“It Was Basically a Fair Fight and He Just Lost”: Tite Kubo Left Bleach Fans in a Mess After Gerald Went Toe to Toe With the Sword God

SUMMARY

• Nimaiya of Squad Zero vs Gerald of the Schutzstaffel was a fair fight but fans were confused why the Heart of Yhwach didn't just activate his Miracle.
• A Reddit user explains how the Miracle works and in Gerald's eyes, the odds were not against him, despite Nimaiya's overwhelming skills.
• Nimaiya is the creator of Zanpakuto and the Sword God, facts that Gerald didn't know, reminding us how Tite Kubo writes with logic.

Tite Kubo has a reputation for epic battles in which justice and fairness matter in a show of raw power. Fans might root for one or the other person in any fight, but in the end, Bleach tends to have evenly matched battles. It’s the most appealing point of Bleach where there’s no imbalance between the opponents.

So it’s surprising that fans tuning in to Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War are confused about how Gerald Valkyrie, The Miracle of the Schutzstaffel, was defeated by Oetsu Nimaiya. After all, the two are equals in many ways.

Gerald vs Nimaiya in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. [Credit: Studio Pierrot]

Gerald might be the Miracle of the Schutzstaffel and the Heart of Yhwach, but Nimaiya is the creator of Zanpakuto. Anyone who faces off against him will not leave unscathed. While he did meet his match with Gerald, Bleach needed to remind us who the real Sword God is.

The Miracle might be powerful but it’s nothing against the Sword God

Gerald’s Miracle ability lives up to its name. It allows him to transform what appears to be a hopeless situation of utter defeat into a miraculous victory, increasing his strength and durability to counteract his low chances of survival. So why didn’t the Heart of Yhwach not activate it? Surely, he knew Nimaiya was a huge threat, right?

Nimaiya defeats Gerald in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. [Credit: Shueisha]

As this Reddit user explains, the Miracle cannot be triggered under all circumstances.

It can only activate when the situation and his survival genuinely feel like a miracle. In his fight against Nimaiya, despite how strong he is, Gerald had the Quincies backing him. More than that, they didn’t know Squad Zero’s strength either.

Thus, it seems that Gerald was rightfully arrogant against Nimaiya. The odds weren’t against him by any means. If anything, he could have won. It was a fair fight after all. This still didn’t stop the Sword God from one-shotting the Miracle of the Schutzstaffel.

Oetsu Nimaiya just takes his rightful mantle as the creator of Zanpakuto and the Sword God. He’s not known for his unparalleled speed and precision for nothing. He was evenly matched against Gerald but due to his superior skills, he won the fight. It was more than fair that he did too.

What does Nimaiya’s win against Gerald say about Bleach’s narrative?

The Schutzstaffel, for all their power and greed, are not invincible by any means. Gerald’s loss against Nimaiya is a reminder that even a miracle cannot save them from defeat.

Nimaiya in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. [Credit: Studio Pierrot]

The fight also reinforces the logic and contextual stakes that Tite Kubo has integrated into his fights. Gerald, even with the perfect ability, couldn’t activate the Miracle because there is a certain set of rules and context required for it. It’s a great way to limit how much power even someone as arrogant as Gerald gets.

His defeat against Nimaiya is a moment of clarity in Bleach. It shows us that perspective isn’t lost in the shonen manga, despite the genre’s tendency to defy logic and reason in fights. Kubo could’ve been lazy with his writing and had Gerald use the Miracle but Nimaiya needed to put him in his place.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is available on Crunchyroll and Disney+ Hotstar.

Written by Bidisha Mitra

Articles Published: 282

Bidisha is an Anime Content Writer at FandomWire with years of experience in writing for all realms. If she's not busy watching reruns of Bungo Stray Dogs for the hundredth time, she is studying Kanji to bring out the best cultural nuances to her anime writing.