If Byakuya had died, imagine how much more difficult Rukia's fight against As Nodt might have been: fighting both the holy form and Senbonzakura Kageyoshi
It would have actually been sick! Imagine the beautiful image of Senbonzakura's petals being frozen by Hakka No Togame. They would have been like crystal flowers in a city of ice.
He gets such an amazing send off and it's cheapened by him surviving and kills the revenge arc Rukia could have had against As Nodt. As Nodt literally ripped out Byakuya's stomach, impaled him with fear spikes and hit him SEVERAL times with his bankai. Byakuya should've been toast here.
I imagined Rukia seeing Byakuya when she used her bankai as a ghost in her memories like Kaien instead of him really being there also Renji reaching true bankai as a way to surpass him at last instead of just receiving "true name coupon" from Ichibei
@@felipez3115 Bro he literally explained a good and logicall scenario which could have happened when Byakuya died. He could have shown up in her mind and explained/say the same as he actually did in the manga. That would still make sense. Did you even read TREBLA'S comment?
@@MELIODAS-hx2nzExactly. If a painter is watched yet not interrupted by their enjoyers, most likely that he can paint with his/her passion instead of pressure. However, if the fans kept dictating to the painter what to paint, what tools to use, and whatever delusion the painter's fans want to be included in the painter's work of art, chances are that the result shit, devoid of passion, and a lot of wasted potential.
And Ukitake who I unfortunately always forget about. Ukitake should have had much more of a presence, but I think Kubo will be all over that in the Hell arc
@@markgutierez9922 that's a great comp, and seeing Kubo's face when he talked about what he pitched for his version of the Hell Verse movie I thought about the great ninja war because Kishimoto got to go absolutely nuts on his last arc. Then, thinking about how philosophical Kubo is I started to get really excited when he announced the Hell Arc because I knew what kind of moments we could have if he was given the chance to write the story exactly how he wanted it
@@felipez3115 I think it's obvious he would, in the context of the world of Bleach captain level Shinigami cannot be contained after their reishi is released upon death so he'd have been sent to Hell with the rest of them
I don't even need 17 minutes on this. Byakuya had an iconic death scene/final conversation with Ichigo. To see that walked back a few chapters later was outrageous.
I totally forgot about the scene in the manga where jugram confirms byakuya is dead. I hear that was the original idea. And seeing jugram say that in the manga confirms it was changed later. I was always one of the people that think byakuya should've died. it would've made renji, and rukias moments way more impactful. And you could feel like they definitely surpassed byakuya. Byakuya being in the final half of tybw feels so weird like he wasn't supposed to be there.
Yeah especially the last part/fight, it felt like he was just supporting and only Toshiro and Kenpachi were carrying that fight. (Other than his last attack though) Like if you let him survive then at least "also" let him pop off like the other 2 captains, and also don't let him steal Rukia and Renjis shining moments
yeah, and then they did this weird retread where byakuya tells rukia and renji to go, then toshiro calls him out for "having faith in them", like bruh we already know byakuya is that kind of person lol
I might be in the minority here but I for one am happy that Kubo gave Byakuya a reprieve. The journey of Byakuya being humbled, having to build himself back up and especially his relationship with Rukia, having to let her go both in the Blood War and We do Knot always love you is one of the things that make him my favorite Captain. The Fullbring Arc deconstructed Ichigo. The Blood War deconstructed the whole series in a way. That said, in the manga he seemed a lot like a third wheel. Hopefully the anime will expand a bit more on his story.
I can agree with that, him being knocked off his high horse and living allowed him to develop and learn, first by Ichigo and then more brutally by As Nodt.
@@manuelacosta9463 yep. Ichigo knocked some sense into him. He worked day and night for months winning all sorts of battles only for As Nodt to sweep it all away. Byakuya had to start from scratch.
I think it’s also important to realize that this was a bigger loss than how he lost to Ichigo in a way or was losing and he also felt existential dread and fear where he had to grow after such a big loss. If his journey to pick himself back up wasn’t done well, you could make the argument for him dying here. I also think sometimes death can often be used in a way for some fans to feel like it’s a better story or more serious tone when that isn’t always needed
The anime did it better by not showing the ribcage and making it less gory, while reading the manga that byakuya scene was convincing asf, that he was indeed dead
We saw a hole blown through Rangiku, & Izuru is revived from zombification + a missing arm/heart. These guys are immortal till Kubo says they’re dead.🤦♀️🤦♀️
He gets such an amazing send off and it's cheapened by him surviving and kills the revenge arc Rukia could have had against As Nodt. As Nodt literally ripped out Byakuya's stomach, impaled him with fear spikes and hit him SEVERAL times with his bankai. Byakuya should've been toast here.
At the end of that episode my jaw was on the floor. I totally thought byakuya was dead and it was the perfect ending to his character. He was the most prideful person in the show and he was cut down by his own bankai in front of his lieutenant and then put aside his pride and asked for help from the man he once despised. It really showed how much he’s grown as a person due to ichigo’s influence and made me love him even more as a character. Then they just slap you in the face with a statement from a nameless character saying he lived the next episode. Im glad hes alive but damn that just felt like such a great ending for a character it feels exactly like when naruto randomly used jesus powers to save guy’s life after he was about to die from opening the 8th gate. It sucks when writers have to change their stories because fans just cant accept that characters dying is okay and not worthy of real life death threats
This is the perfect time example why manga artist or really any creator doesn’t kill of characters, it doesn’t just threaten thier story but even thier lives.
This is why I respect authors like Araki and Miura. They don't give a f*ck what fans think. They have the balls to kill off characters as long as they are means to benefit their stories.
@Stg I'm pretty sure his editors talked him out of it. Not the fans. Like Byakuya's "death" was so definitive and then all of sudden its like "he might survive" lol
@gizmo Disney themed? No important deaths? You didn't see the captain commander get bisected in two? Unohana killed? Gin killed? Cause you're full of it if that's the case.
I honestly never thought of byakuya being killed in that fight, maybe I’m not as emotional like others. But yes, I was sad even before that episode just by imagining it from the manga you showed in the video, but all I thought was that byakuya finally swallowed his pride and relied on ichigo and that’s it. I only think he was defeated but never thought he should’ve died..
I imagine that, if Byakuya would have died, then Renji would probably inherit his captain position at the end of the arc. Additionally, the As Nodt/Rukia battle could have been resolved with either just Rukia and/or Renji together. I also think there could still be a scene with Byakuya in that fight 'appearing' within the mind of Rukia, (not really him of course, just a mental image/memory of him) signifying that even in death her memory of him has become a guiding, encouraging, and affirming one.
Rukia should've been the one to AVENGE Byakuya through killing As Nodt herself (showing her development in independence and not relying on NII-SAMA!). But no, As Nodt basically would have won without Byakuya coming to save the day (which was stupid because all her gave her was a pep-talk and somehow THE FEAR doesn't work anymore?). All Kubo had to do was kill off Byakuya and have his image come to her to or just bankai and freeze everything, which would have bypassed THE FEAR messing with her abilities to move properly. Byakuya may have gotten thrashed by As Nodt, but he had a beautiful send off and Kubo just SAYING GOTCHA HE'S NOT DEAD IS POOR WRITING.
To me byakuya dying doesn't fit the underlying theme of the arc at all which is out with the old in with the new. This is hammered home through the death of Yamamoto, Unohana, and Ukitake as well as hammered home through the reveal of the new forms of Komamura, Toshiro, Kenpachi, Renji and Ichigo. We have also seen people survive much worse as soul reapers are really hard to kill off especially byakuya.
It actually would’ve been cool to see Renji step up and become the new Captain. Makes more sense for Renji than Testuzaemon to be a captain. Unlike Iba, Renji was one of the select few to luckily get Royal palace training which majorly upgraded his Bankai and the amount of screen time he had throughout the whole series would’ve been great to see his character development and become more mature in decision making and leadership.
Honestly, Bleach is plagued by the fact that almost no good guys are ever killed even if you have dozens of them. And I'm not sure that's because of fans backlash. Kubo just didn't kill his characters. I read the manga every week when it was still published and I remember that people were already saying back then that Byakuya was saved because of the Japanese fanbase but... Kira survived a fatal injury for no good reason too and Hiyori was even cut in half in the fake Karakura arc and survived anyway. Maybe Kira had fans but Hiyori ? Somebody likes her ? 😒 That's simply a writing problem. Stark and Gin can be killed by a simple slash but good guys have many additional lives like in a video game.
I agree that Byakuya´s death would have been really impactful for other characters, but tbh I also would have thought that Kubo had done him dirty. He´s such a prideful character who by the end of the fight with As Nodt already hit rock bottom. He had to throw away his pride, was physically utterly beaten and had his bankai stolen. Dying that miserably wouldn´t have sat right with me. I can see him die as a sacrifice for Rukia, but not like this. What a horrible end it would have been. I remember how shocked I was when the chapter came out back then. Not only because of his possible death, but at how his storyline might have ended.
But thats war, no matter how well liked, respected, dignified, and powerful; death can take us - anyone- at a moments notice, especially on a battlefield. Once they let byakuya live, i knew no one important besides unohana and old man yama was gonna be in any real danger, it removed the stakes
I think that's why they cut that part in the manga where hashwalth says ”it appears byakuya has died” and also why they focused the episode more on Yamamoto so people dont make a big deal out of byakuya survival
But what do you think now of that scene? I'm just asking out of curiosity because i want to know what others think about the Byakuya anime adaptation. Imo it felt like less important and impactfull as it did when read it back then in the manga. Yamamoto kinda stole the light (literally 😂). Don't get me wrong the anime did great but still
@@muchoyurdem5260 for me, so much of watching anime that is adapted from manga is knowing the ending and there are several studies that say if one knows the ending of a story they enjoy it more. I don't blame Kubo or anyone involved in the anime for not changing it and on some level that must mean that Kubo has something in store for Byakuya's role in the Hell Arc. Byakuya is a character that I don't love but that I appreciate a lot and he's such a fan favorite that him being the one who was "killed" in the invasion is the most impactful. If it were another captain like Hitsugaya who's another fan favorite it would've meant even less even if they had died
@@muchoyurdem5260 I didnt really care that byakuya survived when I read it in the manga. Hes my favorite captain since i love his bankai and hes just iconic lol Plus, if he died he would have just been revived later on in hell just like yama unohana and ukitake
I don't think Byakuya was ever actually planned to truly die. Many times in the series we see drops in reiatsu to the point where it can't sensed before and for probably 95% of those cases, the character still lives. We've also seen multiple instances of pretty much fatal injuries getting healed and recovered too such as Hiyori getting cut in half or Kira after being shot by Bazz. Byakuya is well within the range of survivability based on what we've seen. Hashwalth's statement of Byakuya's death is honestly pretty bad because of how sure he is of the death. Just because you can't sense his reiatsu doesn't mean he's dead and I think that line is put in just to build more tension. I'm glad they removed it from the anime because of how much drama it caused and we don't need anime watchers to jump in on it too.
@@mihal1570 You first statement is incorrect. In the video at 4:09 it is stated if the bankai disappears, then the owner is near death not the zanpakuto itself. It is also never stated that the zanpakuto snapping means the owner is dead either and the zanpakuto doesn't automatically break when the owner dies either. Byakuya's sword snapping just symbolizes him dying but isn't concrete evidence he's actually dead because he clearly was speaking to Ichigo some time later to tell him to save soul society and that was after the scene of his sword breaking.
I dont mind kubo killing off byakuya, im one of the who was devastated knowing most likely he might die, but at least give him a good death, not a cheap death like hes bankai was stolen thus hes dead, byakuya is known not just for his strong bankai, the cold demeanor he always potrayed because he is that strong, not just because having a strong bankai, hes strong for a reason, hes one of the powerful kido user and shunpo almost as on par with yourichi, atleast give a good awesome fight, as byakuya vs zommari, its like battle of wits
I think they managed to show that none of the bleach characters should be strong, powerful and invincibale all the way. They must be beaten sometimes and even dead like yamamoto. Byakuya after tybw chapter will be way stronger than now and he will play a major role in upcoming chapter due to his personality but in another way that he will not relay on his bankai cause it's his deadly wickness especially after yamamoto death
I really did think he would die when the manga came out and welp if it was meant to be so be it ... but I loved to see him back as he is my fav character, while he might not add too much to the plot , he did change after the fear episode and just knowing Rukia still has her brother with her when so many others dear to her died feels really good.
It may be good for Rukia to grow but then again imagine Byakuya living with that loss and living with that experience of fear. He would die here and then that moment of fear is simply a memory. And there was already other characters that died during that arc. It’s arguable since when he did stay alive, he still impacted the story and Rukia
As much as I love Byakuya, his death needed to happen. I hate when writers give in to fan pressure. Yamamoto’s death was a surprise because I never thought anything could take him down so if you’re gonna go all the way with that, why not take another one out?
There were lots of death treats and the editor was the one to decide at the end As much as we thought authors have the creative freedom they have The final say or direction will always fall to the editor sadly
Personally, another alternative to killing Byakuya is making him critically injured, basically in a comatose state. This would make the revenge fight of Rukia much more satisfying since Rukia has legitimate and obvious reasons to kill As Nodt just based on the fact that Byakuya is comatose.
I'm honestly surprised the two vizards that fought the Quincy also managed to live despite their condition. If they were killed it would be 5/13 captains dead and would have given more of the expected outcome of a "war". The addition of Byakuya or Kira's death would have been the perfect balance for the arc imo.
@@MegaShingo97 Yeah but neither of them were strong enough to at that point unfortunately. If anything it would have sparked a reaction out of Shinji who could actually do something.
I disagree with the thought that Byakuya should have died during the first invasion and liked that he survived. One, just…no 😭. Two, him surviving doesn’t change the dark tone of this arc (for me at least). Three, that moment with him and Rukia later on in the arc was absolutely beautiful and something that Rukia needed from him.
Byakuya's intervention in rukia vs asnodt was inevitable. According to his words, fear stems from insecurity. Rukia's insecurity originates from her brother. After he acknowledges her strength and starts to recognize her as more than just a protective brother, she overcomes her insecurity and uses her bankai, similar to her fight against Espada No. 9. Her fights aren't merely physical; she hesitates to kill him because he resembles Kaien. After she understands that Kaien's heart is with her, she becomes mentally prepared to kill him.
except that yamato never truly felt like she was gonna join...it was very sus that she kept bringing it up but we never got to see Luffy actually agreeing (only in the flashback once it was certain she wouldn´t join lol)
@@ScientologyHunter2 I actually thought the same and didn't really think she was gonna join and was happy she didn't but I don't like the way it was handled and the film red promo really ruined the end of wano for sure
Im glad he aint dead. Really wanna see him reach a new lvl of power. Not be killed off. His power I feel has hella room to grow. And yeah I know that's not gonna happen though.
Show's over and no one even reads the continuation arcs because the last 2 arcs were so bad. So I'm glad you're happy he chose poor writing over killing off characters!
When I read the chapter where Byakuya was defeated by As Nodt I felt devastated, because it was obvious to me he was supposed to die. I was surprised he was later healed, but I was glad it turned out that way. I don’t know if Kubo changed his mind due to the fan outrage, but I think it was good idea to keep Byakuya alive (not only because I love this character). This gave us an amazing moment for him and Rukia when he helped her with realising her bankai. His character has come such a long way and this helped complete his development. I don’t think this kind of fake death is something unusual in anime/manga, although it can be disappointing as it could make the event less impactful. When I watched Naruto for the first time, I remember how it hurt me to see Jiraya’s death and it still hurts me as a fan of this story, but it is so hard because it is definitive. What would have happen to the plot and characters if Kakashi and Fukusaku had really died during Pain’s arc and after his attack on Konoha? They’re later resurrected by Nagato and that’s way it wasn’t as impactful - first we saw they’re death, but then we got a deus ex machina solution. I didn’t feel this way with Byakuya, as his loss to As Nodt actually pushed the character to further development.
The story would have proceeded in the same direction whether or not he lives or not. The whole cast at the time was operating on the notion that he was dead acting as fuel for Ichigo to power through it. Metaphorically I believe the old byakuya died and birthed a new one with a more refined look on life and battle.
Years later I'm glad he didn't die. If bleach continues Seeing what he thinks of rukia and renji marriage and Interactions with their daughter could be good and heart warming.
1) He should have died there, narratively. However, I’m okay with him dying or not. 2) It makes Rukia killing As Nodt make no sense. 3) If you bring back Byakuya, then you should have let him eviscerate As Nodt and let Rukia get her run back. You let Renji get his run back against Mask de Masculine. So Byakuya should have get his revenge. Byakuya could still come and help her with her Bankai at the end of the battle and change nothing. 4) I mean, this is the least of the problems with this arc. Seriously. Of all the missed opportunities and confusing ends to the battle that we saw in this arc, this is minor. Hope we get a change and let Rukia use her bankai against something else and repeat that scene.
Yeah, I feel like his death would have especially really really hammered home just how dark and gritty this arc would get. It also would have added even more cooler character moments for characters like renji, rukia, and Ichigo.
And we see this problem even now, Bakugou's almost death, for example, I don't know if Horikochi actually intended for him to be killed at Shiragaki's hands (it sure felt like it, at the time) or if he changed his mind was because backlash but how he got revived felt like a copout.I was in the camp that , if he really did it he had to stick to it or at the very least to have a big consecuence, like the end of Bakugouu's hero carreer
SO TRUE! Bakugou was toast and he already had a stupidly close call before. Just strikes as poor writing. Like just don't write a cliffhanger close death character just to hamfist a GOTCHA HE'S NOT DEAD moment.
Is it true that kubo getting fan backlash and freaking death threats is only speculation from the fans and not confirmed by him? I hear so many people say this in order to downplay his “death scene” of him begging Ichigo to save the soul society. Im just confused cause it’s heavy implied he was gonna die (his zanpakuto shatters, he begins to cry, it starts to rain, Hashwalth himself of all people says he died, and of course him swallowing up his pride and asking Ichigo for help like a man) . Just curious
It's purely made up. He has like one comment, years later, when asked for advice if you make a manga where he basically says avoid social media because they can influence you but that's it. No connection to Byakuya, no claims he changed his mind or had other ideas, one quote years later that is completely unrelated. Also "implied death" happens all the time. Kenpachi seemed to have died like 3 times, Ichigo got a hole through the chest, Matsumoto got half her torso crushed off, Kira, and so on.
If I were Kubo, I would give the anime staff a new storyboard in which Byakuya dies and new scenes are added. Perhaps Rukia sees a ghost of Byakuya before she uses her Bankai. Maybe she replaces him in certain fights. (Pepe, Gerard, etc) I would also use the new canon of the anime as a base when continuing the Breaths From Hell arc.
It’s clear that Byakua won’t die in this series because of the shot we have of him with his new clothes he got from the soul palace. I will agree byakuya dying would have done great things for the series. Ps what are your thoughts on kenpachi he should’ve been dead hypothetically
The sending Captain level reiatsu to Hell was a tradition made by the royal/noble houses and made it a must to do when a captain dies. Of course the Kuchiki elders knows about this or at least the Kuchiki elder representative in Central 46 knows it
Back when I was reading the manga I'd already accepted Byakuya's death, so the reveal that he would survive was really surprising. To this day, I believe that he should have died here. The death of Yamamoto has huge impact, but Byakuya is a central character, it would have been devastating but interesting to see how Rukia and co. would have dealt with this. This being said, I still enjoy his storyline after this point
I feel like the best way to keep byakuya alive would be for kubo to stall revealing if he died or not. He would be sent up to the royal palace with everything thinking or saying that they shouldn’t bring him up because he’s already dead (or something like that) and having all the characters aside from the royal guards think that he couldn’t recover and died while trying to heal in the springs and then having him show up sometime after yhwach arrives at the royal palace and basically be his old badass self by either toying with or overpowering one of the Quincy royal guards when things seem dire. And of course Renji and Rukia would evolve during the time they thought that byakuya was dead. Though that’s just my opinion in wanting byakuya’s actions to mean something and then appeasing the fans with an incredible twist.
This is another thing that I kind of have a problem with. Rukia was fully capable of defeating As Nodt on her own. I don’t think she needed her brother at all. It kind of stole the moment from her. But it was still a good moment that showed the development they both had since the soul society arc. In bleach has a female character defeated a high tier villain without any help? I literally cant think of one time this has happened
You’re acting as if Kubo has no control over the story. What triggered Rukia’s Bankai potential could have been handled differently just as easily. It’s no reason to back-peddle the death of a major character.
Except he robbed Rukia of her moment to shine there. It showed that nothing really changed: from Soul Society arc to Arrancar saga, from saga to Fullbring arc and now in TYBW - Rukia can't do anything on her own and just keeps relying on her big bro to save her every single time. It's not difficult to see why people consider Rukia to be weak - the way events in the plot happen around her writes "damsel in distress" all over her character.
I think Byakuya should’ve stayed dead, Renji could’ve helped Rukia regain her composure during the As noht battle. Maybe even help defeat As noht after being frozen or something like that, showing fans how close Rukia and Renji are and how much they mean to each other since there’s barely any battles shown with the two of them. Renji couldve become the captain of squad 6 symbolising that he’s surpassed Byakuya and that would’ve completed Renji’s arc for being stronger.
The thing with that line is that he says that “Byakuya appears to have died.” The ‘appears’ does a lot of work but Kubo may have left himself wiggle room to renege on the character’s death. Given the controversy at the time, Kubo may have want to not kill off a key character because of it.
I have to agree. Byak's story arc was done by the time he beat Zommari to defend Rukia. After that, there was no other direction for the character to go, so Kubo initially made the right decision to kill him. Seeing Byakuya's participation in TYBW later on, only further demonstrates that Kubo didn't really know what else to do with the character. Byakuya essentially just got a generic power multiplier and supported other characters in 2 separate occasions, that's it. It doesn't bother me too much that he's alive, but other characters' arcs were definitely cheapened by him surviving, namely Rukia's, Renji's (who didn't even get to become a Captain like Rukia) and the request he gave Ichigo to Save SS was also cheapened a little bit. The end result of Byak surviving wasn't bad, but it could have been better. I hope Kubo kills him off in the upcoming Hell arc, for good this time. I wanna see Renji become a Captain. He could also kill off maybe 1-4 other characters who don't really have much of a big role to play or anything new to show anymore either. Like Rose or Kensei - we've seen their bankai and they haven't been relevant to the plot, probably won't in the next arc either, so Kubo can maybe give them a W, a bit of backstory, and then send them packing, for example.
@Stg Yes. And I don't see why not. More authors should do that. Sometimes a meaningful death makes characters more iconic, like a sacrifice f.e. I only see it as a problem if the author gets bloodthirsty and starts killing off too many characters.
If Kensai and Rose aren't relevant to the plot, how does killing them off make anything in the story feel substantial? They had relevance and cool designs but we don't know alot about them and scene enough of them to the level of Byakuya or Kenpachi.
i have not read the bleach manga, but i think it would be more impactful if Byakuya's death was in front of ichigo when Byakyua was trying to save Rukia; instead of ichigo coming to the soul society and finding Byakuya's almost dead corpse.
It might be controversial but I think kubo wasn’t affected by the fans when it comes to byakuya’s death. He killed popular characters in the past like ulquiorra and didn’t bring them back and yes ulquiorra might’ve been even more popular than byakuya at some point. And if we’re talking about the tybw then we’ve seen people literally come back from death as zombies and act like if nothing has happened I mean look at izuru who has done literally nothing after his return. Pretty sure people didn’t send kubo death threats to revive him. Not to mention than manga artists usually get those kind of messages and most of the time they go with what they’ve originally planned.
For me the reason I was upset about Byakuya dying was because he is such a well rounded fighter. He didn't use any kido or anything else. He just died basically as soon as his bankai was stolen. I feel like he would've lost either way, I just wish it had been to someone significantly stronger. The problem with the fight is it seems like his foe wasn't significantly stronger than Byakuya himself. Also, the captain commander seems to imply that the stolen bankai's aren't wielded to their true potential by the Sternritters. Loved the video, thought you did a great job!
Debate whatever you feel about the death of Senbonzakura But the fact that it got us some badass fight scenes and moments like And the insane character introduction of As Nodt is something that i still remember to this day As Nodt is my favourite Quincy
Personally, I've always thought that people have vastly overestimated the impact his death would have had overall. Yamamoto's death would've completely overshadowed his and, ultimately his loss would be the bigger loss. Yes it would've impacted Rukia and Renji and maybe that would be enough, but for the other characters I really don't think they would've I guess 'mourned' him in the same way. Yes it would have been another loss of a Captain, but Yamamoto's death was the bigger impact just because of who he was. I liked the fact that he was brought to the brink of death by his own sword. Considering the development of his character, it was extremely metaphorical. To me his survival continued to show his growth, but that's just my personal opinion. Ultimately his death wouldn't have bothered me, nor did his survival bother me. Anyway, it's been set in stone for 10 years now and I think continuing to argue over what 'should've happened' is pointless. He didn't die and that's that. Some people need to let it go.
I don't mind as long as the hell arc continues. I believe that if it does; we'll get more into the 5 noble houses and having 3 out of 5 being on Ichigo's side (Kuchiki, Shihoin, and Shiba); we can learn some deep dark secrets.
Tbh I 💯 agree he should of died it wasn’t pointless like making two characters get closer via Naruto and hinata 🫣 but I’m just saying fans got this one wrong
While I can emphasize with fans that wanted Byakuya not to come back. I don’t think him not dying really “ruined” anything. The infamous “Save the Soul Society” still works either way of him on his death bed or being so powerless and weak that he had to beg to Ichigo. Plus Rukia still gets to annihilate Nodt as revenge for what he did to her brother.
Ulqiourra dies in his battle, and fans still love him. Grimmjow should've died too but he got brought back off popularity alone. It's gives the story substance and a true sense of "you never know what might happen" when a writer isn't afraid to complete a characters arc with a death, after they have fulfilled their purpose.
@@maciejwucow1563 Yeah i know, and that's because there are too many char lol. 13 captains 13 Luitanants and a couple of 3th 4th 5th seats, then other char like Vizoreds, family members etc etc. How will you balance that out? It's impossible
Well said. Rukia should've been the one to AVENGE Byakuya through killing As Nodt herself (showing her development in independence and not relying on NII-SAMA!). But no, As Nodt basically would have won without Byakuya coming to save the day (which was stupid because all her gave her was a pep-talk and somehow THE FEAR doesn't work anymore?). All Kubo had to do was kill off Byakuya and have his image come to her to or just bankai and freeze everything, which would have bypassed THE FEAR messing with her abilities to move properly. Just poor writing.
I'll comment cause I love the content but I flat disagree. First plenty of characters "seem" to die, so this isn't new, I don't think Rukia's story nor the Gerard fight work without him, and his death adds nothing anyways.
I think it was a close call for Byakuya with, possibly, help from Orihime. Plus Captain Yamamoto stated that Sasakibe's stolen Bankai was weaker while it was being used by the Quincy who stole it, so there is a possibility that the damage that Byakuya took on was vicious enough to make his spiritual pressure drop, hence the assumption that he was dead, and was meant to leave him as a husk to help inspire fear and despair. Keeping Byakuya's character in mind, I don't see him disrespecting an enemy's body. If he aims to kill, it is clean in comparison to Nodt. There is nothing noble about the way Nodt fights.
I think you are forgetting the noble houses. Rukia nor renji can replace byakuya in that space of nobility, without a completely different story line to make up for his death. They both have a solid Canon role. So does Byakuya
Rukia is literally Byakuya's brother in law and sister to Hisana (HER TITLE IS LADY OF THE KUCHIKI CLAN) who's Byakuya's husband. She absolutely can replace Byakuya as is the reason why the Kuchiki clan tracked down Rukia from the slums and adopted her. Watch the show or read the manga, my dude.
Byakuya shouldnt have died, reason is because byakuya would have and should have never ever even used his bankai in the first place. Byakuya is insanely cautious during fights and i would never believe that byakuya would ever use bankai.
No i don't think Byakuya should have died here. We've seen other characters and captains survive similar if not the same level of damage and survive long enough for help to arrive. I honestly don't think that Rukia and Renji would have progressed as much as they did in the story without Byakuya's presence when he appeared in the story no matter how much this story is Shonen. I'm not sure if Tite Kubo wanted to kill Byakuya for sure but I think he was indecisive, and made the first decision to kill him, and later figured out where he would be very important to appear, and decided to bring him back as a surprise in the story.
i don't care for Byakuya, i just miss head captain Yama. He only opens both eyes when he is about to heap some hurt. Byakuya not going blank i think is good for the series because he is a very beloved character. he not dying is good i think. At the end of the day his defeat made them to forge on and be stronger. it helps to keep Byakuya lovers still following the series. Robbing the series of such lovable characters is not the best.
I 100% agree, like imagine how impactfull that would be, especially killing him off at this episode. And it fits perfectly with the no Breaths from hell lore, they could have brought him back in that arc (if it will ever continue). That would be so awesome. Like i really have nothing against Ukitake but imagine "the one scene in no Breaths from hell" Byakuyas patels coming out and killing that "Arrancar" instead of Ukitakes Shikai. I think everyone that read it should know which scene/panel i mean. That would be way better because let's be real Byakuya>>>>Ukitake
I agree about Byakuya coming back in hell arc BUT YOURE WRONG. Jushiro's was way more fucking scary seeing his sword through the hell gates. Jushiro is the embodiment of good character and he had the impact that Unohana did when her past was revealed. Ulquiorra is much more liked and "cooler" than Szayel but he wasnt in the one shot because Szayel made more sense with his personality which is why Jushiro made more sense in the one shot. Plus Jushiro connects BOTH to Rukia and Shunsui who were talking about the ritual.
@@absoluteballs lol. How am i wrong when I'm giving my opinion on something that would be better imo. And i never heard anyone say Ukitake is scarier than Byakuya lmao. In what aspect? And he def didn't have the impact Unohana had. I don't get why Ukitake would make more sense then Byakuya, you just saying he does without mentioning a single argument, why? Byakuya would be way more impactfull because in the fanbase he is much more liked and people would care more about it him coming back than Ukitake who never actually was a really interesting char other then in the last arc using mimihagi
I can definitely see the benefits if him dying. On the other, kubo can get pretty close to the same effect if byakuya was thought to be dead for a long time.
He had is stomach ripped out, and was impaled, him being paralyzed and unable to fight anymore would've been the better option so fans wouldn't cry over him dying
Man.. your videos are always some of the most top tier. I totally agree that Byakuya should have died and am myself planning to write out a scenario on how it would play out too. Keep up and take care yo
I believe Byakuya would be better dead. About the line that he is indeed dead, it doesn't make sense, bcs he has to be alive to talk to Ichigo, so, even if I don't expect them to do it, they might add it later, after he speaks to Ichigo
For the better. It would've caused them to develop and not play second fiddle to Byakuya. Rukia should've been the one to AVENGE Byakuya through killing As Nodt herself (showing her development in independence and not relying on NII-SAMA!). But no, As Nodt basically would have won without Byakuya coming to save the day (which was stupid because all her gave her was a pep-talk and somehow THE FEAR doesn't work anymore?). All Kubo had to do was kill off Byakuya and have his image come to her to or just bankai and freeze everything, which would have bypassed THE FEAR messing with her abilities to move properly. Just poor writing.
Byakuya surviving seemed to be the initial faint glimpse of hope for the comeback, at least for me. It also showed how insane of a mountain they'd have to climb when you see first hand the pure damage senbonsakura is capable of in the hands of the enemy - ultimately, death threats trump a good plot, at the end of the day its a fucking manga/ show, what a first world problem leading to threats on a man's life
I agree, I believe Byakuya should have died Like you said it would have made his last plea to Ichigo that much more impactful, as well as, allowing Rukia & Renji to grow and come into their own a bit more. It would've taken away their security blanket and forced them to take on more of the load of being a high-ranking shinigami. With Renji most likely becoming the new captain of squad 6 and Rukia being one of if not the highest ranking member of the Kuchiki clan And I think the fan backlash played a huge part in it not happening, but ultimately I think it was because his editors would not stand for Kubo killing off one of the most highly marketable characters in the series
Byakuya would simply be the ACE Version of One piece for sure - Really sad about that choice, could be a massive impact in other animes too the way mangaka treat they side kick heroes
While I'm not 100% against the idea of Byakuya dying after fight with As Nodt, cuz I see the impact and overall benefits for later story development, I still think it was a better idea to keep him alive. I'm a subscriber of the idea that as an author, you should keep your major characters alive as long as possible to the very end. Yes, death is an impactful plot device and it should absolutely be utilised, but sparingly. A living character has much more opportunities for development that would benefit the story more. Yamamoto's death was symbolic of how the old gotei is coming to an end. Unohana's death can also be linked to the same idea, since she was a member of the old gotei as well. Zaraki, being part of the current younger generation, has becone stronger thanks to her sacrifice. Byakuya is still very young, so for me it makes more sence to develop further as the head of Kuchiki family, being part of the yonger generation as well. By that logic Shunsui should've also died, but he's very different from the rest of the old guard. He's open to innovations, he's not bound by old traditions, he's willing to adapt. Overall, I think TYBW already has enough significant deaths.
@@guallism2665 I disagree. Sure, Byakuya didn't do alot later, but he still played his a role. Helped Rukia in a fight with As Nodt, wa part of the group that fought Gerard, had interacted with other characters. I agree that it all was after the highlight moment of his character in this arc, but it's by far not the reason to kill him off. I personally really enjoyed all these small moments,. And Bleach already has very sizable cast, so expect every single character to get his own mini-arc is unlikely (unless you'r not One Piece, and btw this can sound good on paper to give everyone to do something but it also can get real annoying real fast, for my taste at least). Anyway, I still think it's more beneficial to keep him alive. Maybe when Kubo finally gets to his Hell Arc we'll get to see more of him and the rest of Gotei, one can only wonder.
my guy, your idea of character death is completely opposite to what war actually is. If u wanna make your "bad" guy team a real threat, kill off ppl that ppl think are safe. That's the point of stakes. The whole fuckin point of a "thousand year blood warfare". The strong are not immune to death. Even thematically, byakuya passing his torch to renji made sense and was a great way to conclude his arc
@@itsjustvin7630 No. My point is it's not necessary to kill prominent characters to show the urgency of the situation. It can be done with no problem, but if it doesn't it's not a bad thing either. People just overreacting, cuz they're butthurt. Those who were sending death threats to Kubo are even worse. This whole controversy shows how futile is to please everyone. The problem was never with Kubo, it's the fanbase who are the problem. My only advice is the same as always: "Get over it."
Nah, it would've been a terrible death for his character. Killed by his own Ban Kai, unable to protect rukia or renji, not using any kido or hado skills in his fight that just aint it not for me as fan of the character anyway. Yamamoto may have died a humiliating death, but at least he got to avenge Sasakibe, at least he got to take down some of the enemy. My mans didn't get to do anything but have a near death that almost directly paralel's renji's near death in the ss arc but I've never seen anyone pick that apart.
Rukia should've been the one to AVENGE Byakuya through killing As Nodt herself (showing her development in independence and not relying on NII-SAMA!). But no, As Nodt basically would have won without Byakuya coming to save the day (which was stupid because all her gave her was a pep-talk and somehow THE FEAR doesn't work anymore?). All Kubo had to do was kill off Byakuya and have his image come to her to or just bankai and freeze everything, which would have bypassed THE FEAR messing with her abilities to move properly. Byakuya may have gotten thrashed by As Nodt, but he had a beautiful send off and Kubo just SAYING GOTCHA HE'S NOT DEAD IS POOR WRITING.
The fact that Byakuya got NO major power up aside from "a more efficient shikai" while everyone else got new bankai or bankai reveals, or major character development means something. Byakuya did NOT have to be there to encourage Rukia's fight with Asnodt. Or that could have been done by another character like Renji on his way to fight mask.
Rukias bankai fight was amazing. But just imagine how heartfelt it would've been for a spirit or memory of her brother to "hold" her hand after defeating Az Naut (idk how to spell it). How the fear didn't effect her because of her abilities, but because she was fighting for someone she loved and cared for. Also the idea of Rukia defeating senbon with her own bankai would've been like a stepping stone in her character. That she didn't just bring her brothers killer to justice, but also surpassed his power but in a fragile state. Seeing a girl from poverty surpass royalty. It would've been one of the best fights in Bleach history hands down. (Sorry if I don't use the names or full names of characters and bankai. Idk how to spell them 😅)
If Byakuya had died, imagine how much more difficult Rukia's fight against As Nodt might have been: fighting both the holy form and Senbonzakura Kageyoshi
sternritters couldn't use holy form and bankai at the same time tho
Renji could have helped or Kubo could have written the fight differently.
It would have actually been sick! Imagine the beautiful image of Senbonzakura's petals being frozen by Hakka No Togame. They would have been like crystal flowers in a city of ice.
He gets such an amazing send off and it's cheapened by him surviving and kills the revenge arc Rukia could have had against As Nodt. As Nodt literally ripped out Byakuya's stomach, impaled him with fear spikes and hit him SEVERAL times with his bankai. Byakuya should've been toast here.
@@randomt800kiddo2 okay but if byakuya did die how would rukia beat as nodts holy form
I imagined Rukia seeing Byakuya when she used her bankai as a ghost in her memories like Kaien instead of him really being there also Renji reaching true bankai as a way to surpass him at last instead of just receiving "true name coupon" from Ichibei
😂 Coupon. But hey he earned it, i mean he became stronger in the palace, Ichibei stated he's strong enough/worthy of getting the name.
That would be so dope I totally agree the fans should never interfere with the author work and art
@@felipez3115 Bro he literally explained a good and logicall scenario which could have happened when Byakuya died.
He could have shown up in her mind and explained/say the same as he actually did in the manga. That would still make sense.
Did you even read TREBLA'S comment?
Love that idea
@@MELIODAS-hx2nzExactly. If a painter is watched yet not interrupted by their enjoyers, most likely that he can paint with his/her passion instead of pressure. However, if the fans kept dictating to the painter what to paint, what tools to use, and whatever delusion the painter's fans want to be included in the painter's work of art, chances are that the result shit, devoid of passion, and a lot of wasted potential.
With the advent of the upcoming Hell arc, it would've been so great to see Byakuya pop up next to Unohana and Yamamoto
And Ukitake who I unfortunately always forget about. Ukitake should have had much more of a presence, but I think Kubo will be all over that in the Hell arc
Gives me Edotensei jutsu vibes. Like in the final arc in Naruto
@@markgutierez9922 that's a great comp, and seeing Kubo's face when he talked about what he pitched for his version of the Hell Verse movie I thought about the great ninja war because Kishimoto got to go absolutely nuts on his last arc. Then, thinking about how philosophical Kubo is I started to get really excited when he announced the Hell Arc because I knew what kind of moments we could have if he was given the chance to write the story exactly how he wanted it
You want him to die in the war just so you can see him again. Make it make sense
@@felipez3115 I think it's obvious he would, in the context of the world of Bleach captain level Shinigami cannot be contained after their reishi is released upon death so he'd have been sent to Hell with the rest of them
I don't even need 17 minutes on this. Byakuya had an iconic death scene/final conversation with Ichigo. To see that walked back a few chapters later was outrageous.
well said.
I totally forgot about the scene in the manga where jugram confirms byakuya is dead. I hear that was the original idea. And seeing jugram say that in the manga confirms it was changed later. I was always one of the people that think byakuya should've died. it would've made renji, and rukias moments way more impactful. And you could feel like they definitely surpassed byakuya. Byakuya being in the final half of tybw feels so weird like he wasn't supposed to be there.
Yeah especially the last part/fight, it felt like he was just supporting and only Toshiro and Kenpachi were carrying that fight. (Other than his last attack though)
Like if you let him survive then at least "also" let him pop off like the other 2 captains, and also don't let him steal Rukia and Renjis shining moments
yeah, and then they did this weird retread where byakuya tells rukia and renji to go, then toshiro calls him out for "having faith in them", like bruh we already know byakuya is that kind of person lol
I remember when I had just started Reading the Fullbring arc that Byakuya was dead and I was shocked.
Same. I think byakuya should've died.
I might be in the minority here but I for one am happy that Kubo gave Byakuya a reprieve. The journey of Byakuya being humbled, having to build himself back up and especially his relationship with Rukia, having to let her go both in the Blood War and We do Knot always love you is one of the things that make him my favorite Captain. The Fullbring Arc deconstructed Ichigo. The Blood War deconstructed the whole series in a way. That said, in the manga he seemed a lot like a third wheel. Hopefully the anime will expand a bit more on his story.
I can agree with that, him being knocked off his high horse and living allowed him to develop and learn, first by Ichigo and then more brutally by As Nodt.
@@manuelacosta9463 yep. Ichigo knocked some sense into him. He worked day and night for months winning all sorts of battles only for As Nodt to sweep it all away. Byakuya had to start from scratch.
I think it’s also important to realize that this was a bigger loss than how he lost to Ichigo in a way or was losing and he also felt existential dread and fear where he had to grow after such a big loss. If his journey to pick himself back up wasn’t done well, you could make the argument for him dying here. I also think sometimes death can often be used in a way for some fans to feel like it’s a better story or more serious tone when that isn’t always needed
You’re not alone
You are not alone. I too am happy he survived.
The anime did it better by not showing the ribcage and making it less gory, while reading the manga that byakuya scene was convincing asf, that he was indeed dead
🤦🏽♂️
We saw a hole blown through Rangiku, & Izuru is revived from zombification + a missing arm/heart. These guys are immortal till Kubo says they’re dead.🤦♀️🤦♀️
From my first read through of the manga I thought Byakuya died and the way Kubo wrote the manga you could see he was supposed to die off there.
He gets such an amazing send off and it's cheapened by him surviving and kills the revenge arc Rukia could have had against As Nodt. As Nodt literally ripped out Byakuya's stomach, impaled him with fear spikes and hit him SEVERAL times with his bankai. Byakuya should've been toast here.
i hate fans, Just the let the writer do his thing, he knows better than you.
At the end of that episode my jaw was on the floor. I totally thought byakuya was dead and it was the perfect ending to his character. He was the most prideful person in the show and he was cut down by his own bankai in front of his lieutenant and then put aside his pride and asked for help from the man he once despised. It really showed how much he’s grown as a person due to ichigo’s influence and made me love him even more as a character. Then they just slap you in the face with a statement from a nameless character saying he lived the next episode. Im glad hes alive but damn that just felt like such a great ending for a character it feels exactly like when naruto randomly used jesus powers to save guy’s life after he was about to die from opening the 8th gate. It sucks when writers have to change their stories because fans just cant accept that characters dying is okay and not worthy of real life death threats
Well said
This is the perfect time example why manga artist or really any creator doesn’t kill of characters, it doesn’t just threaten thier story but even thier lives.
Agreed
This is why I respect authors like Araki and Miura. They don't give a f*ck what fans think. They have the balls to kill off characters as long as they are means to benefit their stories.
@@p3mcthedoor32 Kubo has the balls to keep Byakuya alive when everyone wants him dead lol
@Stg I'm pretty sure his editors talked him out of it. Not the fans. Like Byakuya's "death" was so definitive and then all of sudden its like "he might survive" lol
@gizmo Disney themed? No important deaths? You didn't see the captain commander get bisected in two? Unohana killed? Gin killed? Cause you're full of it if that's the case.
I honestly never thought of byakuya being killed in that fight, maybe I’m not as emotional like others. But yes, I was sad even before that episode just by imagining it from the manga you showed in the video, but all I thought was that byakuya finally swallowed his pride and relied on ichigo and that’s it. I only think he was defeated but never thought he should’ve died..
Same
Exactly!
I imagine that, if Byakuya would have died, then Renji would probably inherit his captain position at the end of the arc. Additionally, the As Nodt/Rukia battle could have been resolved with either just Rukia and/or Renji together. I also think there could still be a scene with Byakuya in that fight 'appearing' within the mind of Rukia, (not really him of course, just a mental image/memory of him) signifying that even in death her memory of him has become a guiding, encouraging, and affirming one.
Man Byakuya is my favorite character im glad they didn't kill him off especially with his own attack that wouldn't be trash
Rukia should've been the one to AVENGE Byakuya through killing As Nodt herself (showing her development in independence and not relying on NII-SAMA!). But no, As Nodt basically would have won without Byakuya coming to save the day (which was stupid because all her gave her was a pep-talk and somehow THE FEAR doesn't work anymore?). All Kubo had to do was kill off Byakuya and have his image come to her to or just bankai and freeze everything, which would have bypassed THE FEAR messing with her abilities to move properly.
Byakuya may have gotten thrashed by As Nodt, but he had a beautiful send off and Kubo just SAYING GOTCHA HE'S NOT DEAD IS POOR WRITING.
To me byakuya dying doesn't fit the underlying theme of the arc at all which is out with the old in with the new. This is hammered home through the death of Yamamoto, Unohana, and Ukitake as well as hammered home through the reveal of the new forms of Komamura, Toshiro, Kenpachi, Renji and Ichigo. We have also seen people survive much worse as soul reapers are really hard to kill off especially byakuya.
It actually would’ve been cool to see Renji step up and become the new Captain. Makes more sense for Renji than Testuzaemon to be a captain. Unlike Iba, Renji was one of the select few to luckily get Royal palace training which majorly upgraded his Bankai and the amount of screen time he had throughout the whole series would’ve been great to see his character development and become more mature in decision making and leadership.
Honestly, Bleach is plagued by the fact that almost no good guys are ever killed even if you have dozens of them. And I'm not sure that's because of fans backlash. Kubo just didn't kill his characters.
I read the manga every week when it was still published and I remember that people were already saying back then that Byakuya was saved because of the Japanese fanbase but... Kira survived a fatal injury for no good reason too and Hiyori was even cut in half in the fake Karakura arc and survived anyway. Maybe Kira had fans but Hiyori ? Somebody likes her ? 😒
That's simply a writing problem. Stark and Gin can be killed by a simple slash but good guys have many additional lives like in a video game.
I agree that Byakuya´s death would have been really impactful for other characters, but tbh I also would have thought that Kubo had done him dirty. He´s such a prideful character who by the end of the fight with As Nodt already hit rock bottom. He had to throw away his pride, was physically utterly beaten and had his bankai stolen. Dying that miserably wouldn´t have sat right with me. I can see him die as a sacrifice for Rukia, but not like this. What a horrible end it would have been. I remember how shocked I was when the chapter came out back then. Not only because of his possible death, but at how his storyline might have ended.
i wouldnt like it either if he died like this. Such a middle finger to his character, any other way that demonstrated his honor or dying to save some1
But thats war, no matter how well liked, respected, dignified, and powerful; death can take us - anyone- at a moments notice, especially on a battlefield. Once they let byakuya live, i knew no one important besides unohana and old man yama was gonna be in any real danger, it removed the stakes
I also feel the same for yamma’s actual death
I agree, I could accept it if he manage to kill his opponent before dying.
I would’ve liked if his revival had a time limit, and he will eventually die at the end of the arc.
I think that's why they cut that part in the manga where hashwalth says ”it appears byakuya has died” and also why they focused the episode more on Yamamoto so people dont make a big deal out of byakuya survival
But what do you think now of that scene? I'm just asking out of curiosity because i want to know what others think about the Byakuya anime adaptation.
Imo it felt like less important and impactfull as it did when read it back then in the manga. Yamamoto kinda stole the light (literally 😂).
Don't get me wrong the anime did great but still
@@muchoyurdem5260 for me, so much of watching anime that is adapted from manga is knowing the ending and there are several studies that say if one knows the ending of a story they enjoy it more. I don't blame Kubo or anyone involved in the anime for not changing it and on some level that must mean that Kubo has something in store for Byakuya's role in the Hell Arc. Byakuya is a character that I don't love but that I appreciate a lot and he's such a fan favorite that him being the one who was "killed" in the invasion is the most impactful. If it were another captain like Hitsugaya who's another fan favorite it would've meant even less even if they had died
they did for that reason I believe
kind of glad it was removed, such a strange thing to casually say when your high position team mate dies. its very out of place.
@@muchoyurdem5260
I didnt really care that byakuya survived when I read it in the manga. Hes my favorite captain since i love his bankai and hes just iconic lol
Plus, if he died he would have just been revived later on in hell just like yama unohana and ukitake
I don't think Byakuya was ever actually planned to truly die. Many times in the series we see drops in reiatsu to the point where it can't sensed before and for probably 95% of those cases, the character still lives. We've also seen multiple instances of pretty much fatal injuries getting healed and recovered too such as Hiyori getting cut in half or Kira after being shot by Bazz. Byakuya is well within the range of survivability based on what we've seen. Hashwalth's statement of Byakuya's death is honestly pretty bad because of how sure he is of the death. Just because you can't sense his reiatsu doesn't mean he's dead and I think that line is put in just to build more tension. I'm glad they removed it from the anime because of how much drama it caused and we don't need anime watchers to jump in on it too.
He was Planned to die. But kubo received soo many death threats that he was forced to keep him alive
@@mihal1570 You first statement is incorrect. In the video at 4:09 it is stated if the bankai disappears, then the owner is near death not the zanpakuto itself. It is also never stated that the zanpakuto snapping means the owner is dead either and the zanpakuto doesn't automatically break when the owner dies either. Byakuya's sword snapping just symbolizes him dying but isn't concrete evidence he's actually dead because he clearly was speaking to Ichigo some time later to tell him to save soul society and that was after the scene of his sword breaking.
@Stg fr it's definitely just a rumor...
@@mihal1570 Kenpachi's sword snaps after losing to Ichigo...
@@mihal1570 not true , rukia's swords was cut , ichigo's too .byakuya himself when fighting with tsukishima
Byakuya dying is like Kenpachi dying ... people love these characters to much
I dont mind kubo killing off byakuya, im one of the who was devastated knowing most likely he might die, but at least give him a good death, not a cheap death like hes bankai was stolen thus hes dead, byakuya is known not just for his strong bankai, the cold demeanor he always potrayed because he is that strong, not just because having a strong bankai, hes strong for a reason, hes one of the powerful kido user and shunpo almost as on par with yourichi, atleast give a good awesome fight, as byakuya vs zommari, its like battle of wits
I think they managed to show that none of the bleach characters should be strong, powerful and invincibale all the way. They must be beaten sometimes and even dead like yamamoto. Byakuya after tybw chapter will be way stronger than now and he will play a major role in upcoming chapter due to his personality but in another way that he will not relay on his bankai cause it's his deadly wickness especially after yamamoto death
I really did think he would die when the manga came out and welp if it was meant to be so be it ... but I loved to see him back as he is my fav character, while he might not add too much to the plot , he did change after the fear episode and just knowing Rukia still has her brother with her when so many others dear to her died feels really good.
It may be good for Rukia to grow but then again imagine Byakuya living with that loss and living with that experience of fear. He would die here and then that moment of fear is simply a memory. And there was already other characters that died during that arc. It’s arguable since when he did stay alive, he still impacted the story and Rukia
I always enjoy your breakdown videos. I'm glad Byakuya survived though
As much as I love Byakuya, his death needed to happen. I hate when writers give in to fan pressure. Yamamoto’s death was a surprise because I never thought anything could take him down so if you’re gonna go all the way with that, why not take another one out?
There were lots of death treats and the editor was the one to decide at the end
As much as we thought authors have the creative freedom they have
The final say or direction will always fall to the editor sadly
@Ephemer any concrete evidence?
To be fair Yamamoto wasn’t a “fan favorite” character like byakuya
Personally, another alternative to killing Byakuya is making him critically injured, basically in a comatose state. This would make the revenge fight of Rukia much more satisfying since Rukia has legitimate and obvious reasons to kill As Nodt just based on the fact that Byakuya is comatose.
The only people from the Gotei who have died from a quincy is Yamamoto and Sasakibe. After the first invasion it doesn't feel like a war tbh.
Ehhh Izuru *kinda* died but he was also zombified
@@majoratwili7312 wait what, so Izuru is not dead, TF
@@majoratwili7312 He's still moving and a lieutenant in the gotei so he's considered alive.
@@fortunelekoto6704 yep, he just get some reishi rods put in him by Mayuri and lives on.
@@fortunelekoto6704 izuru is dead but mayuri made his body into a zombie robot
I'm honestly surprised the two vizards that fought the Quincy also managed to live despite their condition. If they were killed it would be 5/13 captains dead and would have given more of the expected outcome of a "war". The addition of Byakuya or Kira's death would have been the perfect balance for the arc imo.
Having the two vizard die maybe could've forced the rest of them like Hiyori or Lisa to go to the Soul Society and get revenge for their deaths.
@@MegaShingo97 Yeah but neither of them were strong enough to at that point unfortunately. If anything it would have sparked a reaction out of Shinji who could actually do something.
I disagree with the thought that Byakuya should have died during the first invasion and liked that he survived. One, just…no 😭. Two, him surviving doesn’t change the dark tone of this arc (for me at least). Three, that moment with him and Rukia later on in the arc was absolutely beautiful and something that Rukia needed from him.
Byakuya's intervention in rukia vs asnodt was inevitable. According to his words, fear stems from insecurity. Rukia's insecurity originates from her brother. After he acknowledges her strength and starts to recognize her as more than just a protective brother, she overcomes her insecurity and uses her bankai, similar to her fight against Espada No. 9. Her fights aren't merely physical; she hesitates to kill him because he resembles Kaien. After she understands that Kaien's heart is with her, she becomes mentally prepared to kill him.
Pretty sure the fan backlash and death threats thing was just a rumor and that Byakuya not dying was the original intent
he literally closed his twitter. Check it out.
I like that he lived, his appearance to protect ichigo from the bambieta and helping to defeat the big dude was sick
Seems Oda pulled a Tite Kubo when he decided to leave yamato out of luffy's crew
except that yamato never truly felt like she was gonna join...it was very sus that she kept bringing it up but we never got to see Luffy actually agreeing (only in the flashback once it was certain she wouldn´t join lol)
@@ScientologyHunter2 I actually thought the same and didn't really think she was gonna join and was happy she didn't but I don't like the way it was handled and the film red promo really ruined the end of wano for sure
Im glad he aint dead. Really wanna see him reach a new lvl of power. Not be killed off. His power I feel has hella room to grow. And yeah I know that's not gonna happen though.
Show's over and no one even reads the continuation arcs because the last 2 arcs were so bad. So I'm glad you're happy he chose poor writing over killing off characters!
@fuckyoutube4398 well I'm glad u happy for me and my opinion. Appreciate it.
When I read the chapter where Byakuya was defeated by As Nodt I felt devastated, because it was obvious to me he was supposed to die. I was surprised he was later healed, but I was glad it turned out that way. I don’t know if Kubo changed his mind due to the fan outrage, but I think it was good idea to keep Byakuya alive (not only because I love this character). This gave us an amazing moment for him and Rukia when he helped her with realising her bankai. His character has come such a long way and this helped complete his development.
I don’t think this kind of fake death is something unusual in anime/manga, although it can be disappointing as it could make the event less impactful. When I watched Naruto for the first time, I remember how it hurt me to see Jiraya’s death and it still hurts me as a fan of this story, but it is so hard because it is definitive. What would have happen to the plot and characters if Kakashi and Fukusaku had really died during Pain’s arc and after his attack on Konoha? They’re later resurrected by Nagato and that’s way it wasn’t as impactful - first we saw they’re death, but then we got a deus ex machina solution. I didn’t feel this way with Byakuya, as his loss to As Nodt actually pushed the character to further development.
The story would have proceeded in the same direction whether or not he lives or not. The whole cast at the time was operating on the notion that he was dead acting as fuel for Ichigo to power through it. Metaphorically I believe the old byakuya died and birthed a new one with a more refined look on life and battle.
nothing more to say but 100% agreed, was so pissed when Kubo no balled and brought him back in the manga
Years later I'm glad he didn't die. If bleach continues Seeing what he thinks of rukia and renji marriage and Interactions with their daughter could be good and heart warming.
🤦🏽♂️
But it would fit perfectly if he would've died there. Also i don't think Bleach will and ever did focus much on such scenes
What in the fuck
@@joohyunglee1815 🤣🤣🤣
It's opposite for me, lol. Would be cool to see him in Hell together with Ukitake and the rest. But I'm not sure Kubo will continue the story anyway.
Maybe the problem was that he got "killed" off like a jobber
I mean dying like a dog is fitting for a war
@@MILDMONSTER1234 I mean I guess if he was just some filler character
@@DerricsRevenge in real war it doesnt matter if you were filler or main
@@itsjustvin7630 I mean that's easy to say if you don't care about story structure
@@DerricsRevenge right i forget shonen fans are conditioned to enjoy wishy washy writing nowadays. It's why I appreciate the dark trio
1) He should have died there, narratively. However, I’m okay with him dying or not.
2) It makes Rukia killing As Nodt make no sense.
3) If you bring back Byakuya, then you should have let him eviscerate As Nodt and let Rukia get her run back. You let Renji get his run back against Mask de Masculine. So Byakuya should have get his revenge. Byakuya could still come and help her with her Bankai at the end of the battle and change nothing.
4) I mean, this is the least of the problems with this arc. Seriously. Of all the missed opportunities and confusing ends to the battle that we saw in this arc, this is minor. Hope we get a change and let Rukia use her bankai against something else and repeat that scene.
Yeah, I feel like his death would have especially really really hammered home just how dark and gritty this arc would get. It also would have added even more cooler character moments for characters like renji, rukia, and Ichigo.
And we see this problem even now, Bakugou's almost death, for example, I don't know if Horikochi actually intended for him to be killed at Shiragaki's hands (it sure felt like it, at the time) or if he changed his mind was because backlash but how he got revived felt like a copout.I was in the camp that , if he really did it he had to stick to it or at the very least to have a big consecuence, like the end of Bakugouu's hero carreer
SO TRUE! Bakugou was toast and he already had a stupidly close call before. Just strikes as poor writing. Like just don't write a cliffhanger close death character just to hamfist a GOTCHA HE'S NOT DEAD moment.
Is it true that kubo getting fan backlash and freaking death threats is only speculation from the fans and not confirmed by him? I hear so many people say this in order to downplay his “death scene” of him begging Ichigo to save the soul society. Im just confused cause it’s heavy implied he was gonna die (his zanpakuto shatters, he begins to cry, it starts to rain, Hashwalth himself of all people says he died, and of course him swallowing up his pride and asking Ichigo for help like a man) . Just curious
It's purely made up. He has like one comment, years later, when asked for advice if you make a manga where he basically says avoid social media because they can influence you but that's it. No connection to Byakuya, no claims he changed his mind or had other ideas, one quote years later that is completely unrelated.
Also "implied death" happens all the time. Kenpachi seemed to have died like 3 times, Ichigo got a hole through the chest, Matsumoto got half her torso crushed off, Kira, and so on.
If I were Kubo, I would give the anime staff a new storyboard in which Byakuya dies and new scenes are added.
Perhaps Rukia sees a ghost of Byakuya before she uses her Bankai. Maybe she replaces him in certain fights. (Pepe, Gerard, etc)
I would also use the new canon of the anime as a base when continuing the Breaths From Hell arc.
It’s clear that Byakua won’t die in this series because of the shot we have of him with his new clothes he got from the soul palace. I will agree byakuya dying would have done great things for the series. Ps what are your thoughts on kenpachi he should’ve been dead hypothetically
The sending Captain level reiatsu to Hell was a tradition made by the royal/noble houses and made it a must to do when a captain dies.
Of course the Kuchiki elders knows about this or at least the Kuchiki elder representative in Central 46 knows it
Back when I was reading the manga I'd already accepted Byakuya's death, so the reveal that he would survive was really surprising.
To this day, I believe that he should have died here. The death of Yamamoto has huge impact, but Byakuya is a central character, it would have been devastating but interesting to see how Rukia and co. would have dealt with this.
This being said, I still enjoy his storyline after this point
I feel like the best way to keep byakuya alive would be for kubo to stall revealing if he died or not. He would be sent up to the royal palace with everything thinking or saying that they shouldn’t bring him up because he’s already dead (or something like that) and having all the characters aside from the royal guards think that he couldn’t recover and died while trying to heal in the springs and then having him show up sometime after yhwach arrives at the royal palace and basically be his old badass self by either toying with or overpowering one of the Quincy royal guards when things seem dire. And of course Renji and Rukia would evolve during the time they thought that byakuya was dead. Though that’s just my opinion in wanting byakuya’s actions to mean something and then appeasing the fans with an incredible twist.
Byakuya will not die because he is a legend... some characters are greater than a story arc
Like could you have imagined post squad 0 training rukia vs byakuya Bankai used by As nodt. That would've been so cool.
I dunno. Byakuya was a crucial component in Rukia's bankai moment. Don't see it working without him.
Could be replaced by Renji or Byakuya's ghost
@@CirBam24 How does a ghost work in Soul Society though? 😂
This is another thing that I kind of have a problem with. Rukia was fully capable of defeating As Nodt on her own. I don’t think she needed her brother at all. It kind of stole the moment from her. But it was still a good moment that showed the development they both had since the soul society arc.
In bleach has a female character defeated a high tier villain without any help? I literally cant think of one time this has happened
You’re acting as if Kubo has no control over the story. What triggered Rukia’s Bankai potential could have been handled differently just as easily. It’s no reason to back-peddle the death of a major character.
Except he robbed Rukia of her moment to shine there. It showed that nothing really changed: from Soul Society arc to Arrancar saga, from saga to Fullbring arc and now in TYBW - Rukia can't do anything on her own and just keeps relying on her big bro to save her every single time.
It's not difficult to see why people consider Rukia to be weak - the way events in the plot happen around her writes "damsel in distress" all over her character.
Can someone tell me why he was made to look that weak, by not even trying to use kido?
how r u supposed to stop a bankai/schrift with kido??
I think Byakuya should’ve stayed dead, Renji could’ve helped Rukia regain her composure during the As noht battle. Maybe even help defeat As noht after being frozen or something like that, showing fans how close Rukia and Renji are and how much they mean to each other since there’s barely any battles shown with the two of them.
Renji couldve become the captain of squad 6 symbolising that he’s surpassed Byakuya and that would’ve completed Renji’s arc for being stronger.
The thing with that line is that he says that “Byakuya appears to have died.” The ‘appears’ does a lot of work but Kubo may have left himself wiggle room to renege on the character’s death. Given the controversy at the time, Kubo may have want to not kill off a key character because of it.
I have to agree. Byak's story arc was done by the time he beat Zommari to defend Rukia.
After that, there was no other direction for the character to go, so Kubo initially made the right decision to kill him.
Seeing Byakuya's participation in TYBW later on, only further demonstrates that Kubo didn't really know what else to do with the character. Byakuya essentially just got a generic power multiplier and supported other characters in 2 separate occasions, that's it.
It doesn't bother me too much that he's alive, but other characters' arcs were definitely cheapened by him surviving, namely Rukia's, Renji's (who didn't even get to become a Captain like Rukia) and the request he gave Ichigo to Save SS was also cheapened a little bit.
The end result of Byak surviving wasn't bad, but it could have been better. I hope Kubo kills him off in the upcoming Hell arc, for good this time. I wanna see Renji become a Captain.
He could also kill off maybe 1-4 other characters who don't really have much of a big role to play or anything new to show anymore either. Like Rose or Kensei - we've seen their bankai and they haven't been relevant to the plot, probably won't in the next arc either, so Kubo can maybe give them a W, a bit of backstory, and then send them packing, for example.
Renji needs to be captain
@Stg Yes. And I don't see why not. More authors should do that. Sometimes a meaningful death makes characters more iconic, like a sacrifice f.e.
I only see it as a problem if the author gets bloodthirsty and starts killing off too many characters.
If Kensai and Rose aren't relevant to the plot, how does killing them off make anything in the story feel substantial? They had relevance and cool designs but we don't know alot about them and scene enough of them to the level of Byakuya or Kenpachi.
i have not read the bleach manga, but i think it would be more impactful if Byakuya's death was in front of ichigo when Byakyua was trying to save Rukia; instead of ichigo coming to the soul society and finding Byakuya's almost dead corpse.
It might be controversial but I think kubo wasn’t affected by the fans when it comes to byakuya’s death. He killed popular characters in the past like ulquiorra and didn’t bring them back and yes ulquiorra might’ve been even more popular than byakuya at some point. And if we’re talking about the tybw then we’ve seen people literally come back from death as zombies and act like if nothing has happened I mean look at izuru who has done literally nothing after his return. Pretty sure people didn’t send kubo death threats to revive him. Not to mention than manga artists usually get those kind of messages and most of the time they go with what they’ve originally planned.
@@youtubecensorshipisretarded nah byakuya did more than the majority of the captains in tybw.
For me the reason I was upset about Byakuya dying was because he is such a well rounded fighter. He didn't use any kido or anything else. He just died basically as soon as his bankai was stolen. I feel like he would've lost either way, I just wish it had been to someone significantly stronger.
The problem with the fight is it seems like his foe wasn't significantly stronger than Byakuya himself. Also, the captain commander seems to imply that the stolen bankai's aren't wielded to their true potential by the Sternritters.
Loved the video, thought you did a great job!
Debate whatever you feel about the death of Senbonzakura
But the fact that it got us some badass fight scenes and moments like
And the insane character introduction of As Nodt is something that i still remember to this day
As Nodt is my favourite Quincy
Personally, I've always thought that people have vastly overestimated the impact his death would have had overall. Yamamoto's death would've completely overshadowed his and, ultimately his loss would be the bigger loss. Yes it would've impacted Rukia and Renji and maybe that would be enough, but for the other characters I really don't think they would've I guess 'mourned' him in the same way. Yes it would have been another loss of a Captain, but Yamamoto's death was the bigger impact just because of who he was.
I liked the fact that he was brought to the brink of death by his own sword. Considering the development of his character, it was extremely metaphorical. To me his survival continued to show his growth, but that's just my personal opinion. Ultimately his death wouldn't have bothered me, nor did his survival bother me. Anyway, it's been set in stone for 10 years now and I think continuing to argue over what 'should've happened' is pointless. He didn't die and that's that. Some people need to let it go.
Bruh wtf why does it was to effect every character 😂😂
Tell it the people who didn't want it.
I was crushed by his death_ I paused his scene and cried💔
I don't mind as long as the hell arc continues. I believe that if it does; we'll get more into the 5 noble houses and having 3 out of 5 being on Ichigo's side (Kuchiki, Shihoin, and Shiba); we can learn some deep dark secrets.
Kubo was right to keep him alive. Character development. Plus, As Nodt with Byakuya's bankai would have obliterated Rukia and Renji.
Good video man!
Can you do a video on zanpakuto in the bleach?
Tbh I 💯 agree he should of died it wasn’t pointless like making two characters get closer via Naruto and hinata 🫣 but I’m just saying fans got this one wrong
Byakuya is a really beloved character for me, and even though it was a bit forced maybe, im genuinely happy he was alive till the end!
While I can emphasize with fans that wanted Byakuya not to come back. I don’t think him not dying really “ruined” anything. The infamous “Save the Soul Society” still works either way of him on his death bed or being so powerless and weak that he had to beg to Ichigo. Plus Rukia still gets to annihilate Nodt as revenge for what he did to her brother.
Kubo said he only didn't die because the division needed a strong captain
People called me crazy for wanting Byakuya to die here lol
The series has so many characters, I feel like ichigo, byakuya, and toshiro get as much fights as nearly the entire gotei 13 combined
Ulqiourra dies in his battle, and fans still love him. Grimmjow should've died too but he got brought back off popularity alone. It's gives the story substance and a true sense of "you never know what might happen" when a writer isn't afraid to complete a characters arc with a death, after they have fulfilled their purpose.
Yeah well, let every single captain and Luitanant have a full out fight and that arc alone would have more chapters than all of One Piece lol
@@maciejwucow1563 Yeah i know, and that's because there are too many char lol. 13 captains 13 Luitanants and a couple of 3th 4th 5th seats, then other char like Vizoreds, family members etc etc.
How will you balance that out? It's impossible
@@derekhageman8537 Grimmjow surviving made sense tho...ichigo saved him so it was pretty obvious that he didn´t die
Kenpachi gets too many fights.
He would've died if he would stayed at unohana to heal him but the division 0 took him thats how he survived
hard to believe he lost to that guy, even grimjaw or greenjaw could have defeated that guy
Debatable lmao
@@MILDMONSTER1234 no
@@MILDMONSTER1234no
He wouldn't show up to ruin Rukia's best fight that's for sure 🙄
Well said. Rukia should've been the one to AVENGE Byakuya through killing As Nodt herself (showing her development in independence and not relying on NII-SAMA!). But no, As Nodt basically would have won without Byakuya coming to save the day (which was stupid because all her gave her was a pep-talk and somehow THE FEAR doesn't work anymore?). All Kubo had to do was kill off Byakuya and have his image come to her to or just bankai and freeze everything, which would have bypassed THE FEAR messing with her abilities to move properly. Just poor writing.
I'll comment cause I love the content but I flat disagree. First plenty of characters "seem" to die, so this isn't new, I don't think Rukia's story nor the Gerard fight work without him, and his death adds nothing anyways.
I think it was a close call for Byakuya with, possibly, help from Orihime. Plus Captain Yamamoto stated that Sasakibe's stolen Bankai was weaker while it was being used by the Quincy who stole it, so there is a possibility that the damage that Byakuya took on was vicious enough to make his spiritual pressure drop, hence the assumption that he was dead, and was meant to leave him as a husk to help inspire fear and despair. Keeping Byakuya's character in mind, I don't see him disrespecting an enemy's body. If he aims to kill, it is clean in comparison to Nodt. There is nothing noble about the way Nodt fights.
I think you are forgetting the noble houses. Rukia nor renji can replace byakuya in that space of nobility, without a completely different story line to make up for his death. They both have a solid Canon role. So does Byakuya
Rukia is literally Byakuya's brother in law and sister to Hisana (HER TITLE IS LADY OF THE KUCHIKI CLAN) who's Byakuya's husband. She absolutely can replace Byakuya as is the reason why the Kuchiki clan tracked down Rukia from the slums and adopted her. Watch the show or read the manga, my dude.
Byakuya shouldnt have died, reason is because byakuya would have and should have never ever even used his bankai in the first place. Byakuya is insanely cautious during fights and i would never believe that byakuya would ever use bankai.
No i don't think Byakuya should have died here.
We've seen other characters and captains survive similar if not the same level of damage and survive long enough for help to arrive.
I honestly don't think that Rukia and Renji would have progressed as much as they did in the story without Byakuya's presence when he appeared in the story no matter how much this story is Shonen.
I'm not sure if Tite Kubo wanted to kill Byakuya for sure but I think he was indecisive, and made the first decision to kill him, and later figured out where he would be very important to appear, and decided to bring him back as a surprise in the story.
i don't care for Byakuya, i just miss head captain Yama. He only opens both eyes when he is about to heap some hurt. Byakuya not going blank i think is good for the series because he is a very beloved character. he not dying is good i think. At the end of the day his defeat made them to forge on and be stronger. it helps to keep Byakuya lovers still following the series. Robbing the series of such lovable characters is not the best.
Him and Kira living was just baffling to me.
I like Kira but what the fk 😂
I 100% agree, like imagine how impactfull that would be, especially killing him off at this episode.
And it fits perfectly with the no Breaths from hell lore, they could have brought him back in that arc (if it will ever continue). That would be so awesome.
Like i really have nothing against Ukitake but imagine "the one scene in no Breaths from hell" Byakuyas patels coming out and killing that "Arrancar" instead of Ukitakes Shikai.
I think everyone that read it should know which scene/panel i mean.
That would be way better because let's be real Byakuya>>>>Ukitake
If not in manga form then probably in anime form tbh
I agree about Byakuya coming back in hell arc BUT YOURE WRONG. Jushiro's was way more fucking scary seeing his sword through the hell gates. Jushiro is the embodiment of good character and he had the impact that Unohana did when her past was revealed. Ulquiorra is much more liked and "cooler" than Szayel but he wasnt in the one shot because Szayel made more sense with his personality which is why Jushiro made more sense in the one shot. Plus Jushiro connects BOTH to Rukia and Shunsui who were talking about the ritual.
@@absoluteballs lol. How am i wrong when I'm giving my opinion on something that would be better imo.
And i never heard anyone say Ukitake is scarier than Byakuya lmao. In what aspect?
And he def didn't have the impact Unohana had.
I don't get why Ukitake would make more sense then Byakuya, you just saying he does without mentioning a single argument, why?
Byakuya would be way more impactfull because in the fanbase he is much more liked and people would care more about it him coming back than Ukitake who never actually was a really interesting char other then in the last arc using mimihagi
I can definitely see the benefits if him dying. On the other, kubo can get pretty close to the same effect if byakuya was thought to be dead for a long time.
He had is stomach ripped out, and was impaled, him being paralyzed and unable to fight anymore would've been the better option so fans wouldn't cry over him dying
Where do you get the color-paneled manga pages?
Man.. your videos are always some of the most top tier. I totally agree that Byakuya should have died and am myself planning to write out a scenario on how it would play out too. Keep up and take care yo
I believe Byakuya would be better dead. About the line that he is indeed dead, it doesn't make sense, bcs he has to be alive to talk to Ichigo, so, even if I don't expect them to do it, they might add it later, after he speaks to Ichigo
Thanks for making this video
If byakuya died, it would have affected rukia and renji. For anyone following since the beginning, it would have changed everything.
For the better. It would've caused them to develop and not play second fiddle to Byakuya. Rukia should've been the one to AVENGE Byakuya through killing As Nodt herself (showing her development in independence and not relying on NII-SAMA!). But no, As Nodt basically would have won without Byakuya coming to save the day (which was stupid because all her gave her was a pep-talk and somehow THE FEAR doesn't work anymore?). All Kubo had to do was kill off Byakuya and have his image come to her to or just bankai and freeze everything, which would have bypassed THE FEAR messing with her abilities to move properly. Just poor writing.
Byakuya surviving seemed to be the initial faint glimpse of hope for the comeback, at least for me. It also showed how insane of a mountain they'd have to climb when you see first hand the pure damage senbonsakura is capable of in the hands of the enemy - ultimately, death threats trump a good plot, at the end of the day its a fucking manga/ show, what a first world problem leading to threats on a man's life
Yes
No. "Mountain"? Guy's "mountain" was done offscreen and he just came back being about to 4v1 sternritters + Hisagi with low difficulty...
I guess I did, but I wasn't sure since they didn't show his body. I thought he was close to death in the manga.
I agree, I believe Byakuya should have died
Like you said it would have made his last plea to Ichigo that much more impactful, as well as, allowing Rukia & Renji to grow and come into their own a bit more. It would've taken away their security blanket and forced them to take on more of the load of being a high-ranking shinigami. With Renji most likely becoming the new captain of squad 6 and Rukia being one of if not the highest ranking member of the Kuchiki clan
And I think the fan backlash played a huge part in it not happening, but ultimately I think it was because his editors would not stand for Kubo killing off one of the most highly marketable characters in the series
Byakuya Kuchiki death could’ve been the death of Neji Hyuga of Bleach.
Byakuya would simply be the ACE Version of One piece for sure - Really sad about that choice, could be a massive impact in other animes too the way mangaka treat they side kick heroes
While I'm not 100% against the idea of Byakuya dying after fight with As Nodt, cuz I see the impact and overall benefits for later story development, I still think it was a better idea to keep him alive. I'm a subscriber of the idea that as an author, you should keep your major characters alive as long as possible to the very end. Yes, death is an impactful plot device and it should absolutely be utilised, but sparingly. A living character has much more opportunities for development that would benefit the story more. Yamamoto's death was symbolic of how the old gotei is coming to an end. Unohana's death can also be linked to the same idea, since she was a member of the old gotei as well. Zaraki, being part of the current younger generation, has becone stronger thanks to her sacrifice. Byakuya is still very young, so for me it makes more sence to develop further as the head of Kuchiki family, being part of the yonger generation as well. By that logic Shunsui should've also died, but he's very different from the rest of the old guard. He's open to innovations, he's not bound by old traditions, he's willing to adapt.
Overall, I think TYBW already has enough significant deaths.
that’s the thing though, he survived to basically be a third wheel for the next 170 chapters or so
@@guallism2665 I disagree. Sure, Byakuya didn't do alot later, but he still played his a role. Helped Rukia in a fight with As Nodt, wa part of the group that fought Gerard, had interacted with other characters. I agree that it all was after the highlight moment of his character in this arc, but it's by far not the reason to kill him off. I personally really enjoyed all these small moments,. And Bleach already has very sizable cast, so expect every single character to get his own mini-arc is unlikely (unless you'r not One Piece, and btw this can sound good on paper to give everyone to do something but it also can get real annoying real fast, for my taste at least).
Anyway, I still think it's more beneficial to keep him alive. Maybe when Kubo finally gets to his Hell Arc we'll get to see more of him and the rest of Gotei, one can only wonder.
my guy, your idea of character death is completely opposite to what war actually is. If u wanna make your "bad" guy team a real threat, kill off ppl that ppl think are safe. That's the point of stakes. The whole fuckin point of a "thousand year blood warfare". The strong are not immune to death. Even thematically, byakuya passing his torch to renji made sense and was a great way to conclude his arc
@@poochyenajones1362 so only bad guys are allowed to die
@@itsjustvin7630 No. My point is it's not necessary to kill prominent characters to show the urgency of the situation. It can be done with no problem, but if it doesn't it's not a bad thing either. People just overreacting, cuz they're butthurt. Those who were sending death threats to Kubo are even worse. This whole controversy shows how futile is to please everyone. The problem was never with Kubo, it's the fanbase who are the problem. My only advice is the same as always: "Get over it."
Nah, it would've been a terrible death for his character. Killed by his own Ban Kai, unable to protect rukia or renji, not using any kido or hado skills in his fight that just aint it not for me as fan of the character anyway. Yamamoto may have died a humiliating death, but at least he got to avenge Sasakibe, at least he got to take down some of the enemy. My mans didn't get to do anything but have a near death that almost directly paralel's renji's near death in the ss arc but I've never seen anyone pick that apart.
Rukia should've been the one to AVENGE Byakuya through killing As Nodt herself (showing her development in independence and not relying on NII-SAMA!). But no, As Nodt basically would have won without Byakuya coming to save the day (which was stupid because all her gave her was a pep-talk and somehow THE FEAR doesn't work anymore?). All Kubo had to do was kill off Byakuya and have his image come to her to or just bankai and freeze everything, which would have bypassed THE FEAR messing with her abilities to move properly.
Byakuya may have gotten thrashed by As Nodt, but he had a beautiful send off and Kubo just SAYING GOTCHA HE'S NOT DEAD IS POOR WRITING.
The fact that Byakuya got NO major power up aside from "a more efficient shikai" while everyone else got new bankai or bankai reveals, or major character development means something.
Byakuya did NOT have to be there to encourage Rukia's fight with Asnodt. Or that could have been done by another character like Renji on his way to fight mask.
Just started watching bleach finally finished the series and watched both seasons of TYBW anime only I’m glad he didn’t die ❤🤷🏽♀️. Woohoo.
Rukias bankai fight was amazing. But just imagine how heartfelt it would've been for a spirit or memory of her brother to "hold" her hand after defeating Az Naut (idk how to spell it). How the fear didn't effect her because of her abilities, but because she was fighting for someone she loved and cared for. Also the idea of Rukia defeating senbon with her own bankai would've been like a stepping stone in her character. That she didn't just bring her brothers killer to justice, but also surpassed his power but in a fragile state. Seeing a girl from poverty surpass royalty. It would've been one of the best fights in Bleach history hands down.
(Sorry if I don't use the names or full names of characters and bankai. Idk how to spell them 😅)