Kubo treated the female characters in Bleach better than any other major shonen anime series

With several iconic and popular shonen anime series out there, the female characters from Bleach are probably among the most iconic ones. What makes them even better is that the mangaka Tite Kubo did not shy away from showing off their true strength and powers, something many other series have failed to do.

Ranging from Ichigo's mother, Misaki Kurosaki, to a member of the Royal Guard, Senjumaru Shutara, Kubo has perfectly portrayed these female characters' strength, blurring the lines of gender differential that many other series do. Many strong female characters were pitted against strong male characters throughout the series, lending credibility to the mangaka's ingenuity.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinions and contains potential spoilers from the Bleach anime and manga series.

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Tite Kubo portrayed the female character in Bleach equitably

Many fans have long appreciated Tite Kubo for breaking the shonen anime mold and rightfully portraying the female characters in the Bleach series. As the fans have seen on multiple occasions regarding bigger shonen titles like Naruto and One Piece, there's always something missing with the female characters in the series, no matter how strong they are.

Several major shonen series like One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, and even to some extent, newer series like My Hero Academia and Solo Leveling, do not seem to show a knack for pitting the female characters against the male characters in battle for some reason. While this can be attributed to the mangaka's personal preference, it also limits the full exploration of the powers of these characters.

To begin with, one of the prominent members of Squad Zero, Senjumaru Shutara, used her Banaki to entrap the entire Schutzstaffel, including Uryu Ishida and Jugram Haschwalth. If it had not been for Yhwach awakening his "the Almighty," they wouldn't have been saved and would have died. There are several other impressive feats shown in the series, such as Rukia and Unohana's Bankai.

Senjumaru's Bankai as seen in the Bleach anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

While yes, Unohana was a former Kenpachi known for being a strong warrior, she battled Zaraki toe to toe. Now the fans already know exactly how strong Zaraki was, so that was an impressive portrayal of Unohana's true strength by Kubo.

Additionally, the Quincy Äs Nödt, who has been a problem for the Soul Reapers from the beginning, was taken down by Rukia using her Bankai Hakka no Togame, which itself was a beautiful presentation of her powers. Several other feats, such as Nemu fighting against Pernida, Yoruichi versus Soi Fon and Askin, and Soi Fon severely maiming Barragan and BG9, were impressive to both watch and read.

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Final thoughts

Unohana's Bankai as seen in the Bleach anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The women in Bleach are always up there as the strongest shonen female characters, mainly because the characters from other series were not as well-portrayed or explored by their respective mangakas. As the series moves on to the final part of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, it can be expected that many other female characters will start to shine more.

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