"Captain Kurotsuchi."
"What is it?"
"Please, heal me first!"
"Why?"
"I want to return to the battle. The others have encountered Espadas as well. If I don't get to them in time..."
"He doesn't need your help."
"What?"
"The only one still fighting is Zaraki. He's headed for Ichigo Kurosaki. That ruffian doesn't need your help. Besides, you should know better. When he's on battlefield, he's like a wolf with the scent of blood in its nostrils. You get in his way and he'll eat you too. To be devoured by a beast is a foolish way to die, don't you think?"
With Szayelaporro and Zoomari out of the way, the only enemy that's still standing is Nnoitora. It seems like with Zaraki being present, he had found his match in the battle. They both are giving their all, but only one can win.
"I was just thinking. One of those four arms of yours was bound to block my attack. That wouldn't have been fun. So I tried to think of a way to prevent that. But I couldn't come up with anything clever. So I decided to cut all of your arms off one by one instead."
"But he can't fight if you cut all his arms off, Ken-chan."
"Huh? Good point. I take that back. I'll leave you with one."
Kenpachi is definitely not only one of the coolest Soul Reapers, but also one of the coolest anime characters ever. He's a crazy maniac, but we love to see it! I was waiting for his big entrance in Hueco Mundo (which had happened in the previous volume) and I was really excited to see the manga version of the famous Kenny vs Nnoitora battle. I was not disappointed. Volume 35 in general focuses mostly on this fight. It could've been boring, but with this kind of characters and this kind of visuals that the author came up with, you cannot feel different than be immersed in the scene.
"I swe no purpose in your battles."
"Oh, I have one. Fighting is my purpose."
"I don't understand. Why do you keep fighting?"
"Because I want to die. I want to die in battle. That's why I've become what I am. The stronger I get, the more I can fight. I want to eat battle, to breath it."
Both Nnoitora and Kenpachi love to fight. A battle is their purpose of life, so naturally, neither of them had given up easily when they crossed swords (I know that Nnoitora's weapon is not a sword, but you know what I mean). They both were truly amazing. I don't like Nnoitora, but I have to admire him for his strength and his fierceness. And Kenpachi is just, well, Kenpachi. He's incredible whenever he shows up, especially in the battle against Nnoitora where his enemy transformed into his Resurrection form while Kenpachi still fought with the same style as before. And despite all the injures he got, he still kept his maniacal grin on his face. I feel like if he had ever died, he would die standing, with the grin never leaving his face.
"I want life to fled my body before it hits the ground. That's how I want to die."
I could say that Nnoitora got what he deserved, like Szayelaporro did, but the truth is that... Well, I think that it was kind of beautiful that in the moment of his death, his greatest wish came true. He wanted to die in a thrilling fight against the greatest opponent and it was exactly what he got. And I think it's something poetic in the fact that the last person he had land his eyes on, before his last breath left his body, was Nel.
"Smile. We all get sad when the sky darkens. All you have to do is smile and wait here for a little while. Just until... we wipe out Karakura Town."
After long time no see, Aizen is finally back and made his move. With all the gargantas sealed, there's no way for our heroes to get out of Hueco Mundo. Orihime's been abducted again and all the deceptive captains with three remaining Espadas are currently in the Karakura Town. It seems like the war will begin any minute now. Ichigo's out trying to save Orihime once again. Will he succeed this time as well or will he meet his doom? Are all the enemies defeated? How will our heroes get out of the Hueco Mundo? What about the war in the Karakura Town - it seems like the Soul Reapers made their preparations, but will it be enough to stop Aizen?
"Kenpachi, you said earlier that it was my job to protect Katakura Town. You're wrong. My job is to protect my friends."
Some of my thoughts while reading: (beware of the spoilers)
~ I'm glad that the manga didn't show the way Mayuri brought Nemu back to life (but it implied how it had happened). Ew.
~ I just now realized that the two figures hanging from the ceiling in Szayelaporro's lab are Cirucci and Dordoni 😔
~ The scene with Mayuri trying to "fix" Ishida with the help of Nemu was supposed to be funny - and it was - but I can't shake the feeling of creepiness coming out of Mayuri. He has too invasive personality. He is always using opportunities to experiment on people and it's disgusting.
~ Renji's such an angel for wanting to be back in shape ASAP so he could get back to the battlefield and help Ichigo. Yes, Ichigo. It was heavily implied by Mayuri that it was Ichigo Renji meant when he asked him to be healed first. You can laugh at how he thought that he can be of any help, because he's not as strong as the other characters, but I admire him for always doing his best and never giving up.
~ I could not help, but smile through the whole Kenpachi vs Nnoitora fight, because it was clear as a day that Kenpachi had the time of his life.
~ Orihime had finally acted on her own will without waiting for someone to tell her what to do! We cheer!
~ The image of Nnoitora and the enormous skull made by Kenpachi's spiritual pressure was SICK! It reminded me of the image with Ichigo surrounded by a skeleton of death - which happened while fighting Kenpachi, no less!
~ The fact that Kenny wanted to leave without killing Nnoitora, but Nnoitora pressured him to end the fight...
~ Tesla's tears when Nnoitora died 😔
~ I'm both excited and worried about what is coming. I LOVE the Winter War arc where everyone shows up and we finally got the final battle between our MC and the big bad, it's exciting, but it also makes me anxious, because I know how painful it will be 🥺