#look I know this is a very humanistic reading of bleach

[troius]

"idk I kinda wish his bankai had been like Unohanas" "just a total reversal from what you'd expect"

Im sorry but I have to dissagree here. Unohana´s bankai worked as a reversal because it was an actualy reversal, we were lead to believe she was a peaceful person, but in reality she was bloodthirsty.

Her bankai reflects her hidden bloodthirsty nature. Kenpachi´s arc wasnt about growing out of his brutish fighter ways, or revealing something hidden, it was about becoming the best version of that.

His bankai is straight forward because thats what Kenpachi has always been. There may have not been an epiphany moment that leads to this end point, but the end point itself is perfectly fitting

But Unohana was a peaceful person, that's the trick.

Yes, she was, back in the day, the most notorious criminal in Soul Society, a brutal swordfighter who helped Yamamoto carve out Soul Society from an era of blood, and probably killed her fair share of Quincies in the first war.

But she was also the peaceful healer, the mentor, the quiet pillar of strength that supported all the other companies of the court guards. That's who she chose to be, and while you can say it was a facade...at some point, the facade has enough impact on the world that I don't think you can discount it as a part of the person. If that Unohana was never real, then who wrote that last letter to Isane?

And I know we're all in love with badass Yachiru Unohana, but she was really a terrible person! She apparently used to go to the outer districts and just butcher people in the hopes that somebody would resist, and once again provide her with the sweet taste of mortal combat. That's not just unhealthy, it's horribly immoral. And it created a monster, Zaraki, who behaved in more or less the same way.

But Unohana changed! She's not the only one-- it's a big theme in Yamamoto's fight with Yhwach as well, this idea that actually being a hard-ass killer isn't what should be valued in life. Yamamoto left his arm in ashes back in Karakura town so that he wouldn't again misplace his priorities, and he dies to Yhwach in part because of it, but he leaves Shunsui in charge, somebody who he specifically taught not to value the monster he used to be.

And that's what Unohana does to Zaraki. She brings it all out of him, he finally has everything he wanted, and then he kills her, and realizes well fuck. Maybe fighting to the death isn't the goal of life. Maybe it happens, but it's not your purpose, it's something you do if it has to be done for something in your life, something you care about.

It's the exact same lesson Zangetsu was teaching Ichigo during that first fight against Zaraki in Soul Society, and it's not a coincidence that Zaraki's first fight after this is rescuing Isane, the other person that Unohana deeply cared for. Fighting for a purpose, in sharp contrast to all his previous fights, which were fought more or less because he wanted to fight somebody.

Anyhow, my point with all these words is just to say that Zaraki should be growing out of his brutish fighter ways. Being a brutish fighter is not cool, it's literally how hollows exist. Zaraki's first fight with Ichigo is even titled "the Undead". But I'd prefer it if he lived, life has so many possibilities.

#bleach #ask troius #look I know this is a very humanistic reading of bleach #but I do think it's supported by the text