Yukio Hans Vorarlberna’s Fullbring, Explained

The former Xcution Member 005, Yukio Hans Vorarlberna, was among several familiar faces to make a return over the course of the dramatic final arc of BLEACH, and in the 6th episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, his powers were pivotal in helping Ichigo and his friends make their way back to the Soul King’s Palace after their failure to protect the Soul King from Yhwach. The last time Yukio made an appearance in the BLEACH anime was during the final moments of the Fullbringer Arc, which means he hasn’t had an appearance since 2012.

Despite his already scarce involvement in the series after his introduction, Yukio decided that he had fulfilled his duty after helping the group travel through the Garganta safely, so here’s a recap on his Fullbring ability.

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Who Is Yukio Vorarlberna?

A Quintessential Gamer

Just to recap, Yukio is a Fullbringer, a race of spiritually aware humans in the BLEACH universe who have the ability to manipulate the soul within objects and thus manipulate them. When the object in question is something to which they have a significant attachment and of which they have a significant level of understanding, they are able to change its very structure and function. For Yukio Hans Vorarlberna, the object of his affection is his PlayStation Portable, which he is seen holding in essentially every single one of his appearances over the course of the series. His Fullbring ability, Invaders Must Die, is activated from his handheld console and enables him to create his own separate dimensions from within his game, but only as long as the device has power. With his “Saving” ability, Yukio can seal people away into a separate, box-like dimension, and while in that state, the individual’s Reiatsu is also sealed off from the outside world.

“Loading” enables Yukio to release the people he has sealed away. The pocket dimensions he creates can be altered from his handheld, and he is able to change elemental aspects and even keep multiple people in their own separate regions within his pocket dimension. Like Riruka Dokugamine’s Dollhouse ability, Invaders Must Die is invaluable when it comes to enabling the administration of special training regimens because it can “simulate” all kinds of situations and even accelerate the flow of time within his created spaces. Yukio’s special ability reflects his generally quiet disposition and general lack of interest in anything that isn’t on the screen of his handheld video game console. Beyond the creation of pocket dimensions, Invaders Must Die can also be used to attach tracking bugs onto targets of Yukio’s choosing, as well as create holographic clones of people, which he used a lot as a child to talk to his deceased parents.

How Was Yukio’s Ability Important in the War?

Combining His Abilities With Riruka’s Enabled Safe Return to the Battlefield

Yukio’s ability enables him to create pocket dimensions based on the video games that he plays. By layering that ability with Riruka’s Dollhouse, which allows her to move objects into and out of objects of her affection, so by turning the dimension created by Yukio, which mirrors the conditions of a Valley of Screams; a point in the empty space in the Dangai (the Precipice World between realms) where lost souls are caught forever. These regions have a high Reishi concentration, while the Garganta acts like a tunnel that connects the Valleys of Screams together using the empty spaces between them; however, traversing it requires one to constantly expel Reishi in order to form a foothold for themselves.

If Yukio’s pocket dimension is seen as its own Valley of Screams, Riruka can then move people into it and its stable makeup can thus be the “foothold”, which is made to look like a railway. Without the Fullbringers’ ability, Ichigo and his friends would have had to find a different, more energy-consuming means to get back to the battlefield, and against a powered up Yhwach and his Schutzstaffel, they’re going to need all the Reiatsu they can get. When they arrive at the marker Yoruichi left behind during their earlier encounter with Yhwach, they are shocked to find that it no longer resembles the Soul King’s Palace, and the Quincies have made it so that they have a monopoly over all the Reishi in the area.

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War is available on Hulu and Disney+.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War

Release Date

October 11, 2022

Studio

Pierrot

Creator

Tite Kubo

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu