that one.

Honestly I feel like this series wasn't intended on being part of the Bleach world. If back in the original oneshot when Kubo threw in the Bleach sign reference and the SS West Branch thing it was him not anticipating on the series getting picked up, him just wanting to do a bit of a tribute to his old series with those little easter eggs

[The1gairon]

1 hour ago, Distinct Lunatic said:

One possibility is "Dragons" are just the western equivalent to hollows, and are still souls of dead that haven't passed on.

Then the OVA should state that. But hey this is the show that didn't properly explain what a dragonclad is, so what do i know?

[ben0119]

On 10/25/2020 at 10:03 AM, elfie said:

He's probably showing footage of a game that has nothing to do with Burn The Witch because he got a copyright strike in an earlier video and he's trying to avoid it .................................. by showing footage of a copyrighted game instead. I don't support those games. Besides, my phone's too old and laggy to play them anyway.

It just occurred to me that in 15 years the Hollow invasion could have been defeated entirely, which is why the Western branch never deals with them. Of course you'd think this would be a big enough event to warrant a whole story unto itself, instead of just skipping over it.

I mean examining their designs is kind of something he just DOES. I would assume he would start a whole series just for that, but he doesn't for some reason.

Oh I see.  Well that is unfortunate.  Well there is less risk of copyright strikes from a game.  Those types of mobile games with predatory monetization shouldn't be supported, and really phones are not ideal for gaming anyway.  At least in my opinion.  Whoo my phone is still nice and fresh lol.  Samsung Galaxy S10+  Great for videos, pics, and other things.  ANYWAY.

I'm sure you haven't forgotten how Hollows work, but there is no "Hollow invasion" that I am aware of, there will always be Hollows because any soul can be at risk of turning into a Hollow, particularly the ones with regrets from their past life.  Taken from the Bleach wiki and seems to jive with what I remember of how Hollows work -

https://bleach.fandom.com/wiki/Hollow

Hollows are a race of creatures which are born from Human souls who, for various reasons, do not cross over to Soul Society after their death and stay in the Human World for too long. They are corrupt spirits with supernatural powers which devour the souls of both living and deceased Humans. Hollows settle in Hueco Mundo, but can cross over to the Human World and Soul Society. Hollows are the opposite of Humans.

Hollow are former Pluses (deceased Human souls) who lose their hearts to despair or regret, or they remain in the Human World for too long. Any spirit who is not guided to Soul Society by a Shinigami via Konsō may eventually turn into a Hollow.

Now does any of that sound like something that would be peculiar to Japan?  No.  People live everywhere on the earth and die everywhere on the Earth, so there has to be Hollows and therefor Soul Reapers patrolling the entire Earth.  We know that Sasakibe was stationed in England at one point, which is why he dresses and acts the way he does, he took an appreciation of the English society or something.  So that right there is proof (not that it should be needed), that there ought to be Hollows and Soul Reapers in London.  But again, Wing Bind, which is part of Soul Society, doesn't seem to employ any Soul Reapers, and the Witches and Wizards don't seem too concerned with Hollows.

On 10/25/2020 at 10:55 AM, Distinct Lunatic said:

One possibility is "Dragons" are just the western equivalent to hollows, and are still souls of dead that haven't passed on.

Though it would bring up the question of why does souls in Japan go the way they do, with the masks and holes in their chest, but in Western countries that doesn't happen? No clue, Kubo needs to explain that one.

Honestly I feel like this series wasn't intended on being part of the Bleach world. If back in the original oneshot when Kubo threw in the Bleach sign reference and the SS West Branch thing it was him not anticipating on the series getting picked up, him just wanting to do a bit of a tribute to his old series with those little easter eggs

I highly doubt that.  They look and behave nothing like Hollows.  They seem to just be a kind of supernatural creature.  And the Wizards and Witches don't hunt them, except for those seven super bad ones which HAVE to be killed because of how dangerous they are.  The other ones are conserved and managed.  It is the equivalent of relocating a crocodile or lion.  The Witches and Wizards are conservationists.  Soul Reapers just take out Hollows on the spot.  So yeah no way they are Hollows or some form of Hollows.

Again there is no way these things are Hollows or even related to them.

I think the same thing.  The Bleach connection feels very thrown in.  The two worlds don't mesh at all.  Yeah that could be it.  Another reason I heard people give was he threw the Bleach connection in because he was afraid it wouldn't be successful enough as its own thing, which I don't agree with, that that is the reason Kubo did it, or that the series needs a Bleach connection to succeed.  But like you said I'm not sure Kubo even planned or anticipated for the series to get picked up and go beyond the one shot, which I tend to agree with.  So yeah I think either way I'm not sure it was meant to be connected and the sign thing was thrown in just as a tribute.

On 10/25/2020 at 12:46 PM, elfie said:

Then the OVA should state that. But hey this is the show that didn't properly explain what a dragonclad is, so what do i know?

"Dragon Clad" sounds like some sort of badass character with dragon powers, but Balgo is just a blundering oaf.  Unless he is secretly a badass too, like their boss, but I doubt that.  Or maybe we will find out that Balgo is just a failure of a Dragon Clad.  Then again that horn he had turned into a sword for a little while? Maybe that will lead to something?

Edited November 1, 2020 by ben0119