I found this chapter to be surprisingly enjoyable, and I actually prefer it to the one-shot. I like the characterization we got for Ninny and Noel, and all the world building thrown in. Also, from the animated panels from the anime trailer, this whole thing is gonna look SWEET in color. I do like how cute Osushi (Ousushi?) is, and the fact that they downplayed Balgo. I think he works better as a minor char, and definitely prefer him to the one shot.
The negative
I gotta say I'm a bit disappointed with the character designs. Qquntnire looks like Candace, Bruno looks like Bazz B, dude from Accounting looks like Kisuke, then we got Rukia/Uryuu in the Sabers, and Yhwach (!!!) in the Gallows. Smh. I thought Kubo copying his faces in the TYBW arc was bad, but this is kind of a bit... blatant. I'm sure he's doing it for his fans but eh. Also, as some people have pointed out, Sullivan's name scheme with the SS was a bit... problematic. And I could have done without Ninny's actual panty shot. Also what was the throw-away line about social justice I wonder? I'm assuming that was a mistranslation? (Although that does seem like it will be an important theme later on with Balgo's execution). Anyway.
The positive
I gotta say that I've always been reluctant about Burn the Witch being set in Bleach universe. Mainly, it's the relationship between Hollows and Dragons that irked me, since I had formerly assumed that Hollows were a widespread phenomena in the world of the living. (They still are, just not in London, I guess). This chapter has assuaged some of my fears, however, since it seems that Reverse London is a direct overlay of physical (Front) London. That's kind of cool, tbh, and I loved the little details such as "Reverse BBC," the conversion between front world and reverse world currency, and "Dragon Insurance," XD. Also, I loved the introduction of a magic system with spells. Reverse London seems to be fairly small, "geographically" speaking, since Balgo is the first Dragonclad who has appeared in 96 years. Either that or Wing Bind is WAY more effective at management than the East Branch Soul Society, which I guess is also a possibility, heh.
Questions I have:
1. I wonder how the Sacreds (Liturgy) and Anthems (Incantations) divisions differ from each other? Also, when Ninny used the tape barrier, I wonder if that's something the "magic circle" division specializes in ("containment barriers"), or if magic circles are something else (like one of the other users mentioned).
2. What if the witches and wizards in reverse London are... Quincy? (Or descendants of them). They seem to be resistant to "dragontoxins", meaning they have some sort of natural anti-bodies to dragons. They could also be a form of Fullbringer, I suppose, but given what we know about Fullbringers from the Light Novel, that seems less likely, although the way Kubo describes dragontoxins seems similar to how he described Fullbringers' relation to Hollows. Quincies were also prevalent in Europe during Yhwach's campaign from a thousand years ago, and England isn't too far from Germany. Not to mention, the wands seem to be more similar to Spirit Weapons than anything else we've seen, and wizards and witches do seem to be alive (vs. undead or spirits themselves like the Shinigami) so that would make sense. Anyway, that's just a loose headcanon I have for now.
I wish I had read the one shot before this chapter, since I forgot the specifics of dark dragons, wands, etc. Looking forward to how Kubo develops the Dragonclad stuff later on, plus the shady stuff that seems to be going on in the Top of Horns.
Overall, 4/5 for this chapter. Seems a bit crammed with exposition, but for me that was a good thing.