Ranking the HELL ARC Bleach Captains from WEAKEST to STRONGEST (2023)

[@MrTommo2304]

It's been 3 years, but it's time to rank the end of series/Hell Arc Captains of the Gotei 13 from weakest to strongest once again, updated for 2023! As before, we'll be using an all-encompassing criteria including their raw power and reiatsu, their intelligence, experience, maturity, in-story fights, their zanpakuto, and more! Everything that makes someone fit to be a Captain. Let me know your personal lists down in the comments too!

[@DenizenoftheAges]

I (almost always) agree with your logic and placements on power rankings. But I have a real challenge for you: Make a top-30 best Bleach characters list. Not just shinigami, and not most powerful - use your own thoughts and reasoning to support your choices. I would really enjoy a video like that, even if it would be on the longer side. Worth the watch.

[@SlickDraco]

100% you should switch number 5 and number 4

[@Force-Multiplier]

@@DenizenoftheAges I'm itching so see a top strongest in Bleach as well i did a top 50 list a while ago (giving my reasoning and it took me nearly an hour or maybe even two hours lol)

[@Force-Multiplier]

@@SlickDraco what if Mayuri can medalize Bankais now? you would be wise to remember that he can use Quincy techniques now i remember when he used Hirenkyaku edit: and Mayuri isn't a Quincy so the Bankai being Hollowfied doesn't mean a thing to him lol i think that to own Mayuri you need to be an extremely skilled and fast warrior that's not very dependent on his Bankai that's how Ishida got him back in SS

[@SlickDraco]

@@Force-Multiplierhe will get instantly countered so fast it's would be insane

[@mog-myownbestfriend]

Shinji was able to foster a healthy, positive environment for Momo to begin a mental and emotional recuperation, and that deserves top billing in my book

[@AnonTDegenerate]

Shinji got Aizen beat in that department. Took Aizen centuries to groom her. Shinji undid it in 2 years

[@Blackvoidwithwhiteside7193]

​@@AnonTDegenerate..... BANKAI (Yes i am talking about shinji's bankai)

[@alexmartin3143]

Where doing a normal empathetic thing seems like a feat…

[@prophetedubaroque5136]

In the madness of the soul society being a mature and empathetic being is quite the feat.

[@asimhussain8716]

​​@@AnonTDegeneratecenturies? Aizen wasn't even captain 100 years ago. Momo and that gang met him more like 50 years ago

[@marcusknightley]

If Rose gets another chance to shine, I hope his Bankai will improve to focus on the vibrations rather than the sound . While you could deafen yourself, you can’t escape how the bass could rattle your bones, the beat could bounce your heart, and how the rhythm could shake your core.

[@GlacikingTheIceColdKing]

That sounds like a very smart buff for him, but it would be really broken since nobody can avoid his hax, his bankai is a OHKO ability and I feel like besides the shutzstaffle, no sternritter can really just ignore his bankai.

[@Anhiksi]

In CFYOW it was hinted that Shinji was training to make his shikai even turn hot to feel like cold so I'd like to see Rose's bankai get like 4 forms similar to Yamamoto's.

[@silversoulken]

@@GlacikingTheIceColdKing Maybe it can be a “banned Bankai” kinda thing where he can’t use it with anyone else around and it has to be in an pretty empty area bc it would be too powerful. Maybe it can even affect Rose as well since Hisagi has a Bankai that also puts him in danger. Overall I really like the vibrations idea bc sound IS vibration, and it can be utilized if thought over more.

[@GlacikingTheIceColdKing]

@@silversoulken same, I like the concept as well honestly. Sounds very cool

[@TheRadiantSoap_]

imagine if instead of dancers he manifests a vintage Roland 808 drum machine and blasts the entire area with a bass sine wave so powerful, it vibrates your soul and your immortal spirit itself hears it. That would be funny i think

[@drigondii]

I get the feeling that, like Renji originally, Soi Fon doesn't actually understand her zanpakuto, resulting in its bankai manifesting improperly and inefficiently

[@kokokocho]

Nahh her Bandai just sucks and doesn’t fit her that well lol

[@drigondii]

@@kokokocho but that's just it: it's a reflection of her soul. A properly manifested bankai necessarily fits the shinigami.

[@kokokocho]

@@drigondii I feel like it definitely is reflective of her personality, not her skill set.

[@kokokocho]

@@drigondii She definitely has a loud brash and explosive personality that she tries to repress and we see it. I would definitely say her bankai is in line with that. She is just much better at hand-to-hand combat and her bankai does not mesh with that. Mind you that does not mean it is not in line with her soul, it just means it's not a good bankai for her because it does not mesh well with her expertise.

[@mdj2061]

Soi Fon doesnt understad hersefl, it seems. Hehe

[@MrGksarathy]

I honestly wonder, if Soifon ever came to terms with all aspects of herself and resolved the perceived contradiction between her natural hotheadedness and the role she has been conditioned into playing, would Jakuho Raikoben change to reflect her newfound self-acceptance, or would she change to make better use of her own Bankai? As it is now, it seems incomplete, or st least Soi-Fon doesn't truly accept or understand the part of herself that is reflected in her Bankai.

[@theonewhoasked7254]

Possibly. We know yamamoto's bankai changed over time. This is due to understanding oneself.

[@Alacaelum]

I have no doubt. After all these years it is clear that Bankai arent "set in stone", started with Mayuri, but him being him we never really thought much, and we just got examples from many from Shikais to Bankais The moment Soifon finally realize that even if she trained to be and that she does respect the craft of "assassination" she isn't defined by it... she will achieve a new power. I wouldn't even put pass that Jakuho Raikoben takes the form of that missile because it is displeased with its master way of thinking, and when she finally comes around to have a heart to heart with it, the true power of her Zanpakutou will be released. Maybe during the 10 years after the TYBW she may have even done that, i mean... if her Zanpankutou is a materialization of her soul, at this point it must have become fed up and started screaming in her head XD.

[@DankTheGank]

I think her being sneaky and fast plus a nuke type bankai is the perfect combo.

[@MrGksarathy]

@@Alacaelum Speaking of Mayuri, I've thought for a while that perhaps his Zanpakuto's true power is actually the ability to be constantly modified as Mayuri's inquisitive mind wishes, and that is the basis for Mayuri's extensive changes to his Bankai that no other Shinigami seems to be capable of.

[@LadyClaymore143]

Would be cool if it turned into a sniper. She marks her target and her bankai follows the mark until it hits.

[@chessnut8325]

Simply put Mayuri is like joker and batman combined into a weird love baby, insane enough to equal joker, cunning and smart enough to equal batman. Give him ample time he'd figure out an opponent but give him time he'd make himself an opponent, this man is simply unique.

[@gamefantasticcuz]

Man Shinji is the one character I wish got more love from Kubo. For me he some how steals the show every time he appears.

[@animanco6833]

Well he will get a chance to reveal his bankai in part 2. And Maybe in part 2 instead fighting bambietta and get wrecked he could fight and drive off Cang du or bg9. It seems to make more sense.

[@lilcjunior4415]

I agree Shinj is apart of my top favorites in bleach

[@theonewhoasked7254]

For me it's chad. He got done the worst imo.

[@Turnpost2552]

Chad is dead man.

[@davantejohnson7850]

It don't even make sense how he got wrecked the way he did to promote other characters. It's like taking team mystery way tf out of the mix for ultra instinct shaggy to get yet another kill. They do it in sports, politics, dragon ball, naruto.. Shits wild man

[@animanco6833]

Man we really need another chapter of the hell arc. Kubo has kept us hanging for 2 years now.

[@gammafrost]

It’s bound to happen once the thousand year blood war anime has wrapped up

[@dontworryaboutit5490]

That’s honestly the smartest way to do it because once the anime ends, the hype will be at an all-time high

[@DeSmokedone]

2 years!? I thought it was 1 year ago wow I'm lost in time

[@scratch2086]

Your comment just delayed it another week.

[@ichimaru9875]

Be patient, maybe after the end of the anime, another chapter will be add 🤲

[@glc704]

I think novel make abundantly clear Zaraki is currently the strongest captain and with a decent margin. Kyoraku etc. can't defeat hikone, Zaraki does that without shikai or Bankai. Which is why Shunsui brings him as an ace to the valley of scream

[@PrinceRevolver]

Kenpachi physically is the strongest. I'm sure someone like Ichibe could wash Kenpachi. Yes, I know he isn't a gotei 13 member.

[@mas4336]

@@PrinceRevolver so random

[@huntertezz]

Was it ever said that Shunsui can't beat Hikone? He never fought him.

[@PrinceRevolver]

​@mas4336 it's not random. The point is skill and ability wise he can be beaten. Kenpachi in SS was already stated to be the strongest and a number of captains could have beaten him then as well.

[@mas4336]

@@PrinceRevolver so random

[@Ryuzakku]

It's a shame what happened to Kensei, as his bankai apparently requires a master-level of Hakuda to even use, of which only 9 characters in the entire manga have.

[@man94xxBIG]

Yess..true💔💔💔💔

[@corndog7813]

who are those 4???

[@cozmicmic]

​@@corndog7813 prob yoruichi, kensei, mashiro, and sui fēng

[@Ryuzakku]

Master users are Aizen, Sui-Feng, Komamura, Mashiro, Kensei, Yoruichi, Yushiro, Kisuke and Yamamoto.@@corndog7813

[@GrimySkull95]

​@@cozmicmicWhat about Isshin and Yamamoto?

[@x13eAsTMANIAC]

I feel like a good parallel to make between Kyoraku and Yamamoto that I've never really heard anyone say is Ywach even states the reason Yamamoto beat him before is because he didn't care for his subordinates and would do whatever it took to beat him. Which is exactly what Kyoraku does from the moment he becomes the head captain. If you want to get deep I would say Yamamoto knew that even. Kyoraku's willingness to "play dirty" and win "by any means necessary" directly mirror his former head captain of the past. And I think with that in mind, if he had not been chosen as the knew head captain then the war would have been lost long before it ended

[@TheMetallingOne]

the reason ive never had an issue with isane as a captain is due to her being the 4th's. as unohana's righthand i had no problem believing she's second to none as a healer in the gotei (squad0 notwithstanding ) and so as long as she has bankai she's golden in my eyes.

[@lordhades598]

Personally I have a feeling Isane is a dark horse as a captain. Plus I suspect she knew her captain's true nature and may have even learned her combat arts behind the scenes of the story (we don't know what Isane is fully capable of because she's never had a proper fight). I also wonder if she has a sort of femfatal personality, where she appears innocent, but there maybe a dark side to her. I wonder if maybe her motivation to become Unohanna's successor as the squad 4 captain is because Zaraki murdered her mentor and maybe even Isane's best friend since they are around each other most of the series. Since she's a healer I wonder if her shikai and maybe bankai has both healing and destructive properties, where it maybe able to heal her and her allies but could be poisonous or drain their enemies reiatsu somehow. I think her bankai could potential be something unique like maybe a blizzard bankai, where the snow flakes heal her and her allies, but be acidic/poisonous to her enemies damaging them over time of even drained someones reiatsu the more the snow flakes fall on them

[@cbyt8759]

If I remember correctly, in the Turn Back The Pendulum arc I believe Shinji or someone made a comment about how strong Kensei was even before he was hollowfied and therefore was going to be very difficult to deal with. Since then, I always assumed he was one of the strongest captains, at least in the top 1/3 of captains, so it has been very disappointing to see how he’s treated 😔

[@bluemoon1716]

It was more about how kensei was a captain so he'd be far more difficult to deal with.

[@guts88]

I agree, I like Kensei and Rose. They should’ve either beaten Mask or Nanananana Nahjakoop (or even Robert/etc.). It was just insane that Mask got Even Stronger after fighting them, and Renji basically wiped the floor with him…. Kensei at least got a “zombified win” versus Pepe I guess.

[@synysterpain]

I always felt Kensei was very strong but mostly physically

[@rhitambhargoswami8696]

​@@guts88 Kensei not using his hollow/Visored powers against Mask was another disappointment.

[@Manusia.satu1]

I like Kensei design almost like I like Kenpachi design. But Kubo always made Kensei weak for unknown reason

[@y-wing7654]

Kyoraku is by far my fav captain and normally ive a lot of issues with Kubos writing because he tends to stop developing a lot of his cast, but Shunsui was just the GOAT and I loved that he got this important in the TYBW

[@lloyd9819]

I enjoy these long videos. I really appreciate his analysis and hope his channel grows to the level it deserves.

[@juniperjahir38]

I want to see more of Isane, I just love her design and personality; imagine she has one of the most broken Bankai, I honestly think Unohana taught her more than just healing and actually swordsmanship, Isane definitely has a lot of potential and who knows maybe she just keeps her true skills hidden, she got defeated by Ichigo who was the same Ichigo who defeated Lieutenant Sasikibe who was already captain level

[@TeguhNugrahaPratama]

Sasakibe was a retcon I believe. Ichigo at that time was supposed to be on Byakuya level, so he showed that by defeating 3 liutenants.

[@AdiNath-d4n]

Rn isane zanpakuto has been revealed to be a ice type with healing properties

[@danielsniff6405]

One of the most disapointing things about bleach is the absolute gutting of the vizards. Kubo made a bunch of really cool, lore important characters, and then gave them nothing to do and had them all get one shotted in the last arc. You would think that these characters, some of which who were already captain level, would be extremely powerful after activating their hollow form. But, nope, they are all religated to jobber status by the end of the story.

[@alexvaughan1013]

Ichigo: I can explain. Renji: You're a Human, Shinigami, Vizard, Fullbringer and Quincy. The rest of us can only be one. Shinji: At least you get to do stuff. We Vizards got all this power and keep getting screwed. Chad: * face down in own blood, P and S *

[@SatoshiSosuke]

If/when we get more Hell Arc stuff, I hope the Vizard captains, the vizard in general, get a good showing. It feels like they are suppose to be extremely strong, much stronger than they ever get to show. In theory, they are suppose to be way stronger than normal shinigami but their results just don't show it at all.

[@TheMetallingOne]

you cannot convince me otherwise that the reason Shinji underperforms in the series is due to the fact his shikai realistically speaking is busted and kinda has to be written around it.

[@donjulio1033]

I think anyone without AoE or Hax pretty much loses to Shinji unless they're just flat out stronger than him. Not many characters are adapting to Sakanade before getting killed without ways to avoid its effects.

[@TheMetallingOne]

@DonJulio exactly! realistically sakanade is able to give you multiple kill shots. like you said you either need to be bs strong like aizen or have attacks like bambietta to be able to counter shinji

[@Force-Multiplier]

Yes but AoE would realistically fuck it up as we already saw against Bambietta and he has no counter for that type of attack

[@TheMetallingOne]

@VerumRexNoir yes absolutely. aoe hard counters. my main thing tho is the inital surprice factor and how it facilitates multiple ez free hits and one-shot opportunities

[@donjulio1033]

@@Force-Multiplier How many people have similar attacks to bambi though, not many have so he's a hard matchup for lots of people.

[@Daipnemon]

The biggest thing keeping shinji from being a powerhouse is that his zanpakutou itself is inverted in the sensei that against a single powerfull enemy the bankai is worthless and the shikai is a lot better so in most circunstances he gets basically no powerup from his bankai

[@DiamonDust]

His issue is his Shikai can be an auto-win against some but has a very huge weakness, and it’s the enemy using an AOE attack (like Bambietta). Unfortunately for Shinji, many top class combatants have AOE attacks. I agree with someone else though that if he just attacked right after it activated it would work amazingly, he always sits there and talks. Maybe that’s a condition of the power, idk. His Bankai is also just way too conditional in when it is useful.

[@travailier]

WOW! 35:00 Thank you for this! .. For helping me better understand the depths of Kyōraku's *awesomeness* . The calmness he always has when he faces his enemies (& Yamamoto no less) says 💬!

[@uraharakisuke1329]

Absolute banger thumbnail. Looks really cool

[@urameshitrev1851]

Iba has the Strongest Hairdo, so by default he is Top 5 🙃 In seriousness, hard to believe Iba became a captain when Hisagi, Ikkaku and Renji were more than powerful enough. Or bringing Love back, but I guess it's to honor Komamura.

[@Sashaiordanov]

Yes! We need more love

[@NeufAtora]

Hell yeah, Iba is badass

[@perrywinkle5000]

You're assuming they wanted to position. Renji basically wants to be the Captain of the 6th division due to Byakuya, and Ikkaku ain't leaving the 11th. Maybe Hisagi wants the 9th division.

[@Tsukigami99]

​@@perrywinkle5000 I don't think hisagi has any kind of ambition on becoming a captain, but he certainly would take the spot if necessary, like when he acted as an interim after Tousen's betrayal.

[@ethanleongsem7582]

​@Gabriel S. Violato he doesn't rlly have the right bankai for a captain role. But if I was one of the captains I'd instantly want him. He perfect otherwise. All I need him to do is pop his bankai and I'll come and kill the enemy after

[@Kleshtrem]

you have no idea how valuable the content you create is! a real joy to listen and learn!

[@LoganWH8]

Something I always found interesting (and that I’d love to hear your opinion on) was the way Rose and Kensei have philosophies that are polar opposites to their lieutenants’. For Rose, battle is artistic and beautiful, but for Izuru, battle is meant to be hellish and brutal, an evil to be avoided if possible. Shuhei fears death and doesn’t deal it lightly, he fears battle and takes any skirmish as seriously as though his life depended on it, and he fears and respects both the power of his opponents and the power he himself wields. Kensei destroys casually, underestimates opponents, and sees fear as weakness.

[@MaciejWucow]

Art can be gloomy too. Hisagi and Kira were influenced Tousen and Gin.

[@LoganWH8]

@@MaciejWucow yes, of course their original captains shaped their philosophies, but I think it’s interesting to see how those conflicting ideologies effect their dynamics with their new captains, since, from what we’ve seen, it seems like only Rose is happy with the current arrangement, calling Izuru his muse, but Kensei seems frustrated and disappointed by Shuhei, and Shuhei now has an unreasonable meatheaded captain who’s coaching method is just kicking his ass, and how he feels about his childhood hero being nothing like he had imagined him to be. I’d be curious to know how it effects Izuru to know that his attitude, his disdain for war and killing, fuels the creativity of Rose, an artist who’s medium is violence.

[@quigonkenny]

Say what you want about how strong a captain he is in battle or otherwise, Mayuri is easily the hardest captain to kill, and it's not close. He's a cockroach.

[@OnionsUp]

He is a cockroach😂

[@Captain_Sosuke_Aizen]

I am always impressed by Rose's Zanpakuto and its powers, but the man himself needs a bit more subtlety.

[@tophfan]

I feel like Hyorinmaru has so much potential and it is one of the rare zanpakto that has the potential to be powerful as Ryujin Jakka

[@gammafrost]

Very true. Look at the feats his perfected Bankai was pulling off despite the little we saw of it

[@xtalia_z6691]

His potential is already shown, or we can atleast speculate, while in adult form he can freeeze all elements and matter, AND negate abilities, if its true he can freeze concepts like he froze Gerards "hope" then that alone is already broken. I've seen a thread in twit comparing Hitsugaya and Yamaji, and it's pretty interesting even in their names, Yamamoto means mountain meaning he's the peak of how strong a shinigami is, and Hitsugaya means valley, as in he is the valley that will rise to the peak eventually.

[@dusanslavnic4727]

By the time his body ages up to an adult Hitsugaya will likely be a candidate for Head Captain, Kyoraku himself believes he has the potential to be as strong as Yamamoto if he wants to be.

[@ThatGUY666666]

I am inclined to agree and if we get a full Hell-arc, I think there is a chance he could nab the top spot even if nothing happens to the others. On the other hand Kubo seemed pretty hesitant to let Hitsugaya have any unambiguous or unqualified wins as he wrote the story. I guess I am saying Kubo’s handling of Hitsugaya was ver bipolar from a writing standpoint.

[@Alacaelum]

It is a "pure" elemental sword, just like Ryujin Jaka, and those are considered some of the strongest combat sword, so the potential is there. I would eve say that Hitsugaya has a much greater potential that Genryuusai, with how young he unlocked his Bankai and the rate of his growth. If he survives to reach Genryuusai's age... we would have another Captain Commander of that monstrous level.

[@scorpio110598]

Shunsui has always been my favorite captain since I first saw him. I’m glad they gave him head captain

[@TheAzulon]

I'm really interested in seeing if the anime adaptation of the Thousand Year Blood War will expand or "fix" fights that were disappointing in the original manga.

[@sirDeI]

Kensei still lose :(

[@pompy4898]

​@xdzsxdxdxx still better than Rose

[@cameroncolbert2715]

I just hope they make a way for Rose to lose that isn’t him telling Mask how to beat him

[@Sakanade__]

Ikr. I want the Rose & Kensei vs Mask fight to be re-choreographed. Have Rose and Kensei use their masks and allow Rose to fully showcase his Bankai. That would kill Mask, but just like any other anime bs, Mask still hears James’ voice in his head and gets resurrected to kill Rose with the star beam blast that killed him in the manga. So, basically, the fight would still end with the 2 of them losing, but at least the fight will make more sense and more enjoyable

[@TheAzulon]

@@Sakanade__ TBH I think the entire arc could be re-written. The ideas where cool, but the Quincies powers were all over the place. Mask's powers were so bulshitty that when he lost I was like "ahh, no fucking way Renji won". The same with Valkyrie and LIlle Barro - They kept coming back so many times that at the end I was like "nah, I don't care anymore, those fights make no sense".

[@NeufAtora]

I love the cards you give for each character. They're very well put together

[@Wasnt-1]

yep but the top 4 is hugely a failure

[@darthpotato14]

"But when you compare Hitsugaya to the remaining captains on the list, he nearly always falls short." I see what you did there 😂

[@SerathDarklands]

I know she's not that popular, but I love Soifon. That cold, stoic exterior that's clearly a front, based on how she speaks of and interacts with Yoruichi, her unique Shikai, her overall physical design, and her vast ability set just really endear her to me. Ironically, my least favorite character in the entirety of Bleach is her vice captain.

[@heckinbasedandinkpilledoct7459]

I like her design

[@Anhiksi]

Soifon is the strongest. I doubt anyone can survive her shikai.

[@SerathDarklands]

@@Anhiksi I'm rereading Bleach for the first time, but if memory serves, Aizen deliberately let her hit him twice with it and basically said that because his spiritual power is greater, it wouldn't work on him.

[@Onattamato]

I personally think her Bankai fits and is a good evolution from her shikai. Oh, 2-hit kill isn't good enough? How about a 1-hit kill to an entire block?

[@SerathDarklands]

@@Onattamato I think a lot of people's problem with her Bankai is that it doesn't fit her role as the leader of the Assassination Corps. She's supposed to be stealthy, discrete, and a giant missile launcher isn't exactly subtle. That's also _HER_ problem with it, incidentally enough.

[@user-od7pn9vu3m]

The more I think about these characters the more I realize there are themes in their battles that are very interesting to think about. Soi Fon having a Bee motif like a queen bee and Omaeda having a mace and a kind of purple look about him, I wonder if they are supposed to invoke the feeling of royalty. The fights the two of them get into that I remember are with Barragan, who's resurrection has a crown and with BG9, who looks like a robot knight. This general motif, while could easily be seen as just stylistic, I feel like also goes into possible themes Kubo was intending for these characters to deal with like Soi Fon's views on authority and the traditions of the soul society. Soi Fon was tested in both of these fights and while she did not win in Barragan's fight they both tested her to give up her independence and rely on others. I am grateful in the anime and manga we got a bit of character development between those two to see them not only working together, but Omaeda being braver. I do think there is a possibility for her to go through some more character development and if we do see her fight, it might likely be a battle that continues that theme in some way. Plus, there is always a chance that she could either start using her bankai more effectively, or even go through a soul-searching experience and change her bankai. Kyoraku's fights by contrast many have talked about them having this theme of guns in them. In trying to understand his bankai and him more, I found an essay describing how one motif of his character is shadows. He also struggles with people giving him responsibility in the sense of when his brother died, he was given his brothers kimono. It made me wonder if he sees people as burdens. That idea is also seen in his bankai, which implies burden of love. This goes well with the fights he does go through in the series with Starrk and Lillie Barro. Starrk being an espada that has the theme of loneliness kind of matches Shunsui even more if that were the case. It also explains why Nanao helping him beat Lillie Barro was so crucial to his development. The gun motif in these fights could help to cue in these crucial battles. The use of guns for Starrk at least brings to my mind the idea of a lone ranger and guns are a slightly more isolating weapon than say a close combat weapon, so that could be why guns have come up a lot for him in his fights from a storytelling perspective. I am honestly surprisingly excited to see the works of Iba and Isane, but that's just because it seems like Kubo has a habit of not making even details in characters design that random. I view Hisagi and Unohana as two great examples of this. At first when I saw Hisagi's design, I didn't think anything of it. I didn't think it was in his character to wear fancy bands, but in his fight with that one Arrancar it turned out those "bands" were actually bombs, and to me that's when I started paying more attention to Kubo's design choices for characters. We see that with Unohana, who braided her hair to hide a scar on her chest from Kenpachi. Kenpachi's design also had logic to it. At the beginning of the series, his hair was spiky with beads to attract attention because he wants to prolong battle and he doesn't use all his strength. I think Kubo puts a lot of thought into incorporating a why behind why characters dress or act a certain way and that is especially the case with the shinigami, probably because he has had the longest time to develop them, so while we might not know Iba's shikai, I still feel like there are motifs that Kubo is intentionally putting into his character to give us a hint. I hypothesize that he has something in mind when he would make Iba a captain, especially since it's in Love's character to not want to be a captain in the soul society. Given his new lieutenant, there is some potential, though, it's understandable where he ranks. Rukia's battles I noticed had a lot to do with emotions, with the Aaronniero battle having him impersonate Kaien and with the As Nodt battle having her face fear. These battles along with Byakuya's have really focused on emotions, with Byakuya also facing Zommari, Pepe, As Nodt, while also characters like Yami and Gerard. I wonder if part of these battles was just getting him to recognize his love for Rukia because all three of them essentially have to do with love in some form, with As Nodt turning his love for Rukia into a fear for her life. The last few characters I thought I would mention are the vizards, who don't get a lot of battles. I was honestly thinking how cool Rose and Kensei looked as zombies, that I was wondering if Kubo did that on purpose to show their cool designs. While it definitely is a little disappointing watching the battle of Mask, I wonder if Kubo paired the two of them up to make it more interesting and highlight them because they did already have bankai, although that was probably one of the first battles that they had had to use their bankai on after joining the ranks of captain again. Seeing Kensei's reaction to Hisagi, in contrast to how Mask and James are powered by instilling hope, I feel like could be an intentional part to his development, highlighting the contrast in Kensei's talking down to Hisagi vs James cheerleading of Mask. The defeat I feel like could definitely go towards developing that relationship. Rose's part in the battle is interesting to me because his bankai is very theatrical. The two of these characters together definitely fit Mask a tiny bit, but not completely seperately. I think the star attack on Rose reminded me of the giant wound that Izuru got (one of course being a star and the other being associated with a crescent moon) , and so I just wanted to point out the similar motif between that captain and lieutenant. With Rose's almost bard-like personality and sound being related as well to his zanpakto, I wonder if Rose telling Mask how his power works was also meant to be a character moment. Kubo does not want to break immersion from the story, so that is why he has stated he does not try to describe powers without the characters revealing it, but I wonder if Rose telling his powers could relate to the sound motif, such as him talking too much in fights. The way he speaks to Mask and convinces him to fight the two captains definitely shows he is persuasive, which his bankai sort of reflects as well through the sound illusions, but that's my thoughts on Rose and what his telling his abilities could mean for him. One last vizard I wanted to touch on was Shinji. With most Bankai reflecting very inner parts of a person, Shinji has always kind of made me wonder if his ability is also a reflection of his philosophy on life. We see in his sarcastic personality a hint that he sometimes does things one way to achieve the same purpose, for example saying being mean to friends he loves. He's the type of person to call the person he doesn't trust to be his lieutenant in the case of Aizen, so it has made me wonder if to a degree, part of his philosophy is reverse psychology. Tactically speaking, revealing one's ability seems like a bad idea, unless you can use their knowledge of it against them. While that philosophy does not always work in practice that could be a way that Kubo implies it without telling that he has it. His bankai also could imply this as well as when he supposedly helps his opponent by telling them his ability he does it as their enemy, but that could be viewed as something a friend would do. He kept his greatest enemy close to him, which is smart when you think of his bankai, but ultimately did not help him. Yet that theme of enemies being friends and friends being enemies permeates his character and it especially works for him being seen as the leader of the vizards, a reverse to Aizen's old arrancar. Either way, those were just some thoughts on some of the characters mentioned.

[@richard_n]

Hopefully Iba will get a good fight to show what he's capable of. If so, I can easily see him going up 3 spots on the list. Plus it would definitely help the list if we actually knew everyone's Bankai and what it's capable of.

[@BigJohn303]

Iba was fodder. He struggled with ikkaku. And ikkaku struggled with and got his bankai broken by grimmjows fraccion. Why do people think ikkaku should be a captain ?

[@urekmazino6800]

​@@BigJohn303cause 10 years passed who knows what happened in those years

[@ravina6686]

The Vizards all got mad drip, they are theoretically so cool. Shinji has an incredible presence, Rose seems to have an artistic darkside, and Kensei seems like a take-no-crap boss. PLUS they have hollowfication which should take them just a tier above what's possible of most captains. But instead their hollows don't seem to help them that much and they just can't seem to get a good fight in-

[@CaptainKotetsu]

If only we knew what Isane’s Bankai was, and how much she’s actually improved in the last ten years. For all we know, she could be much stronger than she was before. I know she’d still place low on this list, but some new info would be nice.

[@juniperjahir38]

Isane is one of my favorite characters, I want to see her shine in battle, maybe Unohana faught Isane more than just healing

[@thekwjiboo]

I'd like to know IF her and Iba even have bankai. One would assume they did, else they wouldn't qualify as captains. And if they didn't, I can't imagine the other captains being ok with them getting promoted.

[@CaptainKotetsu]

@@juniperjahir38 Absoltuely. Isane definitely knows more than healing. She’s proficient in many types of kido, including attack types, and has a shikai(and we assume she has a Bankai now that she’s a captain). Isane may be a healer first but she Carrie’s her sword at all times. That makes her a combat medic, and they’re no joke in real life.

[@Mysticshosh42]

​@Craig Johnson If I remember correctly it was stated every captain need a bankai as the only method in which someone attained the rank of captain without bankai was killing a captain in front of 100 officers which was how zaraki attained it and I wanna say it was kaname that mentioned this during his fight with zaraki

[@toshiro-kano]

Maybe she doesn't have bankai

[@mjm3091]

3:14 I feel like Kubo always planned to have certain new arcs explored - even after Aizen and Yhwach. That's why he keeps a lot of those characters hidden and unused. Either that or he uses them as very low ranked background characters which he is willing to give to other people to write about. Hisagi is probably a good example of that, where he got his full on moment in CFYOW. I would actually expect we would get Iba do something in some arc. Maybe even thr Hellverse. We know he was high ranked Shinigami from squad 11 - picking progress over working in Zaraki's shadow. We also can see that he is one od the more muscular characters in the series. And with how close he became with Komamura - we could probably assume he has some physical ability as well, when it comes to his actual Shikai and Bankai (I mean squad 11 are notorious for not having kido based swords). 4:50 We probably can expect Isane to follow Unohana's legacy, not only just with healing, but also with zanjutsu to some extend. There has been a reason why she always wanted to jump in - and aside her temperament, I would assume is because she is a direct student of the first Kenpachi. And with a possible snow/ice based sword she probably can be formidable as well (if not for fighting then maybe helping to keep people alive by something like inducing hipothermic catatonic state we normally use for stroke victims).

[@Vyhox2000]

Well it's a good thing that Soifon did all those pushups

[@sennanmacleod752]

i do find it intriguing how one of the main requirements of becoming a captain is to be able to use their bankai, and since renji and ikkaku (and post cfyow hisagi) can use it but none are captains that means that isane, iba and lisa must all have a bankai. plus even if iba stated that he barely qualified to be a captain then that still means he ticked all the boxes. he could be op. this wouldnt be the first time that a member of the guards had already mastered bankai but had barely even shown their shikai!

[@HandicappedAsian]

Mayuri is like the batman of the bleach universe, he probably has plans to take every captain down if they go out of check

[@DiamonDust]

With prep time and intel I think he could beat almost anyone lol. His drugs are stupidly OP.

[@Vergilsjackpot]

Nah Mayuri is like the Dr. Doom of the bleach universe, he's the most dangerous because he always plans for unknown and uncommon events. Urahara is the Batman of Bleach, he knows of a threat and will plan for that threat, and if that plan falls through he has a plan to support the plan, and if that fails he has a backup plan with a support backup plan. While Mayuri is the mad scientist, Urahara is the scientific strategist.

[@whichDude]

I wouldn't call Soifon's bankai useless. She just needs to actually train with it. She hates it so much she basically has little experience with it. Maybe with training she can summon it, and fire it faster without recoil. She talks about it being cumbersome. She needs to train moving around with it. Someone as fast as her with a rocket launcher just seems hilariously effective.

[@stonecoldaries8117]

isane was always my favorite so it was so disappointing that she never really got to fight, especially since miss girl is always so ready to jump into one. i hope that if the hell arc continues we get to see what she can do as a fighter and a captain. anyway i definitely agree with this list and i hope everyone who sees this has a good day!!!!

[@MaciejWucow]

Isane is a healer so chances of having a fight were always low.

[@stonecoldaries8117]

@@MaciejWucow thats true, it still would be very cool to see

[@tolsty6187]

How can she possible be someone's fav character?

[@Nightmaria]

@@tolsty6187beach ep 😈

[@Danlife112]

How did Isane become your fav? That’s so odd as she barely has screen time

[@komlat253]

Kyoraku from his first showing to his last was gold to me . Feel in love at the first moment. He doesn't care to fight but unlike kinpaki ,he has 0 honor of battle. He literally doesn't care to fight. Not to mention his skills and intelligence in wvery metric is just insane

[@Rook.G34]

Great list, I love hearing your breakdown. You make wonderful videos!

[@Dar_Paz]

My most favorite scene from Zaraki is when he goes "I'm going to grab my sword with TWO hands!" 🤣

[@fizzle7421]

Mayuri's bankai is my favorite one to say. In fact, it transcends bleach and ranks up there as one of my favorite anime phrases. Amongst the likes of Kaizoku ou ni ore wa naru

[@in-craig-ible6160]

I'm loving the new style Kubo's done for the Hell Arc Character Designs.

[@dariusthweatt7243]

I agree more with this list than the list 3 years ago, because place my fave Rukia so low on the last list was frustrating

[@matthewlang737]

I appreciate the list comparisons with the colored arrows at the end. Makes my org-chart mind happy.

[@SoulXx21]

The reason why i have shunsui is number one as well is of his almost sinister personality. As you said, he will do everything to gain an advantage/win. One thing people do overlook as well is his physical prowess. I genuinely think that he is one of the fastest captains and besides kenpachi, one of the strongest physically.

[@powerscallop3596]

Pretty good I can understand how some people might think toshiro placement might be controversial as well as maybe byakuya

[@chiefbeef3587]

I love Shunsui. He's like an upgraded version of Ryo Saeba.

[@ethanleongsem7582]

What anime is he from

[@chiefbeef3587]

@@ethanleongsem7582 blasphemy!! Google that *n word*'s name now!

[@guts88]

City Hunter. I saw the newest City Hunter movie and liked it but haven’t seen anything else from the series

[@Manusia.satu1]

Zaraki should be number 1

[@IchigoKurosakicool]

​@@Manusia.satu1 zaraki only has mosr raw power.

[@saika1615]

I am SO glad that Iba is 13th, really. I talked with my friend about this before, but it really does seem like Iba's there to be some sorta placeholder. On top of that, it feels like he's only there for someone else to be a character that's to be severely outshined by many others. Specifically, the ones within his respective division. While I know it's only just within the one-shot, Rindo Atau's already stealing his spotlight. A very interesting character that utilizes something we've never seen before in Bleach (hand signs to unveil his shikai), and it actually feels like he'll play a good role within Hell Arc. Thank you for the vid, once again. As usual, you really get me even MORE hyped up for Bleach :)

[@dalemason8418]

I spotted your Way of kings and Mistborn books up there. Awesome, man.

[@Jonnymerc]

I feel like isane having a ice type zanpakuto as a healer can make sense. Just as rukia can bring her temperature down, isane can do it at a smaller scale to essentially freeze her allies to slow down the progression of whatever ailes them. Put the body on ice.

[@Man0War_Loki]

Too many ice types

[@Pdogg3294]

Love the longer videos personally! 🔥

[@Lives4VideoGames]

i think it would be cool to see a video on the strongest characters out of all the good guys and a video on all the bad guys in the whole story.

[@LudacritzTTV]

I was about to lose my shit at the beginning when you said the squad number for last place, that said I'd LOVE a video ranking every captain and former captain based on PEAK strength because I think my pick would be top 5

[@shyguy0727]

Great video, really appreciate you giving Isane a little more credit this time around.

[@ericm5315]

Rukia's bankai in theory is one of the most broken bankais in the entirely series, we really need to see how she's improved in Hell arc.

[@StarNeckv]

She's the strongest captain

[@arandomguywithabrain]

It's broken for weak characters lol 😂. Characters with high reiatsu won't be affected by absolute zero temperature

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

No it's very much not. Even conceptually it's almost useless. It quite literally cannot work if she's the aggressor. She makes a hell of a roadblock, but that's about it. In case you forgot... that's Jidanbo's job in Soul Society. She didn't deserve the promotion to Vice Captain, and certainly isn't qualified to be a Captain. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against her. She just gets way too much credit from losers who have an unhealthy connection to fictional waifus.

[@sevisavory]

@@arandomguywithabrain as nodt aint weak lol

[@arandomguywithabrain]

@@sevisavory as nodt isn't even top 10 in sternritter ranking lol 😂 mid character

[@TheGOAT_7]

Glad to see byakuya getting the respect he deserves

[@sbulelengxingolo9389]

@@bobflys bs byakuya stomps toshiro

[@Filialbertogarcia]

@@youtubecensorshipisretardedtoshiro is actually quite overrated

[@Filialbertogarcia]

@@youtubecensorshipisretarded he doesn’t feat wise and iq wise byakuya has more over toshiro

[@Filialbertogarcia]

@@youtubecensorshipisretarded that’s assuming his power could beat byakuya, byakuya takes more than just iq

[@Filialbertogarcia]

@@youtubecensorshipisretarded byakuya takes defense, speed other things but ultimately his experience would beat toshiro 1v1

[@KhemBMD]

Maiyori in my opinion fits perfectly in the original gotei 13 hes a former criminal incredibly powerful and heartless (for the most part)

[@apugbyanyothername3263]

Given the current information about these characters, I think this ranking is quite reasonable. Thanks, MrTommo2304.

[@LittleRed1999]

Ooohhh I needed something to watch on my break 😂 also I LOVE THE THUMBNAIL 😂 you should post a whole pic with all the captains

[@Leevodevo]

With all due respect, strength has many definitions. But since we are speaking of strength post Yamamoto, kyoraku having equal strength to his leadership he was an obvious replacement pick for Yamamoto as head captain (only because his "brother" was I'll stricken). Kenpachi can be called the definition of strength, not in the sense of war which includes strategy but as far as strength or strongest, he is 110%. The strongest soldiers are the not always the best leaders.

[@krillin1081]

Exactly. In terms of being a leader and just being a threat Shunsui is dangerous but people don’t realize how strong Zaraki is. He’s been compared to Yamamoto and has been inferred to be as stronger as true shikai Ichigo.

[@Scorpy666]

​​@@krillin1081 cfow zaraki slaps yamamoto no diff. Hell arc is after cfow.

[@krillin1081]

@@Scorpy666 you’re literally retarded and just want to hear yourself talk and it’s clear that you haven’t even read the CFYOW novel because they literally directly compare Zaraki to Yama 1 to 1

[@krillin1081]

@Josh Nelson CFYOW Zaraki might not even win in general. He had no answer to Yamas Bankai. And y’all are comparing 1 arm Yama to Zaraki not two arm who essentially is twice as stronger as he was when he fought Ywach the second time

[@kewinabea5439]

​@@krillin1081 HOS true shikai ichigo bitch slaps both of them

[@Д.Б-ж6ь]

1. Kenpachi 2. Mayuri 3. Toshiro 4. Byakuya 5. Rose. His Bankai is basically same as Kyoraku, but Rose doesn’t need to be injured in order to use it. 6. Kyoraku. He would be lower, if not for his Bankai being an insta-win button as long as he survives an attack, and he can do that thanks to his Shikai abilities. 7. Rukia. I think that you really overlooked how much she should’ve level upped after training at Royal Palace. Shikai Renji was strong enough to completely obliterate a guy, who himself completely obliterated Bankai Captain, and Rukia is Renji’s equal, with Renji leaning towards raw power and Rukia leaning towards hax. She is lower than Kyoraku only because of his Bankai(and even then you could argue about Rukia’s Bankai being an insta-win as well) 8. Soi Fon. She was faster than base Yoruichi even way back in the Soul Society arc, and with a mastered Shunko, she definitely surpassed Yoruichi from that story point. And her Bankai is even stronger than Shunko, it even considerably harmed Barragan. 9. Kensei. He is actually note-worthy, as he managed to make Wonderweiss go Ressureccion, and Wonderweiss is a guy who can causally one-shot Ukitake, a Kyoraku’s equal. 10. Shinji. This guy considered a beaten-up one-handed(and let me remind you, that, due to Arrancar resembling Shinigami in physiology and hands being where Shinigami’s Reiatsu comes from, being one-handed is basically having your power halved, and we know how much 2 times difference does from kenpachi vs Nnoitra) base Grimmjow worthy to go all out against. Get that fraud outta here. 11. Lisa 12. Iba 13. Isane

[@Blackmustache870]

How is kyoraku so low? He defeated starrk in his shikai while rose and love together couldn't touch starrk in shikai+mask. Kyoraku doesn't need to be injured to use his bankai. He can use it whenever he wants. He just chooses not to because it can harm his allies. Shunsuis physical, mental stats, abilities, and rieatsu r so much higher than rise. Rose doesn't even have a chance. If ur talking about prep time, I agree, mayuri is 2nd, but otherwise, he's 4th behind kyoraku and byakuya is 5th. Zaraki Toshiro Kyoraku Mayuri Byakuya Rukia Shinji Soi fon The rest

[@Д.Б-ж6ь]

1. He would be forced to use Bankai if not for Ukitake joining in, while Love was actually the one to make Starrk assume Ceros are useless and switch to wolves. Then, he got a free opportunity to attack as Starrk was dealing with Love&Rose, which killed Lilynette in the manga(I hope I don't need to explain that, but I will if it's needed), effectively robbing him of his Ressureccion power and making him switch back to sword-fighting. Plus, neither Rose didn't use his Bankai, which allows him effectively bypass power level to some degree, allowing him to injure and potentially kill Mask, after Mask powered up to the point where his sheer force was negating Kensei's Bankai ability. Bankai Kensei is also a guy, who forced Wonderweiss go Ressureccion, and Wonderweiss is a guy who easily one-shotted Ukitake - a Kyoraku's equal - in just his base form. 2. He needs that in order for there to be wounds to be shared, otherwise his Bankai simply won't go past Act 1 and will be effectively useless. And I already explained why Rose more than stands a chance. 3. The only prep time Mayuri had for Pernida is his VERY short fight with Kenpachi, which only gave Mayuri a little glance on Pernida's power. And yet that alone was enough for Mayuri to fight equally with an opponent, who had just defeated post-Unohana Kenpachi with ease. The reason I rank Kenpachi higher is because he didn't release his Zanpakuto against Pernida. As for Byakuya, it all comes to how much you evaluate his contribution to Jerard fight. Though, he easily defeated 3 Sternritter at once, and 1 of them was the guy who shot Kyoraku's eye, so that might implie Byakuya being stronger.

[@Blackmustache870]

@user-om8dc5ne4u 1. Shunsui was going to use bankai because he wasn't able to use his more powerful shikai games, as he stated later, was due to katen kyokotsu. Rose and love were fighting a depressed and non motivated starrk. There's a huge difference. Notice how none of the loves attacks did any significant damage to starrk. Starrk had also got a free shot at shunsui when shunsui attacked wonderweiss. Also, something to note is that in the dub version of the fight, starrk claims shunsui was more injured than he was, and shunsui still won. This is significant because since it was a statement made in starrks' heads, it can't be to fill in for mouth movements, giving a chance this could be accurate. Ukitake is only shunsuis equal in combat powers. Rieatsu has a lot to do with fighting sense, defense, and power, but tybw, it's stated that ukitake doesn't use hus rueatsu to fight. He uses to support his dying body, making it so his rieatsu usage is significantly less effective than the other captains. So it's easy to catch him off guard when he's surprised, just like when wonderweiss showed up. 2. He can use bankai in Act 1 even if there are no wounds. It just wo t do anything, but the stages can go on. Notice on Act 3, neither rieatsus had completely drained, yet shunsui could still move to Act 4. 3. Pernida wasn't going evenly with mayuri. Pernids beat him and nemu and mayuri wouldve lost if pernida hadnt tried to consume nemu. Zaraki literally wasn't going all out against pernida. People always forget that even after defeating unohana, zaraki likes to test if his opponent is worth fighting. U can easily see zaraki wasn't going full power against pernida in the mannerism he had. Lille in base can solo all 3 of the sternritters u mentioned easily. Shunsui defeated him in shikai. Also, shunsui didn't use any games against Robert and only lost due to yammammotos' death. In the anime, the more canon version of tybw, shunsui even states Robert wasn't an opponent worth struggling against, implying that if shunsui HAD used his games, he would've destroyed Robert.

[@abt01]

totally agree with the top 6. very good list

[@sofyanjamal4980]

I love the byakuya part, well done sir

[@Marius696969]

personally i like soifon, as far as her bankai i dont think its useless i just think her personality conflicts with herself effectively. her shikai seems to represent her wanting to be the best assassin she can be while her bankai seems to be her zanpakuto screaming at her saying you could be more than that. personally i think once she attained bankai and saw what it was she never trained it further meaning its the least developed bankai in the series. she has neglected it and created its one trick pony look from that neglect. i think if she stopped trying to hard to be an assassin and tried to be herself, then actually got in touch with her zanpakuto and really trained with her bankai it could be far better than what we see. of course this is speculative but based on what we see its not a far stretch to make those assumptions due to her personality. also i think she would need to fully work out her issues with urahara and yoruichi before she can have that inner peace to truly look inside herself. when you stare into a rippling pond its often hard to see whats under the surface and i feel like the abandonment she feels from yoruichi and the betrayal she feels from urahara are the ripples in her soul preventing her from finding herself. until she finds that peace and stills her soul she's never going to truly be whole and her bankai will remain useless.

[@Aarune_]

I don't like her because of her loudness and immaturity

[@Marius696969]

@@Aarune_ as far as her loudness i mean thats just something you particularly dont like, i wouldnt say it makes her a bad person. her immaturity on the otherhand is difficult to understand because we dont truly know how aging works within soul society. she could still be considered fairly young since it seems like aging is based on a person to person basis. byakuya went from a small child 100 years ago to a full adult in the current time. hitsugya has been a child for who knows how long while hinamori apparently grew "older" than him during the same time span cause its implied that they knew each other as chidren. rukia is 150 years old by the end of bleach and yet she doesnt appear to be much different than she was back in rukongai. granted she could just be naturally short but assuming she is roughly the same age as soifon based on the turn back the pendulum arc being 100 years priod to the start of the series then her outbursts are nearly the same as soifon's. age isnt really represented well in bleach but if we assume based on how people age throughout the story that age is a person to person thing then its fairly possible soifon is still roughly equivalent to an early 20s adult. legally an adult but still immature in the ways of the world. it could even be argued that her personal issues have hindered her growth.

[@heckinbasedandinkpilledoct7459]

@@Aarune_ I can overlook that because she is really young

[@vermiliongourd4619]

I totally agree with your assessment on SoiFon. And her loudness and rudeness is her natural self that she doesn’t fully accept due to her assassin upbringing. It’s not like Ichigo where he doesn’t have customs or traditions clouding the way he thinks and could just reject Rukia’s execution freely.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

A bit about Lisa. In the turn back the pendulum arc, Lisa is noticeably performing the best in combat against hollowfied kensei, better than love, better than rose, and arguably even straight up winning that fight. Compare that to Rose who does extremely poorly against hollowfied kensei... the power scale of the Visored is made pretty clear to us. Shinji is undisputedly the strongest of the Visored. Below him, Love, Lisa, and Kensei are all demonstrated to be comparable to one another, at least to the extent that they're all demonstrably stronger than the rest. Below them is Rose, who does distinguish himself when compared to Hiyori and Mashiro. Things can change, especially over the 100 years and change since Turn Back the Pendulum. But, while we lack more meaningful positive feats to place Lisa's current power, we also lack meaningful positive power feats to claim Kensei and Rose are stronger now.

[@dhanu_4539]

Hitsugaya is going to be the future head Captain I think. But maybe several hundred years from now... He's basically the ice version of Yamamoto

[@sbulelengxingolo9389]

so is byakuya

[@dhanu_4539]

@@sbulelengxingolo9389 maybe... I just meant that just like Yamamoto has the ultimate fire zanpakto, Hitsugaya has the ultimate Ice one.. he's the elemental opposite to Yamamoto

[@martakavaliauskaite4566]

Thank you amazing list and amazing analysis of every capitain character and personality in bleach

[@lol101lol101lol10199]

That Iba saw no way to rise within Squad 11 doesn't necessarily mean he "didn't have what it takes". It could just mean that it was impossible to become vice captain there regardless of how strong or competent you got, because Zaraki had no intention of ever replacing Yachiru (Kusajishi) for obvious reasons.

[@vladimirvilimonod1258]

I truly believe that Mayuri is the most dangerous captain of them all. He doesn't even rely on his bankai that almost at all. Also in my opinion Toshiro's bankai is much more useful than Kenpachi's.

[@chusay7006]

Kenpachi demolishes anyone on this list besides Mayuri.

[@Ari33sa]

I'Ve genuinely never thought about it, because the thought of Kyoraku dying never crossed my mind. But I really liked your suggestion that Byakuya might become head captain. He would be perfectly suited for that role. I don't want Kyoraku to die...but surely, Kyoraku is the laid-back kind of type who'll just retire at some point, living a comfy rest of his live. That could also finally allow Renji to become captain, which he certainly deserves. Also when you said that the top three pics contain elements of all ranking factors ( 28:20 ), you weren't talking of Zaraki were you? Lmao. Zaraki contains at most two of those factors but those two he's amazing in. By all accounts, Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Kyoraku, Mayuri, even someone like Rukia are far more well-rounded fighters. Not that I disagree with the ranking, but you can't say he knows all the skills needed to be a captain.

[@keepingupwithrefakim1910]

Agreed. He only know how to use use his sword and swing like with no precision. He did not know how to use kidou/bakudou. His technique in swordplay is just the most normal one. Compare to rukia she is all rounder she just not have that brute strength unlike zaraki and she doesn’t have ambition to kill an opponent. It’s very rare to see zaraki to use shunpo. He basically run into his enemy without strategy. If rukia can improve his skin in swordplay she’s definitely can be a leader.

[@Ari33sa]

@tongsandoval1818 i want that so much now. Sadly It would probably only happen in a few hundred years. So we probably won't see it

[@shameronstar7220]

I hope this Hell Arc goes forward. Think there's a potential to see a lot more out of Bleach since it has such an ever growing expansive world an a litany of diverse characters.

[@doubleh3978]

Yeah, my list would pretty much be the same. Maybe the only things you could argue are: 1) maybe you could swap Kensei and Rose just for portrayal I always thought Kensei was the second strongest vizard but i could be wrong and Rose had a little better showing against Mask than Kensei so i'm not sure; 2) i think you could put Soi Fon even a little lower since she really didn't have a better showing than vizards and they SHOULD be really strong so i could be inclined to put her below them, at least below Rose and Kensei, but she still has her broken ability so i think it is also fair to put her above them; 3) maybe you could swap Zaraki and Kyoraku because I would assume Zaraki became better in controlling his zampakuto during the years between TYBW and the Hell arc, and that would be devastating, but it is speculation so probably i wouldn't do that; 4) you could argue for swapping Byakuya and Mayuri because Mayuri had maybe a little better showing during the war, but he did better than 99% of the cast so i don't think it's really fair and i think Byakuya being the perfect shinigami deserves the higher place; 5) to be fair since Shinji didn't really do anything good or bad during the war, i could see him a little lower or even a little higher, but in the end i think i would put him EXACTLY where you did. REALLY good list.

[@StuartisUnoriginal]

I just have to say, what an INCREDIBLE thumbnail! Artistically beautiful really

[@youngriley3473]

I honestly felt like kubo could have made something more out of soi fons zanpaktou in the blood war seeing as she hates her bankai so much I figured it would have been perfect way to introduce her to her true bankai 😔

[@curtisgriffinjr743]

Well the Shinji battle question is going to get answered in the TYBW anime as it is now revealed that Shinji will get an original fight. It is not in the manga and is apparently one of two new fights made explicitly for the anime. Depending on how that fight goes, you might have to bump him up.

[@bilalfarrukh1715]

definitely agree with every ranking in this video. I'd like to add that the top 5 are all in the same tier, Mayuri may not be the strongest but he has the means to hang with the rest of the 4. Zaraki fans are butthurt lmao. shunsui is for sure the overall strongest and complete character. top 3 really are the strongest captains the gotoei 13 can offer.

[@TymeTraveling777]

Ill take top 3 captains against anybody in the series...great content Mr Tommo...your reputation precedes you 👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽

[@EmpireArcadia]

Although I don't recommend you make lengthy videos like this, I accept that when you do it is for a valid reason and is very acceptable. Continue on.

[@roronoazoro2970]

And who the hell are you? Your opinion doesn’t mean shit you’re not the one in control of this account

[@djdrack4681]

Remember that back in the early parts of Bleach there was quite a bit of emphasis that merely achieving Bankai was SUCH A FEAT...that it was going to open many doors to the shinigami - Byakuya in fight w/ Ichigo states all that achieve are basically 'etched' into the history of Soul Society and bound for greatness. Also, that even among the nobles only 1 in several generations usually has ability to achieve it... -->MIND you that both him and his grandad did; AND that both Isshin and Ichigo (Shiba clan members) did. - The notions of Ichigo achieving bankai (when we didn't know he was more 'evolved'/transcendent being then even Soul King; implied that it was an unbelievable accomplishment. SO, Rose/Kensei/etc becoming captains for merely achieving bankai (and having the skills of a lieutenant only) tracks with such notions...most of them are (as story so far) only in that Lieu-to-5th seat power level; and seemingly aren't highly proficient in many fighting styles, usually only a couple (they almost all suck at Kido and shunpo). I'd argue that even mid-tier captains like Mayuri are leaps-bounds more powerful than the aforementioned above tier; let alone the ones like Ukitake, Shunsui, Hitsugaya, Byakuya, etc. Kenpachi is of the same character type as these weak ones, but he is just OP complete hulk power which is like the only way to make up for it...something that Kensei etc don't do.

[@Elmo914]

Sure with prep time, but without it, he loses. Byakuya is ruthless and has evolved as a fighter. He wouldn't just let Mayuri have fun.

[@nathangardner6423]

There's no way Mayuri dosen't have extensive contingencies to eliminate the captains and lieutenants if necessary.

[@BigJohn303]

Yeah I'm pretty sure he does.

[@skreyao4898]

pretty much he does. I mean, he didn't even touch zombified toshiro at their fight yet he was able to administered a drug unto him. He probably has any type of drugs inside any captains and lieutenants bodies in case they turn against him or the seretei

[@cattoduke6286]

People seems to forget that Zaraki's dependence on physical strength will hurt him in almost any situation. Almost every EOS Bleach character has some kind of tricky hax that Zaraki's brain capacity can't handle. Pernida no diffed him for example. They said only Zaraki can fight Hikone. While that's true, that's only because if Shunsui activate his Bankai, he will kill half of Soul Society's fighting forces, including Zaraki.

[@Manusia.satu1]

Novel Zaraki would beat anyone in Bleach. Only Soul King, Maybe Aizen, or Ichigo can beat him now. Shunsui? Zaraki clap him while sleeping. Novel Zaraki is beyond op

[@cattoduke6286]

@@Manusia.satu1 No proof lol. Ichibei, Shunsui, Lille (yes he's alive and hiding) and Uryu must be beating their meats in the corner then. Even in a near death situation, Shunsui held himself back from using Bankai until his allies are far enough. So any statement he made in CFYOW is based on the premise of not releasing Bankai. This channel literally analysed each captain from every known material and people still think their headcanon is more legit.

[@Manusia.satu1]

@@cattoduke6286 Ichibe already said Zaraki the strongest lol

[@cattoduke6286]

@@Manusia.satu1 "Ichibe said" lol. He literally said Ichigo was the only one that stood a chance stopping Yhwach, so Zaraki wasn't the strongest in TYBW. In CFYOW his chat with Shunsui never even mentioned Zaraki, when he lectured the new recruits he also never did

[@Manusia.satu1]

@@cattoduke6286 "Only Aizen, Ichigo and Zaraki stand a chance against Hikone" Ichibe? Where? That already proof Zaraki above Ichibe. Bro even TYBW bankai Zaraki would clap Ichibe. He only lost to his own power in bankai. No one beat him in bankai form. Gerald? Gerald cut him after he already get clap by his own power

[@Ligatmarping]

Nice! I have a what if for you. Suppose Ichimaru Gin and Aizen didn't betray anyone... when the quincys kill Yamamoto and Unohana fell, would have been a chance for Aizen to be captain commander instead of Kyoraku? Or even with Unohana there.

[@zacksager9033]

thanks for another great video :)

[@rojrebyfield2175]

It would be interesting to know where all the captain class Shinigami that are still alive would fall on this list as well.

[@Lilmomo-st5zh]

Isane theory- what if it creates a cloud of snow that can reflect her healing abilities through the cloud? Giving her a sort of long range healing potency? Thoughts?

[@xDarkAngelxc]

Crazy thing about Kyoraku is, if he was killed or didn't exist, the only person I see taking the head captains position would be Byakuya.

[@Handsomesqiudward]

I think Ukitake would also be a candidate too before he died

[@vlor1414]

​@@Handsomesqiudward Ukitake is too sick to deal with the work of a Head Captain.

[@sbulelengxingolo9389]

​@@Handsomesqiudwardif he wasn't sick he would be head captain before even shunsui

[@yvjyang]

A masterpiece as always!

[@Gilbert1668]

Isane taking over for Unohana makes sense because it’s a healing division but Love should’ve taken over squad 7 it was his division 100 years ago

[@TbxB95]

I can totally agree with this ranking and the whole analysis you did. Maybe just Rukia and Soifon are interchangeables, depending if she has mastered better her power now. The last 3 as well, as the most recent captains with no real feats surely they're the weakest, but who knows for their new capabilities.

[@WaterKirby1994]

Technically Lisa has feats such as when she fought Hollow Ichigo, killed some Gillians, & fought Harribel to a standstill. Losing to Aizen or The Miracle doesn't really detract from her abilities. Kensei had a worse showing in that he loses offscreen to Wonderweiss while everyone else is fighting Aizen.

[@jhaapala6262]

Really hope Iba gets to use his shikai in the anime

[@blankenheim39]

I remember reading somewhere that Iba is indeed a very well-rounded lieutenant, excelling in all 4 shinigami skills. Also it'd be cool af to have Iba using a pure physical bankai and fight together with dog form Komamura (like Kiba in Naruto), as Rindo is already animal-based.

[@howardhavardramberg333]

Congrats on 201k man, here's to 300!

[@lavuntecolquitt]

Excellent choices! My man Tommo ALWAYS coming with HEAT!

[@BigJohn303]

Shinji cutting aizen was an illusion made by aizen. We see later on there was not a scratch on aizen. Aizen was toying with him. People forget he was under aizens complete hypnosis.

[@raijinsociety]

Lmao go rewatch that scene again he did cut him.

[@BigJohn303]

@tojutheraijin And later on there was not a scratch on aizen. Meaning it was an illusion. I'm talking about in the manga by the way.