Bleach Officially Sets Up New Strongest Soul Reaper Captain

The Captains of the Gotei 13 are among the strongest Soul Reapers in Bleach. Each Captain possesses immense spiritual energy and they can all use Shikai and Bankai. The last season of Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War saw three fan-favorite Captains take on a God-level Quincy with a broken ability, and during this battle, it became clear that the series has established one of them as the new strongest Captain.

These Captains are all highly skilled fighters with deadly Shikai and Bankai, and they were all able to deal serious damage to one of the franchise’s strongest villains. That said, one Captain stands above the other two. He may not be as experienced as his Soul Reaper counterparts, but at full power, Hitsugaya is capable of beating virtually anyone.

The Strongest Soul Reaper Captain Typically Leads The Gotei 13

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There is no question that Ichibe Hyosube of Squad Zero is the strongest Soul Reaper of all time, but he never served as a Gotei 13 Captain. For more than 1,000 years, there was no question who the strongest Soul Reaper Captain was, because Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto led the Gotei 13 unopposed. He wielded Ryūjin Jakka, the oldest and most powerful fire-type Zanpakuto. Its Shikai could burn anything to ash, and its Bankai, Zanka no Tachi, was powerful enough to destroy the entire Soul Society if were left active for too long. Yamamoto killed Yhwach during the first Quincy war 1,000 years ago, and even someone with god-tier spiritual energy like Sosuke Aizen feared his power. That is why the Gotei 13 suffered a massive blow when a resurrected Yhwach killed Yamamoto during the Thousand-Year Blood War arc.

Shunsui Kyoraku succeeded Yamamoto as the Gotei 13’s new Captain Commander because Central 46 deemed him to be the strongest, wisest, and most experienced fighter. Some would say Captain Unohana was the strongest Captain at the time because she was the original Kenpachi and a member of the original Gotei 13, who were said to be the strongest iteration of the Gotei 13. Shunsui proved why he was named Captain Commander when he fought Lille Barro, the leader of Yhach’s Royal Guard. Lille was a god-tier Quincy who was capable of piercing through anything, vaporizing a city, and becoming intangible. It took a sacred object that could reflect Lille’s own power back at him to defeat him. If it had not been for Lille’s broken abilities, Shunsui would have ended him with his Bankai, which can affect and kill everyone in a city regardless if they are friend or foe.

All of the Gotei 13 Captains are strong, but it is clear that the strongest Captain leads the entire organization. They are expected to fight the most powerful and dangerous beings in existence, and they need to be strong enough to keep the other Captains in line. Not only is the strongest Soul Reaper Captain expected to be a master swordsman of unparalleled skill with immense spiritual energy, but their Bankai also needs to be inherently broken in terms of raw power. The most recent episode of Bleach: TYBW, revealed who Shunsui’s most logical successors are, and the argument can be made that they have already surpassed him in strength.

The Battle With Gerard Valkyrie Revealed Who The Top 3 Contenders Are

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The Soul King is the God of the Bleach universe, and Gerard Valkyrie is the Soul King’s sentient heart. As a result, Gerard can bring miracles to life, which is an absurdly broken ability in battle. If Gerard does not have a chance of winning a fight, The Miracle will automatically make him strong enough to win. Even if Gerard is seemingly killed, The Miracle will bring him back to life bigger and stronger than ever. Gerard has been fighting the bulk of the Gotei 13’s forces in the Soul King’s Palace, but only three Soul Reaper Captains have done legitimate damage to him.

Byakuya Kuchiki is the Captain of Squad 6, and according to the canonical Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World light novel, Shunsui believes Byakuya will likely succeed him as Captain Commander. Not only is Byakuya a talented swordman with insane speed and Kido mastery, his Shikai and Bankai can now tear apart base Gerard, who was powerful enough to overwhelm a member of Squad Zero. Byakuya was trained at the Soul King’s Palace and received a major power-up. Not only did Byakuya not sustain critical damage against Gerard, he was able to block Gerard’s god-like attack with ease with his Bankai. His Ikka Senjinka attack turned Gerard’s enormous near-indestructible head to dust, which proves he is strong enough to take Shunsui’s spot as Captain Commander.

Toshiro Hitsugaya became the Captain of Squad 10 at an unprecedent young age because he is a Soul Reaper prodigy who currently wields Hyorinmaru, the strongest ice-type Zanpakuto. During his battle with Coyote Starrk, Shunsui stated that Toshiro will eventually surpass him, and the Gerard fight proved him right. For most of Bleach, the main difference between Toshiro’s Shikai and Bankai was the amount of ice he was able to create and manipulate. It was also presumed that Toshiro had not fully mastered his Bankai because of the ice petals that gradually disappeared while his Bankai was active. These ice petals were actually a countdown towards his complete Bankai, which temporarily ages Toshiro into an adult. This mature version of Daiguren Hyorinmaru is the icy equivalent of Yamamoto’s Zanka no Tachi, and if The Miracle was not inherently broken, it would have ended Gerard with a single attack.

Kenpachi Zaraki is the Captain of Squad 11, and Yhwach named him one of the Soul Society’s Five Special War Powers because of his incredible fighting ability. This was before Zaraki killed Captain Unohana and regained the power he had been subconsciously repressing for centuries. After regaining his true power, Zaraki learned to communicate with his Zanpakuto, which is why he now has access to both Shikai and Bankai. His Shikai can cut through the fabric of space, and it cut off one of Gerard’s gigantic arms in one swing.

Kenpachi’s Bankai is so powerful that only a handful of anime characters can beat it. Its release looks and feels like a nuclear blast has gone off. He becomes an Oni-like berserker who can cut anything in existence. Not only did he quickly overpower Gerard, he cut him in half with a single slash. Gerard only survived because The Miracle brought him back to life, but the fact that Kenpachi killed him for a few seconds proves that he is now one of the few Soul Reapers who can take down a god-tier threat.

Toshiro Hitsugaya Is The Clear Favorite

Toshiro is still very young, but after the most recent episode of the Thousand-Year Blood War, he is clearly the strongest Soul Reaper Captain. The only issue is that it takes time for Toshiro to access his full strength. When Toshiro taps into his true power, he has the ability to flash-freeze anything with a simple hand gesture. This ability extends to whatever his sword cuts. If that were not enough, adult Toshiro can freeze all matter within four spaces of his current location, and anyone who physically touches him also freezes.

This ice is special because anything it freezes has all of its movements and abilities negated. It negated the power of Gerard’s Hoffnung, a god-tier sword that reflects damage. It would have worked on Gerard too if The Miracle was not the ultimate trump card. Theoretically, Toshiro’s Hyorinmaru is one of the few Zanpakuto that could have stopped Yhwach, which puts the young Captain in the same category as Yamamoto. Once he reaches adulthood, Toshiro will have access to this power whenever he wants, and that is scary to think about.

There are fans who would argue that Zaraki’s immense raw power makes him the strongest Soul Reaper Captain right now, but unlike Toshiro, he cannot control his true power. In fact, Kenpachi’s body tears itself apart if he uses his Bankai for too long. If they fought each other at full power, Toshiro would nullify Kenpachi’s berserker strength and cutting power with his ice. Byakuya’s swordsmanship and speed are arguably superior to Toshiro’s, and his Zanpakuto can produce millions of tiny blades, but all of that means nothing if Byakuya is instantly frozen when he gets within range of Toshiro’s Bankai. Even Byakuya’s Bankai would be ineffective because Toshiro can move his hand and freeze most of the blades before they even reach him. Motion and ability nullification is a broken ability, so much so that mature Toshiro’s ice should be able to stop Ichigo, Shunsui, and Aizen. Fire may be able to melt ice, but adult Toshiro can probably counter Yamamoto’s flames as well.

The final season of Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War is off to a very exciting start, and it has already set up the new strongest Soul Reaper Captain. Toshiro Hitsugaya has the power to defeat virtually anyone with his mature Bankai, a Bankai that he has already mastered. Kenpachi Zaraki’s raw power may be greater than Toshiro’s, but he cannot control his full power like Toshiro can. Byakuya excels at every aspect of Soul Reaper combat, but at the end of the day, he can be defeated by Toshiro in seconds. The current Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 admitted that Toshiro will surpass him, and although Toshiro’s Bankai cannot burn the Soul Society to the ground like Yamamoto’s, it can certainly plunge it into an eternal ice age.

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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