User blog comment:Tinni/Distorted Perceptions: The Soul Society Arc vs Arrancar Arc/@comment-1454424-20100123153103

Good guys dying is not the same as a bad guy dying. By in large, and I acknowledge there were some notable differences, when an espada or an arrancar died - the survivors suffered minimal emotional impact as a result of the death. Most of the time they brushed is off as "what a weakling". This would not be the case for the death of the least of the good guys.

Consider this, Shiba Kaien died at least 20 years ago. Yet Squad 13 is still mourning his loss, perhaps even those of his wife and her comrades. Especially because he did the deed himself, Hisagi will bear emotional scars from the death and betrayed of Tosen for years to come. Komamura will mourn the loss of his friend and is probably even now, forever changed. We don't even know how Kira, Matsumoto and Hinamori will end-up once this is all done and dusted.

So it is not as simple as saying "Good guys must die to keep things even/tense/fair/real or whatever", the death of a good guy will lead to the tone of Bleach darkening because the survivors will be changed forever because of that death. Even if the death is of someone low profile like Omaeda. Kubo would do his readers a disservice if he did not portray properly or in-depth the emotional impact of such an event. If Kubo does not want to do that, we shouldn't very well demand it of him. After all, it would be far worse if the good guys died but the impact of their death is lessened to keep the tone of Bleach light.

I mean, from Kubo's point of view, it may well be that he feels that Bleach characters have enough emotional issues to deal with thanks to the betrayal of those they considered trusted friends and comrades. If he does no want to burden them with death, well... its his story and he has to draw it in a manner he is comfortable drawing it.