TIER HARRIBEL - Bleach Character ANALYSIS | The Shark's Tempest

[@MrTommo2304]

What did you think of Harribel as a character? Did you enjoy her fight with Hitsugaya? How would you have included her in TYBW? Let me know in the comments!

[@km2460]

I think her character deserved more. She should have gotten a longer fight with Hitsugaya. For the TYBW arc I hope we can at least see her fight with Yhwach before getting captured

[@IsraelSempai]

I love her she is my favorite Waifu 😍💛

[@CaptainKotetsu]

She’s my second favorite female character in bleach. One of the best parts about Halibel is her combination of cool-headedness and raw power. She pressured Toshiro into using Bankai super early and was just like “You seem distracted bruh.”

[@IsraelSempai]

@@CaptainKotetsu yeah maybe I do, thanks for the help bruh

[@Prushinthespirit]

Honestly, I hate her fight against Hitsugaya. Not only because animation in the anime doesn't quite do it justice, especially after Ichigo's fight against Ulquiorra. But also because this fight to me is one of those few which break an established power scaling of the series. It's so weird to see an Espada, that's supposed to surpass Ulquiorra in terms of speed and strength, not being able to overpower an opponent that's been getting dunked on for the entire series up until this point. In a world where power difference is one of the defining characteristics for the battle. Before this fight Hitsugaya got toyed with by Gin, (predictably) one-shot by Aizen, sushi-cheffed by Shawlong (admitting that he could've lost even at full power if he didn't take him by surprise) and shot down from the sky by Espada 6 Luppi (barely being able to block one of his eight tentacles). Two latter fights resulted in him "winning" simply because his opponents were dimwits who either went on with exposition dump or didn't bother with dealing the finishing blow. Combine that with the fact that his pre-TYBW bankai has perhaps the worst power scaling compared to all others and that he can't be the most skilled swordsman compared to other captains who have far more years of experience. He shouldn't be able to stand on his own against Espada 3. Not after seeing Ulquiorra at his release form or Nnoitra fighting against Kenpachi with his eyepatch off. But nope, he overpowers her, presumably borrowing "the anime protagonist scream power" from Ichigo. And it's not about him being able to freeze Harribel's water - she should just be able to shatter it without much trouble. And I would accept it if she was just chilling in that ice cube, waiting for the right time to break out and keep fighting. But no, she just had to be the only Espada that actually needed Wonderweiss' help to break free. And then she keeps fighting against Hitsugaya and two visored, not getting hit while not landing a hit as well, before Aizen's betrayal. Barragan was forever imprinted as one of the most broken powerhouses of the series, Starrk easily fended off two veteran captains at once, defeated two visored captains before getting killed by shadowy tricks and backstabbing of Shunsui. While Harribel didn't really achieve anything worthy of astonishment. When a lot of people consider Nel to be stronger than her, you know that her power display has been messed up.

[@LowKeyJaded]

There is this fan theory going around about Harribel. Her hollow hole is on her lower abdomen, right where her womb would be. People speculate that as a human she died during childbirth. And in her dying moments she saw her death as a sacrifice for her child. And it’s that same motherly compassion that drives her to care so much for her fracion. They are her adoptive children in a way.

[@abdan7262]

That's freaking awesome.

[@flareinc7413]

This is an amazing fan theory and this will be my head canon from now on.

[@michaelmerchant9870]

I think it's revealed that her hollow hole is actually there, but it's in a short story included in "UNMASKED". But the story is not written by Kubo, so if it's Canon or not remains to be seen.

[@grmancool]

aren't vasto lorde a combination of several hollows?

[@wizardrezerved9715]

@@grmancool the Vasto Lorde are a hollow that uses other hollow as fuel Gillians are splised together hollow, than one hollow inside with enough power takes control slathers other gillians and assends to adjuchas and than consuming more hollows to Vasto Lorde But firstly the there supposed to be a prevalent soul in gillian At least that's how i remember

[@jrgenvellesen7800]

Harribel always seemed like a character that Kubo wanted to do more with, but was unable to do so. Considering how much spotlight she gets in the supplementary material, like a backstory in the anime, the Nestle to Night novel and CFYOW, you could tell he wanted to give her more focus then she got in the Manga. Hopefully she, Nel and Grimmjow will have a major part to play in the Hell arc, given all of them have gotten really cool new designs as seen in the art exhibition.

[@opinionpaladin6007]

She feels like Smoothie from One Piece. Intended to do more but editors happened

[@san6984]

@@opinionpaladin6007editors stopped Oda from doing more with Smoothie?

[@WaterKirby1994]

Harribel deserves to get Segunda Etapa more than Grimmjow. Keep in mind that so far only Ulquiorra has shown to possess this Arrancar Equivalent to Bankai, & it would be epic to see her achieve this form as well. Also who is Smoothie?

[@vileluca]

Harribel's mouth being sealed makes a lot of metaphorical sense when you take into account she refuses to eat other hollows.

[@gorade1901]

When is this stated?

[@richard_n]

Harribel and Stark were my favorite Arancar by far because they weren't evil, they only did what was needed to survive most of the time. Plus they were well designed visually and had great abilities.

[@soulslvr9562]

Head cannon: Harribel is a Thresher shark specifically. I say this because she has those long tassels on her back and the bonus elemental power she gets in Brave Souls when she gets a second resurrection it being electricity and thershers using their whip like tails to paralyze prey. Also the fact that in Harribel's backstory there are two other shark like hollows so i think its nice to keep those themes going

[@riicky83]

Harribel's mask is probably similar to Grimmjow's and Ichigo's masks, the mouth doesn't normally open but certain actions can open them such as them roaring/shouting loudly.

[@cronosnow6284]

Since its confirmed that the TYBW anime will be getting extended scenes and fights, I hope that the anime will show more of Harribel and the Arrancars in general. I would love to see just even a little interaction between her and the main cast like Urahara when they free her from her prison, or even better, have Harribel join the battle with Grimmjow and Nel when they arrive to help Ichigo and the others.

[@phantomgaming2502]

Hopefully

[@uncabob214]

I love that her collar evokes a diving respirator. As for her fight, I always kinda got the feeling that she, much like Starrk, wasn't truly committed to killing the Shinigami. It feeds back into her aspect and personality, she doesn't want to have to sacrifice the Shinigami for what she thinks is Aizen's plan.

[@aguywithalotofopinions412]

It makes sense for a shark too. Since while sharks may be carnivores, they aren´t naturally violent towards humans.

[@clearspira]

I liked the idea that she was protecting the female hollows as it layers on a new level of horror to Hueco Mundo. You're dead, and not only are you this monster living in a featureless desert that has to kill constantly to avoid losing your individuality, but you are pretty much the only female among a sea of males that want your body both figuratively and literally. Meeting your ''death'' at the hands of a Zanpakuto is absolutely the better deal even if you do end up as a peasant in a Japanese feudal village.

[@godknightomega]

The only real thing I can think of for Harribel's Resurrection not turning back into the shark but rather shedding it is because she's become more human. Yes there is definitely a fan service aspect of it but as stated she doesn't act like a hollow (essentially an animal) and hasn't for a very long time. Interestingly also mentioned around the same time she activates her resurrection, her predecessor Barrigan did the same. However he went from old man back to the Hollow king and in doing so shed his humanity to become a "God". Where as Harribel shed her beastial mask and looks more human. Where Barrigan lead his people to stagnation, violence, and entropy, Harribel tries to change Hueco Mundo so things can be more peaceful and organized. Might be me overthinking the symbolism though.

[@cincameron]

I've said it many times, but the Espada had no reason to release their zanpakuto before the Vizoreds arrived. They each dominated their opponents in base form and in the case of Harribel vs Toshiro, where she seemed to be stronger than him using Bankai while still in her sealed state. Why the Espada suddenly felt weaker after releasing, i'll never know.

[@truthspreader1996]

Because of bad writing...

[@carloscruzartchannel5345]

She is one of if not my favorite espada, I love her design and character.

[@ThatGUY666666]

Harribel was one of many characters that can be summed up with the phrase "I wanted more of him/her". She, Stark, and Nel were by far the most human of the Arrancar who by their very nature raise some potentially interesting moral/ethical questions that Kubo could have explored. As for her fight with Hitsugaya, I also found it weird she went from dominating Hitsugaya in her base form to the two of them being more evenly matched once he unleashed his Bankai and she unleashed her ressurction. I guess you could argue that at that point the fight was less about raw stats such as strength, agility, durability, skill with the blade, and so forth where Harribel clearly had the advantage and more about their special abilities which were very well suited to countering each other making it very difficult for either of them to get a leg up on the other. Still, I agree that it was very weird. As for the ice, I do not think she could have gotten out on her own, otherwise I think she would have done so. Personally, I think Kubo should have drawn/written that development to show that yes she was still alive but she had taken considerable damage from the time she had been frozen just to make that explicit. That I think is just one of the weird issues Kubo seemed to have with how he wrote Hitsugaya. For me I found the interactions between the two of them to be more interesting than the fight itself because it appeared to me that they were very similar to each other in terms of personality. Both try to be stoic and professional, albeit Harribel does a better job of maintaining it. They are both among the most moral members of their respective groups. Both have people that they clearly care about deeply and can fall into reckless behavior should any harm fall upon them. Harribel apparently did not take part in Hueco Mundo's dog-eat-dog practices to further her power once she regained sentience and her humanity, Hitsugaya (though it probably should have been spelled out more explicitly) constantly held back his own power out of fear of killing his own allies and innocent bystanders. Both became enraged and went from respecting to hating Aizen for not only betraying them personally but also using the people they cared about and were subsequently cut down very quickly. And of course she was a source of many missed opportunities of the TYBW arc. For example it would have been interesting to see what kind of changes her rule with Nel had brought to Hueco Mundo. We could have explored her relationships with Nel and Grimjow. With the former I imagined it would be a good partnership since they seem to have similar values but different personalities such as Harribel's more stoic personality compared with Nel's more openly affectionate nature which could be interesting to see how they played off each other. With Grimjow I would imagine she would need to put her foot down to keep his more violent tendencies in check. Another thing I think they could have done was having her interact with members of the Gotei 13, particularly Hitsugagya and Kyouraku. With the former, I just personally always find it interesting when two people who tried so very hard to kill each other eventually find themselves on the same side or even having to rely on each other to survive. With the latter, it would have been interesting to see them open formal diplomatic relations between the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo which would have been an utterly unprecedented development and would create some interesting gossip for both worlds.

[@CaptainKotetsu]

I love her combination of chill and raw power. She pressures toshiro into using Bankai very early and still acts like “You good bruh? You seem distracted.”

[@giganticomega6821]

Oh please she never really had a chance against hitsugaya if you read the thousand year blood war arc. And she has done nothing important throughout the whole anime/manga besides being eye candy and locked away in yhwachs sex dungeon. You can hate on nnoitra all you want but hollow males are naturally stronger then females. The top powers in hueco mundo we're ALL males. Stark, barragan, Yammy, Cien, ikimikidomoe, and segunda etapa ulquiorra.

[@CaptainKotetsu]

@@giganticomega6821 Actually it should be the other way around with how the Espada are supposed to be scaled. Toshiro had done nothing but get wrecked the entire series up to that point(and he didn’t have his tybw glow up yet, so bringing up tybw abilities and power levels for arrancar arc fights is irrelevant). Halibel is supposed to be stronger than Ulquiorra yet she can’t hold her own against one captain. It’s another example of broken power scaling. Kubo kinda dropped the ball with power scaling on many occasions.

[@CaptainKotetsu]

@@giganticomega6821 Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy halibel’s personality and temperament. It’s just sad that the ONLY female Espada was dressed like a stripper and given Almost nothing to do other than give Toshiro his only(and unearned) win up to that point. At least both female soul reaper captains have good scenes and are fully clothed.

[@giganticomega6821]

@@CaptainKotetsu Well she had to get saved by wonderweiss or hitsugaya would have killed her. Regardless she lost. And nnoitra was right about hollow males being superior to females. People may not like him but it's the truth. Harribel is stronger then base and first release Ulquiorra. Not segunda etapa Ulquiorra. That is the arrancars version of bankai. It should atleast be a 10x boost.

[@giganticomega6821]

@@CaptainKotetsu I didn't because we have a bunch of characters with the calm and composed personality within the series.

[@gooblaka]

It would be nice to get a flashback fight of the invasion of Hueco Mundo. Neliel can narrate it and we can finally see Harribel fend off the quincy until Yhwach comes in and has to personally defeat her. It would also be nice to see if she got a lot stronger and if she gained any new abilities.

[@SwfanredLotr]

Harribel and her fracciones, especially Sung Sun, are my favorite female characters in Bleach. Which is why I'm frustrated that they had little to no screentime on the TYBW arc, mainly Harribel who disappeared for the rest of the manga until the novels.

[@Shootingfoul]

Bleach and Female characters in fights? Kubo: lets just try to get this over with as quick as possible. Even Unohana's whole reason for existence is a stepping stone for Kenpachi to get stronger. Stepping stones to further the plots are the typical role of females in bleach.

[@dontworryaboutit5490]

@@Shootingfoulthere’s plenty of strong women in bleach, who get plenty of screen time

[@smokincroc377]

Hope to see she gets the spotlight she deserves in the anime and Hell arc🙏

[@AJ-kt5zo]

💙

[@jackfelt1983]

Simply put I cannot listen to music without getting a headache, visual you tubers without watching, and discussion you tubers without getting into their discussions or feeling unfocused But then there’s Mr. Tommo a seamless blend of visuals for if I want to look up for a brief moment, topics which intrigue me and opinions that aren’t trying to force, and very good audio quality and good sized videos Overall mr tommo is a comfort channel

[@DedaOG]

Didn't think a 45 minute analysis of Harribel was even possible but here we go

[@JR-182]

I wondered what her dynamic and relationship with someone like Stark was.

[@soulslvr9562]

Id ship it

[@JR-182]

@@soulslvr9562 same.

[@Galactus78]

The two most human Espada

[@jrgenvellesen7800]

The Databooks state that they were friends, because Harribel liked how kind Starrk was to Lilynette. And she mentions him in CFYOW, in a way that shows she had a lot of respect for him. I really like that, since they both came across as the two Espada who, along with Nel, truly cared for their comrades.

[@SwfanredLotr]

Did the novels expand more on her thoughts towards Barragan's rule?

[@CobbyMorales6747]

While I agree that Tier's design seems more fan service than anything else, I think Kubo still managed to give her bone/resurrección mask design a water or marine life motive. I do think her hollow mask was always the best one.

[@danielmason4014]

I maintain to this day that Kubo’s greatest crime against his fans is how he handled the Espada. Easily the most charismatic and impactful group of characters in the Bleach verse but he kills off almost all of them without giving them a proper showcase. Also a tragedy because of how much potential lore will now never be told - Take Baraggan for example. How do you introduce a character concept as inherently awesome and interesting as the God King of Hueco Mundo but you just kill him off in a fight he should have won easily and then never speak of him again??? It’s so frustrating

[@SwfanredLotr]

Give her some credit she was still completely unscathed from her fight against Toshiro and didn't get any injuries until Aizen himself showed up. Mind you she was also fighting Lisa (arguably captain level at that point), Hiyori and Toshiro again at the same time and they still couldn't land a hit on her.

[@giganticomega6821]

She lost to hitsugaya. It was wonderweiss that saved her ass. And come to find out in the thousand year blood war arc she never truly had a chance against him going by his bankai's true form.

[@wizardrezerved9715]

@@giganticomega6821 exept we still get the same effect as the battle in Karakura, the both control temperature so him powering up doesn't work the same way as with Jerrad

[@JohnGlow2]

To be fair though, in Toshiro’s own words they were basically dicking around deciding to end the fight in one decisive blow, and it wasnt until Toshiro was severely weakened and he was sure that his allies were safe, confirmed by Halibel herself, that he finally decided to use his trump card, which implies he couldve just ended things from the beginning if he wasnt so concerned with holding back. That aside, she fought a captain and two vizards suffering no major injuries until the end( until wonderweiss saved her), so i’d say she still stacks up pretty well.

[@truthspreader1996]

"arguably captain level at that point" In what world!?

[@Isiel42]

Imagine if she could control all three states of water. That would've made for a hell of a fight. Hitsugaya definitely would've needed assistance.

[@purplemaui4456]

Even without that, he literally needed assistance.

[@tiradeee]

underrated espada/character

[@sveipr]

I personally love the Toshiro and Harribel fight because there wasn't a sense of urgency or danger. It was a battle between two opponents who were relatively equal in strength and abilities, and since they couldn't over power each other, it was a really solid back and forth between the two trying to find a way to outsmart each other since they couldn't out power each other. Most bleach fights are usually where the villain is one sidedly winning the battle, until the shinigami releases their bankai or unknown power which makes it one side in the their favor. Toshiro and Harribel didn't have that, it was two opponents of equal strength who had a solid back and forth (except I'm willing to bet in a life or death situation Harribel totally would've whooped Toshiro lol)

[@manuelacosta9463]

Harribel is humble and kind despite her power and lethal skills. She and her Fracciones would be better off with Ichigo and co, more so since she saved those three and they're essentially family at this point. Also in CFYOW while Tokinada rants about his motives, he derides her for having consumed other Hollows for her survival then gleefully declares that his victims are playthings to be terrorized before being killed, something Harribel strongly objects to. And remember she spared others in the time before she met Aizen. In the end Harribel and her Fracciones deserve the measure of peace they've found after all the chaos they survived.

[@dewitt4724]

Underrated character

[@Okkotsu86275]

One of my favorite characters Kubo created. Her whole aesthetic is just marvelous, Tier Harribel definitely needs a spin-off or light novel. Something that explorers her fascinating character more.

[@giganticomega6821]

No she doesn't. She did nothing of significance to deserve it throughout the whole dam anime/manga besides being eye candy. Stop overrating her.

[@YaMamasAss]

​@@giganticomega6821 Baby's mad over nothing lmao

[@giganticomega6821]

@@YaMamasAss LOL I like how you have nothing to counter my argument but insults.

[@YaMamasAss]

@@giganticomega6821 I like how it took you a month to stop crying enough to reply over me being right lol

[@giganticomega6821]

@@YaMamasAss I actually have a life unlike you. LOL Right about what ? Your the one who got mad for me speaking the truth about your anime girlfriend. Actually go outside and get a real one.

[@Avarn388]

My third favorite espada. Whenever folks talk about Shonen battle series and female characters I often point to Harribiel as how you write an awesome character. Her backstory was great, props to the anime for exploring it. And her fighting abilities were great as well. It’s why I was so pissed at how she was treated in TYBW. And I hope she gets more time to shine. She deserves it.

[@Awkwardstefan007]

Since we brought up stark here, I liked the idea that this could have been a hint to kenpachi and yachiru’s relationship

[@Nayuta94]

I waited all day for this😍 Harribel is amazing i hope that we get new scenes from her in the tybw anime^^

[@fffx2]

Vasto Lordes mask dissappear because they have fully integrated the Jungian shadow. Bleach has loads of Jung references. You see this same thing happen in tybw, Ichigos hollow form/resurrection no longer features a mask.

[@nerdragon2649]

About her mask specifically, I always viewed it as an expression of her views and philosophy. Like this: the mask is usually always closed, though she can speak normally underneath it, and I do think she's capable of opening it to eat and drink and such, but I presume she just prefers to keep it closed most of the time. This could mean a couple things. For one, she's a Vasto Lorde. So she HAD to have eaten and consumed a crapton of hollows to reach this point. I guess that once she reached this level she conciliated her philosophy about sacrifice with this new stage, a stage in which she wouldn't need to sacrifice and consume other hollows. So her mask keeps shut as a symbol of her humanity, so to speak, as a sign that she won't sacrifice other hollows for the sake of gaining power. Might sound crazy, I know lol. But that's just my take on it. Hope you guys find it interesting!

[@greyworld6242]

Honestly when I first saw her and how she analyzed ichigo and grimmjow’s battle I really wanted her to met ichigo cause in a way they share similar mindset with those that they hold dear to them.

[@jayman8001]

I really appreciate the fact that you do thorough character analysis and not simp over harribel like other channels do. They take it to another level of weird.

[@nevertoooldgaming_Rave]

Tier really suffers from the too many characters syndrome that happens in massive stories and just turned into eye candy. Sad she was my Queen from the time she was relevant.

[@Elnato23]

She's a great character thats basically relegated to espada fan service, disappointing but deserved more time and fleshing out more, kinda like Stark

[@UnrebornMortuus]

I always thought arrancars had a mask, and removed it. Sometimes completing it. That's how I viewed it. Vizards usually put the mask on, arrancars "take it off" or "return to full hollow"

[@KidCaelus]

i believe the reserection form is a reflection of her personality. like you mentioned she has a more human personality compared to other hollows. at least that's what makes sense to me

[@xSkysilver]

Harribel is a character I waited an analysis on,the gods have blessed me!

[@byro4475]

While there is quite a bit of fan service with her design (especially with her resureccion) her being a vasto lorde can somewhat explain her looking so human, whichwould tract her being the most empathetic or "human" of the arrancar. And I'm definitely a fan of the shark tooth sword such a cool weapon

[@luv5043]

I cannot believe I didn’t know this channel existed I’ve been binging these videos for like 3 days now and now I gotta sub

[@squattingrat2515]

She just needed more time. She never felt dangerous.

[@cjwilliams5195]

You are absolutely the go to bleach youtuber in the community. Always great content.

[@pauls5357]

Hell yea Halibel video. Super excited for the Soi Fon video coming up too, one of my favorite Bleach characters

[@supershadowman6478]

I love her Honestly she was inspiration when I made my sona character The themes of water The willingness to Protect her underlings all those are important qualities I definitely admire about her character I hope we see more of her and my favorite ability of hers is Cascada

[@Nyxoxic]

Her and Starkk were my absolute favorites. I believe the Fraccion that fought His aging that could strengthen himself by tearing his mask with the Crab claws had water abilities but it was like pressurized? Interesting in concept bad in execution. I feel more should have been given with Tier vs Lisa, Hiyori, and Hitsugaya. The takeover of Hueco Mundo by the Quincy would have been cool to see

[@omnimon1996]

Thank you for the video analysis! Harribel has always been my fav Bleach Character/Espada. I love sharks, a badass woman, and when the anime went over her back story it made me care for her and her Fraccion so much more! She’s a hollow with a noble heart and humanity. TuT

[@blackfox4138]

"I found it rather surprising that Harribel was the more popular choice." Hear that, ladies? Tomm is a man who will only ever look at your eyes.

[@bcfb21]

Me: “wonder why harribel won” MrTommo: shows first picture Me: “oh yeah. That’s why.”

[@denshithedmeister6020]

Harribel is one of my most favorite female characters in Bleach and I love her fight with Toshiro. Can't wait to see her again in the TYBW anime in October 💛. She deserves more because she's lot of potential

[@ZzigZaG00NIN]

I never even thought of szayelaporro's glasses being his mask Wow I didn't know so many of the espada had stuff like that I just thought it was a cool design stuff but that makes more sense

[@WaterKirby1994]

Harribel had a decent amount of screentime during Fake Karakura Town, she appeared more than Aaroneiro or Zomari who both died rather quickly & their single fights were all they had except for the Espada Meetings. As for the Hitsugaya vs Harribel fight it is quite well choreographed & while it gets outshone by some of the other Fights it is still an impressive fight & the fact that so many fights were this good in Fake Karakura Town Arc again is part of why this climax to the Arrancar Arc is as popular as it is. These Chapters & Episodes were part of peak Bleach & I regret we didn't really get to see much of her fighting after being freed from the ice.

[@maconthesticks]

Maybe Harribel's resurreccion is the way it is because she's a natural arrancar? Starrk still looks pretty human outside the hollow eye patch as well.

[@adamkowalski6061]

I really hope we will get proper he'll arc announced after anime start in October. I want to see Starrk brought back again and his interactions with other former espadas.

[@Uberdude6666]

I think there is a theme with Hollows, that breaking their mask is associated with gaining power. Doesn't Grand Fisher and Isshin talk about something like Arrancars havning broken their masks to get stronger? The early experimental arrancar that Harribel fights in her flashback also has a cracked mask. Another thing which is interesting is that when hollows become Vasto Lorde, they no longer need to feed to keep their accumulated power and growth. I think this is what makes them able to finally focus on other things than hunting and eating, which is why they often display more human traits and intellect even before becoming Arrancar. There is this term, "natural arrancar", which is a hollow that has become an arrancar without the help of Aizen's Hogyuko. I think the only one who is actually confirmed to be a natural arrancar is Starrk? But how does a hollow actually become a natural arrancar? I think only Vasto Lorde are able to do this. We see several Vasto Lorde displaying human traits in their pre-arrancar-forms. They are indeed known to have forms which "resembles humans". Harribel has her human eyes and even skin in her flashback. It looks like she have a human face underneath her hollow mask, and that it is about to separate from her face. Even Ulquiorra kinda looks like he is just wearing his hollow-mask over his face in his backstory. Also none of them, even Barragan, seem to have this animalistic, instinctive bloodlust accosiated with the lesser hollows. They all have more long-termed goals. My theory is that the whole "Game of Evolution" among hollows, where they prey upon each other to become stronger and progress to Menos Grande, then to Vasto Lorde, is a battle for a second chance. The ones who come out on top is rewarded with a chance to regain their humanity. Its almost like a hollow pieces together more and more of their old soul as they progress through the stages of the hollows. We see that a strong will can dominate a Gillian Menos Grande, and retain its sense of individuality. An Adjuchas-class menos gain an ability to reason and think in abstract terms which the self-aware Gillian seem to lack. The Vasto Lorde, finally, regain their ability to feel emotions. Even Ulquiorra has some degree of emotion in his pre-arrancar form. I think he was just so traumatized that he freaked out about it and reacted poorly. I think he is in denial about his reawakened emotions. That is why he reacts so violently when Ichigo says he is becoming more human, Ichigo hit a little bit too close to the mark. Ulquiorra doesn't have less human emotions than other Vasto Lorde, he just has them bottled up. In Grimjaw's flashback the Adjuchas talk about completing their "stage of evolution" and progressing to Vasto Lorde, ye? I think natural arrancars only occur when a Vasto Lorde complete their "stage of evolution" and evolve yet again. This time not by consuming even more hollows and growing in power, but by using their reawakened intellect to increase their self-reflection and sense of reason. This is so rare and difficult that only Starrk has actually managed it. I think a Vasto Lorde become a natural arrancar by "rediscovering" their humanity." *That is why Starrk could do it by being the strongest. It was so lonely at the top he remembered what it meant to miss comrades. *Harribel looks like she is some way along towards becoming a natural arrancar, due to her near-human appearance in her flashback. This make sense as she seems to form attachements and build her sense of sacrifice even then. She even tries to help lesser hollows by protecting them and taking them under her wing. *Ulquiorra doesn't really go on a path to rediscover his humanity in his pre-arrancar backstory, he just sort of gives up on the whole idea of existing and goes to chill out somewhere nobody will find him. It make sense then, that he does not seem to "grow" an even more human appearance as time goes on. *Barragan looks the least human in his pre-arrancar state of all the Vasto Lorde in Aizen's army. He even has the empty eye sockets associated with lesser hollows. I think he, when awaking as a Vasto Lorde, did not even start to "rediscover his humanity". I think he was possibly the first Vasto Lorde, and when awakening and realizing what had happened to him, he started dominating the hollows around him. Not needing to feed on them anymore, he instead built this power structure around him which evolved to his "kingdom of Hueco Mundo". Its all about how the Vasto Lorde reacts to their rekindled sense of self and sense of humanity. Starrk and Harribel reconnected with some genuine human emotions, which caused cracks to appear in their masks and a more human personality to emerge. Ulquiorra just wanted to be in a limbo forever, which caused him to deny his emotions and not move towards reawakening his humanity. Barragan could not revert as he was a Vasto Lorde, but did nothing to advance and redeem his soul either, opting to retain this throne he had built at the top of the food-chain. Could that be where his aspect of death comes from? He wanted to master "time", so that he could sit at the top of the food-chain of Hueco Mundo forever? Ultimately he feared the fact that "winning" the game of evolution was just the beginning of a far longer and harder journey, and he deared not embark on it... So in essence, Harribel loosing a lot of clothes and having no mask at all in her Ressurecion is not fanservice, it is an artistic way of showing us that she is the most human of the hollows, because she sheds most of her Hollow-parts.

[@FoxxyFire-HellFrost]

It seems like the third seat seems to lure in female arrancar who are extremely powerful, caring, kind, and the most human of the group. It makes so much sense for both Harribel and Nel to make great rulers. It makes me wonder if they knew each other prior to Nnoitora's dirty attack on Nel.

[@AJ-kt5zo]

Good question.

[@thyweebhub]

BEEN WAITING ON THIS ONE, can’t wait for Candice either!

[@OG_DSB]

Harribel is a cool character. I like her designs and abilities even though she is half naked in her resurrection. I would like to see more of her in TYBW too. The other character that uses water abilities is Findor which we get to see in the same arc fight Hisagi. One of my favorite episodes in the anime.

[@AJ-kt5zo]

💙

[@MaskOfCinder]

Kubo really sucks when writing side female characters. Harribel should have been way stronger than Toshiro and her fight should have been on the level of Ulquiorra vs Ichigo. Instead they fought on and off during Fake Karakura town with long breaks in between and Aizen took her out himself because her fight was so bad. And she comes back only to be a prisoner in the final arc. I don’t know why Kubo puts so little work into these characters. Even Harribel’s Fraccion had more to do in the series than her.

[@SylverZ]

Another great character analysis! If I had to add two little details, I think I prefer her anime design (with the censorship) the fact that her hollow mask is covering her underboobs looks so much better like an armor. Another thing is her resurreccion water « ritual » appearance that looks like a woman vagina (I’m not joking since kubo really love metaphoric images and/or things related to the body, or sexual images with szayel, pepe etc..) and the water cocoon is a protective metaphore or something that can covers and protects a baby, I might sound crazy but I really like this idea of the mother figure especially when you know how background, her fraccions and her aspect of death and the importance of mother and children relationship in japan.

[@kadachi16]

Cool design, lots of potential as a character. You picked out the real cool thing about her being a monster with humanity. I do feel she suffers from something Shonen writers seem to often do with female characters. They put them in the background and give them less story significance and screen/page time than others on similar level. Harribel was kind of a damsel in distress during the Quilge Opie encounter in Hueco Mundo and also when Aizen found her. If you compare it to another espada featured in the thousand year blood war arc like Grimmjow, it shows a pretty big difference of use of character. Her fight while having cool moments ends very anti-climatically. While showing her aspect of death, if you compare it to Starrk and Barragán, it shows less emotional impact. Although those two did die for good. I also agree she also has a lot of fan service with her design. I know thirsty people will think differently on this, but it seems more the normal for women in shonen. Overall, I feel she is quite cool, but it is hard to look past some of those prior mentioned when looking back.

[@onryu]

Where is Harribel's hollow hole? And hope they expand her role/appearances in the upcoming anime, like as mentioned a rescue by her fellow arrancar. Also the Hollow evolution seems kinda circular, they begin as human souls, tormented/corrupted by a major negative emotion or obsession in life, then Menos, a mass of mindless Hollows, Gillians, then Adjuchas who take a animalistic aspect, then further to vasto lorde, who take on a even more human-like form, and ofcourse the Arrancar, who are all human-like pre transformation, but I think the ones that look the most human post transformation have seemed to retain the most of their humanity, versus reverting back to a beast-like arrancar form.

[@vorpal_exe]

I always thought that her not being able to open the jaws of the mask is in sync with her not wanting to sacrifice other for her own gain. Hollows eat other hollows, Harriblen can't eat so she can't sacrifice others. Maybe is just a silly thought but it makes quite a lot of sense for me. Anyway, great video as always! Keep it up!

[@SatoshiSosuke]

Harribel really suffered from not enough screen time and what she did get is lackluster. In retrospect, given what we get in TYBW, the arrancar war should have had some fatalities so that way when the Quincy invaded, they were kicking a crippled Soul Society when they were down. I still think about how game changing it would have been if Aizen revealed his Espada were still in pristine condition as he revealed he has been using Kyoka Suigetsu.

[@behshads1505]

still found it ironic how Nnoitra hated a woman being above him and after getting rid of Nel her replacement which was stronger than him was a woman as well

[@Leopoldshark]

I don't remember if he hated Nel because she was female or because she didn't like fighting, which went against the Hollow's nature to fight and evolve.

[@sternritternovad]

Honestly she really did deserve more screen time and moments, she a fascinating character in contrast to most Hollows and her fractions managed to actually give a Sternritter trouble.

[@jhonaikellfranco2095]

I really love all your videos. And She is one of the characters that I'm waiting in the anime to have more screen time. Btw, does it count Findor Carias as a Water user, even when his main ability was just the high pressure water?

[@RichardGarcia93]

Been waiting for this for years! 🦈

[@Sweetlesishere]

Tier Harribel has two big personalities and a really good design

[@markwalker091]

I think that the Hollow mask is a representation of potential. Arrancar that seem to be more Human and Empathic have a trend of being more powerful. So my theory is that the more human and less monstrous forms including losing the mask. Means their power is more " Mature".

[@nonyabizz9390]

up to the 25:00 mark. A thought on her "sexualization," and on why her full power looks so human. Fanservice only bothers me when it takes away from the character. Kubo obviously loves drawing beautiful women, in quite diverse forms, but because he does such a great job at making so many of them compelling characters, their sexualization, whether subtle or overt, doesn't detract from who they are. Look at Rangiku, Yuroichi, Nel, Harribel, and Orihime. They are all fan favorites, and they are all very beautiful and their sexual appeal is certainly shown and played up. But if you ask any fan of the series, or of those characters, and I expect they'll tell you the same thing. They find the characters well written and compelling. They feel like people, and not like tropes or architypes. So, while Kubo obviously enjoys playing into the fanservice, and while many fans obviously like it, I feel Kubo loved and respected his characters enough to give them the depth they need to be people, and not eye candy. And I think the readers get invested enough in the characters that they are never reduced to merely sex symbols, but beloved by the fanbase for being the characters they are written to be. I've certainly seen much less blatent fanservice in other anime that offended me MUCH more, simply because the characters seemed to only be there for the fanservice, or because the way the fanservice was done seemed to detract from their value as a character. As for her human appearance? We know Aizen used the hyogoku to turn them into what they are. And the hyogoku seems well versed in altering things and bringing out aspects of things, as well as mixing things (like hollow and shinigami). You already touched on how human she is. When he uses the hyogoku to change them and draw their power out from them, I wonder if because her nature is so human, and not animalistic, that she was transformed to represent that. Also, if hollow become more and more humanoid as they become higher forms of hollow, and as the hyogoku was creating imperfect or less perfect arancars originally, then maybe it's boost to her power just lead her to being even more human in appearance. Or maybe she was one of the last arancars to be transformed and Aizen had more perfected the process, so she was a more complete melding of hollow and shinigami than some other arancar were.

[@Flounderboy15]

Harribel has such a great design. She may have my favorite Arrancar skull flourish with the full-on jaw bones.

[@leonna5389]

May be her mask like Ichigo's mask: looks like one whole thing but jaw might be separated

[@drbanemortem4155]

Soifon is one of the best examples of wasted potential character,I think Kubo made a mistake of not flushing her out.

[@coconut_tv0564]

I wish to see Haribel vs Yhwach when Tybw gets animated

[@DauthEldrvaria]

Yes I was so curious what her face looked like underneath the jacket… Nothing else… 👀

[@murdoc4141]

4:25 "and that word is..." *underboob*

[@coryvincent9631]

I always wanted Harribel to have a big shark tail in her resurrection. It seemed like her resurrecion had nothing to do with her theme, and that was a disappointment. I also think if she had opened her mouth during resurrection to reveal a mouth full of shark teeth, that would have paid off on the "wheres her mask" question

[@skyeroy29]

What about that guy who's hands turned into a sort of crab claws design and used high pressure water jets? I think he went against Hisagi.

[@flameheadshero]

Yeah that was another water user

[@kyndellhardy2791]

Second favorite espada behind Grim, love Tier and loved the video!

[@anaideviveiros6597]

Great analysis! I really like Harribel, her powers and personality are really cool. In that pool I voted for Candice, my favorite fem ritter. I hope she gets her analysis too!

[@The_Bashar]

I really do hope that you will give CFYOW and its central story, a deep dive and analysis.

[@popoha4380]

Side note, Water never decays, time alone is not enough to destroy water, so Harribel vs Barragan. He needs to land a direct resputa hit to win. Wow. That could have been a great fight.

[@br5073]

He would destroy her bro. Real life logic isn’t gonna apply to anime

[@stefangirbea982]

I think the deal with Harribel’s Hollow Mask opening or not is the same as with Ichigo’s (and a few of the Visoreds’ too), its jaw can open when needed or for visual effect, such as when Ichigo famously puts it on in front of Ulquiorra in their final battle, but it mostly stays closed, which is something we see with Ichigo too, his mask which is even more “loosely” attached to his face than Harribel’s stays closed except for certain moments where it opens for impact.

[@xavierstewart5756]

Thanks for doing the analysis for Harribel. I always found her and her fraccion (Apacci, Mila Rose & Sung Sun) interesting. While I do agree Harribel’s fight with Toshiro could’ve been expanded upon more, same goes with her fraccion’s fight with Rangiku and Hinamori. Because to be honest, I was really interested in them fights. Also I was glad that they got a comeback at the TYBW arc even though they weren’t shown much. Hopefully the anime for the TYBW arc expands scenes with Harribel and her fraccion getting a epic moment.

[@dustinbragg1921]

I think that her being the least Hollow like appearence in Ressureccion might be because she is so human-like in personality and aspiration and her power is also one of the most Shinigami-like of the Espada. Ulquiorra rejects his humanity so much so that he actually attained an even less human second stage of Ressureccion and is decidedly Hollow in nature. Barragan doesn't care for his humanity, he barely has any, but he does covet the trappings of a king. He's a monster, but his desires are those of a human. His form is monstrous, but his power from Ressureccion is like that of a Zanpakuto's. Starkk has human-like feelings and desires, but they're very basic, animal ones. He's lonely and wants companions. He adopts a very human form, but his power is ultimately just that of any Menos Grande writ large, big fancy Cero. Harribel assumes a very human form with a very Shinigami-like power because she's very in touch with her humanity and has very human aspirations.

[@km2460]

I REALLY hope they give her more to do in the anime. Her character deserves it. Show us the fight she had with yhwach before getting captured!!!

[@km2460]

@Navan Jones oh it wasn’t Quilge who defeated and captured her??

[@thewarrior8497]

@@km2460 nah it was Yhwach himself

[@km2460]

@@thewarrior8497 so the only people to defeat harribel was YHWACH and aizen that’s pretty cool😮

[@kelvinwebley6971]

Probably was an embarrassing clap my guy

[@tahjsimon9058]

Hopefully she has a segunda etapa or something

[@wanderlustwarrior]

I like Harribel, but to be honest, everything about her is emblematic of women in Bleach getting the short end of the stick when you actually think about it.

[@bqw2094]

Wait your poll had riruka ,Candice and soi fon?no wonder halibel won , she didn't have any competition .

[@WK_MERCURY]

Kenpika is Tenjiro’s Shikai and it’s a hot water ability Findor Calius’ Pinca Agurra is also a water type.

[@laquadrianlewis6939]

Hey I just thought of an what if scenario if The second Espada Barragon fought Captain Yamamoto in the Arrancar Arc. Would Yamamoto lose to him? The reason I ask that question sure Wonder Wiese was made specifically to fight the Head Captain so he just absorbs Yamamotos flames. But If Barragan fought Yamamoto instead Barragan could age all Yamamotos flames so it doesn’t get to him. And because of the Aging abilities of Barragan Yamamoto can’t fight in hand to hand combat or he risk losing his hands 🙌 so who do you think would win this fight if Yamamoto and Barragan could fight each other.

[@raymondyongho5757]

I sincerely hope the anime gives Harribel more to do. Everyone and their mothers were waiting for her to get freed by most likely Nel and contribute to the final fight where everyone comes together to stand against Yuha. Hopefully, this is one of the many deviations the anime will take from the manga. I also agree that I prefer her Vasto Lorde form in the flashback to her resurreccion. She looked more like a shark, whereas similar to Yoruichi’s lightning cat form, her resurreccion was pure fanservice.

[@Jimbobalina1]

... where's her hollow hole? The only holes that are present on her designs in sealed and resurrection is on her sword. Oh. I found out. Could be quite interesting if a hollow hole could be present on the sword.

[@AJLaz000]

when I saw that still image of her being chained I was like "no way these low level Quincies were able to beat her" and then Yhwach said he himself was the one who had to deal with her then I was like "yeah, THAT makes MORE sense"

[@ArchAngelKnights]

in regards to the name pronunciation....isnt it "hallibel" because the espada are latina/latino/spanish theme....so r's are an l sound?

[@radleighleendertz2015]

It depends on Kubo as when translating from Japanese, r and l can be used interchangeably- like in One Piece for laughtale or Raufhtale, lodestar or rodestar and road poneglyph or lode poneglyph

[@ArchAngelKnights]

@@radleighleendertz2015 yeh i know that but considering they are themed after a certain culture....hallibel would make sense as thats how you would pronounce it.

[@krissjames7276]

Harribel's fight with Hitsugaya really did her no favors. Hitsugaya had previously had two very underwhelming showings against a Fracción and something of a Phony Espada, and Harribel even in Base form being stronger than Hitsugaya always made sense to me. Ulquiorra was slightly weaker than Hollow Mask Ichigo, but I'd rank Ichigo over Hitsugaya at this point, and Ulquiorra is supposed to be weaker than Harribel until he unlocks Segunda Etapa, so that level of strength seemed absolutely right for her. And yet while Ulquiorra got an absolutely massive power boost as a result of his Resurrección, Harribel becomes shockingly unimpressive, and is even basically defeated by Hitsugaya (an opponent that should by now be far below her) in the end. At least Baraggan had to be outsmarted and defeated with his own Broken power. And yeah, Yamamoto would have destroyed her with little effort, and is someone even her dear Lord Aizen doesn't dare fight head-on, so Harribel apparently thinking that she was gonna take him down on her own is weird given her earlier characterization. Maybe her Resurrección brings out her Hollow arrogance and aggression a bit more, but it still made her look pretty foolish in my eyes.

[@FloTaishou]

I always thought back in the day it was said that the quincy are using harribel to produce arrancar for frontline-cannon-fodder and seeing her in chains i was shocked by what was implied. Am I remembering it wrong or did i read a fan-mistranslation?