Shonen manga highlights the themes of friendship, heroism, and determination. Sometimes, this extends to the binary of good and evil. However, Bleach isn’t a run-of-the-mill shonen manga. The series is one of the Big 3 of Shonen anime along with One Piece and Naruto. Tite Kubo explores the themes of death, loss, and suffering in this manga.
Apart from that, the author highlights the character’s flaws, making it more relatable. While the series has its fair share of antagonists and villains, Mayuri Kurotsuchi is in a different league altogether. The author imparts grey scale tones to Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s persona throughout the series.
Mayuri Kutosuchi as a greyscale character in Bleach
Mayuri Kurotsuchi is the captain of the 12th division of Gotei 13 in the Bleach series. He is also the president of the Shinigami Research Institute. Apart from that, he displays exceptional scientific prowess throughout the series. This is clear through his experiments such as Nemu, as well as other inventions.
Although his character is dark, mysterious, and sinister, the author dismantles his role as a villain later on in the series. Mayuri’s persona has greyscale tones in terms of his detachment toward the characters in the series. His utter disregard for life, coupled with his sadistic tendencies, makes him different as a character.
In a Special Talk which was later published in My Hero Academia Ultra Analysis, Tite Kubo reveals the process behind Mayuri’s character creation. He also discusses how Mayuri’s character is fleshed out in the series as opposed to the stereotypical shonen trope. He quotes:
An ironclad rule of shonen manga battles is that “the protagonist will win no matter how bad the situation gets.” But each time I drew Mayuri, I wanted to keep the audience guessing what strange tactics he’ll use to win, so I’m glad you feel that way.
The Special Talk also features Kohei Horikoshi who reveals Mayuri Kurotsuchi as his favorite character. His ambiguity, coupled with his sinister nature, sets him apart as a character. Apart from being a sinister and cruel scientist, the character lives up to the stereotype of the “mad scientist”. Be it Bankai or his own body, he can change and bend it accordingly.
Mayuri personifies the mad scientist stereotype
Apart from cloning Nemu in the laboratory, Mayuri displays his excellence and brilliance as a scientist. He is also a great researcher and inventor in the series. This is clear when he invents regenerative serum and data-gathering bacteria. He’s able to modify his bankai, making him formidable. His mastery of science, zanpakuto, combat, and sword fighting makes him a remarkable character.
His hunger for science and knowledge is clear when he’s willing to experiment on Orihime and Uryu. What makes him a mad scientist is his obsession with knowledge coupled with his sinister nature. His disregard for life and detachment from people around him further proves this. He is driven by his sole purpose of experimentation.
Besides that, he is also one of the strongest characters in the series. From his ability to change his zanpakuto and body to create revolutionary inventions in the series, Mayuri is a jack of all trades. To add to that, his ambiguity as a character makes him a force to reckon with. Mayuri’s character and persona exist beyond the binary of good vs evil trope.
Bleach is available for streaming on Crunchyroll
