Bleach does not have many deaths but the ones that do occur will leave you devastated and shrunken to the floor. Tite Kubo began the story with a happy-go-lucky guy who was dragged to the afterworld business, but the plot became serious very soon.
Especially in the Thousand Year Blood War arc, the attack of Yhwach on Soul Society served as a crude reminder that anything can happen. While there was a lot of death and destruction in this arc, one death truly devastated fans.
Kubo Tite sat down for a three-way interview with Taguchi Tomohisa (the animation director and producer of Bleach) and Masakazu Morita (voice actor of Ichigo) to discuss the finer points of Bleach and the deaths that shook the fandom.
Yamamoto Genryusai’s Death was a Highlight of Bleach Thousand Year Blood War Arc
Yamamoto Genryusai was one of the most dedicated captains and was rightfully the captain of the First Division. His dedication to the Gotei 13 as well as the Soul Society is unparalleled. He considers it his job to protect the balance of the world. It is hard not to fall in love with a character like this and Tite Kubo took advantage of this attachment when he mercilessly cut down the character in the Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War arc.
Midway through the first cour, Yhwach attacked Yamamoto. The two had a brief yet legendary skirmish before Yhwach bisected him from his shoulder to his waist. The villain then berates the dead captain for dying in such a pitiful manner and then obliterates his body.
In the interview with Kubo, Taguchi claims that the episodes that adapted Genryuusei Yamamoto’s battle against Yhwach and his subsequent death were his favorites. To him, these episodes are a highlight of the entire first cour. Even Morita seemed traumatized by the death. He claimed that he loved the character so when he first read about the death in the Jump magazine, he was utterly shocked.
I thought, “Kubo depicted Yamajii’s death with such amazing visual storytelling.” He died with a diagonal cut across his torso, and the upper half of his torso just fell to the ground. That was enough to send all Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni fans like myself into the depths of despair.
In fact, the voice actor seemed pretty determined to know how Tite Kubo executed the death so perfectly. Kubo’s answer clears up a lot of fog regarding Yamamoto.
Yamamoto Genryuusai’s Death Was Planned from the Beginning
In the interview, Tite Kubo accepted that he had come up with the manner of Genryuusai’s death a long time ago.
I had come up with Genryusai’s manner of death from the very beginning…In fact, I had his death in mind right from his first appearance.
In fact, there is a deeper meaning behind how Genryuusai was cut down. According to Kubo, the character always gave him bandit or samurai vibes so he felt Kesagiri was the most appropriate way for the character to die.
Kesagiri is a type of sword slash in which the strike comes from the upper left or right and pierces through the clavicle to travel downward at an almost 45-degree angle and slash clean through the body.
As unfortunate as it is that Genryuusai’s death was pre-mediated, it was still an awesome chapter and episode for Bleach. The death of such a powerful character instilled the fear of Yhwach in the minds of everyone involved.
You can read Bleach on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
