User blog:Mrlmm0605/Let's Talk Bleach!: Part 8 - alphabet 2

Hey y'all, it's Mrlmm1996 coming to talk to you about Bleach! This is not a discussion of individual episodes or chapters; rather, it is a look at the main ideas of Bleach, illustrated using examples from the story to prove a point. It is to be noted that, as this blog uses examples from Bleach fiction to make its point, there are unmarked spoilers contained throughout, so read at your own risk. Also, this blog is NOT a replacement for the Wiki's pages on the subject of discussion; I will not tell you what something is, but I will discuss what I think it means. The thoughts portrayed below will not be embraced by everyone, and I welcome dissenting opinions in the comments. Please, keep all responses within the confines of Bleach Wiki's Policies and the Wikia Terms of Use.

Song of the Wiku:[| Spinal Fluid Explosion Girl] by Rerulli feat. Hatsune Miku and GUMI

I'm back!

Yeah, I've had some issues in my offline life over the past few weeks. They're over now, though, so I can actually write this. Yaaay!

Some weeks ago, I got into a discussion with Ms. SunXia regarding the treatment of women in Bleach. Namely, they tend to get the shortest possible end of the stick. The last woman who was anything near a developed character was probably Harribel, and she got her time several years ago, even in the dubbed anime. That's hardcore sad. So, I'm gonna take today and talk about some recent undeveloped female characters, and members of the Sternritter High School Cheer Team!

I'm starting things of with Liltotto 'Lil' Lamperd. Bearer of the epithet "G - The Glutton", Liltotto is a loli with the power to eat things. That's basically it. She received next to no characterization, and ALL of her fights were offscreen. Even her final rebellion and defeat by Yhwach amounted to barely a handful of panels showing the aftermath. If I said anything more about her, she'd get more development than she did in her entire screen-life.

Following things up, we get Giselle 'GiGi' Gewelle. Bearer of the epithet "Z - The Zombie", Giselle can use her blood to control corpses and instill life in the lifeless; her skill with her Schrift allows her to even control living beings by infusing her blood into them or spilling it onto them, heal her own injuries so long as she is not killed, and repair others' bodies by stitching corpse bits onto them. Ms. Macabre here gets a little bit more definition: a definite sexual sadist and maybe-transsexual, Giselle relishes pain in both allies and enemies, as exemplified by her treatment of Zombietta. She loves her zombies, or at least Bambi, but will not hesitate to use them as shields. revitalize herself with their lifeblood, or straight up murder them. My problem with GiGi is similar to my problem with Lil: she's never the star. Even in her own mini-saga, the 'Marching out the ZOMBIES' series, the conflict revolver around Mayuri facing off against her zombiegami army, and the focus of the show was not on her. Her defeat, too, was offscreen, overshadowed by the admittedly badass Jugo vs Bazz clash. So, while she may be more of a character than Lil, she fairs barely better.

Lastly, I will finish things up by checking out Candice 'Candi' Catnipp. Bearer of the epithet "T - The Thunderbolt", Candice is the Sternritter's resident bombshell, with a sparky personality and a complementary ability to produce and manipulate lightning. Notably, Candi is the only one of the three Ritter discussed today to get an actual fight onscreen, and against Ichigo no less. Unfortunately, though she showed off some pretty neat lightning powers, and exhibited some excellent combos with the rest of the Cheer Team, she existed only to show how epic Ichigo is post-training. He doesn't even finish her off; nope, Byakuya does that, again offscreen.

The point of this article is not to bash Kubo in any way. I'm just here to point out the disparity that Bleach, and most other popular shounen exhibit *coughSakuracoughNamicoughLucycoughAsunacough*. Wow, something big was caught in my throat there. Anyway, I'm not saying anyone should quit Bleach because it's sexist, or throw some hissy fit on tumblr or Twitter. A problem can only be addressed through direct awareness, and that's what I'm bringing here. Thanks again, SunXia, for the blog idea forever ago.

It's good to be back.

Which Sternritter Cheer Team Member discussed here would you have liked to see more of? Liltotto Giselle Candice