The third cour of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has finally started in the anime series, and fans are all for it. However, there are still a lot of doubts in the minds of the fans as they find out more about the enticing narrative of the Soul Reapers vs. Quincies battle. One of the main doubts currently is regarding the character of Ichibei Hyosube.
Ichibei is the commanding officer of the Royal Guard and one of the strongest characters in the entire series. He is the first person to name everything that existed in the Soul Society, and his personality makes him look more evil than others. Also, his actions in the recent storyline have prompted fans to believe that he might be an antagonist, comparing him to the likes of Sosuke Aizen.
But comparing him to Aizen is wrong, as Ichibei has a valid reason behind his actions. He has followed his duty to the core and done everything for the “greater good.” Thus, his aura and his actions may make him look like a villain, but he actually is trying to save the Soul Society.
Anime Fans Think Ichibei is The Main Villain in Bleach
The recently released episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War season 3 has created a little bit of confusion among fans. This is because the second episode revealed that Yhwach and Ichigo (forcefully) killed the Soul King, causing havoc in all three realms. While this is a big issue, a bigger concern is whether it was all a plan of Ichibei or not.
Episode 1 revealed that Yhwach killed Ichibei and moved towards the Soul King Palace. However, Ichibei was brought back to life by Ichigo, and they also moved towards the Soul King Palace to stop Yhwach. But this was a big mistake, as Yhwach needed Ichigo to kill Soul King, and Ichibei knew about it. This led to fans questioning Ichibei’s intentions and whether he planned all of this originally.
According to the story, Ichigo is the only one who can kill Soul King because he has the powers of Quincies, humans, Soul Reapers, Fullbringers, and the Hollows. Having the powers of all five beings made Ichigo capable of killing the Soul King, and Ichibei knew about it all along, and he still motivated Ichigo to go to the Soul King Palace and fight Yhwach.
Ichibei’s Actions Are For The Greater Good
Although the fans’ question about Ichibei’s intentions is justified, they need to understand that Ichibei would never go against the Soul Society and the Soul King himself. Ichibei might have questionable methods, but all of them are solely for the greater good of the Soul Society and the world in general.
He acts villainous and mighty because of his status as the commanding officer of the Royal Guard, but it is also the reason that he is willing to sacrifice anyone, even Ichigo, to save the Soul Society.
Comment
byu/CabinetFlaky9731 from discussion
inbleach
He is loyal to the Soul King and has zero intentions of replacing him as the new Soul King.
He is a gray character who is willing to cross the lines as long as the results are in his favor. He doesn’t care about the morality of his actions and how it would impact his image. He just wants to save everyone, and that’s what makes him one of the best-written characters in the Bleach universe.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is available to watch on Hulu.
