Zanpakuto: The Power System Made for Character Writing 

I like how Soifon's is representative of her true inner self rather than to cold stoic assassin she's supposed to be, more so since she's prone to flying off the handle for very trivial reasons. Her explosive warhead is suitable for a desperate last stand situation while she operates far better with her standard skills.

Ichigos shikai being constant release would be well explained by his shikai representing his rather frank and blunt personality. Akin to wearing his emotions on his face. its all seemingly there on the surface. Which would contrast his bankai which is sorta the idea that there is so much mor to ichigo underneath the surface. Which is why it forms differently like wrapping around ichigo. Because his whole thing is protection characterized by his mothers death. So his power manifests as something that wraps around him as if an embrace, because zangetsu and ichigo are all about protection.

I really like the idea of the Shikai being a reflection on who you are on the surface, while the Bankai is a reflection of your true self. It makes the variety we see within the series of those who have Shikai and Bankai which are very similar and those who are very different, a great way to showcase character writing. The whole idea of the key to unlocking one's true power by going through introspection and accepting yourself, is a really good and compelling way to illustrate both someone achieving both power-ups and character development.

A connection can be made with the 11th division members where all of them revolve around hiding their abilities. We know Yumichika calls it a different name to hid it's more kido form, Ikakku hides his bankai out of fear of being forced to leave the 11th division and that can be seen in the slow start of his Bankai requiring effort to reach full power and Zaraki hides his power through subconscious limitations.

When you talked about how the Zanpakuto's ability can reflect relationship between characters, it reminded me of something that I don't see talked about often. When Isane described what ability she thought Kyoka Suigetsu had, she explains it as being one that confuses foes, causing them to fight each other. If that sounds familiar, it's because that is similar to Shinji's Bankai where it reverses friend and foe. And another one is Tosen's Bankai which robs your sense of sight, hearing, and spiritual pressure, unless you are holding Suzumushi. And what is the one way to escape Kyoka Suigetsu? Touching the blade.

Thank you for this cool video. Since he's my favorite character, I'm gonna go a bit deep and share my interpretation of Shunsui's Zanpakuto. The central theme comes from the double entendre of the word "Play", in his Shikai referring to playing a game, while his Bankai is a theatrical play. This overall however ties into again a shallow and more internal view into how Shunsui views the world sometimes as a game and sometimes as a theatrical plot, both with their proper players. In battle Shunsui is the "player," consistently chatting with and goading his opponents in his little games. Outside of battle however he is the "player" who sees the overall plots and tries to step up to whatever role that is needed of him at the moment. Beyond that however, Shunsui's relationship to rules is also important. Rules define both the ways games and theatre function. You can't have either without them. And yet Shunsui is introduced breaking rules. He wears a flamboyant adornment over the captain's uniform, challenges the captain commander, allows Chad to live all in his introduction. Then by the end of the series he IS the rules. He is the captain commander. And yet he is challenging the rules still in freeing Aizen. There's the duality, fitting for a man with a dual shikai. To me Shunsui is the ultimate contradiction. Simultaneously the law and an outlaw, with very strong pirate and cowboy imagery. Simultaneously silly and deathly serious. Living in the gray while brandishing the pink. In a series about identity, he is, in the sense of games, theatre, and (unsuccessfully) with women, The Player.

Really, when I think about it, a huge part of the reason I love Bleach as much as I do is because the power system is almost entirely based around magical swords and their relationships with their wielders. It's like that whole concept was made for me, and I'm not sure I'm envious or grateful that someone came up with it before I did. I've come up with similar ideas for (alas, unfinished) fantasy novel projects but I only recently started to realize how specific my tastes are in this regard.

Ikomikidomoe and the original iteration of Zangetsu are fundamentally similar in my eyes. CFYOW mentions how before the creation of zanpaktou; Oetsu would attempt to transform Ikomikidomoe into an asauchi, only to stop cause he couldn’t figure out to get rid of one’s identity and aimed to seal him in a sword instead. Aizen many years later would make a hollowfied asauchi with White, by creating an asauchi and hollowing it. To me this adds credence to Oetsu’s words about how Ichigo had made it as far as he did without an asauchi, because what Aizen created works as an asauchi, but it doesn’t fit Oetsu’s definition of what an asauchi is. Though it does make me wonder which came first, Oetsu’s version of zanpaktou or the zanpaktou that arrancar manifest when they transform from regular hollows? Edit: Fantastic video btw.

2 things I'd love to get your opinion on. 1. Why do you think Sosuke Aizen never got a Bankai release? There's a lot of theories surrounding it, including the belief that it was always in Bankai and he was lying. I personally believe it shows that Aizen was so unwilling to confront the reality of his nature (to be understood) that he literally couldn't speak to his own soul. What are your thoughts? 2. Piggybacking off that, why do you think Nozarashi manifested herself to Kenpachi in the first place? Also have you ever thought about doing a (expanded) breakdown of Kenpachi? He's such a fascinating character and is (in my opinion) the quintessential proof that Kubo had at least 80% of this planned since the very beginning. His very first fight with Ichigo spells out that Yachiru is his zanpakuto spirit and it's probably blatant looking back in hindsight.

The infamous phrase “ a sword is a warrior’s soul” Is strongly sensed in Bleach of all anime

I love these little analyses/guides- even if I understand them in concept, every video you put out about it brings it it's own excellent observations and ideas that deserve exploring. Beautiful video!

Great video, i love the mention of unohana because she is the most interesting case for zanpakto relationships for me. We dont know her shikai release command and her shikai and bankai have the same name to symbolize thats literally who she is. She both of those diametrically opposed personas struggling to understand herself

Wake up Honey Fiji uploaded again

@R7dman yesterday rewatched the blade is me ep. And when old man zangetsu say "I am neither Allie or foe" and then it clicked...of course he isn't bad or good he is ichigo soul...souls change but there never separated. I am an addict and was abused.. I had to split my soul.. Fake smiles, having long hair to cover me from others..(hollow mask) sorry I love Bleach so much I rambled here😂

The concept of characters that have similar Shikai and Bankai connection being honest with themselves vs. the ones that are different representing hidden natures is such an amazing concept i never realized. I know everyone would break the internet if Aizen’s Bankai would ever be revealed and now I wonder if Kubo certainly never will because it may reveal too much about the character. Seriously the Zanpakto is one of my favorite concepts in fiction. A weapon so personalized that absolutely drips with symbolism and character meaning. It’s magnificent

Man my highlight of manga was reading the “Big Three” Weekly, so it always nice to discover new things about story’s / manga I never knew before.

Great vid! Now I finally understand why Ichigo feels like #1 (instrumental) :’)

Aw man. Though Im not a fans theorizing vids viewer myself, and actually run from any type of theorizing about anime. I cant keep golden rule this time. Since your explanations on shikai and bankai and the kind of shinigami who attains them, are intertwined with their personality and how a duplicitous shinigami s powers acts. I cant not think about Jūshirō, whose shikai was a perfect mirror. Its not like he strikes me as a duplicitous individual, but he's very very nuanced and layered personality wise. And his Mimihagi powers are no joke, i cant not suspect that his Bankai could have something to do with overwhelming offensive. The wrath of Mimihagi could perfectly have something to do in it, since Ukitake and Mimihagi are contained, alive and kicking in Ukitake s frail body. And he s shown to be an extremely capable despite his illness. I dont think Shunsui dropped the idea of releasing his Bankai when Jūshirō talked him out off it, just out of friendship and status quo abiding behaviour when it came to his relationship with other shinigami hes looked up to, like Unohana, Ukitake and Yama-ji. I think it has to do with Jūshirō s real power. Kyoraku might do or die with his powers, but Jūshirō s shikai is efficiente and has a tamed use to it. How cant i guess his Bankai could be an all hell breaks loose kinda untamable one?. Love your take on Bleach s lore, Radman. Another SO rad video ovahere, My Man.

would be cool to see a video on the Arrancar Zanpakutos, as each Arrancar's Zanpakuto embodies their aspect of death and in a way, their reason for existence. The blade is shaped from the part of the mask that is ripped off, and the mask is formed from the heart that was lost when they became hollows. So essentially an Arrancar's sword is a reflection of their lost heart.

I honestly think reiryoku is my favorite power system in manga. It’s simple, yet there is a lot of applications for it that bring opportunities for world building. Reiatsu is always great to see, Kubo does a great job portraying an abstract concept like sensing energy, the art makes the reader feel the weight just as the characters are. Every type of enemy they fight having their own little power system is always fun and spices up arcs but the best one is ofc zanpakutos. I mean, swords that go super saiyan 1 and 2? Sign me up. I also love how the abilities each sword has range from creative to simple. Seeing complicated powers like Kyoraku’s Bankai is always awesome because of the sheer scope of it, but that makes it all the better when you have something be so powerful when all it does is compress your power into the sword instead of having it explode out. Bankai is iconic for a reason and I love that Kubo never went ALL IN on giving characters one. It made it feel more special when someone’s was revealed, and I think in the end, the right characters got theirs.

Shikai is a representation of how you present yourself to others, your persona, Bankais is the "release of the true self", remember, the blade IS me, it's the release of the blade but also the real persona of the wilder

Amazing video! Bleach has been my favorite series and it’s extremely in depth and interesting power system is why. Can’t wait for the videos on the Arrancar, Quincy, and Fullbringer power systems as well!

The analysis I've been waiting for ! The concept of your very being contextualized as a weapon and your power is amazing

Hope this goes VIRAL. Amazing video bro

This is one of your/the best videos I've ever watched. Masterful work

Nice to see someone so excited to talk about a subject, very good video man

Thank you for this video and all u make! Helps me with my writing journey 🎉❤

Just a couple thoughts... 1. Idt anyone is ever gonna fully agree on Unohana's Bankai. I've always taken it as the Bankai giving Unohana infinite auto-regen and an offensive upgrade with the blood slashes. Others think there's an acidic property to it as it would fit the theme of Minazuki's shikai ability involving its stomach acids, but outside of Zaraki and Unohana appearing as skeletons for a moment (which I believe to be a visual metaphor for them being stripped down to their basic instincts and desires more than something literally happening) I don't remember acid being mentioned or alluded to at any point after her shikai ability being explained in the SS Arc. 2. I would really love to see if, when, and how Shukai is ever implemented into the canon story as well as if we get some kind of retcon to say that Dangai Ichigo was actually a form of Shukai. Outside of the ritual and the name, the effects fit... Shukai meaning mastered release, Shinigami and Zanpakuto being bonded at the deepest level, 100x power increase from Shikai, never being able to use said power again... According to the Bleach wiki, Nimaya is the only one capable of performing the ritual to unlock it, but Ichigo is and always will be a special case. Idk... my headcanon is running wild right now. Edit: I commented before I finished the video. I absolutely love the connection to other people being thematically presented in the zanpakuto as well. And on Ichigo... just personal preference, but I would've loved to see his original Bankai return as his sealed zanpakuto if only to see him release it into its true shikai once.

This video was a banger, thank you!!

na radman you are a generational talent on youtube please stay consistent 😂

The power system of bleach is both genius and cool, it has the cool factor, it leads to great fights due to very varied powers ala jojo and whats more the powers, what they represent what they do and how to increase them are all married to the character and character development. Is one of the best power systems, as it not only serves the action part of the story perfectly by having diverse weapons and powers to create interesting fights and be able to match interesting abilities vs interesting abilities, but the powers are so personal to the character that it even serves as a medium for top tier character development, additionally it feels so cathartic for the reader when they understand more a character and this leads to see their powers in a new light or understand a bit more of their powers and putting the character's character in a new light. It is just magnificent. And not only zanpakuto, hollows and what they represent, how they work and evolve also leads to very good character writting. How nuanced the shinigami and soul society are, serving a necessary service for the continuation of the world but at the same time being an evil organization that is responsible of the current state of the world needing them, it adds soo much nuance to have the allies of the hero being this ultra shady government. Heck, even fullbringers are cool as they also represent things about the character and so do schrifts. Resurrecciones also tell a lot of the character, like how Nell is chivalrous or how Nnoitra likes to hide cards to deal surprise attacks and fight dirty. It is just magnificent, and what is more, there are some baseline techniques for usual dragon ball style fighting so that it doesn't get stale with battles of hax. So it has the charm of dragon ball fights, the charm of jojo fights and it allows for character development and character writting trough their powers in the middle of the fight, also leads to debates of ideologies between characters trough the fight itself. It is just... genius.

I absolutely love how much Bleach has finally been speaking to people lately. RU-vid has been getting a lot of good video essays of people that finally get what it is more than people did 10, 20 years ago. I think it is great. I had a mini-book club thing with one of my best friends while it was coming out for a big while. We would talk about it every day a chapter released during the entirety of the Hueco Mundo arc. Whenever I saw people talk about it in a simplistic sense it always bothered me because I never felt like people were absorbing it for what it was, or even seeing that itwas deeper than surface level like most shonen. And I sure am glad that TYBW seems to have reignited something in people. The first thing I'd like to note is how, out of the gate, Zampakuto and Hollow Masks are diametrically opposed as power systems, and why it took someone like Aizen to finally blur the line between the two. The Hollow Mask is literally putting up a mask. It's souls in deep despair that start pretending they aren't human anymore so their suffering doesn't bother them anymore. You can't have a power that is all about self-honesty and hide behind a mask at the same time. Therefore the two groups that blur the lines are the group that grew up wearing masks and willingly decide to remove it, and the group that was brough up honest but has to put up a front that they still feel empowered in spite of the hand they were dealt. The thing about Ichigo is that he is never not himself, and hence isn't 'sealed'. He might not know everything there is to know, but that never stops him from being a honest person. He doesn't lie about his hair even if he gets beaten. He doesn't lie about his alliances even if it means danger. He doesn't lie about his powers even if puts him at risk. He doesn't lie about what he wants even if it gets him enemies. The second thing I'd like to talk about is how metaphorical the name "Bleach" itself is. To Bleach is to turn white. The captain coat is white. Hollows are white. Quincy are white. Ginjo's released form is mostly white. A corpse is pale. The King of Souls is white. It inherently speaks of transitioning points of view. Ichigo is a bigger character because he communicates with all other groups in a way or another, which is something that the factions don't do. The third thing is actually a point of praise. Most written works of fiction like these *demand* that characters exposite the truth to the reader. Characters in Bleach can only tell "truth" as much as they understand it, and because it often is either way too introspective or waaaaay too much into reading someone else's mind, they are constantly wrong. All Captains have a "gotcha" moment where their blade actually works differently than what other people presumed it did. Not because they were lying, but because they didn't understand it. The "constant release" and the "twin blades" are exactly that, misunderstandings of what someone else is, does or wants. Ichigo is entirely complex and I could discuss him for hours. Most people think of him as being "mixed all races" which is completely wrong, as Bleach doesn't really have races, it's more like a job system. Whilst the interaction with White during his gestation did grant him different reiatsu; that of a Fullbringer; that doesn't really mean that White, as a Vasto Lorde, is exactly within him; instead, it made it so that Zangetsu took the form of an inverse color Ichigo. Though it would come as a big plot twist later, all the pieces are there from day one. Zangetsu not only looks exactly like Ichigo as a spirit, it also teaches Ichigo absolutely everything there is to know about Zangetsu. The manifestation of a bloodthirsty demon is more or less a power of Zangetsu than it is actually Hollowification. "Old Man Zangetsu" is a tiny bit of Ywach, inherited from his mother. It's that part of Ywach that is the most manipulative thing inside of him, not the Hollow. Interestingly enough, when Ywach leaves, we get "Tensa Zangetsu" as a kid, and not as an old man anymore. And that is really trully interesting, isn't it? "Zangetsu" and "Tensa" are two separate things, but they still reflect Ichigo as a whole. The kid that always accepted he was born somewhat with mixed ethinicity (Hence why he has ginger hair), and his rebel side that faced death from an early age. Compare the evolution of the released blades Ichigo has through the sagas: Soul Society through Hueco Mundo: A Shikai that consists from a massive blade that IS WRAPPED in white cloth. A bankai that consists from a tiny blade with a broken chain. Full Bringer: A massive blade with a broken chain. A tiny blade with a broken chain. After The Blade is Me: A massive blade with a tiny blade as a scabbard. A massive blade that used the scabbard as an extention of the blade. The Zampakuto Spirit character arc told there is rather plain to see: Massive potential that is being kept under wraps (likely symbolizing Ywach). A tiny portion of true potential unchained; when he manages to break free from the traditional way of tapping into his power and therefore without the same restraints, Zangetsu changes to not have a scabbard, but it is not completely free as he still is coming to terms with his place in the world. Finally he reconciles both sides of him and now he can weaponize the scabbard. What was a retraint before is now a source of power.

Rather than Ichigo having a true constant release type zanpakuto, what if he doesn't have a sealed state instead? When Ichigo gained his power initially, the hilt & blade looked like Rukia's except for the fact it was unnaturally large. When Ichigo loses his power initially because of Byakuya and goes through Urahara's training, that sword disappears and we see his OG shikai from then on. Even when Zangetsu has been reforged, the sealed state is never revealed or mentioned. It would make sense if Zangetsu never really had a true sealed state, as if there was, clues would be around to figure it out. (Alternatively, the big OG katana from the first arc could have been acting as a sealed state, but not actually part of Zangetsu.

Zanpakto goes further after Bankai there is a partial fusion of it with the user (Tensa Zangetsu"s chained around Dangai Ichigo's arm and blade that merged with Aizen's hand) There is also full fusion where you become one with your Zanpakto spirit like how Ichigo's mugetsu or how Aizen did it permanently since now there is no need to look at the blade's release to be under illusion, all it takes is to look at Aizen himself now

Thanks for the video. It's a great analysis. I enjoyed it a lot.

I have learned a lot abt storytelling from you thank you

Amazingly put video, very well spoken

incredible video my guy

4:17 Also, snakes attack by LUNGING REAL FAST!

What a great video. This answered my question as to what the difference is between Shinigami and Regular Souls in Rukongai.

I can't believe even after obsessing over this series for so many years I'm still making huge revelations about it.

Great discussion!

18:50 these parallels are AMAZING!

you and flameofrebirth are the best bleach youtubers in terms of understanding the writing and story of the series, some time i believe that hxh and bleach are almost too complex for the typical battle shonen fans which often get people not interested in the storys which i always hate but this video was amazing thanks for making it also can we PLEASE get a bleach hell arc theory video because the bleach drought got me needing something lmao (also more hxh theories :) )

I think Ichigo's Zanpakuto being in constant release is due to Hollow Zangetsu (what I call him) being... well... a Hollow that acquired Hollow/Shinigami hybrid Powers. If you think about it, Arrancar are Hollows that have hybrid Hollow/Shinigami powers who's Zanpakuto only have one level of release, being that Ressureccion works like a Bankai for Arrancar. And what is Hollow Zangetsu? A Hollow that attained hybrid Hollow/Shinigami powers who's Zanpakuto only has one real level of release. The same logic can also be applied to Quincy Zangetsu, as Quincy Vollstandig is the equivalent to a Bankai with only one level of release. So, in a way, the big cleaver Zangetsu is Ichigo's "sealed" Zanpakuto, while Tensa Zangetsu is his Bankai/Ressureccion/Vollstandig all in one.

My goat is this man here, every time he speaks it's always the truth!

Ōetsu not having a shown Zanpakutō is interesting and I think it might have to do with Shinto mythology from bits and pieces I’ve heard. Take it with a grain of salt, but in Shinto myth, the kami credited with teaching smiths to make and work iron, Kanayago-kami, is jealous of women. She is so jealous that a smith in charge of iron production is not allowed to even use the same bath his wife uses and women were not allowed to enter the forge while it was in use. Ōetsu’s part of the Royal Palace is filled with Zanpakutō that take the form of beautiful women, yet the forge itself is empty, save for Zanpakutō that aid him in reforging Ichigo’s Zangetsu. These Zanpakutō spirits are all women and are the only women we ever see enter his forge. All this is to say that these spirits may be his Kanayago-kami; they may all be his Zanpakutō spirits as Shinigami like Shunsui have multiple, or they may be his Zanpakutō’s spirit divided, sort of like how Yachiru was an outward manifestation of Zaraki’s sword’s spirit. It may be that Ōetsu is unable to properly call upon his Zanpakutō so long as he remains as a swordsmith - that he requires it’s spirit in this divided or projected form to continue on as a smith. It also may have to do with not impressing his own spirit into the Asauchi - keeping his Zanpakutō spirit divided so as to not impart any of its nature on the blades and warp how it bonds to potential Shinigami. Also, I like to think Nozarashi is shaped the way it is because of Zaraki’s fight with Ichigo in the Soul Society Arc. Nozarashi’s Shikai is shaped like half of Ichigo’s original Shikai, and in that original fight Zaraki split Zangetsu in half after stabbing Ichigo through it. This was also where Zaraki first tried to commune with his Zanpakutō’s spirit - after learning from his first defeat in a while at the hand’s of Ichigo.

Bankai being damaged permanently ties them to Ressurecion. Cirruci stated that damage to the Arrancar's released form was permanent. Yachiru is technically Kenpachi's Zanpakuto Spirit. The man manifested his spirit before learning Shikai & maintained it for decades. I like to think everybody can accomplish what Yamamoto did - a Bankai with multiple modes or forms. Especially for those with Bankai that seem opposed to their Shikai, it'd be interesting if they could reconcile their outer & inner selves to unlock new forms & techniques. Ichigo's full powers were restrained by Old Man Zangetsu, and he was theoretically drawing on his Quincy/Fullbringer potential. It's likely that the original version of Zangetsu was akin to the Quincy bows (though since it was able to perform Konso I'm assuming it didn't perma-kill the Hollows he slew). Always made me wonder if manifesting blades could be part of his power set (and it'd be interesting to see a version of Ichigo that received a Schrift - B: The Blade)

Cant wait for the Arrancar one!!

after the blade is me ichigo does have a sealed form for zangetsu its just only showed after the time skip, its the sword that looks like his false zanpakuto

Absolutely cooked can’t wait for the video on schrifts

10:57 WHOA

Wasnt it explained by kubo that ichigo zanpaktou no longer have a "true form" anymore Like its form is based on ichigos mood or needs Like he can just make it dissapear and reapear if he wants to like hes fully one with his( the same with aizen) Meaning they are the only two that have achieved the truest form of the zanpaktou Ichigo just choosed the form he used to A weapon type While aizen can just use his body to use his

We never did get a release command for Zangetsu…

Thank you for the glorious meal 🙏🏼

Thanks!

Wow man you aren't just any ordinary Bleach fan.You're a super fan🤩 Thats awesome because a lot of people don't seem to get the deep writing behind this show and the fact that you just like Flame of Rebirth,DBZImran and JamesHamson understand it completely just makes me very happy.Thank You for this info

You got this Bleach shit on lock like usual another great video 🔥

Fantastic

Awesome video, and this man is trying to take over Nimaiya's job lul

Redman pulling the Bankai of his contant with Kubology deep dives . 🔥🔥🔥

I would like to hear Ichigo's release command, I usually go for "protect"

@R7dman waitt?? You had a picture of ulquiorra with the verb of fraud....if it was intentional or not ill lie to myself either way 😂

That's why he is the main man, that's why he is number 1, that's why he is the best character in the series. Yes, Ichigo is him

Bleach is legit the greatest most underrated and under appreciate series out there. There's always something new I learn with this series even after all these years of digging.

This applies to a lot of power systems really.

I also believe why ichigo has a clad type bankai due to OG White ichigo. Hebhad black armor and after each battle he got smart and faster....hmmm doea that sounds firmilar

Ichigos permanent shikai might be because of his holow powers, like how the arancars most often had 1 release that was equivalent to a bankai.

15:30 Now I'm really curious about Aizen's bankai. Because on one hand, he seems to fall under the first type right up until he fights Ichigo, where Ichigo thinks he's been basically hiding his true self... but then in the TYBW arc, he seems to be his true self again. I wonder how his bankai contrasts his Shikai.

Cool video

You didn't mention one of my all time favorite Zanpakuto, Izuru's Wabisuke. Izuru looks and sounds gloomy all the time so it makes sense that his Zanpakuto would be a crooked blade. However, the name and power of his shikai is directly related to it's powers and shape. Izuru blames himself for his classmates' deaths at the academy, so Wabisuke (Penitent One) constantly adds weight (guilt) to an opponent until they're literally forced to bow and the crooked blade's true purpose is revealed.

As for ichigo's sealed state, it's possible that the huge blade he originally believed to be the shikai is the sealed state, and ichigo can also freely control how his blade looks because of being a Quincy, even his shikai and bankai, so it's possible that it's sealed in the hell chapter Which means it's entirely possible that we get release command for zangetsu, which would be cool honestly Also, a cool thing is that for people like ichigo and renji, their zanpaktou spirits' personality match their own, ichigo and renji are both kinda brutish, and ichigo's goal is to protect while renji has a lot of pride And both their zanpaktou spirits, in zangetsu and zabimaru are hell brutish, And ichigo's two spirits in zangetsu and old man zangetsu fight to protect, much like ichigo While zabimaru's immense pride in its strength, let him to lie to renji, which is somewhat like lying to himself, which is what renji did until losing to ichigo

The intro song, I know your a cool person

I once heard a theory that the Shikai is based on how the weilder sees themselves and Bankai is how they are seen/who they are. For example, Soifon's Shikai is percise and stealthy cause thats how she sees herself and her Bankai is the complete opposite as she is hot headed. This could play also intot the whole piece of soul aspect being placed in the zanpakto

Soul Society thought Kenpachi's sword was always in its release state! What a bunch of dopes 😂

Around 10:11 Actually i think it's on purpose, i don't think Nimaiya has a Zanpakutou, let me explain, he has multiple Zanpakutou, because he is a Blacksmith, and a Blacksmith isn't a swordsman, so he wouldn't have this one sword, not he would be the ultimate swordsman. But he would have the strongest of blades... And he does have the strongest of blades, not the strongest Zanpakutou. His blade is so sharp that he couldn't make a sheath for it, not making it a proper Zanpakutou. Meaning that it's the sharpest of all the blades he has created.

Ichigos banking being about speed is his regret of not being fast enough to save mum

I don't know if you've played the bleach third phantom ds game but they talk a bit about the twin zanpakato concept. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about it.

Could the swords appearance changing be due to zaraki accepting his spirit and that his sword was in shikai , but the shikai changed . Like yumichika but not halfway .

I enjoyed this 👍. Please give us more bleach analysis. 👍

I adore your content and bleach analysis, the way to dive deep into kubology and vice versa, but here's a thing thats been bugging me for a long time since I first read bleach, aizen Sosuke is one of the most iconic and popular villain of all time but STILL there's barely any character analysis videos in him? Why?, So heres my question for you Fiji, will you ever do a full deep dive comprehensive analysis of aizen's character just like you did for ichigo?

DUDE am i going nuts....@R7dman doesnt shunshi 14:22 look identical to JJK and gojo "i am the honored one" pointing up and down.....

Gunna sound cap, but this is my favorite video of all time.

cool vid

Something I really want to be true I'd like to hear thoughts on Correct me if I'm wrong on this But my head cannon has been that before nimaya... Soul reapers used to access their powers natively without a weapon etc involved naturally it'd be far harder and rarer this way So like before zanpakuto, ppl like ichibe should be able to use their skills/powers without ever going into shikai?! Could others also do this? Like feint with not releasing and still have access to their shikai etc

10:11 is wrong. there are characters who use abilities with unsealed zanpakuto. ichibe's paint brush was not released when he cut yhwachs name in half. when he releases it into ichimonji, that is when he can fully paint over you and erase your name. rose was also seen controlling a menos with his unreleased zanpakuto when the vizards pulled up to Fake karakura. lastly, ishin uses a getsuga tensho in his unsealed state twice in the series. I also forgot we see tenjiro throwing water from his zanpakuto before he releases it in episode 25 of tybw

Hey radman bro😅 u think you could also consider making some Naruto analysis type videos like bleach 🙏 personally love your nuanced and interesting perspective great videos as usual 👌

Captains wear black shihakuso And white under it. White is pure also Hollow. Hollow reppersent death. And the black for soul who deafets them and then lrotects the soul the ss thats whythwy have those colors i think

thank god. this is a fact.

I literally just rolled up too 😂 man what a good day

Maybe ichigo never seals his sword cause never learn how to the same reason he doesn’t use kido right he just doesn’t know how

seated

8:00 that reminds me of a fanfic that made Gin's Bankai (not revealed in manga when it was being published) Demon God Spear instead, and Gin being very deceitful as usual...

Yo that Zanpakuto systèm is like 50% of why i love bleach so much. Best power system in anime hystory. ( Yes i said it, come at me. )

It is sometimes shocking how good a writer Tite Kubo is. Especially given Bleach's reputation as a fairly basic shonen.

Soi Fong BanKai: STYNGER tactical nuke

Yo, what is the song playing at 6:50?

@R7dman mugetsu attack used Alll the quincy reaistu in ichigo. So in FB he was void of quincy and once was stabbed by thw reuatai aword ichigo resembles White black armor and zanpaktou (arms) and itnlooked offical. Im TYBW while trying ro destroy the jail he Awakendnor gave power to OMZ...i believe old man zangetsu..trying to save ichigo quickly weakens the tensa and

Cook

god video btw