Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War had the fans hyped up when it premiered after a decade-long hiatus. Tite Kubo’s long wait paid off as he managed to seize the moment with his masterpiece. Thousand Year Blood War is the last arc of Bleach, and Studio Pierrot has done a great job with improved animation and refined picture quality.
Even though Bleach had one of the grandest returns, one aspect still disappointed the fans. The Lost Substitute Shinigami arc revealed a new transformation for Ichigo Kurosaki. Fans thought the mangaka would use the transformation further in the story, but it was only used for a few episodes before the anime went on a hiatus. Even after returning, there was no sign of the form.
Fullbringer Ichigo Remains The Most Useless Transformation In Bleach
Aizen Sosuke had managed to fool the entire Soul Society, including the Gotei 13 and Genryusai Yamamoto. He almost took over the Soul Society until Ichigo Kurosaki intervened. The protagonist attained his most potent form, Mugetsu, which is the final Getsuga Tensho. He attained the form in exchange for his Shinigami powers. With the Final Getsuga Tensho, he defeated Aizen and became an ordinary human.
In the following arc, he met Kugo Ginjo, who was the first Substitute Shinigami. He gave Ichigo another shot at being able to defeat Hollows. After taking Ginjo’s help, Ichigo unlocked his Fullbringer form. According to the fans, it was the lamest design for any of Bleach’s transformations.
It looked as if Tite Kubo had wrapped a skeleton over the protagonist’s body and that too with a nose band. But the fans kept their hope alive, longing to see something better.
Unfortunately, the Fullbringer form lasted only a few episodes before being discarded. Even though it was Ginjo’s evil plan to absorb Ichigo’s Fullbring powers, the transformation is barely able to keep up with the antagonist. Kubo could have explored the transformation for a bit more instead of discarding it in the same arc. In a practical sense, the transformation had no significance except for the looks, and in that too, it failed to deliver.
Fans React To The Fullbring Transformation
Tite Kubo has always been a great storyteller, but he could not fulfill the fans’ expectations with the Fullbring transformation. The Lost Substitute Shinigami arc saw the Gotei 13 captains and lieutenants return to save Ichigo. Even after that, it received mixed reviews courtesy of the weird transformation. Compared to the protagonist, Ginjo’s Fullbringer form looked better. Several fans are still disappointed with the form and posted regularly on Reddit.
While the Fullbringer form failed to leave any impression, it provided a different contrast to Ichigo Kurosaki’s all-black Shinigami outfit. When the protagonist returned to the Soul Society after regaining his powers, his Shinigami form had remnants of his previous transformation. Unfortunately, there was never any mention of the form in Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War is currently available to watch on Hulu.
