Summary
- Kyoraku consistently faces gun-wielding enemies, emphasizing Soul Society’s struggle with change.
- As Captain-Commander, Kyoraku represents a new era, making radical decisions to adapt.
- Kyoraku’s struggles in battle symbolize the clash between tradition and modernity, highlighting his adaptability.
Fights in BLEACH are often layered, pitting kindred spirits against each other, or creating some kind of thematic juxtaposition or contrast through battle. For some reason, the laid-back Shunsui Kyо̄raku; a man who would rather sit on the sidelines and have a drink, finds himself constantly pitted against enemies who don’t make use of bladed or melee weapons in combat, like the majority of the series’ cast, but has the misfortune of going up against gun-toting foes, most recently engaging in a vicious battle against Sternritter X – The X-Axis, Lille Barro.
What is the thematic significance of Kyо̄raku having to engage gunslingers, if any, and how does it connect to the series’ tendency to create these layers in combat and characterization?
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Who Is Kyо̄raku, Really?
The Influence of One of Yamamoto’s Greatest Students
Shunsui Sakuranosuke Jirō Kyōraku is the second son of the high-ranking Kyо̄raku noble family, a very prestigious family with a long history in the Soul Society. Despite such extravagant origins, Kyо̄raku’s general attitude and behaviour are, at first glance, not fitting of a noble, especially when it comes to his laid-back, womanizing attitude and flamboyant wardrobe, which often features a pink woman’s kimono adorned with floral patterns. He loves peace, and hates having to exert himself, so he will try to talk his way out of battle but will engage out of respect for his opponent.
While he seems like a frivolous individual, Kyо̄raku carries some of the biggest burdens of the characters in BLEACH when he is appointed the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 after the death of his mentor, Genryūsai Yamamoto Shigekuni. He has always carried burdens for other people, as we learn in BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, episode 11, that he had to hide the Ise Family’s cursed Zanpakutō, and thus become partly responsible for the execution of his sister-in-law – his Lieutenant Nanao Ise’s mother.
After the death of Yamamoto, Kyoraku made two major decisions that were incredibly important to the eventual victory of the Shinigami in the so-called “Protection of the Soul King Great War”, one being the release of Sōsuke Aizen from the Muken, and the other being the decision to teach Kenpachi Zaraki Zanjutsu – swordsmanship. When it comes down to it, Kyо̄raku will do what needs to be done, but this is likely a jadedness stemming from guilt about his unknowing yet partial responsibility for his sister-in-law’s execution by the Central 46.
Based on the radical decisions he has had to make, and the various injustices he has seen carried out in lieu of Soul Society’s sense of justice, Kyо̄raku is a figure who has become representative of a new generation in the Soul Society, and his appointment as Captain-Commander is emblematic of this. As if perpetually burdened by his past, Kyoraku is always seen wearing his sister-in-law’s floral kimono, and his Bankai is like his interpretation of his older brother’s marriage into the cursed Ise Clan, and his sister-in-law’s subsequent entrusting of the Shinken Hakkyо̄ken to him for safekeeping – knowing full well it would get her killed.
A Representation of the New Age
Kyо̄raku’s Fights Are Emblematic of Soul Society’s Feudal Society and Difficulty Dealing With Change
The first time we see Kyoraku in action is during the Ryoka Invasion of Soul Society, in a one-sided battle against Chad. Of all the opponents we see Kyо̄raku fight in BLEACH, Chad is the only one who doesn’t use guns, but his projectile attacks and reason for fighting are still in line with Kyо̄raku as someone who has to face change in the pre-established rules and practices of the Soul Society head on. He defeats Chad with ease, but winds up siding with the so-called Ryо̄ka on the day of Rukia’s would-be execution, being forced to fight against Yamamoto himself alongside fellow Yamamoto student Jūshirо̄ Ukitake as a result. This fight is the most blatant representation of Kyо̄raku’s placement as the final bastion of a dying age, an usher of a new way of doing things, and we realize much later that his opposition to Rukia’s sacrifice was far more personal than he lets on.
It is the aged practices and beliefs of the Soul Society that unjustly took his sister-in-law’s life, and despite defeating Chad, he ensured not to kill him because he realized just how wrong the situation was. To further deepen Kyо̄raku’s connection to a new age, he takes it upon himself to closely look after Nanao Ise after her acceptance into the Gotei 13, overriding her desire to enter the Kido Corps and instead having her become a member of Squad 8. This responsibility to “guide in the new”. In the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Kyо̄raku gives Ichigo’s friends in the Human World the chance to say goodbye to him during his Irazusandо̄ training, which was secretly priming him to become a replacement for the Soul King should Yhwach happen to kill Adnyeus, showing an unprecedented level of care for the impact of the decisions of Soul Society despite the betrayal the training actually was.
Bringing Swords to a Gunfight
The Helplessness of Tradition Against Forces of Change
Kyо̄raku’s dual Zanpakutо̄, when pitted against the modern choice in warfare, firearms, become emblematic of Soul Society’s helplessness against forces of change, with Ichigo Kurosaki being a very significant harbinger of said change. The swords are less effective against guns than they’d be against more medieval forms of weaponry, as they have a distance disadvantage that makes their use against opponents who wield guns or other forms of projectile weaponry.
In the battle against Sternritter N, Robert Accutrone, Kyо̄raku loses an eye to the Quincy, which can be a reference to Odin’s loss of an eye in the pursuit of wisdom, which Kyо̄raku would desperately need in a battle against an enemy that had so thoroughly bested the forces of the Soul Society. Donning an eyepatch also makes him look like his Zanpakutо̄ spirit, Ohana. Despite the fact that Kyо̄raku is at a disadvantage in his battles against opponents who use projectile weaponry, he has won the majority of his fights, but required a Deus Ex Machina to get out of the fight against Lille Barro alive.
Based on Tite Kubo’s battle shonen manga, Bleach centers around Ichigo, a high school student who is dragged into the world of Soul Reapers. The original anime ended in 2012, but it was revived in 2022.