‘Things like this mean there are zero stakes’: Tite Kubo Keeping Byakuya Alive Is Part of the Problem That Bleach Desperately Needs to Address

SUMMARY

• Byakuya’s survival in Bleach: TYBW weakened the stakes and indicated that main characters are never in trouble.
• The series often avoids permanent consequences, leaving the seemingly intense battles feeling hollow and meaningless.
• Bleach needs to up the ante to make the battles feel meaningful and engage the fans.

Bleach has long been celebrated for its epic battles, intense emotional moments and memorable characters, but one criticism persists and continues to haunt the series; its lack of meaningful stakes.

Byakuya Kuchiki Bankai in TYBW | Credits: Pierrot

This issue became glaringly apparent during the original Bleach series itself and when the stakes were all-time high, nothing changed during the Thousand-Year Blood War arc when Tite Kubo chose to keep characters like Byakuya Kuchiki alive after his seemingly fatal encounter with Äs Nödt.

While fans were initially shocked and devastated by Byakuya’s apparent death (due to having his insides destroyed), his survival ultimately undercut the emotional weight of the arc, exposing the deeper problem of plot armor that the series must address.

Byakuya’s survival is indicative of the problem of low stakes

Byakuya has had a near-death moment in the TYBW arc that had all the makings of a powerful turning point.

Byakuya Kuchiki Sebonzakura in TYBW | Credits: Pierrot

Byakuya’s defeat signaled the overwhelming strength of the Sternritter and would have had a tremendous amount of effect on people close to Byakuya like Renji, Rukia, and even Ichigo. It would’ve been a wake-up call that left fans wondering if even beloved characters were safe.

However, Byakuya made a miraculous recovery after being beaten to a point where only Soul Reapers could return from and this revival not only diminished the emotional impact of his fall but also sent a message that major characters in Bleach are never going to be put at any actual risk.

This decision in the series weakened the tension that had been building due to the seemingly final nature of Byakuya’s fight.

The issue with Byakuya’s survival isn’t just about one character or it isn’t even a one-time thing, this miraculous recovery and revival is a trope that has been long overused in Bleach and it represents a constantly recurring pattern where high-stakes battles often end with minimal or even no consequences, lasting or otherwise.

Many missed opportunities for growth and impact through loss and tragedy

From Ichigo repeatedly overcoming impossible odds to other key characters surviving against overwhelming forces, the series just cannot kill off anyone. During the same arc as Byakuya’s ‘epic fight to the death’, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki also faced near-death situations, only to recover and emerge stronger.

Byakuya Kuchiki heavily injured in Bleach | Credits: Pierrot

While such moments of rebounds and hard-fought revivals can be used to showcase the growth of the character not just in strength but also in emotions and as a person, doing this a lot of times means that the battles that might seem intense lose the impact behind them.

In contrast to the plot armor given by Bleach, series like Attack on Titan and Naruto have earned praise for killing off beloved characters to advance the plot and deepen the stakes. That is something for the series to reflect upon.

You can stream Bleach on Netflix and Crunchyroll.

Written by Chandra Shekhar

Articles Published: 104

Chandra Shekhar, also known as Dan, is a voracious reader with an insatiable hunger for fantasy and fiction. Having devoured countless books, explored manga worlds, and delved deep into anime realms, Dan lives and breathes stories. As a creative mind who rambles on about books and anime all day long, Dan fits right in at FandomWire.