Bleach Unveils Its Most Overpowered New Ability

A Schrift is a unique Quincy ability that Yhwach engraves onto a Quincy’s soul, and many of these abilities rank among the most broken in Bleach. The Antithesis is a Shrift that Yhwach bestowed onto his chosen successor, and the argument can be made that it is the most broken ability in the series. Uryu demonstrated the full power of The Antithesis in the most recent episodes of Bleach: TYBW.

The Antithesis would be considered a broken ability in any anime universe, as it has the potential to instantly turn the tide of any battle. It literally allowed Uryu to defeat one of the strongest Soul Reapers in existence. Is The Antithesis the most broken ability in Bleach? That is a tough question to answer because there are quite a few abilities worthy of that title.

Bleach Is Filled With Broken Abilities

It is true that many of Bleach‘s broken abilities only appear in the second half of the series, but fans have been seeing broken abilities as early as the Soul Society arc. Aizen’s Kyoka Suigetsu can place others under a form of complete hypnosis, to the point multiple Captains can be tricked into attacking each other. Byakuya’s Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, can tear most enemies to shreds with hundreds of millions of tiny blades. Even Tosen’s Bankai can be considered broken because it eliminates every sense except touch. The Arrancar Saga introduced more broken abilities, like Baraggan’s Senescencia and Respira, which causes anything around him to rapidly age until it turns to dust. Even Bankai attacks and Kido spells age into nothingness. Zommari’s Amor can take control of anyone with special sun-shaped tattoos. Shinji Hirako’s Shikai inverts a person’s sense of direction and eyesight, making it almost impossible to properly dodge attacks. Gin Ichimaru’s Bankai can cut a city in half at 500 times the speed of sound, and Ichigo’s Mugetsu technique can almost kill a god-like, immortal being like Aizen.

The Thousand-Year Blood War arc introduced most of Bleach‘s broken abilities, including Captain Commander Yamamoto’s Bankai, Zanka no Tachi, which has the power to erase anything from existence with a single slash. If left active for too long, it can destroy the entire Soul Society. Ichibe Hyosube is one of the most dangerous characters at the end of the TYBW because he can take away someone’s name and power. Not only can he rename someone, he can destroy their body to the point they cannot reincarnate. Mayuri Kurotsuchi revealed a modified Bankai that can counter any ability with enough data, while Kenpachi Zaraki gained a Zanpakuto that can cut through space and Gods like butter. Toshiro Hitsugaya’s true Bankai can freeze and nullify other abilities, and Kisuke Urahara’s Bankai can essentially disassemble and reassemble matter.

The Quincy have the most broken abilities, however. Yhwach can see into future, alter the future, and become immune to other abilities thanks to The Almighty. Gremmy could use The Visionary to bring his imagination to life, which means he could literally do or create whatever he wanted. Lille Barro could become intangible and pierce through any defense with The X-Axis, While Askin Nakk Le Vaar could become immune to an opponent’s spiritual energy while forcing others to deal with lethal doses caused by The Deathdealing. The Zombie gave Giselle immortality and the ability to turn anyone into zombies, while The Yourself gave Loyd Lloyd the ability to copy another person’s appearance, spiritual energy, and abilities. Pernida could evolve until it became resistant or immune to abilities, and it could tear things apart with its nerves because of The Compulsory. Gerard Valkyrie could not lose a battle or die while The Miracle was active, which is why he could face multiple Captains at once and survive being cut in half. The Antithesis is broken in its own way.

The Antithesis Is A Broken Top-Tier Quincy Schrift

Image via studio Pierrot.

Yhwach personally bestowed The Antithesis onto Uryu Ishida when he pretended to join the Wandenreich after the first Sternritter invasion of the Soul Society. The Antithesis is a top-tier Schrift worthy of Yhwach’s chosen successor because it allows Uryu to designate any two points and reverse any events that have already occurred between them. Uryu first used The Antithesis in the Soul King’s Palace when he threw his button outside of Kirio Hikifune’s Cage of Life and had Yhwach switch places with it. While fighting Jugram Haschwalth, Uryu demonstrated that The Antithesis can swap pieces of clothing. He put on his Sanrei Glove and placed it on Jugram’s hand mid fight, which allowed him to drain the Sternritter Grandmaster’s power. For some reason, The Antithesis’ power significantly increased after Yhwach awakened The Almighty.

Senjumaru Shutara is a member of Squad Zero and the strongest female character at the end of the TYBW. Releasing her Bankai sends shockwaves through reality itself and is powerful enough to kill Yhwach’s entire Royal Guard, but the enhanced version of The Antithesis can counter it. Her Shide no Rokushiki Ukimon no Hata technique creates a pattern that specifically counters her opponent, but The Antithesis allowed Uryu to break free of his restraints and switch places with her. In the end, Senjumaru was defeated by her own Bankai, while Uryu escaped without a scratch.

The most broken aspect of The Antithesis is the fact that it allows Uryu to reverse injuries and damage between himself and his opponent. While fighting Jugram in the Soul King’s Palace, Uryu suffered fatal damage, but before he died, he used The Antithesis to give the injuries to Jugram instead. Since Jugram was far less injured when The Antithesis was activated, Uryu ended up healing at the same time. The only reason Jugram overcame The Antithesis is because The Balance can also reverse damage. The Antithesis is more versatile though, as Uryu can use it to reverse fatal damage before swapping places with another object. This way Uryu can escape before his injured opponent can potentially heal or retaliate. The Antithesis is one of the best trump card abilities in anime, because if used at the right moment, it can give Uryu an automatic win, and there is virtually no way to defend against it because the reversal occurs instantly.

The Antithesis Can Counter Many Of Bleach’s Strongest Abilities, But Not All Of Them

The best way to determine whether The Antithesis is Bleach‘s most broken ability is to compare it against the series’ other broken abilities. The X-Axis can take Uryu down with a headshot, but if he uses The Antithesis to swap places with Lille, it will be Lille who goes down. If Uryu’s body is riddled with shots from The X-Axis, he can transfer that damage to Lille. The Visionary can alter Uryu’s body in many ways, but unless Gremmy uses it to kill Uryu instantly, The Antithesis can force all these alterations onto Gremmy instead. If Senbonzakura’s Bankai shreds Uryu in the same way it did Byakuya when As Nodt stole it, Uryu can transfer the damage before he dies. Baraggan is usually protected from his Respira, but if any part of Uryu’s body begins to age, he can transfer the effect to Baraggan’s body. Pernida can use The Compulsory to tear Uryu apart, but The Antithesis can transfer the nerves back to Pernida. Ichibe’s power can be countered because it utilizes ink, which can be transferred onto him instead.

Unfortunately, there are also broken abilities that The Antithesis cannot deal with. Yamamoto’s Bankai is a one-shot kill, as is Ichigo’s Mugetsu and most of Kenpachi’s Shikai and Bankai attacks. There would not be enough time for Uryu to activate The Antithesis before he died. Toshiro’s complete Bankai instantly nullifies other abilities, which means The Antithesis cannot activate. Tosen’s Bankai makes The Antithesis useless because Uryu cannot see Tosen or his attacks. Gerard is one of the few Bleach villains who should have never lost because The Miracle is a cheat code. Even if Gerard inflicts fatal damage to Uryu, and it gets reversed, The Miracle will bring Gerard back to life stronger than before. At some point, Gerard would become strong enough to one-shot Uryu. The Almighty counters The Antithesis because Yhwach can see its activation coming, so he can set traps ahead of time. That said, The Antithesis can also counter The Almighty if Yhwach is busy slicing someone like Renji apart and Uryu reverses the damage between them.

The Antithesis is easily one of the most overpowered abilities in Bleach. The ability to instantly reverse fatal damage is basically a guaranteed win in most fights, especially if Uryu plans things out properly. It might be able to counter many of Bleach‘s other broken abilities, including The Almighty, but it cannot be considered the most broken, not when there are other abilities that can easily counter it. The Antithesis is only effective if the user survives an attack long enough for the Schrift to activate, which means it is useless against one-shot abilities. Any ability capable of instantly nullifying other powers directly counters it as well. As long as Uryu has enough time to react, he can reverse any damage he sustains with The Antithesis, but if he goes into battle thinking he can win every fight this way, he will be sorely mistaken.

Release Date

2004 – 2012-00-00

Network

TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC, BS TV Tokyo

Showrunner

Tite Kubo

Directors

Mitsutaka Noshitani, Junya Koshida, Hodaka Kuramoto, Yasuto Nishikata, Hiroaki Nishimura, Kazunori Mizuno, Akira Shimizu, Rokou Ogiwara, Kazunobu Shimizu, Akane Inoue, Hikaru Murata, Tomoko Hiramuki, Kazuo Nogami, Taiji Kawanishi, Shigeki Hatakeyama, Eiko Nishi, Takushi Kimura, Koji Aritomi, Ogura Shirakawa, Kiyomu Fukuda, Yukio Okazaki, Mitsue Yamazaki, Yasuhiro Matsumura, Eitarou Ano

Writers

Masahiro Okubo, Masashi Sogo, Kenta Shimoyama, Genki Yoshimura, Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, Rika Nakase, Michiko Yokote, Natsuko Takahashi, Kento Shimoyama

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  Masakazu Morita

  Ichigo Kurosaki (voice)

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  Fumiko Orikasa

  Rukia Kuchiki

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