My favorite thing about it is that someone pointed out that Ulquiorra's name sounds very close to the Spanish phrase "el que llora" which means "the one who cries."
Edgar Morales Considering Bleach had some Spanish words and Hispanic music in it, that could very much be the origin of his name. Props to that person for an interesting find.
he knew more than aizen he made him on purpose so that he would eventually lose or kill ulqiorra in a fight id say aizen has no match for him but his kyoka...
Ulquiorra always fascinated me. He's edgy, yes, but it's his own *unique* style of edgy. The was Kubo portrayed him, never hit me as Kubo trying to stuff as much edge as he can to an empty shell of a character, but instead to personify, the most perfect embodiment of *emptiness*. And he did it. The only character I can think of, when trying to imagine someone similar to Ulquiorra, is Ainz Ooal Gown from Overlord. But where, Ainz still has his human memories, but no humanity, Ulquiorra of course, has no human memories. Bleach will always hold a special place in my heart. I can't really blame Kubo. I blame burnout. He tried to give his characters that proper sendout, but it only resulted in, unfinished character arcs, confusing plot holes and even more loose ends left untied. Still, I'm glad Kubo wrote Bleach. It made a lot of kids, teens and some adults happy, including me. And in my opinion, that's one of the grates accomplishments, an author can achieve.
And that's why Ulquiorra is my favorite bleach character. He also is one of the few characters who got legitimate character growth, It was interesting to watch him display no emotion in the begining but then towards the end of his life, he became more expressive in comparison to most his screen time leading up to his final fight and ultimate death. I also never got the feeling he was really evil and malicious like the others. He seemed like if he lived, he may have been at least neutral to Ichigo and the others, especially once he started to understand the concept of heart. But sadly he was only following orders from Aizen to kill. Much like a soulless robot devoid of any emotions or free will.
I never thought of Ulquiorra's death as a mistake. He had a backstory of his own and an amazingly written character development fitting an empty creature like him. His character made like that nothing more, nothing less. Kubo know he'll get alot of hate for killing the guy bcos Ulquiorra is a fan favorite character and yeah he did received hate at the end. But Ulquiorra's death made Ichigo understand the weight of the situation. Makes me remember the first few episodes of Code Geass when Lelouch said that actual battles are different from him playing chess, Ichigo was raised a mere human before everything. Humans know sympathy, Orihime being sad about Ulquiorra's loss than Yammy is an example of Kubo intending everything for a character like Ulquiorra. Ichigo seeing his opponents can die anytime- like Ulquiorra's empty death was a big realization to Ichigo.
@@sabu_ I have to second the idea that killing Ulquiorra was a great move, although for slightly more cynical reasons. His death scene was a beautiful way to cap off his development, while simultaneously ensuring that he couldn't be ruined by being dragged along for future arcs. It was also really smart on Kubo's end in terms of lightening the creative workload, since he didn't even have to try and write character interactions for a reformed Ulquiorra.
In art school I was “The Bleach Guy” And I always talked about how much I loved the art style of the series, and everyone would say “bleehhh, there’s no backgrounds, MUST BE EASY TO DRAWWW BLEEEHHH”. And it kinda ticked me off because as much as background are important... the characters are what is MOST important, and Kubo does a fantastic job at expressing his characters imo.
I agree, the entire point of an "artstyle" is that it's unique and is supposed to give on a certain feel. Not everything needs to be regimented or textbook when it concerns art.
Tite Kubo’s art style is in my opinion the best style of all Manga. The way he draws the characters and his character designs are unmatched. It’s what every other Shonen lacks.
@@rusduderus anime often function as promotion for a manga and its publisher, in Bleach's case Shonen Jump - if a manga is no longer being serialized and merchandised the way on going Jump manga are, there's not much in it for the animation studio or the Jump to fund any more anime. I doubt it's an issue of owning rights, its more likely no animation studio or Jump themselves want to fund a series with no potential for growth and expansion, if Bleach could even make back the costs of animating it
My doctor did say "Without being vulnerable, or even experiencing emotional suffering you can never reach happiness. You will always be stagnant and most likely will stay that way. Humans dislike change when they are already doing 'fine' even if it is an unhappy way to live." to me once. Mostly related with my own issues from child abuse but yeah. Interesting stuff and now I appreciate Ulquiorra so much, I used to already but now I understand WHY.
Just a quick correction, apparently Ulquiorra's aspect of death being "nihilism" is actually a mistranslation. Instead, it's "emptiness", which in hindsight makes a lot more sense. I don't think it retracted *too* much from the video, but I did gloss over the specifics of nihilism to not go on a tangent, mainly defining it as "the rejection of intrinsic values in people and objects as the world has no objective meaning" as a means to parallel Ulquiorra's rejection of "attachment". But, I'm aware the philosophy of nihilism has *a lot* more depth to it, and doesn't fit his character as well as "empty" or "void". Hopefully that didn't bother anyone too much!
As a nihilist, "empty" and "meaningless" actually have a lot of overlap. While the label may not be exactly what was intended it is close enough that this video is still a really good analysis.
@@DogmaKnightsMOB Being a nihilist doesn't mean not having or not valuing emotions. It means acknowledging that one's values are the product of one's internal beliefs rather that reality itself having values or meaning.
@@SuperZergMan Exactly, thanks. I can't very well go about life completely amoral and unemotional, even if those things seem meaningless to me in the big picture.
@@Matti.K Because it was the hollow who fought Ulquiorra not Ichigo. It was Ichigo's body but it was Shirazaki in control not Ichigo. Both Ulquiorra and Ichigo acknowledge this. Ulquiorra kept making remarks about the impossibility of what he was seeing every other moment and Ichigo complained about how he wasn't the one fighting.
At that moment Ichigo wasn’t in control and now knowing White is Ichigo’s spirit that was just true instinct. White made Ichigo become a wild beast who only lived to protect himself and fulfill his goal of protecting Orihime
Ulquiorra was the most impactful character of the series for me. His storyline hit so hard for me because it's such an accurate reflection of how it feels to be depressed and afraid of connection. I was so heartbroken Kubo chose the "Redemption in Death" trope instead of allowing Ulquiorra to experience what it means to be "human" and learning how to grow into having a heart. I definitely would've stuck with the series if Ulquiorra had stayed.
Hey dude, I don’t know if you check this channel nowadays. Maybe you’re stuck in the perpetual mental spiral of becoming overtly critical of every creative work you set your mind to. Perhaps it’s the unwarranted pressure you levy on yourself from the substantial growth your channel experienced from a relatively small amount of videos, changing its nature from a humble personal project to a platform reaching hundreds of thousands of people. Maybe it’s some other personal reason that is entirely your own to have, know, and keep private and to yourself. Whatever the case, know that you made some damn good videos, with a thought provoking perspective and an editing style wholeheartedly original. If the day comes you feel up to creating a new video, I for one would love to watch it. But do what feels natural to you, man. Thanks for all the great videos.
I legitimately believe Bleach has underrated depth compared to the other 2 members of the big 3. By no means was it flawless, and dear lord did Kubo drag things out a lot, but I've always loved the setting and characters more than Naruto's or One Piece's. Everything about how the Zanpaktou and how they work and evolve alongside their user is super cool and interesting, and when Kubo was on a roll it was some of the best stuff I've been from Shonen. I really feel Bleach could use a DBZ Kai treatment. Cut out all the fat and what's left is pretty solid most of the time. Shame the final arc never got animated or finished in the manga though, but that's what the books are for I guess.
I was an Ulquiorra myself (he's my top 3 character in fiction) ever since I could remember. My philosophy when it came to other people was "connecting is not worth it when there's a chance you'll get hurt", so my life revolved around either sleeping or playing games/RUclips. A few months ago I met somebody who ended up being the first and only person to make my heart beat so hard that it feels like it'll explode out of my chest, make me smile like an idiot every time I think about them and who I'm genuinely interested in. Simply being around and interacting with them brings me a kind of happiness I couldn't begin to describe even if I wanted to, even if there are moments where their actions make me feel hurt too, and all this is coming from a person that has identified with Ulquiorra long before knowing what Bleach is. A heart can only exist in the hands of 2 different people. If you're alone then you don't have a heart
@SONIC ART true but who on Earth didn't get rekt by them. Three of the strongest Bankais couldn't take down Gerard, Lille lost to his ability being reflected, Askin got taken out by a surprise attack and Pernida got taken out only due to Mayuris crazy amount of perapredness
He retweeted the trailer for season 4 part 3 (part 2) of Attack on Titan last month. So no he's not dead but is probably busy with other things. Just letting people wondering know after looking it up.
Fro mation at least some of us can agree ugh when people say bleach is bad it frustrates me to no end like the fullbring arc is not even that bad in fact It’s actually my favorite animated arc aside from soul Society that is then probably a few arcs from the mage and the soul reapers vs arrancar
The mistake that they are making is getting emotionally evolved with the filler episodes/arcs(3), which by definition, are just bad... Although I didn't like the bount arc either...
Bleach is so well written for someone like kubo, because he put all his effort into, all of his "heart" and people dont even realise how hard he worked to make bleach as good as possible, serious injury or medical problem? Nah, he has to draw bleach! He is a great artist and great at making characters because hes imaginative, something all good artists have, hes not just blindly drawing a story he thought up in his head, hes following his heart to make a universe that hes proud of and can call his, kubos dedication is the reason why i love bleach so much and why it pisses me iff when people say its bad, they only think about it for themselfs, not what it means to others, not the universe, they only care for tge story which i can understand but its also an ugly reflection of human nature, yeah they arnt looking at the cover of it but they arnt looking at the center either
I agree. I wish there was a Grimmjow analysis video too. Starrk, Ulquiorra and him were all such interesting characters who had pretty dismal existences (all the Arrancars/Espada did tbh) when you think about it and no one seems to talk about it. I mean think about it, Arrancars are essentially warped souls/hollows finally gaining a semblance of personhood (see; how Grimmjow became a special menos grande because of his individuality, and how his group when he was still an Adjuchas were desperate to not regress to be gillians again) but without any purpose outside of gaining power and being loyal to Aizen for reasons they themselves don't even seem to completely understand or grasp and seemingly without positive emotions born into an empty void desert full of monsters. They're almost like animals or newborns in a sense and I always found them to be very tragic characters.
i think Ulquiorra was the most tragic character in bleach in the entire anime each character had a motive no matter what their morals was bad or good it's their feelings that defined their persona thus their ambitions for aizen was envy for power for uryu was his pride as quincy but Ulquiorra had nothing he was like blank page he never had the chance to experience different emotions he had nothing and no one to protect his existence was basically meaningless and when he meet ichigo and orihime he couldn't fathom their motives for ichigo and his friends was friendship and love but for Ulquiorra it was just nothingness at that moment a reaction started to occur inside him and begin to change but unfortunately the clash between him and ichigo lead to his death but at his final moments you can see in his eyes that he was showing feeling feeling of regret.
@@TheMagiciansLoveX But aren't Stark and Lilynette one person? Its like having an multible personality disorder. Stark was so alone, that he created out of himself someone else. Its like people with trauma sometimes creates new personalitys to protect themselves from pain.
@@Itachi_D_Kuchiki I understand they are the same entity, but Lilynette soon became an actual physical being which made 2. Ulquiorra had nothing but his eyes.
This is unfortunate. Seeing such an amazing character just disappear is quite saddening.. I hope you made it through Covid, and that you're still alive at the very least.
"True inner strength does not come from a lack of fear. No, true inner strength comes from being afraid, acknowledging you're afraid...and pushing past that fear to do what you need to do regardless." - Some Wise Old Bastard, probably.
Dude, don't worry too much about sounding pretentious. You can enjoy and learn a lot from very dumb things, or at least the thoughts they lead you to. Regardless of the original intention of the artist, your way of seeing it is what's interesting.
I love how you analysed the depth in Bleach, in terms of Ulquiorra's character. I don't think you're a pretentious pseud at all, I think you're awesome for making this video! I love Bleach so please make more. I subscribed for the sake of that.
Ignore this Sonic The Artist (More like an ASSHOLE) moron, who comments on every single comment with same anti-Ulquiorra bullshit. Edgy kid living in his mother's basement trying to act tough on the internet. Pathetic.
This video was incredible, it is an incredible study about a strong choice a mangaka made, putting such a strong word, in that context, on a blank page means everything it should without any superficialities. A lot of contemporary art focuses on this, and it is important to also see this part of life, on not decorated bit bare for us all to see
''Are you scared?'' Till this day I clearly remember that moment when he told Ichigo to buzz off. I love Gin (no homo). He was such an amazing character and an awesome ''villain''
@Benziz 200 You can't be serious?! Gin was one of only 2 people who managed to fool Aizen in what? Over 300 Years!! Gin literally gave up his entire life just to avenge Rangiku. Like just think about it for a second. Talk about overrated
@@Knives7777 you said that but the arc right after, the Fullbring arc, the most hated canon arc of BLEACH challenged and further developed Ichigo as a character more than anything before that moment. What define "good" for you I wonder 🙊
I didn't understand Ulquiorra the first time I read Bleach. I thought his final moments were kind of vague, but not terrible or cheap or lazy. But over the years, as I got better at analysis, I arrived to a similar conclusion as seen in your video. I figured I couldn't be the only one who saw his character this way. Great vid.
I always saw Ulquiorra as a weird reflection of the Buddhist detachment from the material too. Its why I think he has 2 resurrections, one to break free of his humanity/hollow form, the second to break free of the cycle of hollow and human that the Shinigami curate, because all those things are still tied to existence and he was free of that bond. To defend it some, I see worth in Ulquiorra's perspective too. He gained a lot of power through his detachment, too, even if it was to no true end. There's value in learning when and how to detach. When to separate yourself from your emotions to get something done or enduring something arduous. But like anything, you can have too much of a good thing, or nothing in this case. You may have to learn to be empty to a purpose (detachment), or your purposes can be made empty by your own hands - which was sortof Ichigo's moral during that fight and later allowed him to have a power like his last Getsuga too. It was a good one because *nobody* really won anything. All their principles collapsed and the remaining just had to build something.
Dude the way that you blend anime and psychological, philosophical, and religious themes is fucking amazing! I think about this shit a lot when I read manga/watch anime and I am thrilled to have found someone who appreciates and analyzes this shit especially on the level that you do c:
Thank you for this analysis, I really liked how you described Ulquiorra's arc. The cuts with the subtitles were funny too, just too quick so I had to rewind the video to read it xD Especially when hollow Ichigo fires a cero at Ulquiorra's face, I feel the same way quite often too. I know worry and anxiety are not like that, but I think there was no need for them regarding this video, it was very detailed and probably my favourite so far on this topic because of the editing and the connections made with Buddhist art, and also the line "Don't be afraid of being afraid".
This a golden video, the analysis is very interesting and well constructed. Thank you for bringing this awesome type of content into the Bleach community !
I asked out a girl I had a crush on a few days ago. She was quitting the same job we both worked, I had a crush on her for awhile. When I found out she was quitting I knew time was running out. I hardly got to work with her as well so I had to make my choices there and now. I told myself that maybe its just better to just let these feeling pass, but I couldn't deny how I felt about her, I couldn't avoid them...I was afraid to approach. I was afraid to feel the pain of rejection, but I was even more afraid to feel the feeling of what could have been...I would have been more upset with everything if I said nothing. So one day I got up out of my chair while on break went to see her and it was like the universe knew what I was doing because she came out of the first door that I walked up to. I felt the world sway left to right. Fear and courage, now or never. I remembered the anger I would have towards myself if I didn't say anything. I asked her out. She became nervous and started to blushed and didn't give me a straight answer at first, but she did confirm after the emotions that she wanted to go on a date with me. When she got nervous I immediately calmed down because 1 I felt great after facing my fear and 2 she felt the same way that I did. She was nervous too...I laughed at myself. I was so nervous when she also felt the same. I didn't feel alone in how I felt.
Brillant video man, Ulquiorra has been my favourite character in anime since I saw him for the first time and knowing that I'm not the only one to understand him really makes me happy. 10/10 video.
This was really eye opening. I struggle to really understand Ulquiorra's character because being _that_ dead inside is hard for me to relate to. This really helped me grasp his character a lot better, so thank you for that. Also 10/10 for the humour sprinkled in.
Objectively, as I’ve never read the manga, that page was needed (as you said) to portray Ulquiorra’s message. Bleach my favorite shounen and one of my favorite animes of all time because of its use of simplicity to imply drama. Great video!
HEY WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS WONDERFUL CHANNEL I WAS SO EXCITED AS A PHILOSOPHY ENTHUSIAST AND GOD DAMN WEEB I FOUND THE PERFECT CHANNEL AND THIS LAD ONLY HAS 8 VIDEOS AND YEETED OFF TO YUGOSLAVIA NEARLY 2 YEARS AGO WHERE IS MY LAD
Ulquiorra and Stark were my favorite Bleach characters as I grew through teenage life as a very disconnected, very angsty teen dude. I could only ever pin down the bare basics of why that was the case, later on in life, so I'm glad someone like you made this video. It gets across the depth that Kubo was capable of. I hope he comes back to the world of manga to do something that won't become a burden to him, unlike Bleach became. If Kishi can turn things around with Samurai 8, I'd be ecstatic to see what Kubo can do with all the experience he gained with the success and failure of Bleach. Oda can't just stay king forever, can he? Also please do an entire video about Orihime. That is all.
He was one one of the coolest characters. Underlying his stoicism was something of an irritation to Ichigo's inability to see the futility in second battle (rather that is when he sheds the cool exterior) and despair to his own inability . In the conclusion. I'd argue he was more fatalistic because he never rejects the supremacy of strength and power, never questioning the absolute authority of power. There is a vague parallel not only to Zarasthrustra, but Nietzche as well, although Nietzche's philosophy was pushing ahead regardless and making one's own happiness despite suffering (much like Ichigo who eeps getting back up regardless of suffering,which Zarasthrustra does in his solitude). The parallel is one of lonliness, although both Zarasthrustra in Nietzche's masterpiece both have a profound understanding of the human heart. Nietzche of course having had to cope not only with the agony of a brain tumor, but relationships that broke apart and long periods of loneliness , the loneliness I find is the only connection and the isolation. Other than that, Ulquiorra is the antithesis of Zarasthrustra, Nietzche (who persevered a whole lot, and as tries to find happiness and a since of pride in dignity despite the suffering in experiencing it with no fear) . Ulquiorra is rather what much of Nietzche's works criticize ; seeing joy in rejecting what was the reigning belief and moral compass at that time, and promoting the individual to create thier own morality and triumph over the herd even if one can't connect by sheer perseverance. The Gay Science goes into this. Ichigo seems more like Zarasthrustra who never quite gives up despite despair. As u pointed out, he is indeed parallel to Ichigo in both knowing suffering, but opposite in his response which is submission to what he sees as inevitable,; the definition of fatalism . Nihilism is more or less deconstruction of what one believes knows and values, which of course has to be followed by a reconstruction.
I don't think I've clicked and liked a video so quickly before. The fact it happened to be on the topic of Bleach was just icing on top of a freaking awesome cake. Ulquiorra definitely grew on me, as he is one of the more complex characters created for the story. I absolutely loved the way you broke down something so seemingly bland and dismissive on the surface (The bleached page) and really dug into its roots. You connected your thoughts on it to Ulquiorra quite well, and in the end not only did you make him more understandable and sympathetic as a being born alone and afraid, you made him more humane. You did his character justice, I believe, and it's just such a shame he couldn't get a second chance at life before meeting his end. I do hope you continue creating Bleach videos, as it looks like you have a few strong opinions on the series. I definitely want to hear them (As I'm sure other Bleach fans would love to hear as well). There is truly a lot to unpack here.
Thank you so much for this video. [CW self-harm, depression] I have a lot of psychological problems and they are closely related to thoses talked in your video, I had to cope with my feelings by harming myself and relied on depersonalisation to simple stay alive without giving it all up. I just recently confronted some of my emotions and I am still having problem with them but video like yours that uses CW and does not force people to get in the norm but rather encourages them to essentialy get better is really awesome. Really, thank you.
Ulquiorra was easily one of the best written characters in the series. It was sad when he died, he had so much potential. Hopefully we will get to see him more in the new Hell arc manga chapters if that ever gets finished. Great video. Loved it. Good to see some Bleach stuff again.
I always loved Ulquiorra and the connection between him and everyone else. My academic background has been in Comparative Religious Studies which has a lot of overlap with aspects of Philosophy and I REALLY enjoyed your analysis of Ulquiorra as an entire character. I've loved the manga and the anime because everything has so much more depth than what you can see at first glance. And I appreciate that!
Ulquiorra - "Not Funny, I have depression that has come from deep-seated issues since birth that I am attempting to cover up by talking about emptiness Didn't Laugh" The man was dead at all moments expect his death.
I see kubo as one of the absolute ARTISTS in manga. He just has so much control over the gestalt that people whom usualy don't comprehend the empty space as space gets confused. I hope you get to that some day
He had a great strength for minimalism in character introductions/interactions/moments, but that was washed out as the series went on with empty backgrounds for the sake of not wanting to draw an environment. It was the Toriyama problem of simple backgrounds, writ large. He overshadowed his own strength with apathy and disillusionment in the process. I hope he comes back to the scene like Kishi has with a story that won't drag him down in the end.
I didn't expect to connect so much with a random Bleach video that showed up on recommended. I already liked Ulquiorra but now I really appreciate his character more. I myself have gone through a few years of stagnation, just in a neutral and numb state. I'm only just recently starting to come out of it, so this hits close to home
2 things 1) I like your profile pic/character you have 2) You are amazing with these videos that go deeper in a character. By any chance are you going to do video game characters with this?
I read Soul Eater some time ago and they had a COMPLETELY BLACK two page spread. They even put an editor's note in the corner explaining that it was intentional, and not a printing error. So Kubo's not the only who's done this kind of thing.
Thank you for all the hard work you put into this video. Ulquiorra got me into reading Bleach (admittedly out of order), and I'd never seen another character like him and what he stood for. A decade later and I still adore him. I'm happy someone cares and puts as much analysis into him as I once did.
This video was sooo good! Ulquiorra is like my favorite anime character ever and I haven’t seen a character analysis/ analysis on a concept on a piece of the story done like you did. Thanks for helping me get a better idea of what Ulquiorra was about and what the meaning behind his final moments were about
Glad to see you finally did one of these Bleach discussions. This was really interesting. To nitpick a bit, I think you were way too concerned about coming off as pretentious, but that's more of a personal gripe. The concept of calling something or someone "pretentious" for exploring ideas is kinda useless in discussions like this, because it implies that having a message underlying one's work is...wrong? Or that there's a wrong way to have ideas? It's one of those buzzwords that needs more context to properly say anything of value, because while a piece of media can certainly botch its themes through poor execution, simply calling it "pretentious" doesn't...say anything. or maybe I'm just being preten-
A couple of other people have mentioned that there was no need for me to be so paranoid, which has really put things into perspective. I think when making this video I was very caught up on the idea that "he's analysing Bleach, Bleach bad, he's a pseud/pretentious for doing so" that it crept into my video a bit too much. Nonetheless, glad to be part of the club that makes videos on Bleach that doesn't just revolve around the anime dying now, lmao. Keep on making great stuff yourself~
11:24 Bro totally do it. I'm with you there. Orihime get's chomped on a bit too much for what was thematically a sound reaction to her situation. A lot of your analysis comes off as genuinely insightful rather than pretentious. I mean, Aizen basically talks about how important a thing like "Courage' is when ruminating over Yhwach's endgame goal. I know people hated that last chapter, but the message and point shouldn't get tossed out with the feelings for the series.
Kaien Shiba said those words to Rukia? Wow. That's so.. deep. Sweet. I love it. It connects to me. Maybe that's why i had a heart for Bleach all this time. Thanks for this video man.
Hey Soul, love your vids (just binge watched all of them in the past two days!) - you put so much thought and care into them. Hope you're doing well and the days are kind to you!
This was lovely to watch! Thank you for making it - it's clear quite the amount of heart was poured into it. Ulquiorra takes up the biggest part of the cherished memories I have of Bleach. There was always something intriguing (and fundamentally... human..?) about his character that I could never quite put my finger on, and I think you managed to captivate whatever it was perfectly! Really hope to see more Bleach content from you! :-))
Oh, I've never read that interview with Kubo where he mentions why he often leaves the backgrounds blank. I've actually always liked this in his work precisely because he conveys feelings/moods so well. Hearing about his approach to art makes me appreciate him so much more!
This was the first video I've seen of yours. Thanks. Genuinely thank you. I have never even seen bleach. Instead I took the title as a dive into the mind of a nihilist. I'm glad for it. Your video conveys a feeling of disconnection which ultimately connects (at least with me) to a feeling of wanting. I love this. I subscribed to everything you have. Probably gonna download stuff (this for sure)
This hit hard bro, not gonna lie i needed this message about stagnation vs forcing yourself to move forward. Thanks for uploading, I didn't view it as pretentious at all.
One if not the best presentation on this topic, I love how you do a proper essay type script with all the research and proper quotes.... Great work! Hope to see more of these videos soon
NOT A SINGULAR LIE WAS SAID IN THIS VIDEO YOU CAME AND YOU ATE AND YOU LEFT ZERO CRUMBS BEHIND YESSSSS FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HIM YESSSSSS THANK YOU
@@randomj_904 yeah, lol it was even posted on anitubers reddit though I can't find the link anymore, so my source is as dependable as my ass. It's mainly why this Channel suddenly stopped at it's peak
Dude, this is one of the few videos of Bleach that go way beyond what the anime and even the manga give to the reader, this is just one example of just how deep Kubo's characters are and show that Bleach is more than just a story that seems to go nowhere compared to others, Bleach is full of symbolism, that not even on a thousand years I could have possibly find out about. Amazing work!!!
We just reached 4000 likes, you absolute mad lads. Comment below any characters in particular you'd like to see covered~
Literally anything just whatever you do; do it with heart.
^ Actually anything as worked out as this video is pure gold.
I'd be interested in seeing an analysis on the relationship between kenny and his zanpakuto.
Aizen the Myouou, Ichigo the representation of Buddha, the theme of grief in Bleach and one on orihime
Aizen. 100%.
When the world needed him most, he vanished.
frrr faxs where is this man i need him. we do
Your fellow wanderer dropping by a big old Same
@@popraccs5993 same
Did he always only have 8 videos? I thought he had more
Anyone got any idea what happened?
“He wasn’t fully dead inside yet, which means he could still feel emotional pain”
Same.
Ulquiorra is a mood
My favorite thing about it is that someone pointed out that Ulquiorra's name sounds very close to the Spanish phrase "el que llora" which means "the one who cries."
@@edgarmorales9950 omfg that's fucking genius
Edgar Morales Considering Bleach had some Spanish words and Hispanic music in it, that could very much be the origin of his name. Props to that person for an interesting find.
All of a sudden I appreciate Ulquiorra more...
Video came out 2 hours ago how is this comment 22 hours old
@sa oef Nah I just got an early preview from Soul for quality assurance.
@@dante5088 magic!
BEST BOI
he knew more than aizen he made him on purpose so that he would eventually lose or kill ulqiorra in a fight id say aizen has no match for him but his kyoka...
"When Kubo wants to emphasize a drawing, he 'bleaches' all unnecessary details."
this was a great line and a great video ;;;;
Haha, thanks a ton!
@@SoulMadnessYT Hope you're safe
@@SoulMadnessYT shibuto yatsuda?
it's bleachin' time
Ulquiorra always fascinated me. He's edgy, yes, but it's his own *unique* style of edgy. The was Kubo portrayed him, never hit me as Kubo trying to stuff as much edge as he can to an empty shell of a character, but instead to personify, the most perfect embodiment of *emptiness*. And he did it. The only character I can think of, when trying to imagine someone similar to Ulquiorra, is Ainz Ooal Gown from Overlord. But where, Ainz still has his human memories, but no humanity, Ulquiorra of course, has no human memories.
Bleach will always hold a special place in my heart. I can't really blame Kubo. I blame burnout. He tried to give his characters that proper sendout, but it only resulted in, unfinished character arcs, confusing plot holes and even more loose ends left untied. Still, I'm glad Kubo wrote Bleach. It made a lot of kids, teens and some adults happy, including me. And in my opinion, that's one of the grates accomplishments, an author can achieve.
And that's why Ulquiorra is my favorite bleach character. He also is one of the few characters who got legitimate character growth, It was interesting to watch him display no emotion in the begining but then towards the end of his life, he became more expressive in comparison to most his screen time leading up to his final fight and ultimate death.
I also never got the feeling he was really evil and malicious like the others. He seemed like if he lived, he may have been at least neutral to Ichigo and the others, especially once he started to understand the concept of heart. But sadly he was only following orders from Aizen to kill. Much like a soulless robot devoid of any emotions or free will.
I never thought of Ulquiorra's death as a mistake. He had a backstory of his own and an amazingly written character development fitting an empty creature like him. His character made like that nothing more, nothing less. Kubo know he'll get alot of hate for killing the guy bcos Ulquiorra is a fan favorite character and yeah he did received hate at the end. But Ulquiorra's death made Ichigo understand the weight of the situation. Makes me remember the first few episodes of Code Geass when Lelouch said that actual battles are different from him playing chess, Ichigo was raised a mere human before everything. Humans know sympathy, Orihime being sad about Ulquiorra's loss than Yammy is an example of Kubo intending everything for a character like Ulquiorra. Ichigo seeing his opponents can die anytime- like Ulquiorra's empty death was a big realization to Ichigo.
@EccentricSage what an interesting argument tho kinda contradicting dont you think? Mediocre or too complex, what really is it?
The final arc was rushed by the publishers, not Kubo. IT was supposed to be 4 times as long as it was...
@@sabu_ I have to second the idea that killing Ulquiorra was a great move, although for slightly more cynical reasons. His death scene was a beautiful way to cap off his development, while simultaneously ensuring that he couldn't be ruined by being dragged along for future arcs. It was also really smart on Kubo's end in terms of lightening the creative workload, since he didn't even have to try and write character interactions for a reformed Ulquiorra.
In art school I was “The Bleach Guy” And I always talked about how much I loved the art style of the series, and everyone would say “bleehhh, there’s no backgrounds, MUST BE EASY TO DRAWWW BLEEEHHH”. And it kinda ticked me off because as much as background are important... the characters are what is MOST important, and Kubo does a fantastic job at expressing his characters imo.
I agree, the entire point of an "artstyle" is that it's unique and is supposed to give on a certain feel. Not everything needs to be regimented or textbook when it concerns art.
To be fair, Kubo literally injured his shoulders beyond repair. I think cutting him some slack when he doesn’t draw the backgrounds is ok
Tite Kubo’s art style is in my opinion the best style of all Manga. The way he draws the characters and his character designs are unmatched. It’s what every other Shonen lacks.
Lol come on now we all know there's a lot of demand for Bleach videos
Why can noone buy out rights to animate the rest of the bleach manga? That would be so fucking sick, but it will never happen :(
@@rusduderus anime often function as promotion for a manga and its publisher, in Bleach's case Shonen Jump - if a manga is no longer being serialized and merchandised the way on going Jump manga are, there's not much in it for the animation studio or the Jump to fund any more anime. I doubt it's an issue of owning rights, its more likely no animation studio or Jump themselves want to fund a series with no potential for growth and expansion, if Bleach could even make back the costs of animating it
This aged so well 😅
@@rusduderus your rights have been bought
Of course!
Always need to keep a bottle near for laundry day after all.
My doctor did say "Without being vulnerable, or even experiencing emotional suffering you can never reach happiness. You will always be stagnant and most likely will stay that way. Humans dislike change when they are already doing 'fine' even if it is an unhappy way to live." to me once. Mostly related with my own issues from child abuse but yeah.
Interesting stuff and now I appreciate Ulquiorra so much, I used to already but now I understand WHY.
Just a quick correction, apparently Ulquiorra's aspect of death being "nihilism" is actually a mistranslation. Instead, it's "emptiness", which in hindsight makes a lot more sense. I don't think it retracted *too* much from the video, but I did gloss over the specifics of nihilism to not go on a tangent, mainly defining it as "the rejection of intrinsic values in people and objects as the world has no objective meaning" as a means to parallel Ulquiorra's rejection of "attachment". But, I'm aware the philosophy of nihilism has *a lot* more depth to it, and doesn't fit his character as well as "empty" or "void". Hopefully that didn't bother anyone too much!
As a nihilist, "empty" and "meaningless" actually have a lot of overlap. While the label may not be exactly what was intended it is close enough that this video is still a really good analysis.
@@DogmaKnightsMOB "You can never call yourself a nihilist and not immediately hear an 'oh yeah?'" -Me
@@DogmaKnightsMOB hey thanks you too
@@DogmaKnightsMOB Being a nihilist doesn't mean not having or not valuing emotions. It means acknowledging that one's values are the product of one's internal beliefs rather that reality itself having values or meaning.
@@SuperZergMan Exactly, thanks. I can't very well go about life completely amoral and unemotional, even if those things seem meaningless to me in the big picture.
It's been three years. Even Bleach and Berserk have made a comeback. I fear Soul will never return.
Ulquorra is a perfect depiction of what a hollow is supposed to be
But he wasn't really hollow and he realized that when he fought Vasto Lorde Ichigo, a true devoid of a all humanity humanoid.
@@SWOgottaGOWhy do you say Ichigo was devoid of all humanity?
@@Matti.K Because it was the hollow who fought Ulquiorra not Ichigo. It was Ichigo's body but it was Shirazaki in control not Ichigo. Both Ulquiorra and Ichigo acknowledge this. Ulquiorra kept making remarks about the impossibility of what he was seeing every other moment and Ichigo complained about how he wasn't the one fighting.
At that moment Ichigo wasn’t in control and now knowing White is Ichigo’s spirit that was just true instinct. White made Ichigo become a wild beast who only lived to protect himself and fulfill his goal of protecting Orihime
Ulquiorra was the most impactful character of the series for me. His storyline hit so hard for me because it's such an accurate reflection of how it feels to be depressed and afraid of connection. I was so heartbroken Kubo chose the "Redemption in Death" trope instead of allowing Ulquiorra to experience what it means to be "human" and learning how to grow into having a heart. I definitely would've stuck with the series if Ulquiorra had stayed.
Hey dude,
I don’t know if you check this channel nowadays.
Maybe you’re stuck in the perpetual mental spiral of becoming overtly critical of every creative work you set your mind to.
Perhaps it’s the unwarranted pressure you levy on yourself from the substantial growth your channel experienced from a relatively small amount of videos, changing its nature from a humble personal project to a platform reaching hundreds of thousands of people.
Maybe it’s some other personal reason that is entirely your own to have, know, and keep private and to yourself.
Whatever the case, know that you made some damn good videos, with a thought provoking perspective and an editing style wholeheartedly original.
If the day comes you feel up to creating a new video, I for one would love to watch it.
But do what feels natural to you, man.
Thanks for all the great videos.
this is the first real character analysis of ulquiorra i'd seen. Congratulations!
I legitimately believe Bleach has underrated depth compared to the other 2 members of the big 3. By no means was it flawless, and dear lord did Kubo drag things out a lot, but I've always loved the setting and characters more than Naruto's or One Piece's. Everything about how the Zanpaktou and how they work and evolve alongside their user is super cool and interesting, and when Kubo was on a roll it was some of the best stuff I've been from Shonen.
I really feel Bleach could use a DBZ Kai treatment. Cut out all the fat and what's left is pretty solid most of the time. Shame the final arc never got animated or finished in the manga though, but that's what the books are for I guess.
What books?
@@MEZOMEZO2011 the manga volunes
@@crystyxn they rarely hold anything worth value. It's mainly a more well-drawn version of a some chapters
@@MEZOMEZO2011 No, I meant the Light Novels. I haven't read any myself, but they continue the story and whatnot. AFAIK they're still coming out.
@@Graysett are they from the mangaka as well?
I was an Ulquiorra myself (he's my top 3 character in fiction) ever since I could remember. My philosophy when it came to other people was "connecting is not worth it when there's a chance you'll get hurt", so my life revolved around either sleeping or playing games/RUclips.
A few months ago I met somebody who ended up being the first and only person to make my heart beat so hard that it feels like it'll explode out of my chest, make me smile like an idiot every time I think about them and who I'm genuinely interested in. Simply being around and interacting with them brings me a kind of happiness I couldn't begin to describe even if I wanted to, even if there are moments where their actions make me feel hurt too, and all this is coming from a person that has identified with Ulquiorra long before knowing what Bleach is.
A heart can only exist in the hands of 2 different people. If you're alone then you don't have a heart
I love this video so much. Finally someone who understands. Ulquiorra has been my favorite arrancar for many years.
Him ans stark are my faves and baragan when it comes to looks
And the only one to have Secunda Etapa. An absolute unit. Would have been useful against the Quincies.
@SONIC ART true but who on Earth didn't get rekt by them. Three of the strongest Bankais couldn't take down Gerard, Lille lost to his ability being reflected, Askin got taken out by a surprise attack and Pernida got taken out only due to Mayuris crazy amount of perapredness
He retweeted the trailer for season 4 part 3 (part 2) of Attack on Titan last month. So no he's not dead but is probably busy with other things. Just letting people wondering know after looking it up.
Thank you
Bleach NEEDS more analysis videos. There's way too many videos just claiming that "Bleach got bad after Soul Society"
Fro mation at least some of us can agree ugh when people say bleach is bad it frustrates me to no end like the fullbring arc is not even that bad in fact It’s actually my favorite animated arc aside from soul Society that is then probably a few arcs from the mage and the soul reapers vs arrancar
The mistake that they are making is getting emotionally evolved with the filler episodes/arcs(3), which by definition, are just bad... Although I didn't like the bount arc either...
Bleach is so well written for someone like kubo, because he put all his effort into, all of his "heart" and people dont even realise how hard he worked to make bleach as good as possible, serious injury or medical problem? Nah, he has to draw bleach! He is a great artist and great at making characters because hes imaginative, something all good artists have, hes not just blindly drawing a story he thought up in his head, hes following his heart to make a universe that hes proud of and can call his, kubos dedication is the reason why i love bleach so much and why it pisses me iff when people say its bad, they only think about it for themselfs, not what it means to others, not the universe, they only care for tge story which i can understand but its also an ugly reflection of human nature, yeah they arnt looking at the cover of it but they arnt looking at the center either
Madara uchiha amen
I agree. I wish there was a Grimmjow analysis video too. Starrk, Ulquiorra and him were all such interesting characters who had pretty dismal existences (all the Arrancars/Espada did tbh) when you think about it and no one seems to talk about it.
I mean think about it, Arrancars are essentially warped souls/hollows finally gaining a semblance of personhood (see; how Grimmjow became a special menos grande because of his individuality, and how his group when he was still an Adjuchas were desperate to not regress to be gillians again) but without any purpose outside of gaining power and being loyal to Aizen for reasons they themselves don't even seem to completely understand or grasp and seemingly without positive emotions born into an empty void desert full of monsters. They're almost like animals or newborns in a sense and I always found them to be very tragic characters.
i think Ulquiorra was the most tragic character in bleach in the entire anime each character had a motive no matter what their morals was bad or good it's their feelings that defined their persona thus their ambitions for aizen was envy for power for uryu was his pride as quincy but Ulquiorra had nothing he was like blank page he never had the chance to experience different emotions he had nothing and no one to protect his existence was basically meaningless and when he meet ichigo and orihime he couldn't fathom their motives for ichigo and his friends was friendship and love but for Ulquiorra it was just nothingness at that moment a reaction started to occur inside him and begin to change but unfortunately the clash between him and ichigo lead to his death but at his final moments you can see in his eyes that he was showing feeling feeling of regret.
It always ends in regret
Even tho I agree with what you said, I think Stark is up there with Ulquiorra in most tragic character arcs
@@gustavmetal At least Starrk had Lilynette.
@@TheMagiciansLoveX But aren't Stark and Lilynette one person? Its like having an multible personality disorder. Stark was so alone, that he created out of himself someone else. Its like people with trauma sometimes creates new personalitys to protect themselves from pain.
@@Itachi_D_Kuchiki I understand they are the same entity, but Lilynette soon became an actual physical being which made 2. Ulquiorra had nothing but his eyes.
This is unfortunate. Seeing such an amazing character just disappear is quite saddening.. I hope you made it through Covid, and that you're still alive at the very least.
"Don't be afraid to be afraid" so true, so true.
"True inner strength does not come from a lack of fear. No, true inner strength comes from being afraid, acknowledging you're afraid...and pushing past that fear to do what you need to do regardless."
- Some Wise Old Bastard, probably.
Dude, don't worry too much about sounding pretentious. You can enjoy and learn a lot from very dumb things, or at least the thoughts they lead you to. Regardless of the original intention of the artist, your way of seeing it is what's interesting.
I finally find an anime youtube channel that isn't shit and it turns out the guy just made 8 great videos and left (or died)
😭 I also just found this channel only to find out it has went inactive aswell I just wanna listen to some good philosophy man
So what you're telling me is, Kubo isn't just 200 IQ he's 400 IQ.
*nice*
Hatter more like 500 IQ
Greatest Troll in Za warudo
@SONIC ART *I semse not big brain energy radiating from you, not funny, d i d n ' t l a u g h :/*
@SONIC ART Elaborate.
When the world needs more Soul. He disappears.
if we reach 4000 view,i will make more bleach videos
7 mounts later,noting,hope your doing well
I love how you analysed the depth in Bleach, in terms of Ulquiorra's character. I don't think you're a pretentious pseud at all, I think you're awesome for making this video! I love Bleach so please make more. I subscribed for the sake of that.
Ignore this Sonic The Artist (More like an ASSHOLE) moron, who comments on every single comment with same anti-Ulquiorra bullshit. Edgy kid living in his mother's basement trying to act tough on the internet. Pathetic.
I always liked Ulquiorra, but I never fully understood him. Thanks for the great explanation.
This was a great video. Seriously, you do not get enough credit.
Ulquiorra was my favourite Arrancar and his final moments is heart Breaking.
Are*
This video was incredible, it is an incredible study about a strong choice a mangaka made, putting such a strong word, in that context, on a blank page means everything it should without any superficialities. A lot of contemporary art focuses on this, and it is important to also see this part of life, on not decorated bit bare for us all to see
You should do video about Gin Ichimaru, think that would be pretty interesting, keep up the good work.
''Are you scared?''
Till this day I clearly remember that moment when he told Ichigo to buzz off. I love Gin (no homo). He was such an amazing character and an awesome ''villain''
voll
There's literally nothing to do an analysis on. He's character always had nothing. I don't get why people give a fuck about gin like he does nothing
@Benziz 200
You can't be serious?!
Gin was one of only 2 people who managed to fool Aizen in what? Over 300 Years!! Gin literally gave up his entire life just to avenge Rangiku. Like just think about it for a second. Talk about overrated
@@MugetsuSSGOD Gin grabbed his zanpaktou while he wasn't paying attention. And he died a meaningless death.
We need more bleach content. The story is better than ppl ever give it credit
Yamitori Sōkei right I hate it when people say bleach is bad yet they haven’t even watched it or given it a try
i wouldnt go that far... the espada arc bar grimjow's defeat was really good the rest of bleach was largely trash imo
Not really the story, but the characters
@@Knives7777 you said that but the arc right after, the Fullbring arc, the most hated canon arc of BLEACH challenged and further developed Ichigo as a character more than anything before that moment. What define "good" for you I wonder 🙊
Sabu well the most hated Canon Arc is the fullbring arc but I’d go as far to say the fullbring arc is one of the best one of my favorites
I didn't understand Ulquiorra the first time I read Bleach. I thought his final moments were kind of vague, but not terrible or cheap or lazy. But over the years, as I got better at analysis, I arrived to a similar conclusion as seen in your video. I figured I couldn't be the only one who saw his character this way. Great vid.
I always saw Ulquiorra as a weird reflection of the Buddhist detachment from the material too. Its why I think he has 2 resurrections, one to break free of his humanity/hollow form, the second to break free of the cycle of hollow and human that the Shinigami curate, because all those things are still tied to existence and he was free of that bond.
To defend it some, I see worth in Ulquiorra's perspective too. He gained a lot of power through his detachment, too, even if it was to no true end. There's value in learning when and how to detach. When to separate yourself from your emotions to get something done or enduring something arduous. But like anything, you can have too much of a good thing, or nothing in this case. You may have to learn to be empty to a purpose (detachment), or your purposes can be made empty by your own hands - which was sortof Ichigo's moral during that fight and later allowed him to have a power like his last Getsuga too. It was a good one because *nobody* really won anything. All their principles collapsed and the remaining just had to build something.
Dude the way that you blend anime and psychological, philosophical, and religious themes is fucking amazing! I think about this shit a lot when I read manga/watch anime and I am thrilled to have found someone who appreciates and analyzes this shit especially on the level that you do c:
Thank you for this analysis, I really liked how you described Ulquiorra's arc. The cuts with the subtitles were funny too, just too quick so I had to rewind the video to read it xD Especially when hollow Ichigo fires a cero at Ulquiorra's face, I feel the same way quite often too. I know worry and anxiety are not like that, but I think there was no need for them regarding this video, it was very detailed and probably my favourite so far on this topic because of the editing and the connections made with Buddhist art, and also the line "Don't be afraid of being afraid".
"If we reach 4k likes.."
Unlucky. Rip my binge of Soul vids. Loved the Bebop and Bleach ones especially. Hope the channel aint dead c:
This a golden video, the analysis is very interesting and well constructed. Thank you for bringing this awesome type of content into the Bleach community !
Kubology??
LOL sign me up
Finally RUclips recommendations work, this is an awasome video
I asked out a girl I had a crush on a few days ago. She was quitting the same job we both worked, I had a crush on her for awhile. When I found out she was quitting I knew time was running out. I hardly got to work with her as well so I had to make my choices there and now. I told myself that maybe its just better to just let these feeling pass, but I couldn't deny how I felt about her, I couldn't avoid them...I was afraid to approach. I was afraid to feel the pain of rejection, but I was even more afraid to feel the feeling of what could have been...I would have been more upset with everything if I said nothing. So one day I got up out of my chair while on break went to see her and it was like the universe knew what I was doing because she came out of the first door that I walked up to. I felt the world sway left to right. Fear and courage, now or never. I remembered the anger I would have towards myself if I didn't say anything. I asked her out. She became nervous and started to blushed and didn't give me a straight answer at first, but she did confirm after the emotions that she wanted to go on a date with me. When she got nervous I immediately calmed down because 1 I felt great after facing my fear and 2 she felt the same way that I did. She was nervous too...I laughed at myself. I was so nervous when she also felt the same. I didn't feel alone in how I felt.
Brillant video man, Ulquiorra has been my favourite character in anime since I saw him for the first time and knowing that I'm not the only one to understand him really makes me happy.
10/10 video.
Same
This was really eye opening. I struggle to really understand Ulquiorra's character because being _that_ dead inside is hard for me to relate to. This really helped me grasp his character a lot better, so thank you for that. Also 10/10 for the humour sprinkled in.
Kentaro Miura has passed away. Will we see an essay about the unfinished state of Berserk?
I'm so glad people with real appreciation for Bleach are still around.
Objectively, as I’ve never read the manga, that page was needed (as you said) to portray Ulquiorra’s message. Bleach my favorite shounen and one of my favorite animes of all time because of its use of simplicity to imply drama. Great video!
"if we somehow reach 4000 likes, I'll make more Bleach videos like this" he says......2 years ago
I come back to this video every so often, kind of sad to see that it's the last thing you did on this channel.
HEY WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS WONDERFUL CHANNEL I WAS SO EXCITED AS A PHILOSOPHY ENTHUSIAST AND GOD DAMN WEEB I FOUND THE PERFECT CHANNEL AND THIS LAD ONLY HAS 8 VIDEOS AND YEETED OFF TO YUGOSLAVIA NEARLY 2 YEARS AGO WHERE IS MY LAD
Ulquiorra and Stark were my favorite Bleach characters as I grew through teenage life as a very disconnected, very angsty teen dude. I could only ever pin down the bare basics of why that was the case, later on in life, so I'm glad someone like you made this video. It gets across the depth that Kubo was capable of. I hope he comes back to the world of manga to do something that won't become a burden to him, unlike Bleach became. If Kishi can turn things around with Samurai 8, I'd be ecstatic to see what Kubo can do with all the experience he gained with the success and failure of Bleach. Oda can't just stay king forever, can he?
Also please do an entire video about Orihime. That is all.
He was one one of the coolest characters.
Underlying his stoicism was something of an irritation to Ichigo's inability to see the futility in second battle (rather that is when he sheds the cool exterior) and despair to his own inability . In the conclusion. I'd argue he was more fatalistic because he never rejects the supremacy of strength and power, never questioning the absolute authority of power.
There is a vague parallel not only to Zarasthrustra, but Nietzche as well, although Nietzche's philosophy was pushing ahead regardless and making one's own happiness despite suffering (much like Ichigo who eeps getting back up regardless of suffering,which Zarasthrustra does in his solitude). The parallel is one of lonliness, although both Zarasthrustra in Nietzche's masterpiece both have a profound understanding of the human heart. Nietzche of course having had to cope not only with the agony of a brain tumor, but relationships that broke apart and long periods of loneliness , the loneliness I find is the only connection and the isolation.
Other than that, Ulquiorra is the antithesis of Zarasthrustra, Nietzche (who persevered a whole lot, and as tries to find happiness and a since of pride in dignity despite the suffering in experiencing it with no fear) . Ulquiorra is rather what much of Nietzche's works criticize ; seeing joy in rejecting what was the reigning belief and moral compass at that time, and promoting the individual to create thier own morality and triumph over the herd even if one can't connect by sheer perseverance. The Gay Science goes into this. Ichigo seems more like Zarasthrustra who never quite gives up despite despair. As u pointed out, he is indeed parallel to Ichigo in both knowing suffering, but opposite in his response which is submission to what he sees as inevitable,; the definition of fatalism .
Nihilism is more or less deconstruction of what one believes knows and values, which of course has to be followed by a reconstruction.
Bro is still gone
2 years and we’re still waiting for your return
Reminder we love your content mate, cheers and take it easy.
I don't think I've clicked and liked a video so quickly before. The fact it happened to be on the topic of Bleach was just icing on top of a freaking awesome cake.
Ulquiorra definitely grew on me, as he is one of the more complex characters created for the story. I absolutely loved the way you broke down something so seemingly bland and dismissive on the surface (The bleached page) and really dug into its roots. You connected your thoughts on it to Ulquiorra quite well, and in the end not only did you make him more understandable and sympathetic as a being born alone and afraid, you made him more humane. You did his character justice, I believe, and it's just such a shame he couldn't get a second chance at life before meeting his end.
I do hope you continue creating Bleach videos, as it looks like you have a few strong opinions on the series. I definitely want to hear them (As I'm sure other Bleach fans would love to hear as well). There is truly a lot to unpack here.
Thank you so much for this video.
[CW self-harm, depression]
I have a lot of psychological problems and they are closely related to thoses talked in your video, I had to cope with my feelings by harming myself and relied on depersonalisation to simple stay alive without giving it all up. I just recently confronted some of my emotions and I am still having problem with them but video like yours that uses CW and does not force people to get in the norm but rather encourages them to essentialy get better is really awesome. Really, thank you.
Ulquiorra was easily one of the best written characters in the series. It was sad when he died, he had so much potential. Hopefully we will get to see him more in the new Hell arc manga chapters if that ever gets finished. Great video. Loved it. Good to see some Bleach stuff again.
I always loved Ulquiorra and the connection between him and everyone else. My academic background has been in Comparative Religious Studies which has a lot of overlap with aspects of Philosophy and I REALLY enjoyed your analysis of Ulquiorra as an entire character. I've loved the manga and the anime because everything has so much more depth than what you can see at first glance. And I appreciate that!
Why is he not back? Is he ok? I come back every 5 months or so to his channel and see no new updates. Im sad
damn, just found this channel and his last upload was 2 years ago.
mom why did dad leave?
He went to buy ciggerates and never came back
Ulquiorra - "Not Funny, I have depression that has come from deep-seated issues since birth that I am attempting to cover up by talking about emptiness Didn't Laugh"
The man was dead at all moments expect his death.
I still miss Ulquiorra till this very day...
I see kubo as one of the absolute ARTISTS in manga. He just has so much control over the gestalt that people whom usualy don't comprehend the empty space as space gets confused. I hope you get to that some day
kubo was quite good at using minimalism. it definitely had meaning
He had a great strength for minimalism in character introductions/interactions/moments, but that was washed out as the series went on with empty backgrounds for the sake of not wanting to draw an environment. It was the Toriyama problem of simple backgrounds, writ large. He overshadowed his own strength with apathy and disillusionment in the process. I hope he comes back to the scene like Kishi has with a story that won't drag him down in the end.
I didn't expect to connect so much with a random Bleach video that showed up on recommended. I already liked Ulquiorra but now I really appreciate his character more. I myself have gone through a few years of stagnation, just in a neutral and numb state. I'm only just recently starting to come out of it, so this hits close to home
2 things
1) I like your profile pic/character you have
2) You are amazing with these videos that go deeper in a character. By any chance are you going to do video game characters with this?
his pfp outfit is from eren yeagar :)
@@Kuumaroa oh shit I didn't realize that. Thanks for telling me
Looks suicidal.....
@@br9760 what? His profile pic/character
Yo dude no way you're Soul Madness!! that's crazy, fk i have mad respect for you
Definitely one of the best anime-video-essays channel out there. Its a shame that we dont get that many videos from you.
Soul forgot his password
Where you at man we miss you.
I always related to Ulquiorra and i never knew why but now i feel more appreciative of him and like him even more now
That was an unbelievably well put together video, great stuff man I loved every second of it
even if you never make video's again i still want you to know that thay are amazeing and that i want you to have an amazeing life
I read Soul Eater some time ago and they had a COMPLETELY BLACK two page spread.
They even put an editor's note in the corner explaining that it was intentional, and not a printing error.
So Kubo's not the only who's done this kind of thing.
Thank you for all the hard work you put into this video. Ulquiorra got me into reading Bleach (admittedly out of order), and I'd never seen another character like him and what he stood for. A decade later and I still adore him. I'm happy someone cares and puts as much analysis into him as I once did.
This video was sooo good! Ulquiorra is like my favorite anime character ever and I haven’t seen a character analysis/ analysis on a concept on a piece of the story done like you did. Thanks for helping me get a better idea of what Ulquiorra was about and what the meaning behind his final moments were about
Glad to see you finally did one of these Bleach discussions. This was really interesting. To nitpick a bit, I think you were way too concerned about coming off as pretentious, but that's more of a personal gripe. The concept of calling something or someone "pretentious" for exploring ideas is kinda useless in discussions like this, because it implies that having a message underlying one's work is...wrong? Or that there's a wrong way to have ideas? It's one of those buzzwords that needs more context to properly say anything of value, because while a piece of media can certainly botch its themes through poor execution, simply calling it "pretentious" doesn't...say anything.
or maybe I'm just being preten-
A couple of other people have mentioned that there was no need for me to be so paranoid, which has really put things into perspective. I think when making this video I was very caught up on the idea that "he's analysing Bleach, Bleach bad, he's a pseud/pretentious for doing so" that it crept into my video a bit too much. Nonetheless, glad to be part of the club that makes videos on Bleach that doesn't just revolve around the anime dying now, lmao. Keep on making great stuff yourself~
11:24 Bro totally do it. I'm with you there. Orihime get's chomped on a bit too much for what was thematically a sound reaction to her situation.
A lot of your analysis comes off as genuinely insightful rather than pretentious. I mean, Aizen basically talks about how important a thing like "Courage' is when ruminating over Yhwach's endgame goal. I know people hated that last chapter, but the message and point shouldn't get tossed out with the feelings for the series.
To do a video on Bleach is a treat enough. To analyze Ulquiorra? Thank you Soul. every video you make is a gift to my subscription box.
Turned on the bell notifications just in case my guy ever returns.
Im here to pay respects to this channel
What happened?
Kaien Shiba said those words to Rukia? Wow. That's so.. deep. Sweet. I love it.
It connects to me. Maybe that's why i had a heart for Bleach all this time.
Thanks for this video man.
Hey Soul, love your vids (just binge watched all of them in the past two days!) - you put so much thought and care into them. Hope you're doing well and the days are kind to you!
If Someone is Reading this Just to let u know yes, Soul is alive and he is producing a new video..to know more About it Just follow him on twitter
Who would have thought that this would hit home...
Great video by the way.
This was lovely to watch! Thank you for making it - it's clear quite the amount of heart was poured into it.
Ulquiorra takes up the biggest part of the cherished memories I have of Bleach. There was always something intriguing (and fundamentally... human..?) about his character that I could never quite put my finger on, and I think you managed to captivate whatever it was perfectly!
Really hope to see more Bleach content from you! :-))
Oh, I've never read that interview with Kubo where he mentions why he often leaves the backgrounds blank. I've actually always liked this in his work precisely because he conveys feelings/moods so well. Hearing about his approach to art makes me appreciate him so much more!
Where are you man... I need your soul-crushing wit
i never understood really understood ulquiorra until this video
You obviously do not appreciate characters with depth
Yap that's why bleach fandom sucks, filled with people like you.
@Greatest artist who ever lived they all cool in their own ways also barragan should have been primera espada and it was plot that killed him
This was the first video I've seen of yours. Thanks. Genuinely thank you. I have never even seen bleach. Instead I took the title as a dive into the mind of a nihilist. I'm glad for it. Your video conveys a feeling of disconnection which ultimately connects (at least with me) to a feeling of wanting. I love this. I subscribed to everything you have. Probably gonna download stuff (this for sure)
This hit hard bro, not gonna lie i needed this message about stagnation vs forcing yourself to move forward. Thanks for uploading, I didn't view it as pretentious at all.
One if not the best presentation on this topic, I love how you do a proper essay type script with all the research and proper quotes.... Great work! Hope to see more of these videos soon
NOT A SINGULAR LIE WAS SAID IN THIS VIDEO YOU CAME AND YOU ATE AND YOU LEFT ZERO CRUMBS BEHIND YESSSSS FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HIM YESSSSSS THANK YOU
10:19 It was stated many times that zangetsu would take over ichigo's body if he fucked up lol.
Damn this was the last video he made, damn.
He Unironically died
@@emanergza6383 true
@@emanergza6383 for real?
@@randomj_904 yeah, lol it was even posted on anitubers reddit though I can't find the link anymore, so my source is as dependable as my ass.
It's mainly why this Channel suddenly stopped at it's peak
@@emanergza6383 woah bro how can I find out more
Dude, this is one of the few videos of Bleach that go way beyond what the anime and even the manga give to the reader, this is just one example of just how deep Kubo's characters are and show that Bleach is more than just a story that seems to go nowhere compared to others, Bleach is full of symbolism, that not even on a thousand years I could have possibly find out about.
Amazing work!!!