The Bleach "Plot Armor Problem"

[@__Kumo]

the amount of people commenting about the thumbnail and title being misleading as bleach doesnt have plot armor , among a significant chunk of anime fans bleach is notorious for having "so much plot armor" as in ichigo should have died on multiple occasions to ulqiourra , aizen , yuha and so on and so forth a statement that i disproved in the video hence why i put it between quotations in the thumbnail and title so before commenting any dumb shit maybe try watching a couple seconds into the video and dont be like the same people who havent watched bleach yet are repeating similar garbage

[@hollowify_tensa_zangetsu]

😂😂 I don't get "plot Armor " what story Doesn't....he is the MAIN CHARACTER in a FICTIONAL WORLD.....very low IQ Ichirkui fans. Waco Mundo has STRONG reishi. White uses this hollow reishi to Regenerate. Thisnis hindsight 20/20 but OLD man zangetsu used the blut vene to stop the bleeding. Then in the beginning Chad says it nutrition for hallows. Arancars have high speed generation...I am sorry THAT'S POWER SYSTEM...IDFK why people suck.

[@hollowify_tensa_zangetsu]

Gotta re weite my debunk video....thanks for reminding me

[@quelqunx7470]

Lol, dude is indeed literally arguing there is no plot armor

[@Iceislazy]

@@__Kumo dude I can't believe you are serious. You are saying that the MAIN PROTAGONIST should have died and the series should just have ended? Bro literally did you just watch bleach so that you could prove that Ichigo should die?. Bleach doesn't have a single character. There are multiple characters who just refuse to die like Zaraki. Tell me, do THEY also have plot armor?. Like your argument is so dead it makes no sense. After watching bleach TYBW did you not understand why Ichigo didn't die on many occasions?. There are battles in many other anime where the main characters don't die because of INSANE plot armor. You are obviously just knit picking on bleach

[@icymomementum4829]

@@Iceislazy I can't tell if this is rage bait or if you didn't watch the video

[@justsomeguywithamustache2901]

Funny how people say plot armor ichigo, when he didn't even win the fight against aizen or yhwach individually 😂😂

[@RedRoit-ex2cs]

True shii😂

[@bobowon5450]

plot armour doesn't mean he is incapable of losing. but that when he wins it feels unearned.

[@justsomeguywithamustache2901]

@@bobowon5450 ichigo didn't win tho lmao

[@bobowon5450]

@@justsomeguywithamustache2901 doens't have to to still have plot armour. if the outcome should have been he dies, but he survives for an unsatisfying reason, that can be a type of plot armour.

[@_Anim0sity_]

Plot armor doesn't necessarily mean winning a fight, it's about a character doing something out of nowhere that often benefits them like somehow surviving an attack that should've killed them, convenient outcomes like somehow the enemy can't use their abilities or has run out of energy or something like that, lack of consequences like sure they died but they came back to life and they're now stronger, and narrative bias just because they're part of the main cast they cannot die.

[@animespace1135]

The Vasto Lord transformation wasn't random It was foreshadowed by white himself before he despaired He said that if Ichigo was close to death,he will return as a king✅ And this is literally what happened against ulqiorra So this doesn't count as a plot armor

[@Fantomstranger]

I think what made people ( and me at the time ) think that was just how strong that form was as it was able to destroy uliqorra so effortlessly in his 2 nd form as till that point ichigo was just assumed to be a vizard and uliqorra was arguable at least top 2 espada. So I can see why people felt it was plot armour

[@luffys_]

​@@Fantomstranger yeah but as later revealed white was captain level to begin with and ichigo's soul reaper powers being mixed with him makes it believable that he is that much stronger.

[@Fantomstranger]

@ yeah but at that time it did feel very contrived

[@NEONlights-lb8um]

​@Fantomstranger it felt contrived only to readers who weren't paying attention. Even aside from white himself saying he'd take over if ichigo died, Ichigo literally did show us a little peek at that power when he trained with the visoreds. He did transform into a state very similar to that form in which he fought ulquiorra when he was training with the visoreds. That was clearly kubo showing the readers that there's absolutely more to come with ichigo's hollow powers. Every single visored had to take turns fighting that ichigo showing exactly how powerful he was. But like I always say: Bleach fans can't read.

[@Fantomstranger]

@@NEONlights-lb8um well tbf using vizards as basis isn't quite useful as except for hachi pretty much everyone one of them ends up being useless and ulqiorra just seemed like he was too powerful but yeah I do agree that form as a whole was foreshadowed

[@TealeafRogers]

If we've seen Shinigami continuously survive 'seemingly fatal' injuries, then we can safely assume those injuries are not fatal to them - at least unless they go extended periods without aid. For example Gin literally bisected Hiyori Sarugaki and she turned out just fine - they're just build different.

[@lo4tr]

They are literal souls after all.

[@vexedeffect6784]

The Hiyori bit was because Hachi was using time suspension kido, but yeah, they are souls so using a human, physical logic doesn't make sense

[@gig7932]

I think my biggest issue is that the characters act like they're at death's door which i know isn't true so it just stops me from caring cuz I know if a villain got hit with that move they'd most likely die instantly.

[@alternateperson6600]

The problem people have isn't applying 'human logic' to spiritual beings but heroes surviving fatal injuries whilst the villains die from far less serious ones, often with no explanation behind it.

[@vexedeffect6784]

@alternateperson6600 like for example?

[@varsoonhks3211]

Speedreaders and people who aren't engaging with BLEACH will use this sort of critique to continue to not engage with BLEACH. Their loss.

[@richcast66]

People speed through manga? Shit, I take my time and really try imagining movement and sfx in my head. It greatly enhances the reading experience.

[@Sintec2349]

@@richcast66 EXACTLY! And my friend says I read slow and I tell him this and he says it’s unnecessary

[@ItzS1lver]

@@richcast66exactly what i do when i read a manga or comic or whatever, it makes the experience way better than just reading some words and moving on

[@SayanJana-m6w]

Yeah like if you don't wanna consume it just leave it alone there's no need for unnecessary Critique

[@Joshua_Shadow_Manriguez]

The Vasto Lorde form was explicitly foreshadowed by White at the end of their fight, as White told Ichigo that if he died before they met again, he'd take the throne as King. Also, Shinigami can ignore fatal wounds as long as their Spirit Energy holds out. This is used multiple times, and always is used with someone who is AT LEAST a Lieutenant level or above fighter, even as early as the Substitute Shinigami Arc, as after the Grand Fisher fight, Rukia states that one's Spirit Energy is equal to their life force, commenting that Ichigo still being alive with his wounds meant that he had even more power than she originally thought. Yes things like losing a limb or bursting your eardrums are significant injuries in Bleach, but one directly effects your ability to defend yourself, while the other directly impedes your abiloty to function, but most blows are more dependent on the power of the person effected.

[@salmannazeer2688]

Hiyori got cut in two and survived. Kira became an apple. Hisagi just wouldn't die. Just look at the amount of scars left on grandpa genocide's body. He survived that many injuries over thousands of years and he must've got most of them before healing kido was even invented

[@Joshua_Shadow_Manriguez]

@salmannazeer2688 exactly my point.

[@vcamv2354]

​@@salmannazeer2688Hiory was being held alive by Hachi's kido, Kira was revived by Mayuri, he did die. Hisagi didn't die cause of his Zanpakutou's power

[@hamzahax]

He technically did die But the concept of death is very different in Bleach compared to other show

[@caseyhart4999]

Yes. This.

[@nothing.1063]

wait dont they go to hell if they die?

[@DavidMben-sb1we]

@@nothing.1063 no they have to be sent there and only captain lvl characters can be sent

[@hyacinth5040]

​@DavidMben-sb1we Ichigo IS captain level, basically from the end of Soul Society arc

[@alanviniciuswanderleytavar4399]

Kubo: foreshadows white taking over every 5 chapters, White takes over Bleach "Fans": plot armor 🤨

[@perfectgematriadecodesabc4259]

still plot armour all Ulquiorra had to do was kill him completely or chop his head off after their first battle

[@alanviniciuswanderleytavar4399]

@@perfectgematriadecodesabc4259 it's pre established that Ulquiorra always kills his opponents making a hole like his own

[@kosmic1483]

​@@perfectgematriadecodesabc4259 but that wouldnt be ulquiorra bc ulquiorra doesnt kill like this, ulquiorra makes a hole in the heart when he kills, thats literaly his thinh

[@B_L_A_C_K_Anime]

​@@kosmic1483😅 well human heart is present in body center it is extended to left side that's why we hear beating in his left

[@mimszanadunstedt441]

If Ulquirroa weren't an emo, he wouldnt be cool, and would've killed Ichigo, then no one would be happy lol

[@8LotusFlower8]

Aside from whether or not bleach actually has plot armor, isn’t it the case for literally every anime produced since forever? Why does Bleach have to be the only anime that gets criticized for it.

[@bobowon5450]

it depends on how satisfying things felt. The hollowfied ichigo vs ulquiorra fight wouldn't have been as poorly received if instead of ulquiorra going to his second release right away, if instead he beat ichigo in his first release, the vasto lord came out, and then ulquiorra went to his second release. At that point the two having a more even fight. But what happened was that ichigo was shown to be nowhere even in the same realm as ulquiorra, and then in an instant became so much more powerful than ulquiorra that it was like a kid bullying a child. Fights that one sided aren't satisfying to watch.

[@TimaeusShinryu]

@@bobowon5450 but thats not Kubo's or even the manga's fault....it was the anime that created the one sided beat-downs, as Kubo himself said that the Hell movie's version of the fight was a better representation.

[@Step43099]

@@bobowon5450I beg to differ

[@8LotusFlower8]

@ since when the hollowfied Ichigo vs Ulquiorra fight was poorly received? It has always been peak.

[@naboume466]

​@@bobowon5450That's a completely different "problem" that has nothing to do with plot armor, if it is even a problem in the first place, one sided battles can be satisfying too but I digress. Saying that being "one-sided" is a problem for that battle in particular is missing the point, it needed to be one sided, because the point was to make Ichigo feel despair, for him to be so powerless and then teat his resolve, Ulquiorra didn't need to go segunda etapa to kill Ichigo, but killing him wasn't his goal at that point, he wanted him to feel despair, to see him give up, to prove that this "heart" doesn't exist and people value their own lifes more than anything. On the other hand vasto lorde Ichigo needed to be as overwhelmingly strong as he was, because that was the first time we see a "transeendent" being, a full successful hollowfication, it needed to be that powerful, after all this is the result of what Aizen wanted to create with both the vizored and arrancars. I think a lot of people are just so surface level when analyzing shounens, especially when it comes to battles.

[@Jekiterio]

"konpaku (soul)" form is not the same as humans bodies, this was showcased very early in the bleach manga when ichigo had minor damages in his shinigami form and once he transfered back to his "Gigai" it hurted like hell. When people get "donuted" its usually a good chunk of their soul getting taken away and if they don't get restored back they could die in their broken state.

[@varsoonhks3211]

This gets explained in Ichigo's fight against Grand Fisher and yet people still constantly are like "But how could this character survive getting stabbed or having a hole put through them?" It's like, dawg, they're ghosts already.

[@firepuppies4086]

Remember when Unohana noticed his damaged robe as well. She pointed out the robe was one indication of his Reishi.. if his CLOTHES are a representation of it, his body would be too

[@8LotusFlower8]

2:09 we have Orihime who can reverse whatever happens including death. So I wouldn’t call all of those who were saved by her a plot armor.

[@R0m0n3]

Ichigo is basically a soul king candidate... He is not even at a fraction of his capacity at the end of the series.

[@lo4tr]

The biggest mistake people make when looking at the times Bleach characters get severely wounded is that they treat these characters as if they were human. They aren't. They are literal souls with much higher durability and survival ability than regular ass people. To directly kill a Bleach character, you need to aim for the specific weak points, deal enough damage to overwhelm the higher durability, or leave them injured long enough to fade away without having been healed. I get that it can seem annoying and repetitive seeing Bleach characters get a hole pierced through their chests, but being annoyed with something doesn't automatically mean it's plot armor. I would think that people would realize that, after the first time a character is shown to survive being bisected, that other characters can survive the same so long as there is a healer somewhere.

[@joshshrum2764]

Yeah tekking has said this.

[@__Kumo]

Fair enough you are right.. but it does get kinda annoying and eliminates the feeling that any character will die no matter what injuries they receive

[@lo4tr]

@@__Kumo Oh, I totally get that. It's entirely reasonable to get annoyed with the way Bleach characters seem to get fatal injuries and then appear fine the next arc. Something not being plot armor doesn't mean it's good writing.

[@alternateperson6600]

The problem people have isn't applying 'human logic' to spiritual beings but heroes surviving fatal injuries whilst the villains die from far less serious ones, often with no explanation behind it. That's plot armor.

[@perfectgematriadecodesabc4259]

@@alternateperson6600 facts

[@Link.ispada]

2:15 Rukia already explained that in the first arc buddy. ''as long as shinigami still have reiatsu they can't die''. This is why they were losing to quincy in the war cuz they absorb the reishi around them with makes critically insjured shinigami unable to naturally heal

[@__Kumo]

wait really? how did i miss such info , in which chapter or ep was this explanation

[@Link.ispada]

@@__Kumo and the quincy being the counter to shinigami was explain during the fight of uryu and mayuri

[@Link.ispada]

@@__Kumo Edit : chapter is 24 one sided sympathy

[@TinyManu77]

Bleach doesn't have a plot Armor problem. People just refuse to watch the series with their eyes and ears open.

[@user-np3vy5ff5t]

People ignore that it was mentioned from the beginning that the greater your spiritual power is, the more difficult it is for you to die from wounds, and we had already seen how Ichigo hollowfies and a hole appears in his chest since the Vizards training 💀

[@nc956]

I feel like your definition of plot armor is too narrow. If author rescues MC from a fight he should have died from by plot - IT IS a plot armor, provided it's happening on unprecedented scale or using absolutely unlikely plot device. Also - if a guy achieves transformation he or she didn't work towards without heavy foreshadowing of that being not only possible but likely, then it's also plot armor, or alternatively other bad writing trope. The hinamori example is also perfect and it GREATLY MATTERS. Because it destroys any suspense you can have. The reason why Game of Thrones is so beloved was partially because the harm and death presented there was rough and PERMANENT. Which made people gasp in emotion when their favorite character got killed or injured. 4:46 - things that are explained AFTER the incident are not considered good-enough explanation usually. It's important to be able to trace the reason to foreshadowing in events BEFORE the incident, because only then it does not make it look as if it was hastily created for the current plot needs.

[@Kenos347]

People don't have any reading comprehension

[@PrinceOfKings55]

I didn’t know what I thought it was growing up but watching Bleach I was always annoyed how certain people survived certain blows

[@gabrieldevoogel6225]

People will say Goku has plot armor when he learned how to do the Kamehameha because it didn’t take him “years” like Roshi

[@bloody4558]

I'm not going to say Ichigo never had Plot Armor moments. However it's astounding the amount of info the vast majority of fans let pass. Firdt of all, Ichigo should have never lost to Aizen in his first confrontation during the Arrancar arc. Kubo had already set up Ichigo to be stronger than Aizen all the way back during his return against Ulquiorra. In fact, the author uses Unohana to show that Ichigo is now out of this world in power. Unohana states that Ichigo is already among the strongest of Captains in power, from what she can fell of his reiatsu. Only for him to say that he should only be around 50% of his power, however here's the catch, Ichigo's Shihakusho was smaller than 50% in size, which means that he has less than 50% of his full reserves. Possibly around 30%. Second, when Hin faces Ichigo, she shows not only disappointment but also surprise at how weak Ichigo really was. This is important because it evidances that everyone involved expected Ichigo to be at least close to Aizen in power, and the character who proves this hypothesis is Matsumoto, when she looks at Ichigo she states that he doesn't have the eyes of a warrior. Which means that yes Ichigo was holding back his power, which is understandable when he had lost control and gravely injured Ishida as well as dishonorably defeated Ulquiorra, someone he wanted to face on equal terms.

[@animeuploader4992]

My problem with the uqiora victory is that hollow ichigowas only half it's potential power meaning ichigo went from fodder to being dozens of times stronger than him no explanation could not make that unsatisfying

[@Voodoo_Occasions]

1. Ichigo and friends are almost killed by Yammy and Uliquirra, for some reason they don't kill them, giving Urahara enough time to rescue them. 2. Grimjow commands ichigo be healed, after Ulquiorra killed him. 3. Ulquiorra kills ichigo again and his hollow form conveniently takes him over, however, his berserk rage ends before he can kill any of his allies. 4. Ichigo gets stabbed by Ywatch, but blut vein (something explained retroactively) saves him. 5. Instead of killing him right there he spares ichigo, even though his Sternritter can kill him easily, as his blade was broken. 6. Ichigo looses to Askin yet is able to fight Yhwach despite Yhwach being able to use the abilities of his underlings. 7. Yhwach absorbed Gerard before he amassed the power to kill the Captians. 8. Lillie Barro is killed by some random plot convnient blade.

[@hyacinth5040]

​@@Voodoo_Occasions1 I've forgotten the scene so I can't say anything. 2 Grimmjow had a rivalry with Ichigo, he wanted him to be revived so he could be the one to kill him. Similar to something you'd expect from kenpachi 3 this entire point is invalid if you actually understand bleach and Ichigo's character. Ichigo only fights to protect who and what he loves and he was fighting Ulquiorra to save Orihime, keep this in mind. Now, every time that Ichigo has been near death, his zanpakuto has come to save him (mainly white). Example one, when he fought byakuya, white took over. Example two, when he fought kenpachi, although old man zangetsu talked to him it was White's power he used (as white represents his true shiginami powers) as shown by his reiatsu forming a hollow mask behind him. His zanpakuto helping him isn't plot armour either. It is explained that zanpakuto are basically a portion or part of the wielder's soul. In these cases it literally represents Ichigo's drive and unwillingness to give up when it comes to protecting his loved ones. (Rukia in the byakuya and kenpachi fights, Orihime in the Ulquiorra fight). Do you think he would let himself hurt his loved ones when he was specifically fighting on and pushing to protect them? Even if he wasn't completely sane, if there was even a shred of his mind left he wouldn't. Also this part was further foreshadowed when White said to Ichigo that if he ever lost/was close to dying that he would take over. 4 if you want direct blut vene foreshadowing, it was foreshadowed in the very first arc of bleach. In his fight against Kenpachi, after he gets stabbed old man zangetsu says he stopped the bleeding and old man zangetsu represents his Quincy powers so it was most likely blut vene. Asides that there are NUMEROUS times that Ichigo was foreshadowed to have Quincy powers by the time you get to the tybw. Straight away the resemblance between Yhwach and old man zangetsu. 2 when old man zangetsu tries to tell Ichigo his name in the SS arc his name is blotched out by Ichibe's ink. 3 every time Ichigo needs power he draws from white instead of old man zangetsu. 4 the training scene in Ichigo's inner world. I forgot exactly what old man zangetsu said but it's white that trains Ichigo on how to use his blade. There are more, but this is more than enough 5 Aizen messed with Yhwach's perception of time with his Kyoka Suigetsu. It's after his fight with Ichigo that he realises how much time had passed so he had to leave immediately. Also he didn't kill Ichigo because he needed Ichigo to come fight him in the soul king's palace so he could use him to kill the soul king. Only a hybrid can kill the soul king, Yhwach knew this, and he knew Ichigo had no choice but to come fight him when he goes to the palace 6 Askin is not a raw power guy, he probably poisoned Ichigo with his own reiatsu considering how much of it leaks how his body, Askin is cunning too and is no slouch either. Ichigo would be hard pressed to beat ANY of the schuttstafel alone, it's basically impossible. Also when has it ever been stated or shown that Yhwach can use the shrifts of the sternritters? (Outside Jugram's when they swap at night) 7 The fight had already gone on for a while. A bunch of stuff was happening concurrently during the tybw, Yhwach needed the boost so he just took back his power from the rest of the sternritters. Admittedly this is a slightly weak argument. Sure this is probably one example of plot armour. 8 this is debatable and subjective, but I believe it was actually Lille who had plot armour, though only for a short while. I believe Kubo used him as a means to flesh out Kyoraku. Mind you this is after Kyoraku became the head captain and also the last arc of the manga (so far). To me Lille surviving Kyoraku's bankai was solely so Kubo could both show Kyoraku's bankai and tiè in his and Nanao's backstory. Otherwise I don't think Lille would even have a second vollständig, he would have died to Kyoraku's bankai and it would've made sense, Kyoraku took down a very strong opponent but also suffered major injuries. I think he wanted the shinken hakkyoken to be in the story (possibly the sword used to split the soul king) so he used it in the backstory of Nanao and Kyoraku and also made Lille's second vollständig around it. Lille shifts from being the messenger of god to considering himself a god and is also immune to damage until the backstory is complete and Nanao gets the sword

[@hyacinth5040]

​@@animeuploader4992there is an explanation. Check the third point in my comment above this one

[@tolvajtamas8567]

What i really like is what you said about those near-death moments (for example, Grimmjow stabbing Rukia and not killing her like that). These moments emphasize a danger moment between the fighters. In Bleach, a character could get shot or pierced in their chest, rip their own limbs off, and yet, they still will survive. Even Kyoraku stated before he activated his Bankai that those wounds Lille Barro inflicted on him wouldnt be able to kill him so easily. Lille Barro's Vollständig gave him trouble, but he ended up winning with his Bankai (for now. We will see about that next Saturday).

[@truthspreader1996]

*Come on guy, Bleach has plot armor!* That whole Ichigo vs Grimmjow explanation you gave was bogus. Ichigo was famously losing that fight...... How did Ichigo's mask stay on for more than 11 seconds anyway!?!?

[@truthspreader1996]

@@hyacinth5040 " Isn't it stated that a hollow mask is like a 10x power boost similar to bankai?" *No, I'm afraid not. It is never stated to be an x10 multiplier.* " If bankai Ichigo was already relative to Grimmjow (weaker but not outclasses, still in the same ballpark)" *But that's just the thing, he was completely outclassed. His best attack, the Black Getsuga Tenshō barely burn Grimmjow.*

[@hyacinth5040]

@@truthspreader1996 i guess I'm wrong then

[@truthspreader1996]

@ Hey don't worry about it. Bleach lore is a kind of tough to keep up with.

[@SireIsis]

This might be the worst take on Bleach I've seen in a while. It has its problems sure, but this isn't one of them. This is just asinine clickbaiting. Try learning about something a bit before criticizing it.

[@__Kumo]

Try watching the video before commenting lmao

[@SireIsis]

@@__Kumo I certainly did watch it. If you are going to try a witty comeback, either get the facts straight or at least use some punctuation.

[@xnortheast1106]

​@@SireIsisYou obviously watched with your eyes closed since plot armor has been a problem

[@sageoverheaven]

How did you write a whole paragraph and say nothing of substance? No specificity to your critique. Is this a fetish of some sort, or a cry for attention?

[@Nikita-Catnipp]

​@@sageoverheavenhe is angry they are they are saying there's plot Armour in bleach

[@crackedblack1410]

I especially feel this when watching the TYBW Anime. I‘ve read the Manga a long time ago but now that I watch the series I’m noticing it more and more: A insane power gets introducing, said to do this do that and at the end the other character is just immune to it, or they get revived. It’s reminding me a lot of Dragonball revives honestly.

[@__Kumo]

Bleach didnt have revives except for vasto lorder what are you talking about

[@crackedblack1410]

@__Kumo Especially during the first invasion:Kira should’ve died, Byakuya should‘ve died(this one is understandable tho since fans sent dthreats to Kubo). Second Invasion:How did Rose and Kensei not die? Both got revived by Mayuri and even after Gremmy „killed“ them they‘re still not dead. Who died during the fight with Aizen that’s important? Not even Momo died🫤the only people that actually died were Sasakibe(and he barely had any screen time) and Yama(since he was too broken I guess). And it’s always the same thing. When it was revealed that Yhwach was the „fake“ one it was a strategic act on Yhwach‘s side, but these things keep happening more and more. Ichibei‘s powers didn‘t even have any meaning since Yhwach could just „regain it“😐😐

[@locker7256]

In soul society ichigo was so strong that he shocked ukitake (the guy holding the 3 worlds together in the last episodes) and in the lost agent arc (the one most people skipped) ginjo explains that the badge is holding him back for some reason. It's normal to think he is that weak normally bc of not knowing that

[@thisusernameisamazing4184]

I dont know but I've never once heard this argument before, for the simple reason that the people I talk to about bleach are smart enough to know the mc wont stay dead like halfway through a show, this is back then too because even back then it'd be pretty obvious when a show was going to end "this was our (anime name)" moment always happens and they literally tell u its ending

[@haidora9321]

i guess people just want to have an anime where the main protagonist either is the strongest and oneshots all and everything without facing any hardships, which is kinda boring. Or be the weakest and get clapped by everyone, which again isnt very intresting. Its a fuckin Anime with special abilities and what not, of course the main protagonist of that show is gonna level up in some way during fights, and bleach always foreshadowed Ichigos Power ups and explained pretty much anything. If People wanna call it Plot armour so be it, then from now on we can only make animes out of actual human history because that really happend so it cant be plot armour lol

[@jgkmoff]

I think the real issue is that it's hard to stay invested when you know the main characters will come out of every fight alive regardless of how badly beat they are. An example of this is the beaten-into-dust dead horse that is the Byakuya fakeout during the first invasion in the TYBW arc.

[@RobALegend]

As a bleach fan the only ichigo fight i can accept as being somewhat plot armor is the one he had against Aizen since it was such a big power jump and training in the dangai was something that kinda came out of nowhere but I like the fact that his dad was shown to have getsugatensho as well and that he trained him the foreshadowing is really cool since in the early episodes it was always his dad secretly training him

[@JonasRosado]

And even then it's made very clear that Ichigo was already the only one relative enough to sense Aizen already and later on it's confirmed that old man zangetsu was restricting Ichigos powers so imo it's safe to assume that Old Man Zangetsu just lowered his hold on Ichigos power on top of Ichigo getting more power

[@TheCuboneSwordsman]

Bleach actually doesn’t have plot armor lmao they’re death gods lol why would they just die to common injuries? Rukia almost got bitten in half in the first episode for crying out loud lol Characters just need to exist and not exist to fit the narrative, but that’s not plot armor. Plot armor would be if Lee just came back and won the fight with gaara after completely having his limbs completely crushed, with no explanation. Everything in bleach actually has an explanation.

[@xnortheast1106]

It does have lots armor

[@animeuploader4992]

Just because something has an explanation doesn't make it okay

[@Nikita-Catnipp]

It has plot Armour

[@snowarmth]

2:58 Ichigo vs. Renji and Byakuya 3:51 Ichigo vs. Renji 4:46 Ichigo vs. Kenpachi 5:12 Ichigo vs. Byakuya 6:01 Ichigo vs. Grimmjow 6:41 Ichigo vs. Ulquiorra 8:00 Ichigo vs. Aizen 8:43 Note on Yhwach and Uryu

[@EXtrmis]

Braindead anime fans will watch any fight and say it's plot armour Goku unlocked super saiyan Luffy unlocked gear 5 Naruto unlocked sage of six paths They think all of these are plot armour

[@The_Emperor823]

Vasto got foreshadowed when White said himself that whenever Ichigo fucked up badly, he’d take over

[@Oleus]

The main problem of Bleach is not exactly plot armor but the inconsistency in the gravity of wounds that makes things hard to follow at times. Basically no good guy really ever dies while "bad guys" can die of the most random of things. Remember Hiyori ? She's overall a pretty useless background character, was pretty annoying all the time during the Arrancar arc and yet she survived being cut in half later on. People can survive that in Bleach for some reason, just like they can survive being pierce right through the heart as long as they are not on the wrong side. Stark died of a way less severe wound for example, same thing goes for Gin, Tsukishima or even Ginjou. In TYBW, things change a bit since some enemies are literally unkillable, but people get stabbed, pierced through the chest or lose limbs all the time and it's very hard to trully care since you can never tell if it's supposed to be a grave wound or not in this universe. 😮‍💨 Then again, Byakuya had a death scene (even a death speech) but he survived. Kira was killed but survived too in the end. Kensei and Rose were also declared dead but came back eventually. The only one who really died was the first division's vice captain for plot reasons, but Kubo's inability to kill one of his (dozens of) side characters made things needlessly complicated for his readers, I feel.

[@truthspreader1996]

This is spot on!

[@ScarGus]

Honestly final getsuga tensho was hinted via Uryuu's transformation in Soul Society arc since Ichigo was also part Quincy

[@xnortheast1106]

Not really they are two unrelated techniques

[@Sm.2012-m4o]

Final getsuga tenshou is a shiba clan technique

[@hugofonseca7455]

Want to know what plot armor is? Just seeing the one piece arcs of Whole Cake and Egghead, in these oda wasn't even ashamed. In WC Luffy literally became an immortal of blood and infinite energy so he could withstand katakuri blows to evolve and then escape. Egghead all the antagonists became dumb and incompetent assholes to favor the gang and they escape. All 5 goroseis couldn't even handle bonney a 12 year old girl with no experience whatsoever. Even cartoon villains are more efficient than them, at absolutely no point do you feel that the gang can lose or not escape because everything works to favor them THATS THE DEFINITION OF PLOT ARMOR.

[@vcamv2354]

Luffy was always a monster of endurance and infinite blood since Ennies Lobby, heck, since Arlong Park. People are just built different in One Piece ans Luffy did take time to rest during the fight

[@hugofonseca7455]

@@vcamv2354 you just prove luffy ass plot armor since day one, all of them have. Dont even make me say tons of liters of zoro's blood in Thriller bark.

[@vcamv2354]

@@hugofonseca7455 I mean, in 2024 are we still pretending that plot armor isn't basic stuff in every anime? In One Piece having tons of blood is basically normal. People will survive the most absurd shit cause people are just that phisically strong

[@hugofonseca7455]

@@vcamv2354 No, it's not, it's plot armor and the immortality of the characters. OP characters are all immortal until the author decides not to, when that happens the characters die due to the most basic things possible. The problem is that if you turn a blind eye to your favorite anime, you can't criticize other people's (since yours does much worse)

[@vcamv2354]

@hugofonseca7455 And I said it's plot armor. All characters in a story are immortal untik the author decides to, that's how a story works. What I'm saying is, I don't turn a blind eye to One Piece, I just don't care much about it cause characters surviving impossible things is a constant of the story, so it just becomes the norm, which I never said I consider good or well done.

[@skyxercynder2988]

Shuhei surviving fatal attacks from characters such as Lille Barro makes sense since his Shikai allows him to regenerate from any injury as long as he has Reiatsu.

[@truthspreader1996]

Really? Is that apart of a game?

[@skyxercynder2988]

@truthspreader1996 The information comes from the Can't Fear Your Own World light novels where Shuhei is the main character.

[@TheDegifbulator373]

It’s uncommon for bleach characters to survive something they should’ve died from, that one guy with the bookmark fullbring got a hole blasted through his heart and he’s human yet he still survived it for at least multiple hours after words and could still talk and move.

[@truthspreader1996]

I know right!

[@carloskingdomh]

people who say bleach has plot armor werent paying attention, great video

[@wanttogetfood]

Ulquiorra: makes a hole in Ichigos torso Shirosaki: "Shouldve gone for the head"

[@iXSIKOBOIXi]

Part of the reason I fell in love with Bleach is that Ichigo could not only lose, but lose HARD. Him dying to Ulquiorra (multiple times) was crazy to me

[@xibladekidd]

Most people don’t even understand bleach or its systems and it shows when people go to criticize the show just to prove the viewer didn’t watch or comprehend what they read or watched

[@nothing.1063]

vasto lorde or just ichigo's hollow side was foreshadowed since the soul society arc so i dont think it was too random as it would make sense for white to step in to save ichigo now knowing what we know now about white being his true spirit thing (i forgot the name please tell me in comments) i think the only out landish plot armour moment is the fight against yhwach and how it ended but that is just my take on it

[@dc7981]

Plot armor is just when someones favorite character loses to someones least favorite character

[@Atticus-Catnipp]

Plot armor is an exaggeration. Whenever an author kills a character he just doesn’t need to bother themselves with them. Sometimes I’d be better to let people go out in glory because it’ll make their legacy better. My most prominent pick are Might Guy and All Might

[@varsoonhks3211]

Might Guy opening all the gates, something that has been reiterated so many times as a thing that 1000% kills you, only to survive? I knew Naruto had been going downhill for awhile but that really made me lose some of my last bit of respect for the author and the series. Absolute hack shit.

[@mimszanadunstedt441]

Sure but. Cliche. Reality doesn't conform to every cliche.

[@christopherdamper9208]

Hollow Ichigo: It’s a big problem for me if you get yourself killed

[@hypotrain]

OP somehow forgets that explaining plot armor retroactively in the story doesn't count

[@vcamv2354]

It actually counts if the explanation is well done and logical, not every retcon is a bad one

[@jaycee8852]

He did die.

[@juggram_99]

The problem with Kenpachi's fight, there were not much hints that indicate Zaraki's problem. I mean, if a seemingly lieutenant level defeats a captain level foe and then it gets explained why that happened 300 ep's later (and like a decade later after the og anime ended, you could say the same about the manga but I'm not entirely sure if some details were skipped in the SS arc of the manga for the anime), then of course it won't be well received

[@__Kumo]

There is a limit to how much you can foreshadow stuff , zaraki was just introduced it was impossible to try and explain him suppressing himself without exploring his character via a fight And also it was made clear that he doesnt rely on his zanpakuto which is a clear giveaway that this captain is going to unlock greater power in the future and isnt fighting with full strength

[@juggram_99]

@__Kumo for sure there are limits to foreshadowing, but at least how I feel it, it isn't enough in Zaraki's fight. Sure you have the bells, the eye patch and all that stuff, but that doesn't mean that the viewers would know that he was suppressing himself the way Unohana pointed out. Don't get me wrong, it was a cool moment, but it doesn't feel right narratively speaking imo.

[@grqfes]

a thing about the characters surviving crazy wounds is that during the fullbringer arc the girl tells ichigo to chill out cause he was tanking too many hits and that he would die if he continued since he was in a mortal physical body. so apparently they just built different in soul society and any other non world of the living place

[@grqfes]

my biggest problem with bleach is when they let someone do some power up bullshit instead of interrupting it and the only time they did do this was in tybw against gerard valkyrie which was the ONLY TIME it was beneficial to the enemy to cut them off. for fucks sake man

[@buglifesmatter]

The plot literally requires Ichigo to be nerfed. It's not Ichigo who has plot armor, it's the people he fights with. If plot wasn't a thing we would've had true Shikai Ichigo from the beginning of the series

[@Zarkon619]

Hayuri survived been cutted in half, In this universe shinigamis can survive bigger injuries than regular humans

[@Voodoo_Occasions]

Durability is inconsistent. Although not shinigami, Sternwritter and Arrancar seem to die to injuries that even Momo has survived.

[@vepiru5734]

I think plot armor is quite defining to the shonen genre. Ichigo is a messiah, a prophetic figure. He is by no means a normal character. So it is fitting that he gets saved in a quite illogical-looking manner. It's part of the narrative. It is plot armor, but in a sense that "the grand order of things is with him". Ichigo isn't following the same rules as the other characters. He learns bankai like it is nothing, is protected by his hollow then learns to fight along him, learns final getsuga just at the right time, is a quincy too, and masters all that in just a few years, and not the requirend centuries if not millenia of work required for any other character. His power is explicitly divine. Everyone thinks they are manipulating him (Byakuya, White, Aizen, Ywach...) and he is naïve, but nothing can manipulate the messiah on his divine quest, not even himself, as his destiny is absolute. All I am describing here is plot armor, but this kind of plot armor is the main thing for Ichigo. And it's the way we love him, because we always wonder what completely broken feat he is going to pull up next, to beat impossible odds.

[@erlsweatpants9628]

Hollows can regenerate my guy

[@truthspreader1996]

What is that retaining to?

[@R1IY2N]

Ulquiorra states that internal organs cannot be regenerated

[@vollied4865]

People really should watch the video before commenting, this was a very well done and well explained video disproving the whole plot armor argument. Good job

[@truthspreader1996]

Disagree......

[@Auron327]

I agree with all of this up to Ulquiorra. I understand the theme of Nihilism vs Emotion and the throughline of the narrative up to that point. However, I feel like this side-steps the core of the issue which is the lack of consequence. White hands control back to Ichigo when Ulquiorra is no longer a threat, which is decidedly not the implication made when the "King and Horse" conversation happens. This leaves the entire scene feeling contrived, unimpactful, and disposable. There is nothing Ichigo has to grapple with as a result of that event, which leaves the audience asking why it even happened. The accusation of plot-armor is a symptom of a deeper problem within Bleach's narrative, not the problem as a whole.

[@TheMEGAStar-DR3AM]

The only reason I could see the main character getting trapped in a hopeless situation for it to not be bad writing is if it’s to make the side characters more appealing. Especially when the side characters aren’t used a lot and the writer realizes this and wants to change that. Other than that, it feels unsatisfying.

[@MrBruiserZartist]

Sooo, one thing to keep in mind, the one thing that actually kills Captain level characters is absolutely abliterteration and depletion of spiritual pressure. Mayuri survived something similar to Ichigo. Shinjis friend was cut in half and she survived to be healed later. (Not even captain level). Spiritual pressure will keep the body alive if there is enough of it. It's why kenpachi is said to be unkillable and Aizen is immortal. Kenpachi has a fork tun spiritual pressure hence he gets a way with holding back and Aizen has the most. It's why Yamamoto stayed dead. Not only was his spiritual pressure depleted but Ywach destroyed the body completely. There was nothing for his spiritual pressure to keep alive long enough for him to get healed. It's also why Bayakuya who was barely holding on was sent to royal palace to recover. There wasn't enough spiritual pressure for him to be healed in normal means (relatively) and royal palace has a much higher density of that stuff. Mix that in with the Healing waters and he is good to go

[@omarhossamsamir]

I mostly agree except with the Ulquiorra one first off Ulquiorra's statement about ichigo's power was most likely in regards to his base second having a transformation that has no set up and then explaining it later counts as plot armor oh but his make transforms over time until it happens sure but we were never told it would lead up to anything and aside from it there were absolutely no build up Edit: I forgot about the whole white saying he'll return thing but a little more foreshadowing would have helped

[@__Kumo]

ulquiorra never implied that he meant his base form , white told ichigo that he will take over him if he kept hesitating in battle what do you mean a little more foreshadowing.. he verbatim stated it once and took over his body multiple times before that battle

[@dstrytd]

“God killing sword”

[@Blackmustache870]

Two of my biggest issues of plot armor in bleach include aizen in fkt and the sternritter 1st invasion. Starting with aizen, the only reason aizen survived long enough for wonderweiss to get on the battlefield in the 1st place is that yammammoto decided it was a good idea to just stand there immediately after trapping them. Or when yama sacrificed his arm for hado 96 and it only gave aizen scratches. Another not as serious issue was when everyone else was dumbed down in the captain fight to make aizem look badass. Toshiro said they attempted to attack aizen first so aizen couldnt use kyoka suigetsu, but didnt toshiro attack aizen 1st in ss arc, as well as kommommura, and aizen still fooled them with kyoka suigetsu anyway? Regarding the 1st sternritter invasion, it just seems convenient that more named people didnt die. The obvious contender is byakuya, but was meninas just standing over rukias unconcious body throughout the entire ichigo vs yhwach fight without making sure shes dead?

[@nexist__fade9143]

bro it wouldnt have made any sense if he died while having a hollow inside of him at that moment, if they left him dead that wouldnt have made sense with his abilities and where the story was headed

[@FerunaLutelou]

It's not plot armor, it's just plot. Maybe try paying attention next time.

[@kristoferericsson6186]

Agree on all points you make, Mayuri however 100% have plot armour. He is only still alive due to being Kubos favorite character to draw haha

[@JosephEelman]

i don't believe bleach has plot armor, but i do believe like you've said, it has a problem with trying way too hard to surprise the audience to the point where it starts to become problematic and i think TYBW arc just dials this up to a billion to the point where i can't feel invested in the story anymore because i simply can't trust what i'm shown

[@Yabooi888]

Lille Barro vs Shunsui: This fight actually shows why there is no plot armor. Just good story telling. One might say that Shunsui should have been dead, but only survived because of plot armor. I feel like that isn't the case because Shunsui literally says, "It would have been better to have died instantly. It sucks being so strong that I cannot even lose consciousness." That's not plot armor; That's story telling and character development.

[@2100jord]

Referring to the vasto lorde fight bro all hollows have high speed regen why wouldn’t the second strongest hollow ever have that too

[@Nikita-Catnipp]

Against Byakuya the inner demon takes over ,against Ulquiorra when he was supposed to die then suddenly the inner demon takes over a dead corpse? Plot Armour yes

[@akrammeziane9979]

nanaoe's zanpakto is the true définition of plot armor

[@fRDenis]

Ichigo should have not died in the ulq fight, ulq piercing a hole in his chest and orihime needing his help, made him awaken his hollow power and ressurect,allowing him to use vasto lorde, a form which will be fused with his true shikai form/true bankai form in the final battle into the horn of salvation form

[@panic_time]

in every fanbase there's always the 80-90% of "fans" who are just extremely dumb and will copy what others say and are probably just watching because they want to see the fighting scenes only without understanding anything , glad the other 20% exists in this community man

[@truesaiyanpower9739]

people are comparing a fatal injury to a human body there souls and it out right stated that soul bodies are more durable and the higher your reiatsu the more likely it will be for them to survive something fatal to a human body

[@hollowify_tensa_zangetsu]

3:33 and old man zangetsu clearlybsaid "soul reaper rule mm over many spiritual beings." Hollow and quincy ARE SPIRITUAL ennities.

[@Demagora]

Sorry guys, I was planning 3 more arcs but the MC got in a really tough fight and rolled a 1 so I didn't have a choice.

[@blubblub41]

how is vasto lord a plot armor? white literally said that if ichigo ever died he will take over his body.

[@JonasRosado]

I understand that Yhwach's power itself isnt really plot armor. Him awakening it at that EXACT moment against Ichibe on the other hand... is imo

[@ravoniesravenshir3926]

@_Kumo This is where we say Orhime is so annoying she brought ichigo back to life. I mean I would too if some beautiful woman wouldn't stop crying over me.

[@nazeefarabi556]

ichigo does not really have plot armor at best the amp in his fight against zaraki(even if his heritage was foreshadowed but old man zangetsu suppressing his power was probably not),3 days bankai could be plot armor

[@Voodoo_Occasions]

Many occasions in bleach can be explained, however, the convenient timing at which these power ups appear is a level of plot armor. White was forshadoed from the beginning, but why does he take over ichigo against Ulquiorra, when he could've taken over every single battle that ichigo was wounded and victory wasn't assured. I also view Grimjow as wanting Ichigo to be healed from death as a level of plot armor as, despite grimjow's personality, he is Aizen's underling first and foremost. Ressurecting a troublesome enemy goes against what he is, even as his old Arrancar panther form in the wild. Are you telling me, whenever he fought a dangerous opponent in the wild he wanted to show them mercy even if they werent killed in an honorable way? Other examples include Ichigo not being killed by after Yhwach destroyed his sword. Enemies often leave critically wounded enemies that they can kill easily alive, only for them to return stronger. This happens multiple times in every arc. Also, Blut Vein showing up when it did on ichigo is plot armor when it never showed up beforehand. Just because you can retroactively explain plot armor doesnt mean that it isnt plot armor.

[@Nolava0why7Because0yes]

Uryu Renji hurts cause of their time together in Hueco Mundo, they would've had each other's back no matter what then😭

[@Moonslayer01]

He literally has a hollow as one-half of zangetsu and old man zangetsu is his quincy powers

[@truthspreader1996]

Yeah and?

[@Moonslayer01]

@truthspreader1996 he's literally a soul reaper, a quincy, a full bringer, and a hollow....this was shown throughout the series

[@truthspreader1996]

@@Moonslayer01 Again I say......AND?

[@2000sancho]

I don't think ichigo surviving ulquiorra is plot atmour,white warned ichigo that he will take over if he ever died.

[@yahyawihamza4064]

White said he will intervene

[@dec2567]

People saying plot armor are stupid. 99% of the time in a show,books movies or games the hero doesn't die.

[@CaribbeanMenaceOficial]

With the amount of latent he possessed he couldn't have died in hueco mundo

[@hahayayak3620]

If people say Bleach has plot armour I wonder what they say about One piece

[@dopiestmonkey]

Did people watch bleach with their eyes and ears closed? I never saw ichigo having plot armor

[@alihorda]

i dont know, these seem to be reaching to refute plot armor accusations. at end of the day this is a battle shounen (on surface level) so of course it has plot armor, a lot. but what people expect, the MC to die in 3 chapters? this is one of the few times when i dont mind plot armor too much, but it definetly exists

[@Milkman740]

Plot armor is not really a thing of its own. It is something that the audience of a story perceive due to inconsistant or bad writing. The Game of Thrones suffers from the first reason. In the first seasons it is well established that no character is safe no matter how much the story focusses on that specific character. The initial main character is Ned Stark and he gets beheaded. As the show progresses more characters just seem incapable of dying no matter what foolish actions they take or how grevious the wounds are that they receive. I'm looking at your Arya Stark and John Snow. When a story esteblishes that no character is safe, no matter how big his/her role and then starts to deviate from that established fact with a few it breaks the immersion. Bleach doesn't have this particulary inconsistency problem. It is very consistent with the fact that the majority of the cast can't die no matter how badly they lose a fight or how injured they are. They always will come back. The problem with bleach is the setup and pay-off. Often these miracules survivals or even victories are achieved by a concept introduced on the spot. An example of this is the fight between Pernida and Mayuri. Mayuri only wins because Pernida ate Nemu who's cells happen to grow out of control if they are disconnected from the brain. The problem is that both the idea of Pernida eating people and the concept of her cells growing out of control without her brain are introduced the moment it is needed. It is not builded up to. That way it always feels rather lackluster as a resolution. Such things will often be percieved as an asspull or deux ex machina because it comes out of thin air. The story does not do the work to build up to the resolution.

[@venh2073]

People just love to cry "plot armour" when deus ex machina is an integral part of most literature

[@Sillybeanz]

They aren't entirely ass pulls until full bring, rukia just shows up and gives Ichigo his powers back, and him being a Quincy and then having those powers stolen

[@R1IY2N]

You have to remember that every captain and vice captain put their reiryoku into that sword

[@R1IY2N]

Also at the start of the series Ichigo has Quincy bedsheets

[@MrListaTelefonica]

Out of all shonen people think BLEACH got the plot armor problem? Wow

[@boywonder2120]

Ichigo did die......Which allowed the Hollow to fully manifest. Did yall get your education from KZbin Shorts or something?

[@omatsu-v5r]

bleach mc doesnt die once, wins by himself like 50-40% of the time = "damn bro has plot armor" niggas seeing 50 different power ups in every other anime when characters are about to die or be defeated = "bro this shit peak" they really be crazy with this sometimes

[@poppa2840]

tbh I think this video is cope. yes of course these things are forshadowed but some of it really is just some bs

[@pauloroberto4693]

I don't think there is a justification for Yhwach leaving Ichigo alive after defeating him in chapter 680, that was pure military grade Plot Armor. If Yhwach can think nothing of killing someone like Haschwalth, then yeah, neither Orihime or Ichigo are walking away from that fight alive. And really, I can stomach the villains holding back from killing the MC for "reasons" only so long before it becomes grating. Ulquiorra holding back and not pulverizing Ichigo head because he is trying to make Ichigo feel despair is acceptable, Aizen holding back and toying with Ichigo makes sense for his character. But everything in Yhwach character shows he would obliterate both Orihime and Ichigo before moving on to more important things. Hell, Ichibei sent Ichigo to fight Yhwach fully believing Ichigo would die, but he did not care because he could still use Ichigo corpse as the soul king replacement. Ichibei himself expected Yhwach to kill Ichigo. And this means Yhwach had even more of a reason to kill Ichigo and blast his corpse to dust like he did with Yamamoto. With Ichigo dead and gone, Soul society can no longer use him as the soul king replacement. At end of the day, I know this is a manga for kids, of course Ichigo is not going to die. But this ultimately forces the villains look ineffective or pathetic. Either they are complete jokes like the Espada and can't kill anyone, or they have to hold back and sit around doing nothing or fighting badly like Yhwach and the royal guard, otherwise the shinigamis would lose the war in seconds.

[@saadsami8860]

Fr man he shouldn't die in that moment nor the others a lot of that shit foreshadowed chapters before

[@cool-hv9wp]

0:07 here I though it was the aizen Peter griffin XD

[@wicked.a950]

While I don't think the vasto lorde transformation was plot armor, him being able to turn back without consequences definitely was.

[@__Kumo]

Why should there be any consequences tho it was literally his power taking over and then going back to its original state

[@wicked.a950]

@__Kumo because at that point he had a hollow hole. You can say that his hollow can regenerate organs but you can't turn him back and the regrow his heart while he is turned back. Otherwise Ichigo regrowing organs and limbs should have become a regular occurrence