Bleach is an anime series which is packed full of characters. While the story primarily focuses on the adventures of Ichigo and his main group of friends, the number of other characters he meets along the way is pretty staggering, but while many have become fan-favorites, there are some who don't receive quite as much love, even though they really deserve to.
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Even though some of them have pretty big impacts on the story, and are often instrumental in stopping the villains from achieving their goals, or in pushing the heroes to new heights, these characters are unfortunately usually overshadowed by the rest of the cast. Whether it's because they don't get too much screentime, their spotlight is stolen away by another person, or they simply were placed in a story arc which wasn't very well received, these individuals listed below often don't get the attention they deserve, so it's time to take a look at what makes them so underrated.
7 Kukaku Shiba
Kukaku Plays An Extremely Important Role In Getting Ichigo Into The Serieritei To Save Rukia
While a lot of people credit Kisuke and Yoruichi for being the ones who enabled Ichigo and his friends to enter the Soul Society, Kukaku was just as vital to this plan, even though she had every right to turn them away. Upon reaching her house, Kukaku explains to Ichigo that he won't be able to actually enter the Seireitei by just walking in, since it's completely surrounded by a wall of Sekkiseki, which essentially prevents anyone from physically entering the area.
As a result, she offers them the opportunity to use her special "Cannonball" which will be able to fling them directly into the Seireitei by passing through the barrier, which actually manages to work, despite each character being split up because of the blast. She's therefore an incredibly important character who is often overshadowed by Kisuke and Yoruichi, even though Ichigo's mission to rescue Rukia could never have even started if not for her generosity.
6 Quilge Opie
Quilge Is An Incredibly Charismatic Sternritter Who Unfortunately Meets His Demise Way Too Soon
Because of how unique and interesting each of Sternritter are in their designs and personalities, it made it so much fun being able to learn more about them as the Thousand Year Blood War went on, with the likes of Bambietta and As Nodt instantly becoming fan-favorites. In the case of Quilge though, because he was one of the very first Sternritters introduced, and met his demise very early on, it means that a lot of people forget about him, despite how much of a stunning impression he makes during his brief appearances.
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Quilge is loyal to a fault, carrying out anything that his master Yhwach demands of him, as shown when he lines up multiple Arrancar and kills them off one by one during the invasion of Hueco Mundo. His intimidating design and ruthless powers make him a genuinely terrifying enemy who perfectly encapsulates the vicious nature of the Sternritter, and there's no better character who could have given Ichigo a taste of what he would be in for going forward than Quilge.
5 Aaroniero Arruruerie
Aaroniero's Creepy Appearance And Unique Ability Actually Make Him A Fascinating Member Of The Espada
When it comes to the Arrancar, a lot of fans gravitate towards the more powerful members such as Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, both of whom have encouraged plenty of online discussions, but one member who also deserves this same amount of attention is Aaroniero. Despite being one of its weaker member, Aaroniero might just be the most unique and weird character of the bunch, not only in his appearance, which looks like he was ripped right out of a creepy sci-fi move, but also his incredibly powerful abilities, which allow him to steal the look and powers of other Hollows by absorbing them.
This results in him having an amazing battle with Rukia where Aaroniero decides to mess with her by portraying himself as her former friend, Kaien, who was killed by a Hollow many years ago. Through the battle, Rukia learns that it's not the physical appearance of someone that matters, but their soul, as she eventually overcomes the Espada member by looking past his disturbing powers. He may not show up for long, but Aaroniero's sick and twisted abilities managed to push Rukia forward emotionally as a character, and he's therefore a great enemy because of it.
4 Rose Otoribashi
Rose Is Often Overshadowed By His Vizard Allies, But He's Still An Amazing Character With A Deep Love For Music
The Vizards sit in a pretty weird spot in the series, since they aren't as powerful as the Soul Reapers or the Arrancar, and are basically just there to help Ichigo master his Hollow powers before he encounters Aizen. However, it's clear that Kubo still spent a lot of time and effort making each of them special in their own ways, and with Rose, his biggest characteristic is his undying love for music. Rose can often be seen tuning his guitar when he's not in battle, but when it's time to throw down, he also incorporates this passion into his fighting style, and even his Bankai.
During Rose's Bankai, Kinshara Butodan, he summons what he calls the "Dancer's of Death" to surround the opponent who proceed to attack them with a barrage of attacks while a guitar melody plays in the background to orchestrate their motions. Rose also showed no hesitation in fighting off Aizen and the Arrancar in order to buy some time for Ichigo to return, and while he is eventually struck down along with his comrades, he's still an incredibly stylish and cool character whose obsessions with music isn't really seen in any other character throughout the series.
3 Shukuro Tsukishima
Although Ginjo Stole His Spotlight, Tsukishima Is Still One Of The Most Terrifying Villains In The Series
The Fullbring Arc sometimes gets a bad rap for being a lot slower and less action-focused than many of the other arcs in Bleach, but that's not to say that it isn't still full of wonderful characters, with Tsukishima being a particular standout. The surprise reveal of Ginjo being a villain at the end of the arc basically stole the spotlight from Tsukishima, but when looking at his powers, he is truly one of the scariest and most frightening villains in the entire series, and is the one who manages to force Ichigo to his breaking point.
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Tsukishima is able to literally insert himself into a person's memories by replacing someone else, so when he uses this on all of Ichigo's friends and family, they all completely forget who he is, since they now see Tsukishima has changed places with him. Ichigo has always been able to go toe-to-toe with his enemies physically, but Tsukishima stole everything from him, and for this alone, he really should be talked about a lot more.
2 Yachiru Kusajishi
Despite Not Being As Intimidating As The Other Soul Reapers, Yachiru Is Still An Incredibly Fun And Intriguing Character
The Gotei 13 Captains are all extremely dangerous individuals who aren't shy about taking out anyone who threatens the status quo of their society. As a result, they all come across as genuinely menacing and intimidating through their appearance, words, and actions on the battlefield, but Yachiru is a little different, being a care-free and bubbly young girl who seems to enjoy nothing more than getting on Kenpachi's nerves.
While it would have been easy to make Yachiru nothing more than a comic relief character, Kubo actually managed to add quite a bit of depth to her, especially during Kenpachi's bout with Ichigo where she can be shown genuinely caring for her Captain getting hurt. The fact that she's also a lieutenant of the Eleventh Division, ranking above the likes of Ikkaku and Yumichika, further hinted that she possessed an incredible level of power, which would eventually be revealed much later on in the story. Making a character like this in a world as brutal and dark as Bleach could have gone very wrong, but Kubo managed to perfectly balance Yachiru being both hilarious but also intriguing as a character, which is a very hard thing to do.
1 Hanataro Yamada
Hanataro Really Deserves More Credit For How Much He Puts On The Line To Help Ichigo Save Rukia
Upon seeing the Gotei 13 Captains for the first time in the Soul Society arc, every fan immediately picked their favorite out of the group since they're all designed to be incredibly distinctive and unique in their own ways. Because of how fascinating all of these characters were, it meant that when Hanataro, a member of the Third Division, randomly pops up, he seems pretty uninteresting in comparison. In truth though, if it wasn't for Hanataro healing Ichigo after every one of his battles, then he surely would have died much earlier on, so Hanataro actually plays an extremely important role throughout the arc.
In fact, he even proves to be even more useful than Ganju who is constantly making mistakes and getting in the way of the mission at hand, while Hanataro simply hangs back and rushes in to cure anyone who needs it, even going as far as to protect Rukia in her time of need. His timid personality and bland design might make him seem unimportant, but Hanataro is truly underrated, considering just how important he actually is as a character and how much he was willing to put on the line just for the sake of Ichigo.
Bleach
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.
- Release Date
- October 5, 2004
- Creator
- Tite Kubo
- Main Genre
- Animation
