Byakuya Kuchiki

, is essentially a much larger version of Senbonzakura's "shikai". To activate it, Byakuya drops his sword. The sword passes through the ground and two rows of giant blades rise up from the ground. These then scatter into millions of tiny blades. The number of blades is great enough that Byakuya can use them for defense and offense at the same time. He commonly forms them into large masses of blades to crush opponents. ["Bleach" manga; chapter 142.] ["Bleach" manga, chapter 161.] Like with his shikai, its attack is triggered with the phrase "scatter".

Byakuya's "bankai" has several forms, achieved by arranging the blades in different patterns. They are activated by saying the name of the technique followed by the name of his "bankai". Each form presents a different advantage, such as increasing offense at the expense of defense.

Byakuya's attack form is nihongo|"massacre scene"|殲景|senkei|"Viz:" "annihilate", which unites the scattered petals into complete swords that form four rows around Byakuya and his opponent. In this form, Byakuya abandons the defense potential of his many blades and concentrates on killing the enemy. While Byakuya can control these swords as he does his regular blades, he usually attacks with just one in hand. He remarks in his battle with Ichigo that he normally only shows senkei to those he has sworn to "kill by his own hand", Ichigo being the second to see this. ["Bleach" manga; chapter 164, page 11.] After immobilizing an opponent, he can call in the other blades to hit them while they're trapped. He can also use all the blades at once for one immensely powerful strike.

To overwhelm the defense of an opponent, Byakuya can use nihongo|"pivotal scene"|吭景|gōkei. This aligns every blade in a spherical formation around his opponent, which then collapses into them from every possible angle, leaving no blind spots and no chance to escape. ["Bleach" manga; chapter 301, page 22.]

Finally, when Byakuya is weakened, he can use nihongo|"final scene"|終景|shūkei|"Viz:" "last sight". This condenses every one of his blades into a single sword, drastically increasing its cutting power. The blade appears bright white and its aura takes the form of a bird, earning it the name nihongo|"white imperial sword"|白帝剣|hakuteiken|"Viz:" "white emperor sword". Byakuya also grows pure white wings and a halo-like circle in the back, both made of spiritual power. ["Bleach" manga; chapter 166, page 16.]

Appearances in other media

Byakuya appears in the "Sealed Sword Frenzy" OVA [ [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6197 Anime News Network - Bleach: The Sealed Sword Frenzy] ] and also in the feature length movies, "Memories of Nobody" and "The Diamond Dust Rebellion" [ [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6600 Anime News Network - Bleach: Memories of Nobody] ] . He appears in the Bleach video games such as "Blade Battlers" "Hanatareshi Yabou" & "Heat The Soul". [ [http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/bleach/blade/ Bleach Blade Battlers Main Page] ] [ [http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/bleach/heat4/ Bleach Heat The Soul 4 Main Page] ] [ [http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/bleach/heat5/ Bleach Heat The Soul 5 Main Page] ] He has two songs in the latest Bleach Beat Collection, a solo entitled 'Yozora no Kawa', and a duet with Rukia Kuchiki entitled 'Listen to One Story'. [ [http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Animation/bleach/blchara01.html Bleach Beat Collection] ]

Reception

Byakuya ranked 7th in the most recent popularity poll with 4,010 votes, edging out Orihime Inoue by 35 votes. ["Bleach" manga; chapter 307, pages 1 and 2] In 2007, he was one of 4 Bleach characters to place in Newtype Japan's top 100 anime character listing.Fact|date=September 2008

IGN praises his character's faults and contrasts with Ichigo shown during their climactic battle, stating that "his problem... is that he's arrogant. He underestimates Ichigo at every turn, and his underestimating always allows Ichigo to surprise him," and adding that Byakuya and Ichigo's battle was "made better by the fact that these two characters have such different personalities and they really seem to be bringing the best out of each other." His lack of truly villainous characteristics as an antagonistic role was also praised; in the same review, IGN notes that Ichigo and Byakuya are both "just two people fighting for what they think is right. Ichigo for friendship, and Byakuya for honor and Soul Society pride. Instead of the usual evil vs. good battle, it becomes more about whether honor and rules should come first before saving a friend." [ [http://tv.ign.com/articles/865/865102p1.html IGN: Unseal! The Black Blade, The Miraculous Power Review] ] At the end of the Soul Society arc, moments showing Byakuya's changes in character were heralded as being some of "the best in the episode"; IGN writes "while Byakuya has changed, he still enjoys some of the traditions of the Soul Society." [ [http://tv.ign.com/articles/873/873988p1.html IGN: Rukia's Resolution, Ichigo's Feelings Review] ]

References