Sephiroth vs. Aizen Sousuke (The Great Evils) - Stillmattic & MechG Collaboration #1

VS.

These two badasses are the antagonists of Anime franchise, Bleach, and Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth. Though different in goals, these two are the evil that haunt our heroes (Cloud & Ichigo). Dark, manipulative, and powerful - these two will do whatever they can to ensure that there plans succeed and the good fails. Both our heroes, Cloud & Ichigo, have struggled against these adversaries and honestly, that's what makes these two kick-ass badasses. Now this is a special Fight Night battle because we have a guest appearance and collaboration from my best-friend, MechG, who is fond of the Final Fantasy franchise than I am. Though different in content of blogs (mine being about Bleach and his about sports, mainly the Oakland Raiders of the NFL and Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA), that doesn't exclude his knowledge of Final Fantasy. The two villains pose a great threat to our heroes. I will talk about Aizen in Bleach and MechG will talk about Sephiroth and in the end- MechG will provide the verdict of who would win a fight between two. As a side note, this isn't bias or choosing sides, we (or MechG) is choosing who honestly could pose more of a threat than the other, just like in any other Fight Night posts (all opinionated). 

Stillmattic: Aizen Sousuke is the antagonist of Bleach after the Rescue Rukia arc. He turned out to had faked his own death, hypnotized everyone with his Zanpaktou, give false orders as assumed command of the Central 46, and made a pact with the would-be Espada. Aizen can be described in three words - manipulative godlike being. He wishes to transcend his being and unlock the power big enough to destroy the Gotei 13 AND the Royal Palace. He possesses (or possessed) the Hogyoku, a sphere that breaks the barriers of Shinigami and Hollows. He takes command of the Espada and has a mano-e-mano fight with Ichigo in their final forms ("Zangetsu" vs. Hogyoku's Will), only later to be sealed by Kisuke Urahara and sent to prison for a long long time. However, what makes Aizen stand out as a villain is his manipulative and calm nature during the whole brawl between the Espada and the Gotei 13 (of what's left of it at the time). And to top it off, he even proves to meet his supposed match when he goes toe-to-toe with Captain Yamamoto. He taunts his opponents, breaks their resolve, and lures them in with ease. He easily defeats the visored and Gotei 13 without unlocking the Hogyoku's true potential. He, however, does unlock his Hogyoku's true ability when fighting Ichigo, Gin, Yoruichi, Urahara, and Issin. Even then he beats everyone but Ichigo. Ichigo's only way to beat this monster is to become one with Zangetsu and ultimately, he will have to lose his Shinigami powers in the aftermath. However, Aizen didn't die and is still alive. Even Juha Bach, the current antagonist of Bleach, is no match or threat for Aizen Sousuke - his very existence pretty much created a gap in the Soul Society's defenses. Aside from his manipulativeness, he is keen - knowing how things will go about before they begin, being unshaken by the loss of his men, and even was really close to telling Ichigo who he was (that will be saved til later). So Aizen is manipulative, keen, powerful, and above all else - the biggest threat to the Soul Society. And now MechG will talk about Sephiroth. 

MechG: Whether you're a video game lover who loves the Final Fantasy franchise or someone who doesn't, you can't argue the fact that Sephiroth is one of the most recognizable FF characters and ONE of the greatest antagonists in the video game industry as a whole and his scene in which he kills Aeris Gainsborough still stands as one of the most shocking and tragic deaths in video game history. When Sephiroth was born, he was born in an experiment with the Jenova Project to Professor Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent after Hojo infused cells from the omnipotent alien being, Jenova with Lucrecia's fetus containing the unborn baby. The majority of his lifetime, Sephiroth was raised by scientists of the Shinra Corporation where they used him as a super soldier in which he uses it to his advantage developing inhuman strength, endurance, agility, and combat reflexes (not to mention he developed to be a crafty and skilled swordsman) and became a prestigious 1st class member of Shinra's SOLDIER program and became a well-known and respected war hero due to his efforts in the Wutai War. In the background story of Final Fantasy VII and further elaborated in Crisis Core, Sephiroth, upon reaching a Mako Reactor near Nibelheim, the hometown of arch nemesis, Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart, discovers a pod chamber of a monster containing the name, "JENOVA." As a result, Sephiroth goes crazy, mistakenly referring to monster as his "mother" and proceeds to burn the town of Nibelheim to the ground and killing Tifa's dad in the process with his longsword, the Masamune before recovering the pod containing Jenova. By the time Final Fantasy VII happens, Sephiroth spent his time residing in the Lifestream, the essence and spiritual energy of the Planet, where he gained full on knowledge and extent on the Planet's geography. He has the ability to take on different forms whether it's in the form of a monster or in the form of a human (Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj in Advent Children) and when his physical form is gone he can still get into someone's mind like how he did with Cloud and his deceased best friend, Zack Fair, another 1st class SOLDIER member when Hojo injected both of them with Sephiroth clone cells. He can also summon a meteor through the use of Black Materia and can direct its course to a planet's destruction as he so pleases. In conclusion, Sephiroth is inhumanly powerful, a mastermind in mind games, and he defies death. He's just that damn impossible to kill off for good.

Verdict: StillMattic has given me, MechG, full creative control of who gets to win. As much as I am a Final Fantasy guy and don’t know too much about Bleach, I will be realistic and impartial. In this case, the new blood dominates the old school and it stands out that Aizen is the most threatening villain. As much as how Sephiroth has developed superhuman powers, abilities, and skill and unlocking more inhuman abilities venturing in the Lifestream, it doesn’t change the fact that he is still a mortal because of his human status; Aizen is on another realm and has proven godlike status as a Soul Reaper who has achieved the rank of a higher power among the Soul Society. Even though both have immeasurable amount of intellect and can equally play intimidating mind games with their enemies, Aizen can read his opponent’s next move before it even happens. Not to mention, Aizen has yet to taste death, Sephiroth has tasted death a couple hundred times regardless of his ability to resurrect. Basically, Sephiroth worked physically and mentally in his relentless desire to be a god, but Aizen is already a proven god because he is after all, a spiritual being.

So who do you think won? Both are badasses and kick complete ass, but like in Highlander - there can only be one. Sephiroth or Aizen? Vote now! http://poll.pollcode.com/tz1px. Until then, you all stay classy. MechG will also collaborate on tomorrow's Affinity post and don't forget to follow my best friend's blog at http://www.trueraiderlaker.blogspot.com/  and subscribe to his YouTube channel at youtube.com/mechg2994 to check out his video game music vids, sports vids, and little comedic short vids. Note - I will be on hiatus from Wednesday-Saturday (8/7-8/10). There will be NO Death God's Bebop or Recollection episode until the week after. I will resume posts on 8/11.