Allegorical Bleach

While Nnoitra resumes his battle with Neliel, in 294 Tesra regains control of the situation on the sidelines. He effortlessly kicks Ichigo away from any idea of saving Neliel and returns to restraining Orihime, all the while explaining that he will not permit them to interfere as Nnoitra destroys Neliel. This provides an interesting contrast to Orihime’s actions while Ichigo was fighting Grimmjow. There, Orihime was so paralysed by fright that she forgot to cheer for Ichigo until Neliel reminded her, and even then her confidence in his ability to win had been badly shaken. Here though, we see that Tesra voices a loud vote of confidence that Nnoitra will deal with the problem that has arisen. Not only that, but he shows that for his part, he can handle things on the sidelines while Nnoitra is fighting.

The next page before the flashback starts is the title page, which I’d like to discuss a bit:

294’s title is “If You Call Me Beast, Kill You Like Tempest”. We know that Kubo uses the rain as a symbol of emotion or heart. One of Orihime’s poems, for example, has her saying that she would like to be the rain connecting with someone’s heart. The “Memories in the Rain” chapters deal with emotional backlog for Ichigo and Rukia. In 294, Nnoitra isn’t referred to as mere rain. The force of his emotions is likened to a tempest, a storm, and we all probably know how damage a storm can do in full force.

Thus the scene segues into the first Nnoitra-related flashback. It opens as Neliel explains why she will not finish her fight with Nnoitra: she considers him a beast because he has no reason to fight, and thus she will not finish this battle.

Once Neliel has left, Tesra pops up and offers a hand to help Nnoitra. Of particular note: Tesra address Nnoitra by name. No honourifics and very casual about it, as though this is how he normally addresses Nnoitra. And perhaps it is, for all that Nnoitra responds badly to the idea that he and Tesra are equals:

Poor Tesra, that his handreach is slapped away. After everything about a heart being between two people where their hands would meet, perhaps one day …. He is, after all, the only one who treats Nnoitra as an equal.

In any case, Tesra is only slightly fazed by this reaction because he persists in questioning Nnoitra about why he was fighting with Neliel. You would think that having a large, heavy weapon thrown at him would be a deterrent, but it isn’t. It’s also worth noting that this is the second time we see Nnoitra throw his zanpakuto at Tesra, and the second time Tesla can walk away uninjured. Nnoitra has better aim than that, so this would seem to be a deliberate miss. Even more surprising, Nnoitra actually answers the question without throwing anything further. Clearly he is not as angry as he would appear.

So, Nnoitra thinks only men should be strong enough to fight, is that it? It’s a basic shounen ideal that equals will protect each other and fight for each other, yet Nnoitra thinks women aren’t strong enough for battle. The only person who could be Nnoitra’s equal, by that logic, would be another man. The shading and lack of background indicates Nnoitra’s statement here to be quite important, and it seems to be a recurring theme with Nnoitra: the idea of a relationship between equals. Neliel thinks that he is beneath her. Tesra’s concern for Nnoitra causes Nnoitra to chide him for acting as though they’re equals while not being angry enough to punish him for it. Nnoitra keeps saying that he’s stronger than this character or that one. It’s one issue that keeps popping up whenever Nnoitra appears on-panel.

The flashback cuts back to real-time briefly to reiterate the idea of Nnoitra not being equals with Neliel:

The scene fades into the meat of the chapter: the attack on Neliel which resulted in her expulsion from Las Noches. It begins with a ludicrous statement from Neliel that those who hide their zanpakutos are stronger than those who carry them openly. Again with the idea of them not being equals, that Neliel thinks she is stronger for hiding her weapon. With the zanpakuto being a manifestation of their personalities, she thinks Nnoitra is weak for showing what he’s like, and it’s a little mean for her to say such a thing since there’s no way for him to hide such a large weapon.

She brushes past him, and steps out to find that her Fraccion have had their masks ripped off. As she turns to confront him, the illusion created by Szayelaporro fades away as Nnoitra hits her over the head from behind and cracks her head open.

The next time we see Nnoitra, he’s carrying Neliel and her Fraccion to the edge of the dome to throw them off. His internal monologue is that Neliel would think of the attack as the work of a beast, but that’s not the right answer. He clearly has a reason for what he has done; a beast would not bother to explain away their actions. A mere beast needs no reason for what they do.

When Szayelaporro appears, he wishes observe the conclusion of the experiment. Since he assisted Nnoitra by creating the illusion that lured Neliel out, he considers himself and Nnoitra to be nakama. Nnoitra retorts that they aren’t nakama, and proceeds to throw the attackees over. Another internal monologue reveals that Nnoitra intends to surpass Neliel by the time she can heal and return. It’s not enough for him to become her equal; he wishes to be better than she is.

The aftermath of the attack is addressed in 295. Nnoitra doesn’t think he has to be respectful to someone who is no longer an Espada. Szayelaporro reminds Nnoitra that this attack was possible because of a device he had created, and thus he should expect a measure of respect. This respect is something that would normally occur between equals, and that’s twice now that Nnoitra has said that Szayelaporro is not his equal.

While they argue, a sound on the desert floor draws their attention, and they discover that Neliel has assumed the form of a child. Szayelaporro begins to speculate on just why this change occurred, but Nnoitra cuts him off, not caring about the whys and wherefores. It would appear that Szayelaporro’s theory is something we readers should not know just yet, but it does point out that there is something unusual about this attack. A simple bash to the head should not have caused this change, and the resident weapons expert in Las Noches was most interested.

As they leave, Nnoitra looks back briefly to observe that it’s a shame he and Neliel will never cross blades again, a hint of an unresolved issue between them which is being addressed during their battle. Apparently Nnoitra has been spent the intervening years wishing to fight with her again to settle this issue.

The dust settles below, leaving one last artifact of Nnoitra’s mercy that he had not killed Neliel when he had the chance: her Fraccion choose to protect her. Had they acted more Hollow-like, she would have been left to die, and she never would have reappeared again so many years later.

This attack is probably one of the most shocking things in the manga to date, and it begs a question: how exactly did Nnoitra manage to defeat someone five ranks higher? When they fought before, it was always Nnoitra doing all the bleeding. Surprise attack or not, he shouldn’t have been able to do so much damage. Szayelaporro’s device merely provided the illusionary distraction, nothing more. How did Nnoitra get so strong, then?

The answer, I believe, lies in the vol 33 poem. The panel accompanying the poem ties it to this attack due to its similarity to the end of chapter sketch:

俺達は虫
We are insects

不揮発性の
悪意の下で
這い回る蠕虫
Nonvolatile
Lowly evil
Crawling worms

首をもたげる
月より高く
We lift our heads
Higher than the moon

憐れなお前等が
見えなこなるまで
Your pity
Can no longer be seen

This poem is addressed to Nelliel, and it’s Nnoitra telling her off. She may think they are lowly beasts, but she and her pity are gone now. They will look heavenward together. As long as they both look in the same direction, they can touch the very sky.

This reiterates Nnoitra’s thoughts on the dome about surpassing Neliel, but with one change: the use of “we”. Nnoitra should be the speaker for this poem, yet he is not speaking alone. Who would he include in that “we”? It’s not Neliel, because she’s the target of the attack. He tells Szayelaporro that they are not nakama, so he is not part of Nnoitra’s “we”. That leaves only Tesra in his conspicuous absence from this attack, and it’s Tesra who has been with Nnoitra all these years since that time. This suggests, therefore, that Nnoitra was thinking of Tesra at the time he hit Neliel. If this thought made him that much stronger, that’s quite a resolve boost.

This theory is confirmed to some degree by the end of chapter sketch, suggestive of the double-crescent form of Nnoitra’s zanpakuto in current-time. There are now two crescents because of this attack, and this is why he says he’s the strongest Espada: because Tesra is with him. His heart has made him the strongest Espada. It’s at this point, because of this attack, that a heart has begun to form between him and Tesra.

After the flashback finishes, the scene returns to the present-time battle. By the end of 295, Neliel feels sufficiently cornered that she chooses to release rather than face Nnoitra in her human form. 296 opens with that release, and the fear in Nnoitra’s expression shows that he has witnessed this release before.

After her release, she moves quickly to thrust her lance at Nnoitra, throwing him backwards. The symbolism here should be obvious, including the fact that she damages his zanpakuto but fails to pierce his body.

Finally, she tries again from closer range, with an undesirable consequence: she not only breaks her Hollow form, but also her adult form. Shocked expressions all around: Nnoitra, Ichigo, and Orihime looking in shock at Neliel’s child form, while Tesra turns quickly to look at Nnoitra in shock.

Once she hits the ground, Nnoitra easily overpowers her and, as 297 opens, kicks her aside.

Please direct all comments to the main page here.