The following contains spoilers for the Thousand-Year Blood War arc.
One of the most unfortunate things the originalBleachanime is known for is its astonishing number of filler episodes. Due to the weekly ongoing formatBleachandNarutowere made byStudio Pierrot,they had to cram in copious amounts of filler in order to not catch up with the manga.Bleachhad several filler arcs that spanned dozens of episodes, like theBount Arc, theNew Captain Amagai Arc, and theGotei Invading Army Arc. However, there’s one arc that many fans actually remember fondly, theZanpakutou Rebellion Arc.
In the Zanpakutou Rebellion Arc, a new villain calledMuramasareleases all the Zanpakutou spirits from their Soul Reaper masters, allowing them to manifest in the Soul Society physically. This gave fans a look into the designs of all the Zanpakutou spirits, and while most of these designs can be disregarded due to their filler arc not being canon,some of them remained in the story in one way or another.
Did Tite Kubo Design The Zanpakutou Spirits?
What Role Did The Author Play?
In an interview withTite Kubo, the author of the Bleach manga, andMasashi Kudo, the character designer of the anime, they stated that Masashi Kudo was responsible for the Zanpakutou spirit designs. While Kubo didn’t design the characters himself, he acted as an overseer.Kubo oversaw and supervised all the designs, which explains why they all still fit the design philosophy of the series and their eventual place in the canon.
Some spirits, likeZabimaruandHaineko,the Zanpakutou belonging to Renji Abarai and Rangiku Matsumotorespectively, seem to lean towards sexualization. This is more evident when the canon design for Zabimaru was revealed in the Soul Society arc. Zabimaru is a white baboon with a snake as a tail, meaning the tall woman and the boy are just filler designs. While Haineko’s canon design has never been revealed, her incredibly sexualized design fits her master, as Rangiku is essentially the face of such design tendencies in Bleach.
Zangetsu’s True Identity
White Zangetsu as the True Spirit
In the events of the arc, the one who acts as Ichigo’s Zanpakutou spirit isWhite Zangetsu, back then known as Hollow Ichigo. This was years beforeThe Blade is Memoment in the manga. Already hinting at White Zangetsu being the true form of Ichigo’s Zanpakutou. Zangetsu is also one of the few spirits who ally themselves with their master. Zangetsu supports Ichigo, albeit in his usual violent and antagonistic demeanor, while most of the other spirits battle their masters.
Zangetsu is also shown in the opening video alongside Ichigo. One of the ways Kubo’s supervision is made clear. As Masashi Kudo wouldn’t know the truth about Zangetsu, this was most likelyTite Kubo’s way of foreshadowing Zangetsu’s identityyears before it was revealed, even if it was in a filler arc.
Katen Kyokotsu and Sode no Shirayuki
The Two Canon Designs
One of the major characters in the arc isSode no Shirayuki, Rukia Kuchiki’s Zanpakutou. She’s shown to be a beautiful pale woman with teal hair and a white dress. Similar to the Yuki-Onna of Japanese folklore. This is one of the characters who bring up this debate, as when Rukia uses herBankai: Hakka no Togame, she transforms into a form that heavily resembles this spirit. Rukia’s Bankai seems to purposely resemble Sode No Shirayuki, making it seem like this filler design may be canon to the original manga.
Shunsui Kyoraku’s Zanpakutou,Katen Kyokotsuare manifested as two separate individuals, due to the dual nature of Shunsui’s Zanpakutou. One is an older, tall woman with a very ornate kimono and a golden headdress, an eye patch on her right eye, just like Shunsui, and violet hair. The other is a teenage girl with a face mask and a ninja-like outfit. While Katen’s design seems to follow the sexualized trend like some of the others, Katen and Kyokotsu were confirmed to be their canon designs in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc.Katen manifests in front of Shunsui when he activates hisBankai: Katen Kyokotsu Karamatsu Shinjuu. While Kyokotsu manifests for Nanao Ise.
Tease you I may, but as master and blade… Have we not sworn to put love and hate behind us and fall together like the autumn leaves?
While Kubo didn’t directly design the spirits, it’s clear he greatly appreciates them. Making some of them canon in the manga, and supervising all of their appearance. In conclusion, Zabimaru is clearly not their canon design, while Haineko could be even without confirmation. Zangetsu and Katen Kyokotsu are confirmed to be their real forms, while Sode no Shirayuki is heavily implied to be canon.
Bleach
Cast
Based on Tite Kubo’s battle shonen manga, Bleach centers around Ichigo, a high school student who is dragged into the world of Soul Reapers. The original anime ended in 2012, but it was revived in 2022.
