BLEACH: Riruka Dokugamine’s Fullbring, Explained

Riruka Dokugamine (Xcution Member 003) was introduced in the Fullbring Arc of BLEACH, which means the last time she was seen in the anime before BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, episode 6, was all the way back in 2012.

Her Fullbring ability was instrumental in helping Ichigo’s group return to the Soul King’s Palace shortly after their failure to protect the linchpin of the realms from Yhwach. What is Riruka’s Fullbring, and how does it work?

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Who Is Riruka Dokugamine?

A Lover of Cute Things

To quickly summarize what a “Fullbring” is, it’s a class of ability in BLEACH that enables certain spiritually aware humans to control the “soul” in objects and thus, manipulate them. When the object in question is one that the individual is particularly attached to and understands well, they are able to profoundly change its very structure and function. For Riruka Dokugamine, a young girl who loves all things she thinks are cute, the object of this attachment is exactly that. Dollhouse is an ability that enables Riruka to freely move objects into and out of things that she finds cute (which she refers to as “a power of love”) and draw out the maximum power of the object in question. By creating a heart-shaped pass engraved with the letter “R” on it and imprinting it on the object she wants to transfer, she can size it down to fit the destination object; a power she refers to as the “Addiction Shot”.

The ability can be undone if Riruka sneezes on the object, and if the container is destroyed, its contents are ejected and revert to their original size. While it sounds like a fairly benign ability, it’s important to note how hot-headed, brash and downright insane Riruka can be. The first time her Fullbring manifested was when she was around 5, mastering it by the time she turned 6. At age 7, Riruka made use of it to trap a boy she liked, keeping him alive by feeding him sweets, but after seeing the fear in his eyes, she felt the need to let him go. Riruka’s ability to move objects into other objects also enables her to move herself into a target’s body and temporarily possess them with limited degree of control over movement. While in this state, she also has access to the target’s thoughts, which makes this potentially one of the most dangerous of the Fullbring abilities we’ve seen in the BLEACH anime or manga. Riruka also wields a “Love Gun” originally created by Shūkurō Tsukishima, which fires miniaturized objects that increase in size.

The Importance of Riruka’s Ability

Returning to the Battlefield

Riruka uses Dollhouse together with fellow Fullbringer Yukio Hans Vorarlberna’s ability to create his own pocket dimensions, based on the pockets of various sizes found in the Dangai where lost souls are found. These pockets are collectively referred to as the Valley of Screams. Garganta acts like a tunnel that fills the empty space in the Dangai between these Reishi pockets; however, traversing Garganta requires one to constantly expend Reishi to create a foothold for themselves due to the space’s instability. By simulating a Valley of Screams and using Riruka’s ability to put things in a container, they effectively created a railway that enables them to use the Garganta to return to the marker Yoruichi placed at the Soul King’s Palace without expending any of their own Reiatsu to do so, because a Valley of Screams has different Reishi structure.

Put simply, Riruka was able to put a pocket dimension into a box, which is an incredible thing to do in the BLEACH universe. Riruka’s ability therefore enabled Ichigo and the others to return to the battlefield at nearly full capacity. During the Fullbring Arc, Riruka’s Dollhouse was used to transfer Ichigo to a literal dollhouse, where he would go on to do his Fullbring training, which in turn enabled him to return to the fray as a combatant after losing his powers in the fight against Aizen.

While this was effectively part of Ginjo’s scheme, it shows the ability’s versatility and importance to the events it is part of in the series. When it comes to Riruka’s own personality, the bratty tsundere that we see upon her introduction and subsequent appearances is a development stemming from the aforementioned experience with trapping that boy she liked, after which a naive little girl who didn’t even think about how using her powers on someone could lead them to telling other people about became far more cynical and aware that she needs help; leading her to Xcution.

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

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War

Release Date

October 11, 2022

Creator

Tite Kubo

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu

MyAnimeList Score

9 (The Conflict)