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Bleach: Tropes A-B

Tropes for Bleach, A to B:

  • Action Girl: A major reason of the Periphery Demographic - the majority of females are rather Bad Ass.
  • Adaptation Distillation: The musicals, which cut out most of the side characters and even some of the main characters (such as Ishida).
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: The anime does this a lot, changing hair colours, lightening Harribel's skin tone, changing the colours of Yumichika's feathers. They also appeared to assume that Ryuuken's hair was white due to age, despite the flashbacks they animated showing his hair was still white when he was younger. They also assumed Gin's eyes were red but when the manga revealed they were blue, the anime changed his eye colour accordingly.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Slow pacing lead to a chronic Overtook the Manga problem. The anime added a lot of extra content in order to buy time.
    • In the Substitute Soul Reaper arc, the anime pads "Memories in the Rain" with a Soul Reaper sent to check on Rukia who discovers her secret but decides not to turn her in yet because he think she might be sowing some wild oats.
    • Kurodo, Lirin, and Noba, three recurring characters exclusive to the anime. They showed up as minor antagonists in a filler story, but since Defeat Means Friendship, they stick around for much longer, making cameo appearances for comedy purposes in the canon storyline. They also have a tendency to dance around during the end credits.
    • "Karakurizer", a Sentai parody, was originally three or four between-chapter illustrations. The anime, bless its tarnished soul, expanded this into two very, very funny episodesnote .
    • The anime goes into much more detail about the day-to-day lives of the Soul Reapers and expands on their backstories before joining the Gotei. Ikkaku's backstory is only a couple of panels in the manga but an entire filler episode in the anime.
    • Kubo wrote the Menos Forest mini-arc for the manga but it got cut in order to accelerate the Espada fights. It was included in full in the anime.
    • The relatively short fights in the Arrancar Arc are lengthened in the anime. Given the sheer number of fights involved, it certainly bought them a little time before catching up to the manga yet again.
      • In Grimmjow and Ichigo's first Curb-Stomp Battle, Ichigo gets his face beaten in for a lot longer than in the manga. In the manga, it lasts about two or three panels; in the anime, it lasts about ten minutes. Ten looooooooong minutes.
      • One of the worst is the monster Allon slapping his chest wound for almost a minute. For no reason at all.
    • Ichigo's reluctance to seek out Xcution in the Fullbring Arc gets extended over an entire anime episode. In the manga, Ichigo calls the number on the card almost immediately after leaving Uryuu in the hospital having realised Ryuuken's stepped in to protect Orihime because he can't. In the anime, he remains unwilling to do so until the next day, after going postal on a group of thugs that attacked Keigo and Mizuiro and threatened his family. Ichigo briefly catches sight of Tsukishima, who retreats when Ryuuken (who gets in a rare moment of actual doctoring) appears. Ichigo won't stand for these threats but Ryuuken points out there's not much he can do in his current state...and that's when he makes the call.
  • Adult Fear:
    • The way he lost his mother as a child left Ichigo unable to handle being powerless to protect those in danger. Villains often use this against him, culminating in one Arc Villain's mind-bending assault on his family leading Ichigo into an Heroic BSOD. Also, the Bigger Bad's henchman traps him in a gaol of darkness where he's forced to listen to the dying screams of Soul Society, knowing he's unable to save them.
    • Having made two separate vows to always protect his dead wife's sister and always uphold the law, Byakuya's left dumbfounded when Rukia's execution brings the two vows into conflict. Although he's forced to support the execution, his worst fear is eventually confirmed to be Rukia dying. As Nodt's supernatural Emotion Bomb forces Byakuya to hallucinate Rukia's melting corpse, driving him into a frenzy that almost kills him.
    • Being trapped in unending isolation and eternal darkness is the kind of existence few people want to contemplate. It's the existence both Ulquiorra and Starrk suffered prior to being saved from it by the Arrancar transformation. Ulquiorra was trapped in a shell of a body that could neither talk nor had any functional sensory perception except for sight, and Starrk was so powerful he was incapable of being in anyone's presence without instantly killing them.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: While most villain deaths in are happy moments, there are some who are written to be tragic.
    • Early on there's Orihime's hollowfied brother kills himself with Ichigo's sword in a moment of lucidity.
    • In the Fake Karakura Town arc, Ulquiorra and Starrk. The former dies finally understanding what it means to be human while the latter dies after only fighting to protect his friends.
    • Lilynette:
      • If Starrk is dead, there's a good chance she went with him. It's never exactly clear whose perspective the dying flashback of the two meeting as separate beings for the first time is from, if it's not from both of them.
      • In the anime she dies first. She was controlling the wolves, and protected Stark from an attack. Kyoraku used the wind from his Bushugoma attack to separate the reishi that made up the wolves.
    • For all of Charlotte's Large Ham behavior, he faced his death at the hands of Yumichika quietly and even with dignity. Rest in Pieces, Oh Hammy Rosa Blanca.
    • In Shizuku and Homura's dying moments, the viewer learns the truth about their connection with Rukia, and their being possessed while saving her.
  • All Is Well That Ends Well:
    • Ishida brings hollow bait to a dispute where a tape measure would suffice. No one brings it up again after they're done solving the problems he created, except in the anime-only New Captain Amagai arc. Aizen gives it a passing mention in chapter 397, and that's probably the last we'll ever hear of it.
    • Mayuri bribed Soul Reapers to avoid saving Quincies from dying so he could experiment on them in the afterlife until they died again. He also rigged Soul Reapers from his own division to be unwitting suicide bombs. No one, not even Ishida, brings this up at any point after the Soul Society arc.
  • All Just a Dream:
    • Episode 287, it is even said that it is just a dream during the episode!
    • It happens again in the monster episode (episode 304), Once again, Ichigo mentions that it's got to be a dream.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: Word of God has said he has no interest in writing a romance. As a result, any romance that does get mentioned or hinted at either ends tragically or isn't pursued (not even by the one feeling the emotions).
    • Orihime is in love with Ichigo. However, she also has no interest in pursuing a romance with him. So, not only does he not know about her feelings, but she also has no interest in making him aware of her feelings nor does she expect to have a romance with him.
    • Rukia's mentor Kaien was someone she idolised. She also idolised Kaien's wife. Like Orihime, she did not seek to pursue a romance with the object of her affection.
  • Angels Pose: Rukia, Orihime and Rangiku strike it at the end of the 10th anime opening.
  • Animal Motifs / Animal Stereotypes: Many characters, reflected through their powers or appearances. See Trope Pages for detail.
  • Animated Actors: Some of the Omake have the characters as these.
  • Animation Bump: The last few seconds of Ichigo's fight with Ouko Yushima are darn near movie quality.
    • The end of Hisagi's fight with Findor.
  • Apathy Killed the Cat: Many characters over the course of the series, usually played for laughs; Ichigo is a frequent participant.
  • An Arm and a Leg: This happens a lot in the midst of battles. From minor villains to main protagonists, very few have escaped experiencing this. The severed limbs commonly get healed back on in a lot of cases, if the characters haven't died.
  • Arc Number:
    • The number 5 keeps cropping up.
      • Every time the protagonists need to engage in a rescue there are always five members. The Soul Society arc had five Ryouka (Ichigo, Orihime, Sado, Uryuu and Yoruichi). The Arrancar arc had five invaders (Ichigo, Uryuu, Sado, Renji and Rukia). In response to an effort by Urahara, Isshin and Rukia during the Lost Agent arc, the Soul Reapers sent five representatives to rescue Ichigo (Byakuya, Renji, Kenpachi, Ikkaku and Hitsugaya). In the Thousand Year Blood War Arc, the Royal Guard is sent to pick up the pieces of a demolished Gotei 13, and sure enough, there are five members in total (Ichibei, Senjumaru, Ouetsu, Kirio and Tenjirou).
      • The Quincies are dominated by the number 5. Their cross motif is a five-pointed cross that can appear in both pentacle and pentagram formation. There are also special attacks that utilise five Seele Schneiders to pull off. Later on, they reveal they've designated five Special War Potentials that they take very great interest in (Ichigo, Kenpachi and Aizen are quickly confirmed, Yamamoto is quickly excluded, the identities of the remaining two are not revealed for a long time).
    • Significant time periods use the number 2.
      • 2,000 years ago Yamamoto created the modern Spiritual Arts Academy (The fandom estimates it's closer to 2,100 years ago but that Kubo is rounding to 2,000). It was also the last time Choujirou ever used bankai in public until the Vandenreich invasion.
      • 200 years ago was the Quincy massacre, leading to a massive social change among the Soul Reapers that "softened" them and caused an unusual and prolonged period of captain turnover. It also led to the invention of powering up techniques by the Quincies such as Vollstandig.
      • 20 years ago before the beginning of the main story, Aizen created a brand new type of hollow experiment that caused the events Everything but the Rain covers.
      • Aizen's fate. He receives a sentence of 20,000 years for his crimes.
    • Yhwach is heavily associated with the number nine, to the point where there's a Quincy poem made over it. He was sealed for 999 years; he reclaimed his heartbeat after 9 centuries, reclaimed his ability to reason after 9 decades, and reclaimed his power after 9 years. And apparently after 9 days, he'll "reclaim the world".
  • Arc Welding: Was the first part of the manga a stand alone story with its own Big Bad compared to the final arc and its Big Bad? Hell, no. Turns out Aizen's up to his eyeballs in affecting the final arc and the final arc's Big Bad has equally been involved in many of the events from earlier stages of the manga as well. While the fans viewed the story as one long chess game between Aizen and Urahara, the fandom didn't think to ask who had provided the chessboard. From events as apparently random as the death of Ichigo's mother, Rukia's execution, Ichigo's Substitute Soul Reaper badge, Aizen's hollowfication experiments and even Ryuuken's hatred of Quincies (and more!), the final arc's villain connects almost everything. Word of God has indicated that the arc welding actually occurred at the end of the Soul Society arc when he realized how to end the story on the basis of what he'd written up until that point. The Arrancar Arc was therefore a middle that suffered from Executive Meddling before the story was able to get back on track. Thus far, Re Write RetCons have been avoided, although several events (most particularly Masaki's death) have had to be Revisioned.
  • Art Evolution: Basically Kubo re-polishing his style; the usual differences are in the eyes and chins, but some characters have undergone more dramatic changes. Ichigo's clothing, for example, has evolved considerably over the course of the story.
  • Artistic License - Biology: Rukia's zanpakuto power allows her to lower the temperature of her body cells to absolute zero, rendering her immune to As Nodt's fear thorns. As Nodt's Vollstanding however allows him to induce fear through the optical nerves of her eye. Just what exactly does Kubo think nerves are made of?
  • Art Shift: In the Stinger of Episode 350, for no apparent reason.
  • Artificial Riverbank: All of Karakura Town is built around a big river with suck banks. Said river is good for watching fireworks, doing exercise, and being devoured by The Heartless.
  • Artistic Age: The main human (or equivalent) cast look at least nineteen but are actually in the 15-17 range. Ironically, Rukia looks the most like that age, but is Really 700 Years Old. What makes this even more bizarre is that Chad is explicitly Younger Than He Looks on top of that.
  • Ascended Extra: Tite Kubo's love of minor characters is well-known and oft-expressed, so it's not surprising that this happens a lot. Many of the captains and lieutenants from the 13 Squads are good examples.
  • Ascended Meme:
    • From one of the previews in the Zanpakuto Tales filler arc. "Isn't Kenpachi's Zanpakuto going to materialize?" "Of course not. If his Zanpakuto materialized, Soul Society would be destroyed and the show would be over." "Oh, so the studio stepped in."
    • Also, the "Leek Spin Girl" meme has appeared as an official card in the Bleach CCG. Orihime - Leek Spin.
  • Aside Comment: Anime episode 298. While Ichigo is being shanghaied into making a movie, he turns to the camera and says "I need an agent."
  • As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Some of the names Kubo comes up with for characters seem to be completely made-up. One of the most notable examples is NaNaNa Nahjakoop.
  • Assimilation Backfire: After Urahara comes with a way to hollowify bankai, we find out that a hollowified bankai is poisonous to Quincy.
  • Asskicking Equals Authority: The Gotei 13.
  • Ass Kicking Pose: Parodied/Subverted with Tatsufusa, 8th Division 3rd seat, and his Zanpakuto-flailing.
  • As You Know: Used often in the anime. An egregious one happens in the Invading Army arc, when a random Soul Reaper says "Ichigo Kurosaki, who has been imprisoned for being in the Dangai, has escaped!" to Ukitake and Kyoraku, who already knew why Ichigo was imprisoned.
  • Author Appeal:
    • There's a reason why some fans call him Titty Kubo. He also likes to dress up his characters in different outfits on the splash pages.
    • He's also got a thing for drawing closeups of people's teeth.
  • Author Avatar: Kuugo, with the other fullbringers representing different types of misadjusted readers. Tsukishima, the self-insert fanfic guy etcetera. Hence, "Welcome to OUR execution".
  • Awesome, but Impractical: There are a number of impractically huge weapons in the series, such as Renji's flail, Baraggan's axe, Nnoitra's sickle and Ikkaku's Bankai...thing. Currently in first place is Soifon's cruise missile Bankai—it looks kind of cool, but she absolutely hates it because it is so impractical for her preferred combat style, being huge, heavy, noisy, flashy, unhideable, and using too much power for her to do it again too many times.
    • As it turns out, all of the Bankai fall under this. While many have obvious drawbacks to one extent or another, it is eventually revealed that damage dealt to a Bankai can't be fixed without a visit to the Ultimate Blacksmith, who doesn't do housecalls, to put it mildly. Best be careful with them. Oh, and it turns out that the Vandenreich can steal Bankai, meaning that usage of their strongest weapons risks empowering their deadliest enemies.
  • Back-to-Back Badasses
    • Inverted in anime episode 14 "Back to Back, a Fight to the Death!" Ichigo forcibly gets newfound rival Ishida to do this to stave off a legion of Hollows while at the same time trying to convince him that they are Not So Different.
    • The anime season "The New Captain Shusuke Amagai".
      • The opening title includes Ichigo and Captain Amagai back to back.
      • In episode 186 Rukia and Rangiku Matsumoto (who had been fighting moments earlier) end up back to back facing off against an attack by ninja mooks.
    • Toshiro and Rangiku at the beginning of episode 222.
    • Referenced in the Zanpakuto tales filler arc, with Kuchiki Byakuya and Senbonzakura.
    Senbonzakura Master, I will watch your back.
    Byakuya That's not necessary.
    • Anime episode #319. While fighting against the Reigei guarding the Senkaimon gate, Ichigo and Rukia briefly stand back to back facing them.
  • Badass: Who in this manga isn't? Even most of the minor characters or the most mild-mannered characters will get a brief moment to shine.
  • Badass Army: The Vandenreich are the most destructive one to date in Bleach, effortlessly crippling the Gotei 13 in one assault. They are led by the Stern Ritter who command the elite Soldats.
  • Badass Cape: The Vandenreich all get special capes.
  • Bad Boss: The villains in general. Aizen couldn't care less about his minions if he tried, and the Vandenreich is even worse; Yhwach and Bambietta have both been shown killing subordinates just because. Averted by Starrk and Harribel, though. Also justified for Yhwach because he gains the power of every Vandenreich that dies. Killing them serves a purpose for him.
  • Bandage Babe: Fairly common in Bleach as it allows for Soul Reapers, including female Soul Reapers, to be stripped down at the chest without revealing anything. In Chapter 422, both Renji and Rukia are this at the same time.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: Although Bleach makes liberal use of Scenery Censor to hide the worst, it's quite clear that this trope is at work as well, especially whenever Yoruichi is stripped down.
  • Bare Your Midriff: Harribel, Nelliel, Mila-Rose, Lilynette, Loly and Charlotte Cuulhorne.
  • Barefoot Poverty: Becomes a plot point during the final arc - the denizens of Soul Society's worst districts are disappearing en masse, leaving only footprints, including some shoe prints. It's revealed that people who live within Districts 50-80 are so poverty-stricken, none have been known to wear shoes for 550 years. This clues in Lieutenant Kira to the fact that the conclusion villagers killed each other is wrong and that entire villages are being slaughtered by Soul Reapers. Thanks to Kira's revelation, it's discovered that, because a huge number of hollows were annihilated by Quincies, Mayuri's men comitted mass murder to avoid a pan-dimensional disaster that could destroy entire worlds: killing spirit-dwelling villagers counter-balanced the destroyed hollows in a case of Balancing Death's Books.
  • Barely-There Swimwear: In the Beach Episode based on the manga omakes, the women are shopping for swimwear and Isane is mourning the fact all the cute costumes are for shorter women. Her sister Kiyone finds her a swimsuit that she can wear, the catch being that it's entirely too revealing and skimpy for Isane to even contemplate wearing it. Her captain, Unohana intervenes and takes Kiyone's side, further shocking Isane. Then she reveals the swimming costume she's going to wear... and even Kiyone's jaw hits the floor. Only Isane's and Unohana's swimwear are commented on in-universe so only they fit this trope.
  • Battle Aura: Spiritual force is initially depicted as wind, but later in the series develops into auras. Certain high-power characters can even incapacitate weaker opponents simply by releasing their auras.
  • Beach Episode: Episode 228, and the omake of Volume 26, which also includes Orihime licking off the juices left from the Naughty Tentacles of some artificially created watermelon monsters created by the 12th division.
  • Become Your Weapon: The Arrancar all merge with their Zanpakuto when they want to go One-Winged Angel.
  • Berserk Button: Several, listed here.
  • Between My Legs: Ichigo, Rukia and Yuzu had this shot.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Retsu Unohana, Shunsui Kyoraku, Sosuke Aizen, Jushiro Ukitake, Coyote Starrk...
  • Beyond the Impossible: Aizen seeks to break the physical rules separating Soul Reapers from Hollow. He gives this big long speech at the end of the Soul Society arc about how hard these rules are.
  • BFG:
    • Soifon's bankai. It's a giant stinger missile that is launched from her arm and which is designed to nuke the enemy.
    • In the anime filler Sword Fiend arc, Hanatarou's materialized Zanpakuto, Hisagomaru, unfolds a BFG from the hidden compartment in his chest after absorbing enough pain energy. He, a one or two foot tall Bic-logo looking robot uses a BFG the size of a bus.
    • Ururu's missile launcher is three times as big as she is!
  • BFS:
    • Special prize goes to Gin's sword. In shikai form, Shinsou can extend to 100 times its normal length. In bankai, the damn thing is long enough to reach the outskirts of Karakura Town (which is a pretty big place) from roughly the center of the city.
    • And then there's the building-size spear Sokyoku that's used as an execution device.
    • Ginjou can turn his necklace into one of these.
  • Big Bad:
    • Sosuke Aizen is behind almost everything that's happened in this manga. Even in the final arc where he's technically still in prison, it turns out he's somehow involved in events and he's even manipulated Yhwach after only a few moments of contact. How and why he's involved, however, takes time for the arc to reveal.
    • In the final arc, Yhwach, The Emperor of the Vandenreich, is revealed to be involved in almost everything Aizen isn't. This includes the existence of the Quincies, the Great Offscreen War with the Soul Reapers and the formation of the Vandenreich. He also caused the deaths of Yamamoto, Ichigo's mother and Uryuu's mother.
  • Big Bra to Fill: The stage adaptation.
  • Big Damn Heroes: This manga thrives on this trope with multiple examples that just keep on coming.
  • Big "NO!": Multiple examples.
  • Bird Run: Soul Reapers use a variant of this running style, especially in combat or hurrying to the next scene/encounter.
  • Bishonen Line:
    • Hollows of Menos class and higher shrink down and get less monstrous-looking as they get stronger; the ultimate hollow class Vasto Lorde are basically humans with masks. Also, Aizen unlocks the power of hollows by removing their mask...and the change in power is shown by them becoming more human-like.
    • The Espada's releases are an example of this as one goes up by number until you reach the top 3. Yammy, Aaroniero, Szayel, and Zommari (10th through 7th respectively) are outright monstrous, but they get progressively smaller and arguably less scary. 6th through 3rd Espadas Grimmjow, Nnoitra, Ulquiorra, and Harribel (whose release gives her a much more stripperific outfit and changes her sword into a BFS, but that's it.) are animal based. Number 2 Baraggan defies the pattern by becoming a skeleton with a flaming fur coat, and 1st Espada Starrk gets it back on track with an eyepatch and a change of clothes. And a pair of really cool guns...only for the pattern to once again be defied by Yammy, as he's Espada #0 as well.
    • Ichigo's sword. It started out as a positively enormous katana-thing that grew as his power did. However, it was all volume, no density. When he underwent Training from Hell and learned to release his shikai, it settled into a single shape: like a giant, black cleaver. His Bankai form further reduces in size to a black daito (Japanese long sword that is slightly larger than a katana). It also concentrates his power and increases his speed immensely. This is reflected in the way his sword's spirit looks. Zangetsu is a Cool Old Guy. Tensa Zangetsu is a bishonen.
  • Bittersweet Ending: The end of the Zanpakutou Arc and it's tail-end mini-arc, the Beast Swords Arc.
  • Bizarrchitecture:
    • Kuukaku Shiba's house moves. A lot.
    • The layout (or at least the corridors) of Las Noches (or at least Szayel's section) can apparently be magically changed from a control room. It wasn't even mentioned that Las Noches is the size of a small country?
    • Las Noches has nothing on the Seireitei, which is labyrinthine for the sake of confusing invaders.
  • Black and Gray Morality: Despite being guardians of the afterlife, the Soul Reapers are far from saints. Several times over, it's pointed out how a number of the Captains can be ruthless, arrogant, manipulative, psychotic, homicidal and/or morally-ambiguous at any given scene. At best, they are guilty of negligence in not making the lives of their charges easier (we're lookin' at you Unohana, who used to be worse as Yachiru Unohana, being the worst criminal of Soul Society even surpassing Aizen). One of the few things that helps their hero cred is that their adversaries are the cannibalistic Hollows and that the former Big Bad (a Soul Reaper himself) was a MASSIVE prick. They also merrily employ a certain Mengele-esque Mad Doctor who is guilty of partial genocide, extremely extensive torture, and other crimes against humanity for the sake of science, something the leadership does not prevent.
  • Blind Obedience: The Gotei 13 is supposed to carry out the will of the Central 46 without question. Not even the captains have the power to question the Central 46's decisions. Going against the decisions of the Central 46 is treason and even questioning their orders is forbidden. This is why Aizen chose to masquerade as the Central 46 to order Rukia's execution. This is also why Yamamoto was so angry with Ukitake and Kyouraku's treason. This is also the reason Byakuya gave Ichigo in response to the latter's question about why he was willing to support his sister's execution, although it was eventually revealed that this wasn't the full truth behind Byakuya's behaviour. Kyouraku's first act as captain-commander is to begin changing this attitude.
  • Blood from the Mouth: To excess. Getting stabbed in the shoulder really shouldn't make you cough up blood.
  • Bloodier and Gorier: The Thousand Year Blood War arc has really ramped up the violence by comparison to the earlier arcs, ranging from Zaraki and Unohana fighting with the flesh peeling off, Opie absorbing Ayon into him, Yamamoto burning Driscoll all the way to the bone, or Byakuiya imaging a picture of Rukia's face melting.
  • Blue Blood: Aristocrats vs. commoners are an important theme in the story.
    • Most of Soul Society has a feudal level of technology and political organization, including being dominated by a hereditary landed ruling class. The nobility (which lives almost exclusively in Seireitei) is made up of families with a proven ability to breed new spiritually gifted souls—as opposed to the commoners in Rukongai who are mostly ordinary souls recently arrived from the World of the Living. There is also a major/minor noble distinction, with Seireitei politics dominated by the Four Great Houses, of which we have met the Kuchikis and the Shihouins. The Shibas used to be of equal stature but were exiled to the Rukongai. As a result, the majority of Gotei 13 Soul Reapers are at least minor nobility, although in recent times the proportion of gifted commoners from the Rukongai has been increasing.
    • The Quincy clan has a de facto nobility based on blood "purity". "Pure-blooded" families like the Ishidas command the loyalty of "mixed-blooded" families like the Katagiris and traditionally the two groups do not intermarry.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity:
    • Luppi thinks he's taken down Hitsugaya in one strike and doesn't follow through. Lampshaded by Hitsugaya when he points out that all it did was give him all the time in the world to set up an attack that could curb-stomp Luppi. Luppi was also mocked by his peers upon returning to Hueco Mundo for having been defeated so completely.
    • Barragan suffers from this at the end of his fight, despite being untouchable to his opponents. Hacchi realises that if Barragan's power is as dangerous as Barragan claims, then Barragan himself would be vulnerable to it. He uses kidou to expose Barragan to his own power and, sure enough, Barragan quickly dies.
    • Aizen, who is usually very savvy, manages to get two of his own.
      • He's so focused on defeating the power of the strongest offensive zanpakutou in Soul Society history that he fails to think of what will happen when it's removed from the picture. He takes out Yamamoto's zanpakutou very quickly, but Yamamoto points out that Soul Reapers aren't helpless without their zanpakutou and proceeds to prove it. Aizen fails to achieve his objective of killing Yamamoto and admits he underestimated the old man.
      • Aizen sets up an elaborate method of ensuring Ichigo can train for a power upgrade before they fight. He was hoping Ichigo would achieve a level of power strong enough for Aizen to reach a new level of power. Unfortunately for Aizen, he completely underestimated Ichigo's growth potential and ended up being curbstomped.
  • Bowdlerize: The anime is rather infamous for toning down some of the violence or nudity. Sometimes, it makes sense, like Harribel's girls and their arms turning into Ayon. At others, it clearly doesn't hold up to par. See trope page for full list.
  • Brain Bleach:
    • Renji and Uryuu are horrified by the manner in which Mayuri revives Nemu after Szayel's through with her. says it all.
    • Yumichika reacts to Charlotte Cuulhorne as if Cuulhorne's appearance is this. When trying to close his eyes to block out the horror fails, he decides the only solution is to wipe Charlotte out of existence. As a general rule, the fanbase is in full agreement with Yumichika on this matter.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • Happens mostly in the previews. In the story itself it's usually Kon who does it.
    • Uryu complains to Mayuri that his healing of Nemu was too inappropriate to air on TV.
  • Bring It: Kenpachi Zaraki does this twice to Nnoitra during their duel in Hueco Mundo, once by gesture and once verbally.
  • Bring Them Around: In the first Filler arc in the anime, one of the Bount is reluctant to try their Soylent Green Super Serum. Then he tries it anyway and turns into a massive prick.
  • Broken Pedestal: Aizen, Tousen...
  • Bunnies for Cuteness: Rukia has a soul candy dispenser with a cute bunny face on it. When Ichigo learns that Rukia was trying to get that one for him when she got Kon (who came in a duck-faced dispenser), He calls her on the cuteness and, in a sort of nervous anger, she responds that she likes bunnies.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The members of the Royal Guard are quite...colourful. Even Shinji found their self-created, full fanfare arrival eccentric. It's a miracle anyone would ever allow patients near Kirinji given how bizarre his healing practices actually are, and the others are as bizarre as he is.
  • Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Jigoku-cho, aka hell butterflies, naturally.
    • Both Aizen's penultimate form and the Soul King's appearance also portray butterfly themes.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: Releasing bankai includes stating the command 'Bankai' to activate the transformation, which is completed when the Soul Reaper announces the name of the bankai's released form. Soul Reapers who do not possess bankai must also speak a verbal command to activate their shikai (bankai-possessing Soul Reapers can choose to skip it, although most don't). Arrancar Resurreccion count too as they always transform.

    Manga/BleachTropes C-D

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