Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Nerfed Its Villains By Never Having Them Use Their Strongest Power

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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warhas been an exciting conflict between the Quincy and the Soul Reapers, but there’s one aspect of the story that leaves some fans scratching their heads. The Quincy wanted to exterminate the Soul Reapers, yet they allowed a powerful weapon to go unused in their war on the Soul Society.

The Quincy inThousand-Year Blood Warare a massive force equipped with some incredible powers of their own, from their Vollstandig unleashes to the Schrift abilities granted to them by Yhwach. However, the beginning of the arc sees the Quincies attack the Soul Society with one explicit goal: to steal the Bankai of as many Soul Reaper captains as they can. The Quincy do manage to steal a couple of Bankai from powerful figures, includingthe Bankai of Head Captain Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, one of the most powerful abilities within the world ofBleach.

Yhwach in front of his failed vision of Mimihagi using the Almighty.

The Quincy’s Stolen Bankai Were Underused

While They Deprived the Soul Reapers of Power, They Didn’t Use Most Bankai Against Them

In their first attack on the Soul Society, the Quincy managed to steal six Bankai by using special medallions crafted by Yhwach. This was still a major advantage in the second invasion,depriving those Soul Reapers of their ultimate abilitiesand putting them at a severe disadvantage. However, relatively few of these Bankai were actually used against the Soul Reapers by the Quincy, who instead seemingly preferred to use their own abilities.

Byakuya’s Senbonzakura Kageyoshi is used against him immediately during the first invasion, but isn’t used in the second invasion. Hitsguaya’s Daiguren Hyourinmaru is used against him during both invasions, but he’s the only one. Komamura and Sui Feng’s Bankai are never used by the Quincy at all, despite being stolen, while Chojiro’s Koko Gonryo Rikyu is used against Yamamoto during the first invasion, but the Quincy who stole it is killed. And then, of course, there’s Yamamoto’s Bankai, Zanka no Tachi.

Yhwach unleashing his power from the TYBW part 3 trailer.

The Quincy Never Used the Soul Reaper’s Greatest Weapon Against Them

Yamamoto’s Bankai Could’ve Devastated the Soul Society

Head Captain Yamamoto’s Bankai is the most powerful in the entire 13 Court Guard Squads, and generates heat on the level of the sun, threatening to burn up the Seireitei if he used it for too long. That’s an incredible level of power, and Yhwach did manage to steal it from him. However, despite insisting that he is the only one powerful enough to make use of it, Yhwach never deploys Zanka no Tachi against the Soul Reapers.

No reason is ever given for why Yhwach didn’t make use of this power after going to the trouble to steal it. Yhwach keeps the medallion with Yamamoto’s Bankai in it on his person, and sharp-eyed fans have noted that the medallion, along with the rest of Yhwach’s clothing, was covered in Ichibe Hyosube’s black ink during their fight, potentially robbing it of its power and erasing Zanka no Tachi from existence.That might explain why Yhwach doesn’t use the Bankai after that point, but there were several opportunities to put it to use before heading to the Soul King’s Palace, which he never took advantage of.

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War Poster

It’s possible that, like many of his underlings,Yhwach simply found it distasteful to use a Soul Reaper’s power, no matter the circumstances. However, that raises the question of why he bothered to steal it at all, especially since Yamamoto was all but defeated when the Bankai was stolen. He could’ve simply let Yamamoto’s ability die with him. It could’ve simply been caution, as Yhwach didn’t want to risk underestimating his opponent, especially since Yamamoto obviously tried to pull out the Bankai on Yhwach when he appeared.

It may have just been a moment of extreme cruelty as well, letting Yamamoto know that his power was no longer his and that he was utterly helpless when he died. “Crushing the captains' hope” was an explicit goal of Yhwach’s, after all, and Yhwach had a particular grudge against Yamamoto after their last encounter 1,000 years ago. Yhwach may have kept Yamamoto’s medallion as a memento of his victory as well, although even that doesn’t make too much sense, considering Yhwach’s plans to rewrite the fabric of reality.

The mystery of why the stolen Bankai are so underused is likely down to the writing of the story; perhaps the stolen Bankai were originally intended to play a much larger role, but that was changed somewhere along the line. Whatever the case, the stolen Bankai ofBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warwere a powerful weapon that Quincy could’ve put to far better use than they did.