THE ZANPAKUTO REBELLION - The BEST Bleach Anime Filler Arc? | DISCUSSION 

So in this video I'm giving my overall thoughts and impressions of the Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc, but of course in the future, I plan to do individual videos on the arc and its characters, plus discuss the other filler arcs too! As for the question this time, it's a simple pair - what did you think of this filler arc, and which zanpakuto spirit was your favourite? Let me know!

I liked how the Zanpakutos had their reasons for rebelling and made this perfectly clear to their owners, dropping some hard truths to them about past failures or hypocrisies. It was a solid arc even if it was filler.

You telling me you don`t like the filler where Senbon sakura goes around doing mischief and Zabimaru gets blamed for it the whole time? Ending with the emotional reveal that Byakuya was kind of a prankster as a child. What an episode, true innovation!

I actually loved this arc. It was good to see the Zanpakutos as actually sentient beings. And the fights and animation were epic!

Fun fact: The main writer of the Zanpakutou Rebellion arc was Tsuyoshi Kida. The same guy wrote the original draft for the Reigai arc. He also wrote and directed 2 of the Bleach rock musicals.

I remember when the main group of shinigami accidently found Mayuri's Zanpakuto and everyone's immediate reacts was just to run away! Thinking about it still makes me chuckle

I had actually completely forgotten that the Zampakuto Rebellion arc design of Katen Kyōkotsu actually ended up becoming canon to the manga, that really is extremely cool! Also, Byakuya VS Koga is one of the best fights in the entire anime.

The reason it's my favorite filler is because not only do we get to see awesome zanpakuto spirits, but also the last battle, byakuya vs koga is just mesmerizing! His bankai looked SOOOO beautiful in that animation style

To be honest, I think the bount arc, if it wasn’t so long, is perfectly placed betweens aizens betrayal and going to hueco mundo because it gave aizen time to prep in hueco mundo since, without prior knowledge that aizen already set up base and took over hueco mundo the bount arc just gives aizen that time to make everything he achieved seem believable

I love the fact that Ryujin Jakka wasnt shown cause lets be real there isnt any physical form that could represent these immense power. And my fav spirit is porpably Kazeshini :3

I love how they hinted with Kenpachi and how he didnt get a manifested zanpakto

The Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc is probably the best filler arc I've ever seen.

The moment I saw Kyoraku’s zanpakuto lady in the manga, I was immediately so happy to think this arc is canon

When Kouga stabbed Muramasa. I felt that. He went through so much just to bring him back.

I would have liked to see Soosuke's, Kaname's and Gin's zanpakutoo spirits and their zanpakutoos thoughts about their betrayls and inner information about their masters' reasons I love this arc and it has inspirated me with so much with the idea of sentimental swords and their connection to their masters ❤ Is there any possiblity you can do "New captain" arc? It had interesting themes and characters and depths to them I loved.

I remember getting really annoyed at filler interrupting Fake Karakura Town but then this arc blew people away. It felt so weird to be excited for filler each week. Sode no Shirayuki was probably my favourite, likely on the virtue of Rukia being my favourite character. Not that they would have been in the arc at all, but it would be neat to see what Aizen or Gin's zanpakuto spirits might have looked like.

Kouga would have been an absolutely insane Captain. He could have accelerated Bankai training massively and I’d put money on him countering the Wandenreich medallions.

Nobody remembers Ashido Kano? That badass shinigami who does not have a bankai , but have a weird shikai that ingergrated with a hollow mask, yet survived living in huoco mundo... and Rukia promised to save him? Anyone remember him? Rukia don't but i'm sure somebody else here remembers.

Unless I’m wrong, I’m Pretty positive I heard that Kubo personally came up with all of the designs for the Zanpaktou Spirits. So I think technically, that makes all of their appearances and personalities canon 🤷‍♂️👀👀👏

I think my actual favorite parts are the small things, like wabiske. Kira uses a lot of very pronounced swings with wabiske but the sword spirit like sneaks up on you and just subtly gently taps someone’s sword like 6 or 7 times before they realize their sword now weighs a ton.

I think the sword beast arc gets too much hate since it had to follow this but it was fun watching the spirits going through the day with there users

This arc was quite good for no particular reason(Shunsui's zampakuto bdsm lady).

Setting aside the obvious fan service regarding Zabimaru's female form, I did think that anthropomorphizing the monkey and the snake aspects separately was an interesting dynamic. And looking back the Zanpakuto Rebellion with the context of the TYBW, I think Sōō Zabimaru's duplicity and design are meant to feel like callbacks to the Rebellion sprit designs. I think Sode no Shirayuki is probably my favorite spirit. I think her design is simple, but in the good way; clean and elegant. I definitely think Hakka no Togame is also meant to harken back to the Rebellion Arc. Or at the very least, both are supposed to evoke the yuki-onna imagery.

I think that zanpakuto's spirits have two forms, one beastly and one humanized, as zanpakuto itself changes in shikai and bankai. Just few shinigamis know about this because almost no one meditates on bankai as ichigo did in dangai. I think those spirits on the rebellion arc are the bankai spirit.

So Muramasa is my favorite character in the Bleach universe. His design, abilities and how is inner world is depicted. Which probably says more about me than the anime but I digress. There is one thing the MrTommo misses that I think everyone who has ever reviewed this arc misses is that Kouga was falsely accused and imprisoned by the elder Kuchiki and Yamamoto. Kouga saved their hides from a rebellion and then is betrayed for it. I do wish more attention would be given to this.

This is not only my favorite filler arc, it's my favorite arc in all of Bleach. I love the concept, the execution, the battles, it's gorgeous.

I appreciate these discussions. You’re the reason I got back into the anime recently and even just finished TYBW. I just need to read Can’t Fear Your Own World.

This and the reigei arc were pretty good. They had decent storylines and I still enjoy watching them every once in a while. Just recently rewatched the Reigei arc myself.

I didn't even know this arc existed until this year when I re-watched bleach on Hulu and out of nowhere it was just there

I was actually surprised when I saw Kyorako's bankai in the manga and see these 2 zanpaktou spirits from this arc and additionally Rukia's bankai who really look like the spirit of her zanpaktou.

Kouga and Muramasa's story is honestly heartbreaking. Probably one of the best written character story lines in bleach for a filler.

Despite how dirty Komamura is done in this arc, I think its inevitable that he would be defeated by Tenken as he does seem to rely on his zanpakuto more than other characters. Especially his Bankai. Without access to his bankai I couldnt see him winning.

I'd love to see this arc return as a canon movie (like Broly and Ressurecion of F), with Kubo producing or writing the script. Maybe touching more on the "blade is me" aspect of the manga. It would be perfect. While on the subject, would love to see Hell Verse done right as well.

I remember when the Bleach anime ended it was only 7 chapters behind the manga. They really were riding hard and fast

I know it's supposed to be his "Ultimate Technique" but I always wished Byakuya used the Hakuteiken more often, I think it's my favorite and definitely one of the coolest looking attacks in the whole series. So I was obviously really happy that he used in this arc.

I was not that crazy about this particular filler arc. It wasn't terrible, but I felt like it really made a major shift from everything we had thus far learned about the core concepts of Zanpakuto, and the world-building that underlay them. I get the sensibility behind it in that the Zanpakutos all had valid reasons behind their rebellion, but it didn't really make sense how they were suddenly able to manifest themselves, why so many had different forms than before (particularly the explanation behind the fanservice-y new look of Zabimaru was so thin and facile). The other thing is that it opens up so many implications for what Zanpakutos can actually do and be on their own that opens up the question of why this didn't happen sooner, or why it couldn't easily happen again. Finally, when the canon brought more details to light about how Zanpakuto are actually forged, it starts to make the nature of the rebellion even more confusing. My sort of controversial view is that the Bount Arc is arguably the best of the filler arcs. One thing about it is that it is internally coherent. It doesn't really break the world-building of Bleach in any significant way because it is pretty self-contained. It fits in well from a timing aspect as it would explain why Aizen would have all the time needed to assemble forces prior to the Hueco Mundo arc. The only real implication is the addition of yet another race with yet another form of inexplicable spiritual powers; which I feel anyway happened within canon with the advent of Fullbringers. But by doing it this way, it doesn't really damage anything already set forth about the existing races within the Bleach universe. I also feel that the arc as a whole highlighted Ichigo's primary weakness -- he's mentally fragile and his lack of experience and shallow comprehension of his powers makes for weak scaffolding.

This is what a filler arc should be. It's not the main story but it adds so much lore and history to already established characters. And in the end everyone reverts back to their main story selves, yet we as the watcher have more understanding of their, needs, wants, vulnerabilities etc.

It was a great filler arc. The interesting fact also is that when it came to Zanpakuto's spirits Zaraki was nowhere to found. Also makes you think that Ginrei was used more in filler arc than canon story which is a disappointment. I didn't liked that some Zanpakuto's like Toshiro's and Renji's spirit forms were humanized and that's probably because we saw them in canon story as creatures. Two biggest mysteries? Ryujin Jakka and Minazuki. I think they didn't used them like other Zanpakuto for the sake of intrigue but always wondered what would have Ryujin Jakka looked like. As always interesting video. Keep up the good work MrTommo.

My favorite moment is when old man Zangetsu has the look of "Oh no you don't" when he realizes White is actually cooperating with Ichigo willingly for once so that part of the fight made me think he intentionally lost just to regain control just like how two kids fight for the attention of thir parent(s)

The zanpakuto arc is easily the best filler arc in bleach

I wish this arc was canon, but I dont know where in the canon story it would go, maybe between the Arancar and Fullbring arc, like the last anime filler arc?

I loved the Zanpakuto Rebellion filler arc, watched it twice. Once when I was watching Bleach and then again after finishing the anime.

Despite being a filler arc, this was a very important one because it had so many foreshowing for thousand year blood war arc. Like this could've easily fit in well after the fight with Aizen.

I’ll go as far as saying that the Zanpakutō Rebellion Arc is the best filler arc of *ANY* anime.

I wish all bleach filler revolved around exploring the court gaurd squads characters into more depth like this. :')

The koga vs byakuya fight was pure gold

I didn't know this arc even existed. I started reading the Manga at around volume 20 because that was where the story ended with the dvds at the time. Plus the books were cheaper. And waaaaaaaaaaay better. I might have to look for some cheap dvds!

Definitely my favorite arc. I think of it as Canon because it serves as character development for all characters involved. I love how you learn to not like muramasa, then at the end you feel sorry for him.

Mr Tommo, could you do a video about your dream BLEACH game? Talking about: Combat mechanics, aesthetics, games modes, roster, etc. In my humble opinion I believe a competitive BLEACH fighting game would be phenomenal, either a 2.5D like Guilty Gear, or a 3D one like DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3. Keep up the great work.

The Zanpakuto Rebellion and the Regai arc are definitely the best. I'd even consider the Regai arc canon even though it conflicts with mod souls creation in the blood war arc. Heck, I think I've watched both filler arcs more than the canon arcs. Lol.

This is how you do fillers-managed even to canonize the spirits of the Zonpakutos. My favourite has to go to Haineko and Senbonzakura cause of the incredible-looking design that he has. Koga coming out of nowhere wasn't altogether shocking and is fitting to see him and his relative* fighting and that Byakuya stopped his relative from dishonouring the Kuchiki name.

Finally, finally, someone talking about my favourite filler arc. This is actually my most re-watched bleach arc. Favorite Zanpakutō - Kazeshini

To clarify your memory of exactly when in the manga this was, the episode where it was Kenpachi vs. Byakuya was the same week that they were squaring up to fight in the manga during the Yammy fight.

I love that Momo got some spotlight in this arc

For a filler arc, the animation seen in the Byakuya vs Koga fight is downright movie level stuff

One thing I noticed that the zanpakuto that were defeated by their soul reaper are the ones who achieve bankai. Think about it the method to achieve bankai is to externalizing the zanpakuto spirit and subjugating the spirit in a dual of the spirit's choice. Ichigo, Renji, Byakuya, Toshiro, Ikkaku they achieve bankai so naturally they defeat their zanpakuto on their own

Regai for me. Loved the storyline, the animation, the fights between the copies of the captains was very EPIC and the development for Kon. But the Zanpukatou Arc was very intersting, getting the chance to see everybody Zanpakuto forms as well as the interesting past of Muramusa. Most filler arcs in any Anime, aren't always exciting, but these two were different some of the rare exceptions.

I love the arc because we get to see sides of the characters we wouldn't see otherwise. We get to kind of see their relationship to themselves and their power as well as their zanpakuto's personalities, which show us new sides to their personalities. I really liked the episode (can't remember which one) where senbonzakura destroys so much of the seiretei, because it shows that the more impulsive and short tempered byakuya from turn back the pendulum is still reflected in his zanpakuto, and I thought that was cool (and really funny).

This is actually one of my favorite arcs in anime. The idea is absolutely fantastic.

So far, im loving it thank you again tommo

The Zanpakuto Rebellion is easily the best filler arc in "Bleach." Heck, I'm more willing to to consider it canon than most parts of the TYBW arc. It's hard to choose a favorite zanpakuto spirit, but I think I'll name Katen Kyokatsu in this case. Not just because she's the zanpakuto of one of my favorite characters, but because of the way she was used as foreshadowing of Kyoraku's powers and inclinations towards "games," which had yet to be revealed in the anime at the time. While most of the plot is an excuse to have shinigami battle their zanpakuto, the reason it's so compelling is because how it well done they all were. While it's hard to pick favorites in this arc, stand-outs for me include Ichigo teaming up with his Hollow self against Zangetsu, Rangiku & Hinamori against Haineko & Tobiume as their insecurities are addressed, Kira psyching out Kazeshini and grinning in such a way that reminds you he was Gin's lieutenant, and of course the final battle between Koga and Byakuya. One aspect I think you missed was how much Ginrei and Koga's relationship paralleled Byakuya and Rukia's. They are both driven shinigami who were not born Kuchiki but married/adopted into it, and they both are desperate to win the approval of their respective Kuchiki leader, and they both have feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. There's even a scene between Ginrei & Koga where the latter is reporting his successes and hoping for praise, but Ginrei merely stoically acknowledges with his back turned, a direct reference to an earlier scene where Rukia is reporting to Byakuya about her acceptance into the Thirteenth Division, only to be met with cold acknowledgement. To me, the way they did Ginrei & Koga's relationship was an excellent and tragic example of what *could* have happened between Byakuya and Rukia, if there had been no second chance for reconciliation between them. And you have a point in that Koga's design as a villain was influenced by Aizen, but one commonality in particular stood out to me. One of Koga's main motivations before he went nuts was to use his power to change the world, and Muramasa even tells Koga something along the lines of, "If the world won't accept you, then change the world so it will." When Aizen is defeated and sealed away, one of his rants to Urahara is, "Only losers accept the world as it is; winners change the world to their liking!" The funny thing is, I'm pretty sure this anime scene predated even the manga release of Aizen's defeat, so that meant this time, Aizen was the one influenced by Koga. It's actually lead to my head-canon that Koga may have in fact influenced a young Aizen. Personally, I don't think you give the Beast Swords mini-arc enough credit. Yes, the animation quality dipped, and the stories are a mixed bag, but there are some gems. For one, I actually like how they showed the aftermath of the battles in "Bleach," and the various reconstruction efforts that needed to take place. My personal favorite episode was the one with Nanao and Lil' Katen Kyokatsu; it's a nice bonding session that holds a lot more weight after a certain revelation in the TYBW arc. I'm glad you did a video on this, and I look forward to next one as you go more in depth with them!

So the Zanpakuto rebellion ark is my favorite arc in the entire series, manga or anime. A close second is the part of the TYBW when we met Oetsu, and he repaired the broken Zanpakuto. Zanpakuto fascinated me, and still do, and so seeing them in these new ways... it was so exciting for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Zanpaktou Rebellion arc. It gave you insight of the relationship between a Shinigami and the Zanpaktou. The insight gave you the understanding of how the Shikai and Bankai is allowed to the wielder.

This filler was honestly my favorite to the point that I always end up rewatching the episodes I liked the most to this day. Hands down definitely the best filler arc. Really happy you decided to cover it.

Having skipped this arc, I might actually go back and rewatch this. You sell it pretty well. Great video as always too!

This was the only filler arc that i actually enjoyed watching.

Sasakibe's bankai, Kyoraku's double zanpakuto and a foreshadowing of Nanao being a rightful owner of Kyokotsu, Unohana's zanpakuto taking a form of a creepy-ass hood, Sode no Shirayuki being a literal teaser of Rukia's bankai, Mayuri being able to bring back broken zanpakuto, a hint of Yachiru being a manifested spirit of Zaraki's sword, and ANOTHER foreshadowing of Hollow Ichigo being a true Zangetsu. Did I forget any other example of TYBW foreshadowing?

So happy with a new video, it is my birthday so it kinda feels like a present

Unpopular opinion : First half of Bounts arc was good, even if it seems to be another anime (more vampire atmosphere, ost etc...)

Whenever my friends say they just want to read the manga I still always recommend watching this filler arc because for me this is the most beautiful one.

I like the fake gotei 13 arc a bit more but this arc is still great and I love it. One of my favorite anime fillers and one of the only I cared too watch

This is my favorite Arc in the whole anime and Muramasa is absolutely my favorite character in the whole series

Thanks for the video

I've been hoping you'd review and maybe rank the filler. I think the Bount arc had amazing potential. Actually, a lot of the bleach filler had good potential

Great job mate!!! I look forward to your stuff every week. Between your videos and playing Brave Souls it has really reignited my love for Bleach!

I remember this filler coming out and I was so confused cause I think I was like 14 or something and I was like "what happen? did I miss everything?" I ended up enjoying the filler arc and this is my favorite filler arc. I was so happy when the anime started back up again xD

Muramasa's character design reminds me of Lelouch Lamperouge of code geass 0, based on my personal opinion. Hes also a sentimental badass, this arc hooked me up immediately as soon as i saw him came out on the series, he's power made this arc so interesting. this one is a hidden GEM!!!

One of the best filler arcs ever. & kinda surprised nobody ever really covers the "Diamond Dust Rebellion" movie

First channel I've became a member of, keep it up mate 👍

It's funny that you uploaded this because I'm wrapping up watching this arc right now lol

Man I really love this arc also, one of the reasons is in the arc they snuck in the bonus chapter for Hitsugaya. If I remember correctly As soon as they announced movie 2 they also released that bonus chapter to boost hype for the movie, man that was like 2007-ish. Seeing it get animated as told by the small captain was nice to an already fun arc.

I felt like it started off incredibly interesting and i def wanted to see how each zanpakuto manifested, but like most filler arks it kinda drug on for too long and had a lackluster ending that by the time we got to it I was just bored and ready to get back to the main story.

You're a legend for your videos. Thank you very much

I really enjoyed this arc. Sode no Shirayuki is my favorite. She's beautiful. And the fight between Byakuya and Kouga was really well done.

When I went through bleach I purposely skipped all the filler cause I wanted to just follow the story. This filler is the only one I went back to watch and it was so dope

This arc let me know how powerful Zaraki was EVEN MORE

Thanks for the new videos keep it coming. This isn't my favorite filler arc that would the reigai arc, that being said I do have a deeper appreciation for the zanpakuto rebellion arc now since I've watched this.

This filler and the Bount filler was so good I thought it was actually part of the anime

While the beast sword arc was bad, it had what is probably my favorite non combat moment in bleach, the moment i refer to as kazeshini vs baby. It's because you have the edgy character that is kazeshini and he gets roped into taking care of a baby and he cares for it, legitimately. Knowing what we do now about the true nature of hisagi's shikai, I think it also stumbled across an accidental form of foreshadowing, because while kazeshini can bring death, and has the blades to prove it, he ends up caring for the baby, which is representative of life, and actually ends up resolving his character arc by realizing that not everything has to be about killing things, which is largely how they portrayed him throughout the earlier bits.

Such a cool filler arc! It was the only filler arc to get me hyped with all the Zanpakto Spirits! I also loved how it had such a strong impact that it bits of this became canon! Makes me happy! x3

Oh my God I just realized, when Ichigo was training with Zangetsu, it's on good took on the form very reminiscent of what ichigo's mastered Hollow form looks like in the Thousand-Year blood war.

Thank you so much for warning about the spoilers Love that

I loved Rukia and her zanpakuto's story and I also loved Byakuya's triple agent storyline

I really loved muramasa as a villain

I like it too it showed what many zanpaktos look like that we never seen before

Great video i love your work 😁

Would love to see you talk about the Bounts, I liked that arc

I found the arc fun. It’s my 2nd fav arc in Bleach after Soul Society.

Yes yes yes!!! It was very special to see the characters gain a deeper love and respect and eventually a stronger power by bonding on a different level. Absolutely fantastic. It also gave headway to why final getsu was so sad. This was emotionally charged and well presented. I loved seeing how silly so many of them were

I'm so glad you made this video, all my friends always shit on these arcs and I can't help but love them. There are little bits and pieces from every one of the filler arcs that just make Bleach that much better. I'm definitely in it for comedy on top of the serious stuff. Really liked the Kasumiogi arc Rurichio and her two guardians were some of.my favorites from that arc.