In a shonen action series such as Bleach, some characters are bound to lose their lives in combat, through assassination, or even by sacrificing their own lives. Compared to some of its peers, Bleach is a bit cautious about killing off its characters; in fact, no major characters died at any point in the entire Soul Society arc.
Sometimes, a character is too powerful to face a serious risk of death in their fight scenes, or the character got some help or had an escape plan in mind when their life was threatened. A slightly more cynical but no less valid view is that some characters escaped death simply because their plot armor was thick enough, which is certainly common in shonen stories. At any rate, when did major Bleach characters avoid death while they easily could have died?
10 Kon, When Rukia Argued For His Defense
Mod souls were a failed experiment. The idea was that soul candy could be equipped with a special mod soul inside, and that mod soul could control a human’s body and fight Hollows with unique skills. However, all mod souls were soon recalled and destroyed, except one.
Rukia Kuchiki obtained this mod soul by accident, and when Kisuke Urahara offered to destroy it, Rukia came to the mod soul’s defense, and it was spared. Now named Kon, the mod soul survived as a lovable sidekick in Ichigo Kurosaki’s party.
9 When Ichigo Survived His First Fight With Byakuya Kuchiki
Ichigo Kurosaki, as the shonen lead, cheated death quite a few times during the story of Bleach. The first time came near the end of the series’ first season, when he fought Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai to prevent Rukia from being arrested and imprisoned.
This battle turned out rather badly for Ichigo, who was totally unprepared for the deadly speed and precision of Byakuya’s flash step. Byakuya cut Ichigo down, and Ichigo very nearly bled to death until Kisuke rescued him. That was a close one.
8 When Momo Narrowly Survived Aizen Stabbing Her
Later in the Soul Society story arc, Captain Sosuke Aizen was revealed as the traitor, and he tried to tie up some loose ends before he departed the Soul Society for Hueco Mundo. He confronted his Lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, and held her close. But this was no paternal hug.
Aizen coldly said “goodbye, Momo,” and impaled her on his zanpakuto, aiming to kill her. Fortunately for her, Momo narrowly survived this deadly encounter, and she was healed with some kido spells before long. Tragically, Momo would be stabbed once again on Aizen’s account in a later story arc (but she survived that, too).
7 When Mayuri Became An Indestructible Ooze To Escape Uryu
In the middle of the Soul Society arc, the mad scientist Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi confronted Orihime Inoue and Uryu Ishida, and tried to capture the former. Uryu stood up for Orihime and faced Mayuri in mortal combat, and actually turned the tables on Captain Kurotsuchi.
Despite using his formidable bankai, Mayuri suffered a mortal blow, and Uryu really meant to kill him. But at the last second, Mayuri melted himself down into an unkillable green ooze and retreated. He would rebuild himself later, and none of Uryu’s arrows could finish him off. That was too close.
6 When Orihime Revived Ichigo In Las Noches
Partway through the Hueco Mundo story arc, Ichigo fought and lost to Ulquiorra Schiffer, the 4th Espada. Ichigo was left for dead, and indeed, he appeared deceased. Nelliel was in tears, until Grimmjow Jaegerjaques arrived and brought Orihime with him.
Following Grimmjow’s stern request, Orihime put her hands to Ichigo’s wounded chest and used her unique power to reverse the damage, but it wasn’t easy, given the dense and dark nature of Ulquiorra’s spirit energy. It was a miracle that Orihime brought Ichigo back at all.
5 When Aizen Became Truly Immortal
Sosuke Aizen was vastly powerful, and he had an entire army of Arrancars behind him. But not even that was enough for him. He sought to become the new ruler in the heavens, and he used the stolen Hogyoku to make that dream a reality. A dash of immortality is required, too.
Aizen became truly unkillable when he fused with the Hogyoku, and he could even live past 20,000 years’ time, if not more. What is more, he could perform devastating kido spells around himself but take no damage, such as when he tried to blast himself free of his prisoner chair. Death will never come knocking for Sosuke Aizen.
4 When Toshiro Hitsugaya Used An Ice Illusion To Avoid Halibel’s Strike
Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya of Squad 10 dueled the 3rd Espada, Tier Halibel, during the Fake Kurakara Town arc. During their sword duel, Toshiro started to fall behind, and then Halibel revealed her true form, Tiburon. She performed a lightning-fast attack that (apparently) fatally split Toshiro in half.
But not so fast. Toshiro had used an ice mirror clone to stand in for him, and that clone is what got split in half. The viewers and Halibel alike were thrown for a loop, and the real Toshiro stepped forward, ready to fight. However, that trick wouldn’t work twice on Halibel; he can only cheat death once that way.
3 When Ichigo’s Vasto Lorde Form Took Over
At two different points in Bleach, Ulquiorra seemingly killed Ichigo in battle, only for Ichigo to rise again to fight another day. The second instance happened when Ichigo fought Ulquiorra’s released form and died, suffering a hole-shaped injury to the chest.
Ichigo was practically dead, but then the full extent of his inner Hollow emerged, with a new, horned mask and Vasto Lorde-level powers that rivaled Ulquiorra’s own. Once Ulquiorra was defeated, Ichigo was himself again, with all injuries healed.
2 When Byakuya Survived His Own Bankai Being Used Against Him
Early in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, the Sternritter arrived, and they had the ability to steal bankai via special medallions. The terrifying Sternritter named As Nodt used his medallion to steal Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, and turned it against its owner.
It was a wonder that Byakuya survived this, having no bankai of his own to call upon for his defense (and it seemed he was too late to use kido, either). He very nearly died, but hung on to life just enough to get healed at the hands of Squad Zero. Never had Byakuya been beaten this badly.
1 Jushiro Ukitake, When Mimihagi Saved Him
The Captain of Squad 13 is the kind fellow named Jushiro Ukitake, but during the Soul Society arc, he was often bedridden, and that wasn’t unusual for him. He is rather sickly, but he’s lucky to be alive at all. Only Mimihagi, the right hand of the Soul King, could prevent his death.
As a young boy, Jushiro was dying from a lung disease, until his parents prayed to Mimihagi’s shrine. Mimihagi embedded itself in Jushiro’s body and saved him, and later on, Jushiro sacrificed his borrowed life to help save the Soul King from Yhwach’s machinations.
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