The Biggest Losers of Bleach's Thousand Year Blood War

Summary

• Shuhei Hisagi's reputation suffers.
• Sergeant Komamura's sacrifice bears no fruit.
• Rose fails to shine like his fellow captains.

Stakes in Whitening they have never been greater than they are in the Thousand Year Blood War. This epic battle between the Soul Reapers and the Quincy pushes each member of their respective groups to their limits. While this launched a few of the characters to greater heights, for others, their efforts made them look a little silly.

Many characters would struggle to regain their reputation after the events of the arc for their own unique reasons, so let's take a look at what went wrong for them despite all the hype they've had going into this conflict. These are the biggest losers to make it out alive or not WhiteningHis thousand year blood war.

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

1 Shuhei Hisagi

Hisagi continues to be the soul reapers' punching bag, unfortunately

• First Appearance: Episode 21

Hisagi has become somewhat infamous among the fandom for being used as little more than a punching bag in recent arcs. It can be easy to forget that Hisagi was once shown to be quite a powerful warrior in the Fake Karakura Town arc, even unleashing his Bankai, but in the final arc, he's useless.

After being punched by Masc De Masculine, Hisagi barely manages to fend off Bambi and ends up being mind-controlled by none other than Pepe, leading to his defeat by Byakuya. Needless to say, this wasn't Hisagi's greatest performance of the series.

2 Sergeant Komamura

Komamura paid the ultimate sacrifice to get so little

• First Appearance: Episode 24

Komamura's humanizing technique may have been an incredible power to see in action, but the sacrifice this captain makes in the end doesn't add up to much in the story. While Bambietta easily took out regular Soul Reaper troops with her attacks, she was still only one of the many Sternritter that had invaded, and was even considered weaker than many of her comrades, such as Gremmy and As Nodt for example.

Despite this, Komamura unleashes his Bankai, also paying the ultimate sacrifice of becoming a wolf to unleash enough power to destroy Bambietta. While it's implied that Komamura wanted to go straight for Yhwach in this form, the fact that she's gassing while still so far away from him gets in the way of his whole plan.

3 Rose

Rose's Dazzling Bankai ultimately amounts to nothing

• First Appearance: Episode 122

Although Rose puts in a decent showing fighting a few Quincy grunts during the first invasion, he meets his end not long after, leaving him absent for much of the arc. After a stunning Bankai reveal, Rose makes the crucial mistake of explaining how the technique works in detail to his opponent.

After Masc buries him with a barrage of punches, Rose is eliminated. Not only that, he also becomes a zombie which Mayuri manages to save later. Rose failed miserably to reach the heights of his fellow captains in this arc, though he certainly went out in style.

4 Bambietta Basterbine

Bambis leader is taken out pretty quickly and then zombified

• First Appearance: TYBW Episode 6

Bambi are a strange and creepy group of Sternritters who actually play a big role in the final arc. Most, at least. While Lillittoto, Candice, Meninas and Giselle have several battles in the series, Bambietta meets her end at the hands of Komomura, her first real fight.

After falling in battle, she is then zombified by her friend Giselle and is treated horribly by her new master. Despite being the leader of one of this unique group, Bambietta doesn't really rise to the occasion whenever she's on screen, though she's still become a fan favorite on the show.

5 BG-9

A mysterious Sternritter that was completely humiliated

• First Appearance: TYBW episode 5

When BG-9 first appeared on screen fairly early in the arc, this mysterious metallic monster seemed like one of the most intriguing Sternritters to appear yet. Unfortunately, just minutes after the reveal, BG-9 is blasted into oblivion by Soi Fon after she uses her Bankai, and in the anime, he is later humiliated for his failure.

It feels like fans were only treated to a glimpse of BG-9's true power, raising the question of what this unique Quincy can really do in a fight. It's a testament to author Tite Kubo's character designs that a throwaway villain like this can look so incredible, but it's a shame that BG-9 ended up being such a waste in the end.

6 Genryusai Yamamoto

The leader of the Gotei 13 suffered a devastating defeat that cost him his life

• First Appearance: Episode 24

It's sad to admit, but Yamamoto, the head of Gota 13, was very little during the epic final showdown with Quincy. In fact, his feats amounted to killing a Quincy, which consumed his entire Bankai before being cut in two, leaving the Soul Society in despair.

In Yamamoto's defense, it could be argued that the display of his immense strength was the moment that forced Yhwach to back down. However, it doesn't do much to justify how little Yamamoto accomplished, despite his Bankai activation being one of the best moments in the series.

7 Chad

Chad still can't keep up with Ichigo and the others

• First Appearance: Episode 2

Chad just can't catch a break. While Orihime manages to contribute quite a bit to help Ichigo take on Yhwach several times in the final arc, the same cannot be said for Chad. Other than stopping a barrage of Quincy arrows from hitting Ichigo and a few wild punches thrown in here and there, Chad really doesn't do much in this arc.

Still, it's nice to see his conversations with Ichigo, which have some heartfelt moments, especially when he discusses the situation with Uryu. Chad himself, however, once again gets dealt a bad hand that makes him look a bit weak compared to his friends.

8 Ganju Shiba

Ganju's moment to prove himself somehow ended up making him even more forgettable

• First Appearance: Episode 22

When Ganju suddenly joined the gang to head for the Soul Palace, it looked like he had something to prove. Ganju has been taken down at every turn during the Soul Society arc, but this could be a chance to show what this brave guy can do with his sand-based abilities and a random assortment of weapons.

While Ganju does come with a map of the Soul Palace, that's ultimately all he provides, along with a smokescreen being waved by Yhwach. In the anime, Ganju was able to sink the Schutzstafell with quicksand, but it still feels like Ganju didn't see any growth in his reputation with fans in this arc due to an embarrassingly weak showing of the character.