This fight had no reason to go so hard but I love it

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If so, if a zanpakuto is nabbed while in shikai state, will it automatically revert to base form? (Same goes for Bankai I guess, will Soi Fon’s cannon turn into the stinger or a base sword if someone rips the cannon off of her…?)

The confidence, the dual-wielded swords and his new golden spiritual pressure look amazing. I can't wait for Cour 4 in a few days

If I had nickel for every time Aoi Yuki voiced a short, blonde ''German'' military officer bestowed with powers by a ''god'', accompanied by a soft-voiced, but tough taller comrade I would have 2 nickels.

-but it's odd that it's happened twice....

Why was he not prisoned for eternity?

So one of the things I've been thinking about recently is the actual relationship that Yhwach has with the Quincy and it occurred to me it probably is equivalent to the relationship between Zanpakuto and Soul Reapers.

Yhwach derives his lineage from the 'Divine Beings' category that mainly just includes himself and the Soul King (and the latter's various autonomous body parts), but it seems implied that they're an entirely separate type of life form from Humans, Soul Reapers and Hollows. The latter 3 are related in that they are of at least some shared ancestry but Yhwach and the Soul King don't even seem to lie on the same evolutionary tree.

Why the preamble? Because I realized what Yhwach is most similar to in the setting and it's a Zanpakuto spirit. One thing I noticed during TYBW is that both when the Shinigami lost their Bankai and when Auswahlen stole the lives of many Quincies and Sternritter that it didn't cause a full loss of power. Kubo recently answered that the reason Shinigami could use Shikai after having their Bankai stolen is because the Shikai is just the power of the Shinigami expressed through the sword, because the Zanpakuto spirit is new ego within the Shinigami themselves, while Bankai is the power of that alter ego itself externalized. Similarly, I was thinking about how Bazz B or Lilinette could use the basic version of their Schrift after Auswahlen while they lost their halo and wings and were unable to enter Voll Stern Dich.

Schrift is apparently a thing that shapes the power of its user, but seems to also be key in letting them use Voll Stern Dich and is acquired when they drink Yhwach's blood. As such, it seems like the Voll Stern Dich is actually the same process of Bankai, Externalizing the Schrift itself rather than just using their own power that has been shaped by it. This is also why it's blocked when using the Bankai Medallion: the Bankai as an expression of another Ego is literally blocking Yhwach's Schrift because they are functionally fighting for surface expression.

And where have we seen this before? With Old Man Zangetsu and Hollow Ichigo fighting to be the surface expression of Ichigo's power. But because they're both linked to the same person rather than two separated entities, Ichigo can use them both at the same time with sufficient training (initially through his Mask and Zanpakuto, later as a single entity in the Horn of Salvation).

If Asauchi are formed from layering human souls into something presumably more potent, which sounds like they're almost a form of artificial Soul King meant to be a de-centralized version of a Schrift, something that isn't tethered to a single being but is individuated and based on an individual's ego. I was thinking about what Cang Du said about not believing in Polytheism in regards to Zanpakuto spirits and it got me thinking that maybe this was meant as an allusion to the idea that Zanpakuto are closer in nature to the Divine Beings, since the power of stolen Bankai literally blocks the power of Yhwach until the Quincies are forced to give it up.

I just cannot help but feel there are large portions of the manga where the manga just does a frame better, but the anime has funny aizen ost, but the manga arrancar arc low key always looks better EXCEPT for a handful of fights, and these dialogue exchanges in the anime for performance, etc.

What would be the perfect way.

Need someone to make a scene by scene analysis.

Takeyoshi Kabuto

Squad 7

Zanpakuto:

Release Command: “Ignite” 発火 Hakka

Shikai: Sensō-Sai 戦争祭 (War Festival)

His weapon looks like a cannon with a sword handle on the end with a large blade on one side and a grip on the other. The cannon uses kinetic energy as its ammunition, which it absorbs when the blade of the weapon makes contact with anything. Takeyoshi can control the power and how much energy is expelled from each blast, so not all the kinetic energy absorbed is used up in one shot. He also can use the shot from the cannon to propel himself or the blade forward, using the momentum to increase the impact of his strikes. His favorite move is to somersault and fire the cannon at the money he is about to strike his blade down for maximum impact.

Bankai: 終わりのない 戦争祭 Owari no nai sensō-sai (Never Ending War Festival)

Still working on ideas for Bankai

Appearance: Takeyoshi has the attire of most soul reapers, but his most distinctive feature is his helmet, which resembles a Japanese WWII soldier helmet, which he almost always wears just a little crooked. He has auburn red hair that is very messy that sticks up in the front. He has a lot of bandages on his face. He is a little shorter than Ichigo and is about the same age range as Renji and Rukia

Personality: Takeyoshi is very loud and eccentric. He also has a rather idealized and hyperbolic view of soul reapers. Thinking they should be heroic champions of justice, defenders of the weak, etc. people often don’t take him seriously because of it, or just think he’s a moron. He’ll often be staring in awe whenever anyone does something incredible saying something along the lines of “Oh my god they’re so cool!”

He’s also incredibly reckless, tending to be the first to charge into danger, more often than not resulting in him getting hurt. He is a strong and talented fire but he hasn’t moved up the ranks due to his reckless and destructive fighting style. However, he does have an iron will and a strong sense of justice.

He admires Captain Komamura the most because he believes he exemplifies his ideal version of a soul reapers. He also admires Ichigo for the same reason. He has a crush on Momo Hinamori, and he hates Aizen for what he did to her. He’s good friends with Renji, Rukia, and that general group despite not being a lieutenant himself due to him being very outgoing and friendly. Tetsuzaemon views him as a younger brother.

Takeyoshi is always eager to prove himself, and is always begging his captain to let him go on missions. While the captain does admire his eagerness, he does find this slightly annoying and that Takeyoshi does need to remember his place in the ranks.

TLDR: Takeyoshi is a bit of an eccentric show off who loves the idea of heroism a bit too much.

Here’s a rough (and I mean rough) sketch of what I think his Zanpakuto would look like.

Let me know what you think any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is ok. Just be nice in the comments.

The collaborations were in moba games like Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor, and the bleach characters served as skins for existing heroes in those games. So did you like them?

Maybe Byakuya is the reincarnation of Neji