Latest chapters o' Naruto and Bleach; squee

Finally catching up on the manga; finally actually read 282.

Oh, Shino. I knew I loved you for a reason. "I see you didn't have any trouble recognizing Hinata...Naruto..." *dies* I do so love the peripheral characters; Kiba's utter obliviousness fills me with joy. (284: Ino. Ino. Sweet Chrisy, Team 10 is the hottest thing since halogen lamps. Ino has hips now. Guh. And Chouji's awesome out awesomes just about everything (except Shino's thug coat, because that thing rocks hardcore). *starts planning drabbles for December*)

Don't much care about Sai; Naruto as a series really doesn't need androgenous boys in crop tops.

And as for the end of the Gaara arc- oh, man. Naruto's awkwardness when saying goodbye broke my heart. Gaara has come so far since the chuunin exams. I'm a little sad that his part in the story is over now; his conflicts have all been resolved, and it's unlikely he'll have very much more screentime in future chapters. (I suppose it's possible he'll seek revenge against Akatsuki for yoinking his demon, but it's not especially probable.)

It was a little startling to see how tiny Gaara is; Naruto is taller than him, and his siblings practically tower over him (Temari + short skirt + strappy sandals = mmmlegs!). I suppose it does make sense that Gaara would be on the short side, though. He's been sleep deprived his entire life, and that does tend to stunt growth and development. Naruto will probably never be particularly tall, what with the poor nutrition that comes of living on ramen. If Sasuke is taller than Naruto, I'll be upset; he should follow in Itachi's footsteps and stay bitsy. (He should shrink! Height is directly related to emotional maturity!)

Last thoughts about Naruto- since when is Shizune secretly evil? Cut that shit out, Kishimoto. Seriously.

I need to find a better way of monitoring chapter releases so I can stay on top of things; the same thing applies to Bleach, where the thug love is so immense and mighty, it threatens to explode my head.

Ikkaku and Yumichika are getting screentime, and this makes me wildly happy. I adore everything about them: from Ikkaku's shiny bald head to Yumichika's amazingly gay sweater. Chapter 203 is full of Ikkaku fighting and Yumi looking hot and masculine; there's something about the way Ikkaku casually spits out two molars that's amazingly, incredibly hot. *loves all over Bleach*

As for chapter 204- my general reaction to Ikkaku is "Oh, holy fuck YES," because there's nothing sexier than a bald, shirtless, bloody man grinning like a maniac and shouting in single kanji. (The kanji for ban-kai, by the way, is very, very pretty.) I need to make about a dozen Ikkaku icons now. Not sure what I'll do with them, but they need to be made.

The latest chapters have also redeemed Rukia in my eyes; Shirayuki is an awesome zanpakutou, and I hope Rukia eventually gets her Ban Kai so we can all see that it's true form is actually an adorable bunny. An adorable bunny with sharp, nasty teeth! (The latest chapters also reinforce my apathy towards Byakuya; he's irritating, and needs to be smacked.)

Ichigo is being an ass (you don't say shit like that to Chad, fuckwit), but the side characters more than make up for his current worthlessness. (Rangiku/Orihime fanservice= boobtastic!love. Hitsugaya=tiny!grumpy!love!) And Aizen now looks so much like Seymour of FFX, it's disturbing. But the way the Arrankar are all numbered in Spanish? Fuckin' awesome. Just- fuckin' awesome. I love this manga to pieces. (Want to cosplay as Ulquiorra like whoa. Like what? Like whoa.)