Bleach Nerfing Female Characters: A Lackluster Exploration of Sexism in Bleach

Shonen manga have long been criticized for giving preferential treatment to male characters. In series with many battles, male characters tend to get more screentime, more fights and more victories. Bleach is no exception, since while the female characters aren't necessarily kept off the field of battle, not many of them win fights against male opponents. Female characters can play important roles (albeit with a glass ceiling, since there are never more than two female captains out of thirteen at any one time), but many female characters' personalities revolve around male characters.

Earlier this year, CBR.com published a top 10 list about how Bleach "nerfs" its female characters. The article isn't wrong to note that Bleach sometimes fails to treat its female characters as equal to its males, but the way  it goes about proving this point leaves much to be desired. The article has factual inaccuracies, and somewhat questionable choices when it comes to examples.

Why is this such a problem? Part of it is because this is the source for TV Tropes' entry on Unfortunate Implications for Bleach. For those who are not familiar with the trope, it requires that all examples be supported by at least one article demonstrating that opinion, and this article was the proof behind that example. I will go through each item on the list to discuss why this is a poor proof of Bleach's admittedly very real problem of gender equality.

10.Orihime Is The Shrill, Annoying Girl

The first entry complains about Orihime, as the title implies. I'll concede that Orihime's  character arc has various issues, but the article doesn't do a good job of covering them, especially not the headline, which makes it sounds as though it's bashing Orihime as a character rather calling attention to issues with the way she's written.

Orihime's "godly" power- the Shun Shun Rikka and their ability to heal, defend or attack- is a bit of a complicated issue. While her healing powers are vitally useful, and her shields have mostly kept herself safe, her offensive power varies. When she first uses Tsubaki, she's able to instantly slice Numb Chandelier, an octopus-like Hollow, in half, killing her. However, in the Soul Society arc, when she tries that against Jirobo Ikkanzaka, an enemy Soul Reaper, he deflects the attack with his sword, injuring Tsubaki, then mocks Orihime for attacking without the will to kill. The battle with Yammy goes even worse, since Yammy blocks Tsubaki with his palm, shattering Tsubaki. Essentially, her offensive powers rely on her will to kill, something Orihime very much lacks

This leads in to scene in the Arrancar arc, when Yoruichi summons Orihime to meet with Urahara. After Orihime expresses her desire to become strong enough to fight, Urarhara bluntly refuses. He points out that not only is Tsubaki still broken, but he is useless if she can't muster the will to kill her opponents. He also says her healing skills are impressive, but the 4th Division has many healers who will assist in battle. Chad protests this, but Orihime politely says it's fine. She then leaves, starting to cry as she's out of earshot.

Orihime then meets Rukia, who's rather upset that Urahara said what he did and even more upset that Orihime would accept it. Rukia then tells Orihime that the willingness to fight is most important. Hiyori then shows up to take Orihime to the Visoreds, where Hachigen repairs Tsubaki. Orihime then trains with Rukia in the Soul Society, but Ulquiorra intercepts her on the way back to the human world and gives her an ultimatum- come back to Hueco Mundo or watch all her friends be killed. Orihime reluctantly complies.

Urahara later admits that he'd lied to Orihime, and that the real reason he'd wanted her off the front lines is because her powers were too valuable, since Aizen needs them to unlock the true potential of the Hogyoku. Unfortunately, Aizen never uses Orihime's powers to that end, since Wonderweiss is the only Hollow created with the Hogyoku (and he was made just before Orihime's abduction). In the end, Aizen only uses Orihime as bait to lure Ichigo and his friends, as well as some captains, to Hueco Mundo to get them out of the way. Not only does Ichigo return, but he and his allies defeat several of Aizen's best subordinates.

Essentially, heroes and villains need Orihime for various purposes, but not as a frontline combatant. I'll agree that Orihime isn't used as much as she could be, but the article doesn't exactly cover it well.

On a side note, Orihime doesn't call Ichigo "Ichigo-kun" as the article says, but "Kurosaki-kun." This distinction is importance, because Orihime is merely an acquaintance to Ichigo at the start of the series, since her best friend Tatsuki(whom she addresses as the much more familiar "Tatsuki-chan") is his childhood friend. It's a small but significant distinction, and if the article can't get it right, it comes off as less credible.

9.Rukia Has A Need For Her Brother's Approval

This is the first entry that I'd call flat-out wrong in multiple ways and it won't be the last.

First, it isn't exactly accurate to say that Byakuya is distant to Rukia because she reminds him of his dead wife. It's possible that he initially saw protecting her as his duty, and later came to care for her. In fact, it's to his credit that he's never treated her as a replacement for Hisana. Besides, Byakuya isn't the most emotionally open person. For example, he shows no outward emotion when fighting Zommari, who tried to kill an unconscious Rukia, even when delivering the killing blow. When Rukia wakes up, Byakuya sternly tells her to continue resting and conserve her strength for the battles to come, which is practical advice, but not the behavior of someone who wears his heart on his sleeve.

Rukia isn't shown to crave Byakuya's approval. After he has no reaction to her not being named a seated officer (when it's later shown that she did have the talent but he pulled strings to ensure that she wouldn't get picked for a job  that would put her in danger), it's implied that she feels more comfortable around Kaien and her comrades in the 13th Division than she is at home.

The part about Rukia accepting her death sentence "because Byakuya seemed fine with it" is blatantly wrong in two major ways. First, the reason Rukia believes she deserves to die is due to a prior incident in which she killed her mentor, Kaien Shiba. Kaien, Rukia and their superior Jushiro Ukitake went after a Hollow that had killed Kaien's wife Miyako, and Kaien insisted on facing it alone. Rukia reluctantly honored his wishes on Ukitake's orders, only for the Hollow to possess Kaien. Ukitake ordered Rukia to flee, but she returned in time to see Ukitake overwhelmed by his illness. She then fatally stabbed Kaien, who thanked her for freeing him with his dying breaths. Unfortunately, she felt tremendous guilt over her actions, believing that she was motivated by cowardice and ended up hating herself so much she was willing to let herself be executed. The last thing she wants is for Ichigo to come to harm saving her life, which is why she so harshly rejects his attempts to save her.

The article also is incorrect about its assertion that Byakuya is "fine" with it, despite his cold and apparently uncaring facade. He actually doesn't want Rukia to die, especially after he promised his dead wife (her sister) that he'd protect her, but is bound by an oath he made to his dead parents to never break the law again. As a result, while  he fights against Ganju, Renji and Ichigo when they try to save her, he accepts his defeat and shields Rukia when Gin tries to kill her on Aizen's orders, nearly dying in the process.

As for Rukia's bankai, she doesn't need Byakuya's approval to use it. Rather, him entrusting her with the finishing blow speaks to his faith in her, which is a considerable step for him. It's also a testament to how close the siblings have come over the series, a touching conclusion to Byakuya's character arc.

8. Nemu and Mayuri's Relationship

I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, Mayuri is practically a sociopath, and treats Nemu horribly, from impaling her in order to stab Uryu to reacting with intrigue when Szyael uses Nemu to give birth to him(which apparently kills Nemu). On the other hand, the manga does not at all endorse Mayuri's behavior, with the more heroic Uryu expressing disgust and horror over the two incidents I mentioned. Uryu was absent for Mayuri's fight with Pernida, but he would certainly have reacted the same way. What's more, Mayuri views Nemu as his masterpiece, so he has a certain amount of pride. Again, that doesn't excuse his treatment of her, but their relationship is a bit more complicated and less sexist than CBR gives it credit for.

7.Nelliel is Both Infantilized and Objectified

I mostly agree with this one. It's rather frustrating that Nelliel only gets one good hit in on her archnemesis Nnoitora before she suddenly reverts to a child and Kenpachi ends up beating Nnoitora. The fight was fun, but this was an awful waste of Nelliel's potential, not to mention borderline sexist.

The only problem with this entry is that it buries the lede. Instead of beginning with the part in which Nelliel's most impressive moment ends up accomplishing nothing of significance, and results in her having to be rescued by a male character, they start with her child self's design and personality. If they'd begun with Neliel's wasted potential as a character, then this would have been a good entry, one deserving of a higher rank on this list.

6.Hinamori Has Stockholm Syndrome

The article does have some valid points, especially seeing as how divisive Hinamori is because of her feelings for Aizen, but its approach leaves much to be desired.

The description of the events after Aizen's "death" is inaccurate. After Aizen's first "death," Hinamori recalls Hitsugaya warning her to be careful about Gin, so she assumes Gin murdered Aizen and attacks him. Her old friend Kira steps in to defend his captain, and they have a brief brawl before they're both arrested.

Hitsugaya's lieutenant Rangiku visits Hinamori in her cell and gives her a letter that Aizen supposedly wrote before his death. That turns out to be the worst thing she could have done, since Hinamori reads the letter, which implicates Hitsugaya as Aizen's murderer and a traitor to Soul Society. That is what leads Hinamori to fight Hitsugaya, forcing him to knock her out.

On the day of Rukia's execution, Hinamori escapes once again and shadows Hitsugaya as he goes to Central 46. She then discovers that Aizen's alive, just in time for him to stab and nearly kill her.

It's true that many people dislike Hinamori for her devotion to Aizen, but that comes off as more tragic than anything else. It's also not limited to her, as the two other lieutenants of the traitorous captains- Captain Tosen's lieutenant Hisagi, and Gin's lieutenant, Kira- also take their superiors' defections rather hard. Hisagi tells Ukitake that he's struggling to adjust now that Tosen is gone, and while Kira doesn't get to confront Gin, he flies into a rage after Avirama mocks him as being someone Gin left behind. Hinamori's feelings for Aizen are the strongest, but she isn't alone in feeling them.

5.Nanao's Strength Is A Facade

This entry's basic premise- that Nanao is built up as a strong fighter and fails to live up to that reputation- is wrong on both counts.

To begin with, Nanao holding her own against Yamamoto is a false assumption. After Nanao considers trying to step in to help Kyoraku and Ukitake against Yamamoto, Yamamoto simply looks Nanao in the eye and uses his colossal spiritual pressure to render her a quivering mess. This is hardly anything to be ashamed of- Yamamoto is in a league of his own, and Nanao realizes that Ukitake and Kyoraku can't defeat him- but it's hardly meant to build Nanao up to be strong.

Now for the battle with Lille. Nanao was the one who urged Kyoraku to release her zanpakuto, saying that there is no need for his promise to her dead mother(his sister-in-law) to hold him back. She even impresses him by knowing about this secret, even if she doesn't know all the details. Nanao decides to face the "curse" that her mother had feared in order to save her captain from a deadly foe.

As for Nanao freezing up, it's worth noting that Nanao has never actually fought before, or even gotten wounded in battle, so this is a natural reaction. Nevertheless, she manages to do what must be done, and while she needs Kyoraku's help to succeed, he'd have been killed if she hadn't intervened. Nanao is hardly a feminist icon, since her role mainly revolves around her captain and uncle Kyoraku, but she has more strength and agency than CBR realizes.

4.Chizuru Is The Creepy Lesbian

I'll agree that Chizuru's depiction as a sexually harassing pervert is problematic, but for being homophobic, not for being sexist. While there are some cases of characters who are implied to love others of the same sex, such as Soi Fon toward Yoruichi, it's troubling that the only openly lesbian character is such a pervert and little more than comic relief.

3.Karin And Yuzu Have No Important Roles

The thrust of the argument here is that since Ichigo's sisters are also the children of a Soul Reaper and a Quincy, they should be at least as powerful as he is. While this makes a certain amount of sense, let's recall that Ichigo is also a trained martial artist who's been getting into fights for much of his adolescence, and directly received power from Rukia.

Karin and Yuzu, however, are grade schoolers with no particular talents for fighting. Yuzu's talents lie in cooking, cleaning and filling in for her late mother, while Karin is more of an emotionally tough tomboy. Unlike Chad and Orihime, they aren't lucky enough to get powers during Uryu's introductory arc, so they can't meaningfully contribute to the plot. The same also applies to Ichigo's spiritually aware friends Keigo, Mizuiro and Tatsuki, so it's not as though females are the only ones subject to this. 

2.Yoruichi As A Cat-Woman Hybrid

I'll concede that Urahara depriving Yoruichi of her self-control in order to win against Askin can be seen as problematic, but it's a bit weak for the #2 entry. First, not even he can control her in that form. Second, Urahara is manipulative by nature, so this is hardly the worst thing he's done.

Incidentally, I notice that six items on the list- #10, #9, #8, #6, #2 and #1- are from the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, and all except the first two are almost exclusively drawn from that arc. This, combined with the factual inaccuracies, makes me wonder if the author was relying on memory and mainly focused on the final arc.

1.Unohana Is The Proverbial Woman Behind The Successful Man

I actually agree with the complains about Unohana's death. It was rather disappointing to see Unohana's talents as the strongest female Soul Reaper in the series squandered just to bring Kenpachi to the next level, and have her killed off for good measure.

Conclusion

Out of those ten points, I believe that only #7, #6, #2 and #1 deserve to be on the list, and all but the first one need to be rewritten in order to best make their point. Because of that, I would also recommend that this article no longer be considered valid evidence for Unfortunate Implications, even by the relatively weak standards for an example's source.

It's not as though I disagree; I actually think Bleach's female characters get shortchanged in many ways, and could easily have made my own top 10 list of examples why(which is a topic for another blog post). Because of that, I honestly wish CBR.com had done a better job with its top 10 list, since Bleach's flaws deserve a better-reasoned analysis.