QUOTE (Miss Soupy @ Aug 5 2011, 07:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Don't worry Boom, nothing has been confirmed. Here is what was said, as reported at Bleachness:
Basically, Grimmjow was originally meant to only be in the manga a short time. Kubo extended his time and therefore gave him much more development. There is also a hint that he will be back in the future. I will take it lightly, since it is an interview, but the truth is Kubo has not confirmed Grimmjow to be gone forever. Not in Jump Festa and not in the recent databook.
All in all, the arrancar arc was very popular and Kubo ended up spending more time on it than he had originally planned. Course, Kubo is a sucker for his characters in the same way the readers are, I think, so I don't think it bothered him at all XD
Basically, Grimmjow was originally meant to only be in the manga a short time. Kubo extended his time and therefore gave him much more development. There is also a hint that he will be back in the future. I will take it lightly, since it is an interview, but the truth is Kubo has not confirmed Grimmjow to be gone forever. Not in Jump Festa and not in the recent databook.
All in all, the arrancar arc was very popular and Kubo ended up spending more time on it than he had originally planned. Course, Kubo is a sucker for his characters in the same way the readers are, I think, so I don't think it bothered him at all XD
Thanks for that version! I usually avoid interviews, considering how one little mistranslation can distort the whole point. But yeah, it looks more like a hint than anything. Woo hoo!
As for Grimmjow, that intrigues me that his role in the plot was meant to be much shorter originally. I wonder if he was supposed to die during his first appearance in Karukura, or if he was supposed to lose more than an arm when he returned to Hueco Mundo. Heck, maybe Luppi was originally supposed to be a more important character. *shrug*
I love and agree with the bolded part of your comment. The care Kubo puts into his characters has always been one of the main reasons his manga appeals to me. I think it's likely he realized how popular Grimmjow was in the Japanese fandom (he ranked #4 in the last popularity poll they did) and just developed his character further after that, since I feel like most of his development took place after he re-joined the Espada.
QUOTE
Oh, and you mentioned Harribel returning. She was actually healed by Orihime, as revealed in the UNMASKED databook :3 She left Las Noches with her fraccion, who also were healed and wandered away into the desert. So she was definitely confirmed to be alive.
Well, that's a few more characters to add to the hopeful Arrancar reunion
. But dang, if Harribel and Ulquiorra return, there goes my "Gran Rey Grimmjow" theory. Unless Grimmjow somehow surpasses those two, or Ulquiorra and Harribel reform and join the heroes while Grimmjow remains a villain. Either way, I'm crossing my fingers to see them return, I always liked the Hueco Mundo gang. 
Edited by Boom...Winning, 06 August 2011 - 02:12 PM.
