THE MOST EVIL SHINIGAMI: Ichibei Hyosube | BLEACH: Character Analysis 

i find it weird that fans are upset with ichibei's depiction as an evil bastard. it's 100% appropriate for the story. everyone forgets the gotei 13 were the antagonists for the first 2 seasons. they even let monsters like kurotsuchi run a squad. the maggot's nest imprisoned people for thought crime. the structure of the gotei 13 and central 46 is not a morally good one. it's appropriate for the head of the shinigami to be an evil bastard. it wouldve been disappointing if the head of the shinigami, an organization of ruthless authoritarians, ended up being some isshin kurosaki-like good boy.

The shikai and bankai reflect the nature of the shinigami. Yammamoto kills whatever is in front of him with unrelenting aggression, Ichigo focuses on being a protector and Urahara's zanpakutou allows him to adapt his preparations on the fly. But what is Ichibei's approach to fighting? He takes away your identity and agency with his shikai, and then condemns you to whatever place he chooses in his order of things. That is twisted on a profound level, he is one of the most unambiguously evil beings in the setting.

The title is so accurate. Ichibei was really going to sacrifice Ichigo against his free will. That's some evil shit and I love that Kubo let's you know that the Soul Society isn't good either

It is no secret that the Shinigami have a bad reputation outside of seritei. I think part of the reason why they are viewed as evil are mostly the original Gotei 13 which I imagine they were like the phantom troupe. And of course that the nobles basically killed Reio and scattered his body parts.

Ichibei is the ultimate personification of the phrase: "History is written by the victors". His power is one of the absolute best in terms of showing how a Zanpakuto is a manifestation of a Soul Reaper’s soul. I am really looking forward to seeing his fight against Yhwach in the anime!

The one thing people seem to forget was Kyoraku gave those soul passes to Ichigos friends for a different reason. Not because Ichigo would end up powerful, but because if shit hit the fan Ichigo would have been sliced up and turned into the soul king

Ichibe being a representation of shinigami ugliness is the reason I like villains such as Kaname, Aizen, Ginjo, Yhwach.

The terrifying part of this Soul Reaper is any ordinary person that isn't holding the ability Almighty has to just die when they face this man. Ichibei is exactly that guy his skills and will is absolute. He just ran into someone that was unwilling to die and had the powers to back it up. Crazy anime crazy characters I respect the mind that made these

Can't Fear Your Own World describes Ichibei as pretty sociopathic, but also as a wholly necessary evil. He fulfills a role that must be fulfilled, and he takes it excruciatingly seriously.

Ichibei has to be one of the most terrifying characters in Bleach. I remember reading the manga and thinking "oh he seems jolly and awesome" but as it continued becoming so uncomfortable with him. He is probably the worst of the worst even though he is the protector of the Soul King.

it’s very likely that the soul king accepted to become what he did. he had the power of the almighty, so he knew everything that was going to happen, presumably up until yhwach and ichigo killed him. so the last thing he saw was his son avenging him, wrecking the hell out of the soul society and the soul reapers. but the almighty has its flaws.

I don't know about others, but ichibei vs yhwach, is the most anticipated fight I'm looking forward too

When I first read these chapters, I thought the wording was odd. The way he spoke to Yhwach was not of an enemy, but as someone who's causing trouble. It was like he was punishing him, instead of killing him. Seeing as though he's been around for millions of years, he probably saw when Yhwach came into existence, and knew what he was. He wanted Ichigo to "stop" him, not kill him, I found that statement really odd at the time, Yhwach was the biggest threat to everyone, but he didn't want him dead. So if the Quincy legend is true, then a Quincy similar to Yhwach will be born again in the future, or will it not happen because ichigo's son seems like he has a portion of Yhwach's powers.

I remember during his battle with the yhwach I found myself rooting for yhwach coz ichibei just seemed so sinister lol, he's really the most broken shiningami and seems to be the only character with conceptual manipulation

He's a representative of Soul Society's history and the ancestor's will to control. His worst aspect was his plan to mutilate and seal Ichigo as the next Spirit King. After what Ichigo did to save the worlds and its inhabitants that would've been a bleak and nightmarish future. Luckily according to WDKALY Ichibei could be called to account for his past actions.

Ichibe is literally an amazing depiction of a chaotic neutral, who has moments of human consciousness, but is devoted to the goal. In 613, he legit “apologized” after Ichigo and his friends left because he knew they wouldn’t be able to defeat Yhwach and Ichigo would have to be sacrificed for the balance. However, I think this is why there may be strong hints that Ichigo’s power is one which changes Fate through the actions he made, not just Zangetsu. Here is what Yhwach and Ichibe missed: 1) Ichigo’s relationship with Uryu and Uryu’s desire for revenge against Yhwach for killing his mother and his desire to protect his friends. 2) Neither party predicted Ryuken doing his own autopsy on his dead wife to find the silver clot that he used to make the arrow that he would bestow to Uryu during the end game. 3) Yhwach absorbing the remnants of Reio in order to counter the threat that was Ichigo was something that even Ichibe didn’t see and Ichigo again, subverting what he predicted was Fate. 4) Neither party saw that Ichigo’s empathy toward Ginjo would lead to a debt that would lead to Book of the End being used to pay back the favor to bring Ichigo’s blade back after Yhwach broke it, stole his Hollow and Quincy powers. 5) I could talk about Aizen intervening in the end game, but I’ll leave that alone. So all these small actions (including what we learned about what Haschwalth saw when he had The Almighty) actually led to a Fate Yhwach dismissed and Ichibe couldn’t see meaning Ichigo got to survive. But back to Ichibe, I still feel iffy about him

After CFYOW Ichibe really starts to feel like Final Boss material.

In retrospect Ywach wasn’t technically that evil he just wanted revenge for what they did to his father the soul king

The more I rewatch Bleach, the more I appreciate the tension between the necessary existence of Shinigami and their moral flaws as an organization. Throughout the story, as TYBW and the fullbring Arc show, they change because of people like Ichigo. That's so cool!

I actually like that ichibei, probably the one with the most "political" power inside the soul society is technically responsible for all evil that plagues the world so he needs to keep it balanced.

Honestly, I saw ichibe as more of a character with conviction that exceeds limit. He was around before the soul king and the separation of the worlds, he has seen the chaos and instability first hand. As "bad" as his actions may seem to us as the reader, he was making choices for the sake of the overall balance. If Ichigo wasn't our MC and just a random character in the world, and we were told that he needed to be sacrificed to keep the worlds from collapsing and ending life as it exists, nobody would bat an eye at ichibe for making that decision. The sacrifice of one life to provide balance to 3 entire worlds full of beings, thats far from being unreasonable or evil. At the end of the day, that was everyone's end goal. Ichigo and the gotei 13 were both fighting to keep the universe as they know it from ending, if ichigo lost the fight but could still save everyone by becoming the next soul king, thats still in line with the end goal of saving everyone, especially since the chances are losing to ywach at that point would've killed ichigo anyway. if you take a step back from the story as ichigo must save everyone, and take the entire story into the picture, ichibe was just going with the plan that he was most sure would save everything and it makes sense. I love ichigo and im glad it didn't turn out that way, but I can't call ichibe evil for his thought process. Save the universe over one soul reaper.

I understand Ichibei's perspective tbh. What I get from the story is that the Soul King already knew what was happening and allowed it because he knew it was for the greater good. Now, we can very much say that Ichibei may have twisted that story but until we get another perspective from that time, we'll have to go with that. Ichibei essentially has to choose whether 1 person's life is worth billions of others, he would have most definitely chose to sacrifice Ichigo in a heartbeat in order to keep some semblence of peace and stability. It's even insinuated by Shunsui I think that Ichigo probably would have agreed to be the new lynchpin if it came down to it but Ichibei would have forced him, if Ichigo opposed. Somebody has to make the tough decisions and that so happens to be the leaders i.e Ichibei and Shunsui.

As quote on quote "evil" as Ichibei may be, he at least felt his actions were just. And I don't necessarily disagree with him. Ultimately his actions were in service of preserving peace and balance. Characters like him are always some of my favorites. The morally grey types are so interesting.

After reading the light novels, Ichibe has got to go!! But in all seriousness, I love the fact that the Shinigami/Soul Society are the "good guys" but their whole foundation is based on lies and the original sin. I wonder when said foundation will finally crumble...

I understand ichibei's perspective. Protecting the soul king is the most important job and I like that he's willing to go to any extent to do it. At the end of the day he can't simply let everything crumble due to one life. You can think he's immoral but at the end of the day his actions are what maintain some level of peace and stability. Besides it's implied the soul king let himself be cut up and ichigo would have willingly given himself up if it truly meant saving everyone. I wouldn't call ichibei evil, I think he's just indifferent. he's like urahara and kyoraku in that aspect but to an even greater extreme.

I dunno about every other person but ichibei vs yhwach is one of my best fights in bleach

You know when you are watching a horror movie and telling the character not to go into a room or trust someone? That was my reaction the first time I saw ichibe. I never trusted him and I knew he was shifty. He was willing to make ichigo the new soul king against his own will. Like I get it we aren’t supposed to like Yhwach but you can’t really blame him for wanting the destruction of the soul society

ichibei i dont know whats the deal with him even when i saw him first time in the manga it was almost as if i could read through his character,emotions and desire i knew someting was wrong when he called ichigo to the soul king's palace for a different reasonbtw nice vid keep up the good work

This is exactly why can't fear your own needs it own animated series. There's so much lore and history that they possibly fit into the tybw. I'm holding out hope that pierrot makes it happen one day.

I can now understand why Juhabach hates them. In a way he had a right to defend his father. Soul reapers shunned the soul King. Made a mockery off him. Ichibe is The evil one.Maybe he knows that his the necessary evil.Damn good video

When yhwach absorbed Reio, it is noticeable that the realms stopped shaking, which indicates that Reio no longer needed to be sealed. Though out of fear of retaliation, I doubt Ichibe and Squad Zero would ever release the SK. In the novels, Ichibe does reveal that he and the SS will eventually get their comeuppance, which could be soon.

Ichibie is very much like Odin in some ways. Vast knowledge, knowing the names of all things and the gods, immense strength... And a twisted sense of humour and fierce desire to test those that came after him. Odin has a lot more pets though

The absolute quality this man’s providing 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

I really appreciate your channel man, it’s been around a decade since I read the manga for this arc. And like most people back then found it ‘meh’, so didn’t bother read more than once. Forgetting what happened & now with the anime brilliantly redeeming the manga your channel is a godsend. Keep it up 👍🏽! Subbed

The fact that Ichibe knows how to and participated in mutilating and sealing the soul king on top of his shiki and bankai leads me to 100% believe he's the real ruler. The soul king is just a figure head.

Always look forward to your uploads, thank you for your work

“All black is mine to control” 💀

They are also the most op Shinigami. Their Zanpakutō can literally alter reality. (Whatever they draw becomes real.)

Gotei 13 was a bunch of notorious killers. What were people even expecting in Squad Zero?

I have been a fan of this show and series franchise since I was a 16 years old and I appreciate the Dedication you have to Showing us these videos and not to mention that this show also helped me when I was in my teens and I appreciate you doing these videos thank you sir

Your videos butter my biscuits thank you

I am really hoping for one or more arcs from Bleach after the TYBA is concluded. I would love to see just how powerful Ichigo has become. It would be cool if we could get some concrete dialog comparing his new abilities vs his old ones and where he now stands in relation to the other characters within the series. I would like to see the same thing for the rest of the cast as well, as all of them get yet another massive power boost. It would be amazing to see just how far they have all come.

This is the first video of urs of I've seen and top notch bro

Ichibe really doesn’t give a fuck about Ichigo or the soul reapers, only the advancement and existence of the Soul Society

The newest episode proves how cold ichibei truly is

I like his fight with Yhwach i’m looking forward to seeing that animated. I predict that it will be on court 2

Great video!!

It's quite a fitting end to the dictator known as Yuha, to be treat as nothing more than a simple doorstep in Ichebei's wide scheming plans. He actually did beat him in the end, he won. His triumph is the sheer fact that he is indifferent to this person's past accolades or intelligence. "Damn, he killed the Soul King, siphoned his power and then he himself ironically ended up doing himself in, well i guess we'll just take his head and stick it on a pike somewhere, i could careless if you can breathe and feel or think, the fact is you did this to yourself, you killed Mimihagei sama and became the new Soul King and unfortunately, we're going to proceed to use you like a tampon" i think it panes out fine, so fans dont like but i actually love when the main villian has done so much dirt in their life to progress to where they finally get in the storyline, only to be treated like another cog in a neverending wheel. Now the villian is just like everyone else. I think it's a fate worse than death because ultimately who cares, they became someone important because they were an obstacle and now that obstacle is gone.

You should explain some of the sternritters or explain more about yhwach's powers and abilities that he gave to the sternritters

Great Review brother.

More I have a question. If they were going to walk to mately use Ichigo as the Soul King could they have also used Souke Aizen since he was also a transcendent being?

I have to disagree with you on this one. Ichibei could not stop what happened to the soul king as it’s clear the soul king had already understood his purpose and the sacrifice needed. He shouldn’t get a bad rap for doing what is necessary in order to keep Existence together.

His soul is as dark as his beard.

Amazing recap

Ichibei is one of my favorite characters, despite his sparse appearance in the series. He's such a fascinating character to me; the one who has seen everything, he's so removed from everything, his worldview is so far beyond every other character in the series.

In the We do Knot Always Love You novel, Ichibei takes the credit for having defeated easily Yhwach and his Elite Quincy army and saving the Soul King without any problems. I’m truthfully fascinated by the situation around this guy, you can see why Shinigamies think stuff like the Royal Guard being stronger than the Gotei, but it’s like the propaganda also reaches on a whole meta level when even a 4th dimensional overseer aka a reader/watcher of the show believes it, when the best he was able to do was practically continuously weaken his one only opponent because he couldn’t defeat at full strength (well, “full” because Yhwach cannot use Volstanding and the Almighty is just the schrift), and if you think about it, he was sending Ichigo to die for nothing basically, since he couldn’t stop Yhwach and had no idea about Ryuken, he’s definitely an evil PoS, pathetic, fraud and a prime candidate to dying if the Hell Arc ever arrives

Bro I love your setup and your videos😊

What i love about bleach is that it isn't all cut and dry, the manga has exclusive momens that explain the anime, and the anime had unseen things that aren't in the manga, most shows would just use the manga as a script for the anime but bleach doesn't, atleast not as cut and dry as most animes that had manga previously, this makes the concept so interesting that it's almost one of a kind

I'm always surprised that Yhwach instead of going on and on about killing Ichigo's mother through his actions never stopped and constantly brought up the countless atrocities the Soul Reapers have committed against reality itself. Like if he'd led with, "My followers and I are trying to remove death from the universe, we're getting revenge for being genocided by the Soul Reapers and oh yeah, they betrayed and imprisoned my father as a living corpse. Remember how they euthanized your friend Kon's people? Remember how they have abject poverty and classist society where families never link back up? Oh and Ichibei was going to do to you what he did to my father and will someday do to me. Does ANY of this seem right to you Ichigo?" he might have not had to deal with Ichigo as an enemy.

Ichibe is a fascinating character in how he is willing to do whatever needs to be done even if it’s evil. I would’ve LOVED to see some character interaction between him an Aizen because I think Aizen would absolutely hate him for what he represents. The fact he was going to throw Ichigo in the Soul King’s place is horrifying but instead we have Ywach’s corpse instead. Still so much to be explored about the SS but I think the future is positive with the new Captain Commander and changes slowly developing

Thank you for another great video analysis DBZimran. Ichibe character is an interesting character however his slightly evil hints in the story reminds me of how Aizen betrayed everyone. Plus realising what he wanted to do to Ichigo is really dark. I guess thats what makes a great villian.

The soul society isn’t a good place. Ichigo is just so naïve he literally ask no questions💀. As far as he’s concerned they’re nice to him so he doesn’t care. That’s why aizens and yhwach little comments are so great. They hint all the time about what’s wrong with soul society and nobody really listens.

Ichibei is the secret final boss

I already like Ichibei’s motives. Maintaining the balance of reality is a noble goal. I just really like the way characters are written in bleach.

Does anyone else hate the dumbest op abilities ever like it doesn’t even make it fun

He was a great gate keeper for the palace. This was because you could see how dominant his power would be and is and why he been on the top for so long. Like how they show his power you could see he was a power designed perfectly to make him rule over any shinigami and even other zero squad. Considering shingami whole society is determined by white and black

I think the biggest let down of the TYBW was the broken powers Ywach had. It just wasn't fun to read anymore as toward the end the "almighty" just beat everything. People blowing up, bankais breaking it just got so tiresome. It's like Kubo wrote himself into a corner and had no idea how to fix it, so he used the magical silver bull shit arrow to instantly solve the almighty BS.

So let's say the Quincy's win & Ichibe turns Ichigo into the new soul king what's to stop Yhwach from returning & killing him too after defeating the 0 division again?

Thanks for the thumbnail spiller

Bro has dementia as shikai and gaslight as bankai 💀

I wonder if those four eyes represent eye watching over the four realms, real world, hell, Hueco Mundo and Soul Society?

This guy and captain of squad 1 are depicted as being so strong based on their powers and past victories. Only for both of them to get shit on easily by the main antagonist. Pretty shitty imo

Never been this early, great job as always bro

If Santa Claus decided to join the Soul Society and expand his Naughty List to include everything and everyone since Adam and Eve.

I hope the light novels be animated too. So that anime only fans would get to know more. As both a reader and a watcher, I know what's going to happen. I also hope that other light novel of the timeskip be animated too. From what I saw, Ichigo's son is pretty strong too.

After seeing Yhwach vs Yama, I just KNOW Ichibei vs Yhwach is going to be godlike!

It's shows that Ichigo and the people in his circle are the ones who's moral compass is sitting in the right spot. Even urahara has always done what's "right" as opposed to Kurotsuchi who's just in it for "research"

Anime viewers have the least media literacy of any media watchers. MFers really watched the Shinigami commit genocide more than once and thought "Yes, these are the good guys"

I definitely enjoyed you including the novel material. I really hope CFYOW gets an anime adaptation at some point. It just has too much important information to leave out of the anime.

Ichibei doesn't act like he is some saint. He does what is good for all of reality and if that means letting questionable people and beings live or doing some horrendous stuff like trying to turn Ichigo into a puppet like what the Soul King would become, so be it. He is a very pragmatic character and is much more like the younger version of Yamamoto who would do anything for victory because they both understand that being leaders means doing and making the hard decisions, even if you are hated and treated like your are evil. Which is why Ichibei is my second most fav character in Bleach after Yamamoto and like my fourth most fav character in all of manga and anime after Whitebeard, Roger and Yamamoto. P.S. Let's face it, the Soul King is even more powerful then Almighty Yhwach. IF he didn't allow what happened to him to happen, who can capture him? Serious question. You can't blame Ichibei for the Soul allowing what happened to him to happen. Again, just see how powerful Almighty Yhwach was and tell me seriously, if Ichibei with million more years to develop his powers couldn't scratch him, how would any of the ancestors of the 5 great noble houses and Ichibei capture and mutilate the Soul King if he didn't allow it? Fact of the matter is, the Soul King DID think it was a great plan and frankly, unless you are telling me the 5 noble houses and Ichibei possess more power then Soul King with an even more powerful version of Almighty, you are not gonna be able to convince people the Soul king, a transcended being, didn't think peace and prosperity wasn't a good plan and state for the world.

This was very cool.

I also LOVE the few One Piece videos you have done. I hope you do more in the future

Ichibei and Yhwach are both evil. That's why Bleach is so good lol. Which "evil" is better for the world? Hm...

i don´t know why but in his fight against Yhwach i was cheering for Yhwach . : )

Best Bleach Content Creator

Im going to need a few days to absorb this WOW

But hold on, even if they turned ichigo into the soul king, THERES STILL THE PROBLEM, OF YHWACH EXISTING

I mean Ichibei had likely never faced anyone who had even a portion of a chance to defeat him. In his mind if I lose we lose but at least those kids can try. I mean the dudes power is so broken that the only way it could be defeated was with something equally broken so I don’t really blame him tbh

I actually came up with a crazy twist while creating bleach fanfic; it went something like this: Near the end of my story was that Ichibei was the true son of the Soul King and not Yhwach, with him being responsible for the scattering of all the soul king's fragments across the world, ultimately resulting in Yhwach creation. But he is not the final and true villain of my story, but rather something else and a lot deeper. He was initially given life by the Soul King, taking pieces of himself to do so, giving him his duty and the world's darkness. He did this to help defend the world from the growing hollows across the deathless world, but when the Soul King realized the stagnation of his world, he made plans to create a world to prevent this somehow. He gave Ichibei the duty of watching over whatever was made and preventing its destruction, even if the methods were wrong, then allowed himself to be mutilated to create the new world. While Ichibei dutifully followed the Soul King, he still felt guilt for his actions and sought to find a way to keep the new worlds balanced and free the Soul King from his fate. Thus he scattered the pieces of the Soul King while destroying his name given to him by the Soul King, Shin'ainaru Musuko(meaning Dearest Son), to weaken himself and create his facade as a duty-bound man who would do anything to protect the Balance of the Worlds. He hoped a new piece would become more potent than the Soul King and would hopefully kill him before replacing him. This, of course, went to hell with Yhwach, who grew too powerful and nearly destroyed everything, but that is not the point. During all this, he twisted history and his story to make it seem like he was genuinely heartless and had mercilessly watched the Soul King be mutilated without any thought. After everything is done and Yhwach becomes the new Lynchpin, he tells the Royal Guard the supposed truth while leaving out the truth behind his existence, knowing that with time they would turn against him and imprison him for his crimes. He also did this to punish himself for his inaction while keeping his promise to the Soul King to protect. He also knows that the world no longer needs him, a man of cold duty and logic, with good-hearted people like Ichigo there to defend it. In the end, he directs all the sins of the Soul Society to himself to free everyone from their burdens of them. (I know it's a wild idea, and it is doubtful he did any of this in canon, but I like the concept of Ichibei being so much more than he genuinely lets on.) P.S. Congratulations to anyone who finish this; you have long attention, and thank you for reading it.

ngl the sub reminder worked on me

Ichibei was defeated but he wasn't destroyed. His foe, despite having such a broken ability, lacked the power to finish the job. Let that set in. It means Ichibei is himself a transcendent being on about the same level as the Quincy King. But maybe not as strong as the Spirit King. As to Ichibei's allegiance...I believe Ichibei is only loyal to his duty. It is the only thing a being of such power who holds such a contentious position can be loyal to. He is the one who guards the lynchpin. That is all he is and can ever be loyal to. It leads him to being deceptive and cruel to those whom were his willing allies but the consequences of not doing his duty are so dire he has not the luxury of such things like sentiment. Dislike him for his brutal and effective methods all you like the man is in a terrible position where he must betray all so he can protect it. His punishment is the duty for which he does these terrible things.

It’s weird to find out zanpakuto can just be manufactured like that. I thought a shinigamis relationship with their zanpakuto was special and unique to each individual, and took shape depending on their soul. No wonder why in diamond rebellion there was also a guy who could use hyoinmaru.

I truely am sorry that your page only has 12% of subscribers because it does deserve so much more. I feel like your videos are much better than some of the other content creators on here and you seem to do topics before others.

My only reason for disliking ichibe is what he would've initially done to ichigo if ichigo refused to do what he wanted. Ichigo has assisted the soul society many times and saved many reapers and souls. Ichigo doesn't deserve to be treated that way, it's utterly disrespectful and dishonorable coming from a society that goes by honor and respect.

Ichibei is a primordial being and equivalent to a creator god through his acts. He doesn't follow mortal morality.

The fact that Ichibei didn't even hide his intentions to save Status Quo at any cost is mind blown. But the way he shows his diabolical nature during the battle is smth else, he's basically becoming the Devil itself and he's going to take everything (literally) away from you. And I definitely like that Squad Zero isn't depicted as some outride Good guys. That's simply impossible considering who the OG Gotei 13.

Bro actually put a spoiler on the thumbnail 🥶🥶🥶🥶

Ichibe is such a good edition to bleach dude is cracked and the personality is one of a kind

I know I’m a year late to the party, but this video just strengthens my belief that Aizen was right the entire time. He’s actually the „good guy“ in bleach

I love Ichibei even if he is evil