Summary
The Vizored are the exiled Soul Reapers with Hollow powers that lived in the World of the Living for a hundred years. Though they’re a beloved group in the eyes of fans ofBleach, their involvement after the Arrancar Saga left them disappointed. Shinji Hirako and his group were supposed to be exciting and interesting warriors, completely separate from the law-abiding members of the Gotei 13. And while their powers are definitely flashy, their place in the story seemed to be left to the side.
Why do fans feel disappointed with Hirako and his team? Could the Vizored have done more in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc ofBleachor are they just fine as they were?
Started Out Strong, The Mysterious Vizored
The First Victims of Aizen
Shinji Hirako and the others were all high-ranking members of the Gotei 13. Shinji, Kensei, Love, and Rojuro were all captains, while Lisa and Hiyori were lieutenants. So, off the bat, they were all established to be very powerful. Shinji was the captain of Squad 5, with Sousuke Aizen as his lieutenant. During this time,Aizen was starting his Hollowfication experiments, and Shinji and the others caught the worst part of it. Shinji, Love, Kensei, Rojuro, Lisa, Hiyori, Mashiro, and Hachigen were Hollowfied by Aizen, only barely saved by Kisuke Urahara and Tessai. But by Aizen’s machinations, they, alongside Urahara, Tessai, and Yoruichi were exiled from the Soul Society.
The Vizored lived in the World of the Living for a hundred years, waiting for their time to get their revenge on Aizen. In the meantime, they learn to use these newfound powers. They are trained to master their Hollow side and use their powers as a new asset. Eventually, they metIchigo Kurosaki, a natural-born Vizored, and they trained him to use his powers just like them.
The team started with close involvement with Ichigo,giving him the tools to battle the Espada and Aizen, and they had their own dedicated arc, Turn Back the Pendulum. They were quickly established to be powerful and important characters with their own agenda. The Gotei 13 battled Aizen out of duty, Ichigo battled him out of his sense of justice and to protect everyone, but the Vizored had a very personal reason to kill him. Aizen had hurt everyone involved, he had Kaname Tosen and Gin Ichimaru betray the Gotei 13, he had kidnapped Orihime Inoue and endangered Karakura Town. But for the Vizored, it was another level of betrayal, he had ruined their lives.
The Vizored had arguably the best motivation to defeat Aizen. However, their involvement left a lot to be desired. They battled Aizen along with the Gotei, but they barely contributed to the fight besides Shinji. They barely had any conclusion regarding their conflict with Aizen.Kaname Tosen had his arc about revengeshowing how wrong he was and how it corrupted him, so revenge wasn’t the ideal path for them. But it feels like a missed opportunity to not show the Vizored processing Aizen’s defeat.
Thousand-Year Blood War, The Vizored’s Lowest Point
Only Weakened Captains Now
It’s revealed in supplementary material that Central 46 had prohibited the Vizored from using their Hollow powers after Shinji, Rojuro, and Kensei regained their position as captains of the Gotei 13.So this explains why these three could have had a better fighting chance, but they were simply not allowed to. Kensei and Rojuro battled Sternritter S - Mask de Masculine. They both used their Bankai against him, but Mask’s unfair abilities were a hard counter to them. While their Bankai would’ve made short work of many other enemies, Mask was able to heal from any injury thanks to his Schrifft: The Superstar.
Kensei and Rojuro are then killed by Gremmy Thoumeauxand turned into Zombies by Giselle Gewelle, making their involvement even more degrading. Shinji Hirako had a short moment of glory as well. He used his Shikai, Sakanade, to stop Sternritter E - Bambietta Basterbine in her tracks. But as soon as Bambietta used her Vollstandich, she defeated him with one blow, leaving him out of commission. In the anime version, Shinji used his Bankai: Sakashima Yokoshima Happo Fusagari to dispatch a group of Soldat. While this new scene was greatly appreciated, Shinji used his Bankai on grunts, making the inclusion a bit less impressive.
The Vizored were arguably humiliated in Thousand Year Blood War, after all the build-up and plot relevance they had before. The team is very popular with fans. However, Tite Kubo seems to not like them as much. The Vizored could’ve had a lot more to do, something better to do. But they were simply pushed aside while the rest of the Gotei 13 had incredible moments throughout the arc. This is why fans feel disappointed with the conclusion the Vizored had. Hopefully, the rest of the anime adaptation will find a spot to give them something new and exciting that wasn’t in the manga, just like Shinji’s Bankai.
Bleach
Cast
Based on Tite Kubo’s battle shonen manga, Bleach centers around Ichigo, a high school student who is dragged into the world of Soul Reapers. The original anime ended in 2012, but it was revived in 2022.
