What do you think of Soi Fon? What's your favourite Soi Fon moment in Bleach? How do you feel about my 'alternate ending' for her in TYBW? Let me know!
Despite the fact that she's sometimes quite the annoying character i find her still pretty interesting. My favorite moment of her is when we see her trying to learn Shunko in the TYBW arc. It really shows how much of a badass she is, and her Shunko abilites are also pretty cool.
tybw soifon being brat i don't think it's her character kubo did bad job showing us and hyping up how strong squad 0 is kirinji guy was flexing on soifon and got slapped off screen 💀💀 but yeah kubo used soifon as way to show us how badass squad 0 is
When she's being 'bratty' to the other Captains and the Zero Division, she's not being insubordinate, she's grieving in a very human way. When Soi Fon grieves, she lashes out, she channels her sorrow into anger at whatever she can. When Yoruichi abandoned her, she tried to convince herself she hated her. When Yamamoto was killed, Yhwach was gone, and Soi Fon directed her grief at the nearest people she could. I also think that Soi Fon actually has a high preference for stability and purpose in her life. When Yoruichi left, she was forced to find a new purpose, which she did... And then Yoruichi came back, and broke the little world she had. Then Yamamoto died, and all of Soul Society was thrown into chaos, and when Soi Fon is unsettled, she gets angry, and when she gets angry, she lashes out.
I think you might be missing a bigger picture deal with Soi Fon here. The whole point of her character is that she struggles between her duty and her personal identity. Unlike Ichigo who is entirely bound by his personal set of ethics, Soi Fon owes her life and station to Soul Society so much that it has subsumed her personal identity. She struggles hard with upholding the values of SOCIETY even when those values end up contrary to or even destructive of the SELF. She comes across as immature and out of place because she hasn't firmly landed in the camp of either being an entirely selfless agent of society or in fulfilling her personal desires. Fan favorite powerful characters are often the ones that don't have this conflict--Kenpachi shirks societal decree for a good fight; Gin will do anything for his revenge (even tragically straining/losing those personal relationships along the way); Rukia is willing to be executed and commit treason because of her connection to Ichigo. Soi Fon, for as much as she will go on about the duty of the assassins, has difficulty upholding that duty. As Soul Society increasingly moves from its strict laws, Soi Fon, whose identity was entirely tied up in being an agent of that society, no longer knows what is right or how to best serve. She's quick to attempt to stick to the old ways and that inflexibility is child-like just as it is reminiscent of the antagonistic Soul Society that we were introduced to in the first place. It is because she is in conflict with herself that she lacks resolve. Lacking resolve is what makes her abilities inefficient. We see this time and time again how one's resolve strengthens and gives edge to their reiatsu. Yes, her abilities should be two-shot-kill or one-shot-one-kill but neither make their mark outside of Ggio and that's in large part due to her own conflicted self and the relative straightforward and overwhelming resolve of the opponents she is facing. Soi Fon's shikai and bankai both represent this struggling duality within her. She wants to serve her role, to kill on behalf of the Soul Society, to be the ultimate assassin. Her Shikai reflects all the precision, elegance, and even slick opulence she desires but it still requires two strikes--highlighting Soi Fon's inability to truly defeat an enemy in just one. Her Bankai is all the unwieldy aggression, flash, and bombast of her passions. The Missile is a weapon of War, a thing made to destroy indiscriminately, and yet Soi Fon still lacks the resolve to wield it with the lethality it was made for. As much as Soi Fon herself has been manufactured to be a killing device of a militaristic society, she is in conflict with herself and with the way her society is trending and this makes her a less efficient combatant, only further deepening the rift between who Soi Fon is and who she wants to be while widening the depth of her insecurities.
Best exemplified with Yoruichi and Urahara. She sure likes to make exemptions for Yoruichi, someone who's considered an exiled traitor by the society, yet has no issue trying to call Kisuke out on it, despite knowing that they're both comrades in arms. I mean, we all know the *real* reason why she does this, but still....
@@supersonicmario56 BLEACH has three core themes that tend to be resonant with every narrative element : The individual's struggle against Society ; The strength of personal, lived experiences and the bonds created ; The trauma of death and loss. Soi Fon's relationship with Yoruichi is able to--at the end of the day--overlook societal grievances because she recognizes and respects the individualistic bond she has with Yoruichi whereas Kisuke, in a way, is the one who brought about the loss of that connection. Soi Fon is eternally in conflict because she stuck by Society, thinking she owed her life/identity to it and that upholding that 'duty' would reinforce her identity when, in truth, it was her relationship to Yoruichi that was responsible for everything.
@@Konstant Well, she said it herself, "I don't trust anyone", not really because she has the role of an assassin, but more because it's "for the glory of the Soul Society". She likely didn't want to trust Aizen, or any squad member for that matter, but had to, "for the glory of the Soul Society", and she likely had her doubts and insecurities about him, similar to how she felt about Yoruichi's decision to make Urahara a captain, though that was for an entirely different reason, but she kept it to herself. She was more vocal about said doubts and insecurities when Yoruichi was around, but now that she's a traitor, she has no one to confide in about her doubts since she believes everyone could be a traitor to the society, especially if the one person she trusted could end up as one, which ties right back to her shikai and bankai dilemma. It's mostly why she's so eager to jump on someone about the rules of the Soul Society. She's trying to convince herself that it's the right option. The best example is in the 2nd movie during the final confrontation against Toshiro. Ichigo's confronting everyone about attacking an ally without question and she's the only one to instantly snap back about it being an order and their duty as soul reapers. Even some of the other captains who you'd think would share the same mindset (Shunsui, Ukitake, Unohana, Komamura) do not. This is more of a Soifon thing and would've acted like this regardless of what squad she was a part of.
Personally, I like her bankai because of how much depth it gives to the concept of zanpakuto relating to the soul. Her shikai feels like a show of everything she wants to present herself as. It’s the perfect weapon for an assassin, quick, efficient, silent. Her Bankai though, I believe represents the true personality she tries to hide from the world. It’s explosive, flashy, and aggressive. Made me look at every bankai differently after I thought about it. Hopefully this is what Kubo actually went for cause it’s cool as hell, and got me to appreciate her more
I agree. I used to hate her Bankai, but there isn't really of a "bad way" of being an assassin if you LEGIT blow the up the enemy and or area. Because there is no one to tell that it was you/who you faced against. While not being stealthy, it sure is efficent!
I like your comment! Good job of knowing what is the job of killing by being an assassin. This was not meant for me to be sound condisending, I really meaning it. Being an assassin isn't about ALL being stealthy, if you can do your job by killing the target, then it doesn't matter the method you use as an assassin.
Soifon is bae, her design made me have such a big crush on her as a kid😫so big that she’s still easily my favorite girl many years later. She’s so cool and underrated. Truly believe Kubo struck gold with her. Thanks for making a video on her tommo👍
I actually love Soi Fon as a character, and my favorite moment of hers by far is also that fight with Yourichi,mainly because of the ending. When Yourichi cancelled her attack and basically shattered her resolve, showing her that she still isn't on her level yet, her walls finally come down and as you said, she just balls out crying and expresses her feelings. But it's her last line that always gets me when she does this confession...... "I would have gone anywhere with you, you MUST have known that....." I believe this is so telling of her true pain. Remember, at this time she doesn't know about Aizen or why Yourichi left to begin with. In fact, up until the Fake Karakura Town arc, she never knows about Aizen being the real one to create the Vizards and get Urahara/Yourichi exiled, which is why she has such vitriol for Urahara at that point LOL but she still says this. Which tells me, she is basically saying to her, "you had to have known that I would have stood by you, followed you, been happier with YOU, no matter the reason why we left. You didn't have to 'spare' me, all you did by doing that was leave me her to suffer, and become this person I didn't want to be. You condemned me, and you were OK with doing that. Why??" I literally cried tears thinking about this......
Regarding her shouting at the Zero Division, I don't feel she was out of line since they were so nonchalant about their lost. The Zero Division later on ended up losing and the Gotei had to pick up the slack for them, which made them look worse after Tenjiro berated Soi Fon on what their duties were.
Thank you I'm so glad someone finally said this, its always bothered me like its all on the Gotei when Soul Society gets invaded because they have to protect the soul king but when push comes to shove they fail and the Gotei have to save the day.
I feel like the most interesting thing is that she sees value in Omaeda, even if he doesn't see his own value. She doesn't like his behaviors and habits, but keeps him as her vice captain when she can literally choose her vice captain.
In regards to Soi Fon's bankai, I wonder if it's actually in an incomplete or immature state, much like with Renji and Hitsugaya until the TYBW. While her shikai represents everything she is on the surface, her bankai represents who she is deep down which is someone who is fractured and immature. Soi Fon hasn't learned to channel the volatile emotions she buries and thus they ultimately don't do anyone any good and leave her exhausted. Her bankai perfectly mirrors this flaw and I feel like if she properly dealt with her issues and experienced true character growth, her bankai might refine itself in much the same way as her personality; perhaps manifesting less like a flashy missile and more like a precision sniper.
Maybe it could turn into a much smaller and compressed missile that has a much shorter set up time and is much lighter and faster than her current bankai, but has much more recoil and uses substantially more reiatsu than her current bankai already does. It would be kinda similar to Rukia's bankai which could damage her badly if she's not careful. Soi Fon could finally be able to fill her role as an assassin with this more powerful and lightweight missile, but still have to train hard to handle the recoil and the reiatsu cost.
I always held close to my heart the moment Soi fon confesses her real reason for feeling angry. She went full vulnerable there and that takes guts, that moment made me like her a lot.
I feel like if Sui-Feng had killed Yoruichi, her mental stability would have spiraled downward before Yoruichis body could turn cold. Especially when she found out that this whole incident was just Aizen manipulating his events to get his way. I imagine that she'd convince herself that it wasn't her fault and Aizen is the one who REALLY killed Yoruichi
See, I'm with Rukia on this one, she's always been a good person. The trick with Soi fung is to watch her actions compared to her words, and watch the intensity she tries to perform them throughout the series. It reminds me of a quote I know "by their fruits you shall know them". If you listen and try to understand Soi Fung by her words you'll be tricked, but if you display them AGAINST her actions you'll see the contrast, therefore discovering the truth about who this character really is.
As a woman, having a friendship like that, and having that beloved friend leave your life with no explanation. That shit hurts. It feels like a betrayal. I totally understand how she feels, and it’s very relatable
She said she was going to kill Yoruichi. But that was all talk. Sure she believed she would, but in the end she would’ve stopped last second. I mean soi Fon literally broke down after realizing she couldn’t even if she tried. Love hurts sometimes.
She just pretends to be a cold, hard, bitch which is why she runs her mouth so much but at the end of the day she's just a softie trying hard to be what she pretends to be.
I mean yoruichi is older than her ans has more experience if she focused more on training harder and building a stronger bond with suzumebachi she would get more powerful and in the future even surpass yoruichi nothing is impossible in bleach
While Kubo did a more or less great job handling the countless characters he created, Soi Fon was one he really dropped the ball with. In the SS arc, she's cold and emotionally fickle because she's still traumatized by Yoruichi abandoning her in her mind. But even after she learns the truth why Yoruichi left she remains that cold and somewhat immature girl even in future arcs. She outright shouts at the Visored, 0 Division and Shunsui in TYBW because her emotions get the best of her. And as for her power, she was hinted to be one of the strongest in the SS arc to the point of rivalling Yoruichi but we see in future arcs she's nowhere near Yoruichi's power. She ends up needing Hachigan's help against Barragan and only barely wins against BG9, and doesn't participate in any other fights against other Quincy. But worst of all, in the manga Soi Fon and Yoruichi never interact with one another again after the SS arc. Soi Fon is probably one of the characters that benefitted the most from anime filler and novels as in those she interacts with Yoruichi more and we see her more friendly and mature side. Which is likely why manga only readers normaly dislike Soi Fon while anime views like her as the manga doesn't paint a good picture of her.
Only reason anime fans like her is because in the fillers, Soi Fon is turned into an obsessed lesbian stalker and constantly fawns at the feet of Yoruichi
Soi fon was never made to be one of the strongest soul reapers in the SS arc because in that very arc she is outclassed by a rusty yuroichi. And yuroichi is never shown to be a top tier soul reaper as far as fighting power goes.
@@zemox2534 Yeah, but at least she had redeeming qualities there as her adoration for Yoruichi was played for laughs. In the manga she has no comedic relief moments so just comes across as bland, hot-headed and immature.
Like soi fon is completely right when she says Yoruichi has gotten weaker and she has become stronger and yet when both pull out their trump cards shunko Yoruichi shuts her down with complete ease aka the same one who goes damm I have gotten out of shape and then is unable to train herself because she is spending all of her energy to manifest Ichigo Zanpakuto after all that why they stop on the first day because she is exhausted from carrying him through Bankai training
Even with her flaws she's quite the badass,Yoruichi's influence certainly helped taper some of her more ruthless traits especially regarding subordinates. Doesn't take away from her lethality. In CFYOW she wiped the floor with Tokinada's hired assassins, cutting several down while Yoruichi only knocked them out. Once Tokinada escaped Yoruichi expressed concern at Soifon's state covered in blood and seeing the corpses lying around her, warning Soifon not to allow her deadly skills/status dominate her personality. In the end I'm sure Soifon secretly enjoys going to the human world to buy pastries for Yoruichi at Orihime's bakery. Soifon is best Shinigami waifu.
Good analysis. In my opinion, Soi Fon is a lot like Byakuya was in Soul Society who both hold on to their principles to the point it's almost iron clad. But where Byakuya suffers morally from it, Soi Fon suffers emotionally from it. She's incredibly bottled up, acting what she believes to be what she's supposed to be (like her shikai) vs who she is which is an extremely passionate person who when her emotions come out, they're overwhelming (like her bankai).
Indeed. Her extreme training stunted her personality and emotional growth, a byproduct of lifelong training to be an assassin. Ironically Yoruichi's presence provided a degree of humanity that kept some of her more brutal traits under control. Soifon's extremely dangerous temper and tendency to fly off the handle is certainly subconscious anger at her lot essentially being a lifelong killer for power hungry aristocrats and their deadly baggage.
Soi Fon's bankai is a perfect representation of her: Her shikai is how she want to be: a silent assassin like Yoruichi. Her bankai is her true self, a passionate, impulsive and fiery person.
Personally always felt her and omaedas relationship was one of the more underrated ones in the gotei when it came to captain and lieutenant relationships. She gives him a hard time but it's clear both have loyalty to one another. Omaeda is surprisingly loyal to his captain often putting his own body at risk to cushion her damage while soi fon often goes against her own teachings to save him She chastised him for not attacking a opponent in the back and choosing to save her while she does the exact same thing for him against BG 9 I kind of love them
They are great as a pair, it’s comedy gold. When she said to an arrancar “being at odds is better for combat training” she was probably telling the truth about her and Omaeda. I’m sure she adopted that style from her days in the Onmitsukido. Like you said though, she is actually very kind hearted and cares about her subordinates dearly as seen by her actions.
Her Bankai is a reflection of who she actually is, not who she's been made to be. Just like how Byakuya was much different when younger. The role they've been forced into changed the outward personality but not her base nature. Just my thoughts anyway.
Great character analysis! You brought up some points about her that I never even considered. Also agree with your thoughts on including her in the final TYBW battle against Askin. Just feels weird that her and Yoruichi never really got a chance to fight side by side.
Well since the Bleach Anime is coming back there is a good chance Soi will get more screen time, especially since Kubo wants to include content he didn't get to use in the manga
Am I the only one that kind of agreed with Soi fon when talking to the 0 division? Especially when they ended up doing just as much as she did in the actual fight
Also liked how she was willing to strike down Tokinada in the novel once it became clear he planned to unleash chaos upon the worlds and was responsible for a number of murders, despite the fact that he's an untouchable noble. Him taunting her over the deaths of her brothers also help set her wrath.
@@1234andrewjacksmith Truth, and funnily enough Yoruichi stated that her brain seems to stop functioning whenever she enters the scene with her, something Soifon enthusiastically confirms much to Yoruichi's exasperation.
So poeticly that she fought Bg9 in TYBW a robot type character and she beeing introduced as the same type , a blind person following laws and orders without remourse feeling that she needs to prove her worth and the title that Yoruichi once hold in Soul Society . So poetic indeed and her relation with Yourichi always seemed to me to be more than Capitan/posibile Loutenant to Yoruichi to possible a potentialy love intrest really , im sure im not the only one thinking that and her leaving hurt Soi Fun to her core thus transforming into a cold person that is in pain on the inside .
I thought that too and a wide amount of people thought she might be a lesbian because of how she obsesses over Yoruichi and how cruel she is to Omaeda but then in TYBW she starts fawning over her brother Youchirou and that just flew that theory out of the window. At that point, I think she's just fan girling over the Shihoin family.
@@A_Black_Sheep94 scared little girl I think not more like fragile cause she lost all her brother and the one person she came to love and also looked up to left her I would be pissed too
My favorite thing about soi fon is her shikai/bankai. Her shikai is just super cool and kills (almost) anyone in 2 hits. Requires precision and speed. Awesome. I LOVE her bankai, as a single hit killer. It’s all seemingly the opposite of how soi fon opporates, but also follows the theme of her shikai. The fact that she hates it tells us how she deeply feels about herself. She wants to be a silent killer, per the expectations hoisted upon her by others. But in reality she’s loud, and powerful, and hard to move or reposition once she settles on an idea. Her bankai is simple, but tells us a LOT about her soul.
I LOVE your idea for an alternate ending for Soi Fon. I've always found Yuushirou to be an obnoxious character, and I thought it was a disservice to Yoruichi's big final fight to have her tedious brother introduced. Soi Fon fighting alongside her would have made far more sense, and would be a nice finale to their arc.
I think Kubo did that on purpose because her Zanpaktou is OP. She is the fastest Captain of all the 13 and the best hand to hand fighter. Combine that with her two hit kill and she should blitz most her opponents. But that would make for a boring fight, so we have to put her against opponents who a immune to her powers and have her figure out other ways to beat them. Basically Kubo realized he made her too strong and had to knock her down. Honestly, if that’s the plan then why give her the power if she is never going to have it work aside from weak ass grunts.
She is one of my favorite characters from bleach, her personality, character design (imho she is one of the most beatifully designed characters) her abilities, everything about her is awesome, even her flaws.
When Yorichi leaves, I really felt the pain to Soi Fon. And when Soi Fon says she created that move when they fighting, and she says it doesn't have a name and the Yorichi says it does, because I created it, that was so great and devastaing to Soi Fon. When Yorichi describes why her sleaves are the way the are, to me that was great. I feel she always had to prove her self, and that came out as being crass to almost every body. And the fact that she hates her Banki, like a few other characters hate there banki or Shiki gave her another level, at least to me.
When Soi Fon fought BG9, she should have allowed them to steal her Bankai and when he shot it, it should have killed him. She can barely handle the strength of it, and strategically allowing him to steal it before he killed himself could have been great.
I think something that's missed is that, frankly, Byakuya was very much like Soi Fon in the Soul Society Arc, but replace youth with a haughty arrogance so thick he could come off as petty. Byakuya is the one who grew due to his ample and critical exposure, however. Another way to put it is, Soi Fon actually thinks a lot like Toshiro or Kenpachi, who prefer to fight alone (Toshiro even asks if he can go solo Aizen lol), but she is arguably less successful and definitely weaker than Kenpachi so she can't afford that same kind of pride or bluster. Even the Visords have this problem, and Kyroaku essentially says Love and Rose were too soft when fighting Starkk. I do like Soi Fon's personality though because she to me is a bridge between Kisuke's side and the Soul Society and shows the sort of "hierarchy" of character power. It's easy to forget that the captains are mostly secondary to the biggest players like Kisuke, Ishin, and even Ichigo. Despite being in a position of honor, Soi Fon is the student while Yoruichi is the master. I think going forward, I would love to see Soi Fon grow into the role of a powerful, solo agent. Let us see how characters like Kisuke get to be so powerful and experienced. Surely he didn't start that way and it's not like he's the Chosen One or anything. Also, Soi Fon is right, the Zero Division really is bad at their job.
Soi Fon is easily my favorite character design. Unfortunately, she isn't enough of a main character to ever get a meaningful W. If we get a continuation of the Hell Arc in the future, I think she stands a really good chance of getting some really great character growth because she has some of the most obvious and explored flaws among the cast that are ready to be washed away. A scene where she puts herself in harms way to save Urahara or Ōmaeda would be a fantastic scene.
I think her Shikai and her Bankai make total sense for her character. Her shikai embodies what she tries to be. Her bankai represents her actual personality. While she wants to be more reserved as an assassin, her more explosive personality goes against that want. It mirrors the outbursts she has. We all know people like this, even in leadership.
I think her bankai highlights how she really isnt MEANT for the stealth division. She only became leader iirc bc Yoruichi left, and she was only in the stealth division because she was born into a vassal family to the Shihoins. At her core, Soi Fon is impetuous, proud and deeply loyal, all of which are traits that conflict with the cold, calculating and sometimes duplicitous world of ninja/assassins. I like her character bc she brings up some interesting issues within the soul society via her misplaced anger and outburst. Also she was right about the zero division lol; complete strangers suddenly show up after the damage is done to help out? Lol if the zero division had actually come to help, they could’ve maybe killed Yhwach before he recovered his full powers (the almighty). I know kubo meant to frame that scene as soi fon being out of line but I think she may have been right lol
Hey Tommo, I've gotten into Bleach back in January of this year and I've been following your videos since around July. Just wanted to say, I love your content as it gives me more knowledge of the series as well. I hope you do more what if videos. If those are your thing, alternate scenarios in the bleach story would be a bit nice. Anyways, keep up the amazing content.
Kubo just dropped the ball on her I personally believe. He gave her this incredibly powerful power and decides it never works when she needs it. Her fights are always just horribly mismatched because it’s the only way to prevent her from speed blitzing her opponents like she did the saber tooth Fraccion. The BG9 fight really got me annoyed too because ultimately her training still meant nothing and she lost needing to rely on her bankai in the end and her vice captain to save her. It’s painful how she is supposed to be this master assassin who is the fastest captain and a master of close combat, but she never gets to actually show it and the only time she does she is outclassed by her old captain and undermines her. Just kinda lame. She is my favorite captain too as I love the idea of an entire squad of assassins.
Soi Fon's arc always confused me because she has a clear arc of feeling her emotions more and mellowing out and not being so law abiding and it ends in TYBW arc with her finally not just following orders and not being an unfeeling robot and she gets reprimanded for it? Like it comes across really weird where it's like "Soi Fon congratulations on finishing your arc! Now we'll chastise you for your character development and make it seem like your Soul Society character was actually better."
I've always viewed the scene with her and the zero division very differently. It seemed like her character arc was really coming to a head with her daring to question such high authority, something that she would have never done back in the soul society arc. Like, I really don't think she's being immature in this scene. She doesn't owe them unconditional respect and silence just because they're her superiors. I think it's very interesting that she doesn't give them blind respect. To me, the previous scene with her and Komamura was meant to show that yes, she can be over-accusatory and disrespectful, but the things she says comes from an empathetic place. So when she questions the 0 division, she's standing up for the gotei 13. It's not just her, but the whole gotei 13 deserves answers, and she's the only one willing to demand them. I think the scene comes off way more embarrassing for Kirinji now that we know how badly his group fails at their job to protect the spirit king.
I really appreciate your take on TYBW Soifon, makes me think of her as a stand in for the reader in which Kubo really utilizes her to bring the reader up to speed on Gotei duties in brief and efficient ways. Makes me wonder how he could have utilized her if given more time with the arc.
Is it just me or does anyone else remember that barragan faught a hollow to a stand still, the same hollow that could not be completely killed even with the efforts of two squad zero members….. I laughed at soifon but if we put every detail together, we’d discover that she’s actually powerful, just went against the wrong opponents, just like shinji.
Exactly. She should have never pulled it out in the first place, especially since her opponent was like 20ft away. It so weird to see her just so ready to use her bankai after she was so reluctant to use it in the FKT arc. She could have had already had her Shunko perfected and just kept it hidden. This was honestly the best time for her assassin skills to shine considering that the sternritters were just wandering around looking for soul reapers.
he bankai 'is' a stealth weapon, the only way to use it properly is to fire from a position where you cannot be observed. and given the size and looks of it that missile can probably be fired from an 'exceptional' distance away from the target. Yes it reveals your position once you fire it but that shouldnt matter much as the target is ideally vaporized at that point.
Late on this one... Have been too busy lately but, glad you did this one. Always felt Soi Fon was one of those characters that didn't get enough love. Keep it going !! 🔥
Soi Fon is one of those characters that is mostly well-written and well-designed, but is not that popular because of her fairly unpleasant personality. She has her hidden depths, to be sure, but I think it is telling that she is far less prominently featured in the TYBW compared to her more charismatic contemporaries. Out of all the characters that could have used more spotlight though, she is definitely not very high on my list. Though, I wouldn't mind her getting some shine in the Hell arc.
My favorite underrated character in Bleach. I would have liked her to be on the offensive in TYBW. She's an assassin, I would have liked to see her attack a Sternritter out of nowhere with an instant kill, proving her skills are actually a real threat. Instead she had a stand-up fight with BG9 and got beaten.
Honestly I've always believed she's not trained with her bankai enough to master it. It would make more sense for her missle to leave like a radioactive fallout that guarantees the opponent would die from the poison if the blast doesn't do them in
I'll never get the people who downplay soifon from a power perspective lol. Girl literally fights Yoruichi AND Barragan, two of the most powerful characters in their respective arcs. And before anyone comes saying dumb bs, She was fighting against barragan with no Shunko, and no Bankai, Barragan would nerf anybody he fights, but Soifon gets counteres by his abilities the hardest in the entire cast, and yet, as soon as her bankai is not nerfed by respira, she blows up half his damn head. Starrk and Hallibel ain't surviving Soifons bankai leaving a massive hole in their skulls, she was reaaally strong. Even in the TYBW, besides the 5 schutztaffel level captains, who else in the gotei is stronger than her? Rukia unable to move while in bankai? Or shinji whos biggest acomplishment is beating up a near death base grimmjow? Nope.
Honestly, I think her Bankai does fit her quite well, even if she doesn't want to acknowledge it. It's not stealthy, but it seems to encompass her "at all costs" mentality when it comes to completing a mission. If stealthily taking out the enemy isn't an option, then what better way to make sure the target goes down than to blast them and everything around them to make sure they can't escape? It's "Death in 1 Step" like you brought up, but the plot REALLY enjoys hampering that fact, and I hate it.
I had a thought when you were discussing her bankai. Do you think it's kill potential is lowered because she hasn't accepted herself in that regard? Look at Ichigo accepting his zanpakuto and how much more power he gained from it. I think if Soi Fon accepted those traits associated with her bankai, perhaps it'd truly become the "one step to kill," and maybe even more discreetly.
I get that her bankai can or does represent her explosive nature. Could it also be a situation similar to renji where the zanpakto gave a false bankai release name?
I believe’s Isshin’s Bandai is a Fire version of Rukia’s ability. He simply controls his body heat. She learned to freeze herself alive while he possible does the opposite. It may also take him a while to cool his body like it takes her a while to heat hers.
I definitely agree that Soi Fon should have gotten to fight Askin alongside Yoruichi rather than Yushiro, who always struck me as a pointless, forgettable character. Soi Fon fighting alongside her idol as an equal would have been a really nice conclusion to her story arc, and there's no shame in losing to Askin given how many strong fighters he manages to take down. Also, the chance for more interactions with Kisuke would have been nice.
Soi Fon is perfect Easily my favorite Bleach character and I'm devastated she couldn't get a more important role in the story. Thankfully anime filler exists to fill the void.
To me soifon is a great character apart from not receiving a great arc, the start point of her character is so well defined and it’s clear what kubo is trying to convey, however after either her fight with yoruichi or barragan there should of been some sort of development and evolution but sadly there never was.
I love your explanation on how to fix the absence of Soi Fon's during the 2nd half of TYBW, We could potentially have a reunion of Squad 2, Yoruichi, Soi-Fon and Urahara vs Askin. It would show that Soi-Fon has grown and learns to work with Kiskue this time instead of Hachi-we can also address how Hachi imprisoned Urahara. Have a team-up of Yoruichi and Soi-fon and then the rest. I think that would have been a perfect(taking the canon into consideration) way to end Soi-Fon.
I think it's helpful when looking Soi Fon's bankai to assume that she hasn't mastered it. It's cumbersome, ineffective, and shows how at odds with her own soul she is. If Zabimaru never gave Renji a real bankai, who's to say that Jakuho Raikoben isn't the same situation. It seems like something given out of spite, or neglected out of the same.
I feel like Soi Fon’s Bankai could evolve with her character as she matures and gains more captain experience. I don’t know what it could really be, but it could change similar to characters like Renji, Ichigo, and so on
One of my personal big problems about bleach is the level of pride that fill the character when it comes to life and death. Ikkaku rather die than use his bankai, soi fon rather die then help and use her bankai. The visored captains not hollow powers. Like is your pride for the sake of life and death worth dying for?
I enjoy that aspect because it makes it more... dynamic? Then there's the opposite end of the spectrum where Yamamoto would burn up the entire soul society to win, or kyoraku giving up his pride releasing aizen.
For some people, it is. They rather die than ask for help; especially with people they don't like. I've met some people that the idea of them compromising is not an option. It can definitely be annoying.
imagine if soi fon was allowed to have emotional growth and a big fight with BG9 revealing a new true bankai that reflects her matured soul... just imagine
SoI Fon, what a cool character, she’s deeply confident and yet clearly flawed. If you look at her choice of lieutenant it becomes clear she was deeply damaged to the point of never being close to anyone nor relying on anyone again. She purposely does not train omeada or get close to him to avoid another abandonment like she suffered from Yoruichi
Soi Fon is not my favorite character, but I do appreciate her character. Sh is brash and short tempered which is a bit refreshing. Bleach has a lot of characters with a cool, stoic/quiet/reserved personality type like Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Gin, etc. it makes her stand out even if not in a good way. Her background or relationship with Yoruichi is interesting. Sadly, it’s not expanded/explored much after soul society arc. I really like her battle with Baraggan. It’s rare to see a captain and vice captain in battle together in the series, so it was nice. Plus, Hachi joining was great. Generally, bleach characters take turns fighting an enemy which usually leads to several characters losing before someone finishes off the enemy. But the soi fon, Omaeda, and hachi vs Barragan was really a team effort.
If I had to make a guess, I'd say Soifon's Bankai hasn't been perfected yet because of how emotionally repressed she is, and because she uses Jakuho Raikoben so rarely she hasn't really started mastering and refining it into what she would consider her ideal weapon; in a way, it's representative of how she's given up on herself in favor of being what she thinks others expect of her. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say her perfected version of Jakuho Raikoben would either be a cannon, or perhaps even a missile battery instead of one singular RPG that she struggles to fire even once.
What do you think of Soi Fon? What's your favourite Soi Fon moment in Bleach? How do you feel about my 'alternate ending' for her in TYBW? Let me know!
Despite the fact that she's sometimes quite the annoying character i find her still pretty interesting. My favorite moment of her is when we see her trying to learn Shunko in the TYBW arc. It really shows how much of a badass she is, and her Shunko abilites are also pretty cool.
Best girl. she’s a great character and an underrated baddie
tybw soifon being brat i don't think it's her character kubo did bad job showing us and hyping up how strong squad 0 is
kirinji guy was flexing on soifon and got slapped off screen 💀💀
but yeah kubo used soifon as way to show us how badass squad 0 is
Biggest simp in all of bleach lol.
Great, for a Noble and it's weird that her squad is mostly family members and her assistant is her nephew, but she is great
When she's being 'bratty' to the other Captains and the Zero Division, she's not being insubordinate, she's grieving in a very human way. When Soi Fon grieves, she lashes out, she channels her sorrow into anger at whatever she can. When Yoruichi abandoned her, she tried to convince herself she hated her. When Yamamoto was killed, Yhwach was gone, and Soi Fon directed her grief at the nearest people she could.
I also think that Soi Fon actually has a high preference for stability and purpose in her life. When Yoruichi left, she was forced to find a new purpose, which she did... And then Yoruichi came back, and broke the little world she had. Then Yamamoto died, and all of Soul Society was thrown into chaos, and when Soi Fon is unsettled, she gets angry, and when she gets angry, she lashes out.
Soifon suffered from a common anime trope of “Her power will literally never do anything because it would make the plot boring”
That coupled with a straight laced personality make for a really boring character. Sucks. Her design is dope.
Basically the 'unstoppable blade' that is always stopped.
Exactly. When her shikai was first introduced i thought "She's never killing anyone important with that"
Yep that's why Kubo had to keep putting her up against opponents where her haxed shikai power didn't actually matter.
They should've given her zanpakuto the ability to poison people to death as well. It fits her ninja/assassin theme pretty well
I think you might be missing a bigger picture deal with Soi Fon here.
The whole point of her character is that she struggles between her duty and her personal identity. Unlike Ichigo who is entirely bound by his personal set of ethics, Soi Fon owes her life and station to Soul Society so much that it has subsumed her personal identity. She struggles hard with upholding the values of SOCIETY even when those values end up contrary to or even destructive of the SELF.
She comes across as immature and out of place because she hasn't firmly landed in the camp of either being an entirely selfless agent of society or in fulfilling her personal desires. Fan favorite powerful characters are often the ones that don't have this conflict--Kenpachi shirks societal decree for a good fight; Gin will do anything for his revenge (even tragically straining/losing those personal relationships along the way); Rukia is willing to be executed and commit treason because of her connection to Ichigo. Soi Fon, for as much as she will go on about the duty of the assassins, has difficulty upholding that duty. As Soul Society increasingly moves from its strict laws, Soi Fon, whose identity was entirely tied up in being an agent of that society, no longer knows what is right or how to best serve. She's quick to attempt to stick to the old ways and that inflexibility is child-like just as it is reminiscent of the antagonistic Soul Society that we were introduced to in the first place.
It is because she is in conflict with herself that she lacks resolve. Lacking resolve is what makes her abilities inefficient. We see this time and time again how one's resolve strengthens and gives edge to their reiatsu. Yes, her abilities should be two-shot-kill or one-shot-one-kill but neither make their mark outside of Ggio and that's in large part due to her own conflicted self and the relative straightforward and overwhelming resolve of the opponents she is facing.
Soi Fon's shikai and bankai both represent this struggling duality within her. She wants to serve her role, to kill on behalf of the Soul Society, to be the ultimate assassin. Her Shikai reflects all the precision, elegance, and even slick opulence she desires but it still requires two strikes--highlighting Soi Fon's inability to truly defeat an enemy in just one. Her Bankai is all the unwieldy aggression, flash, and bombast of her passions. The Missile is a weapon of War, a thing made to destroy indiscriminately, and yet Soi Fon still lacks the resolve to wield it with the lethality it was made for. As much as Soi Fon herself has been manufactured to be a killing device of a militaristic society, she is in conflict with herself and with the way her society is trending and this makes her a less efficient combatant, only further deepening the rift between who Soi Fon is and who she wants to be while widening the depth of her insecurities.
Perfect Analysis right here
Best exemplified with Yoruichi and Urahara. She sure likes to make exemptions for Yoruichi, someone who's considered an exiled traitor by the society, yet has no issue trying to call Kisuke out on it, despite knowing that they're both comrades in arms. I mean, we all know the *real* reason why she does this, but still....
@@supersonicmario56 BLEACH has three core themes that tend to be resonant with every narrative element : The individual's struggle against Society ; The strength of personal, lived experiences and the bonds created ; The trauma of death and loss. Soi Fon's relationship with Yoruichi is able to--at the end of the day--overlook societal grievances because she recognizes and respects the individualistic bond she has with Yoruichi whereas Kisuke, in a way, is the one who brought about the loss of that connection. Soi Fon is eternally in conflict because she stuck by Society, thinking she owed her life/identity to it and that upholding that 'duty' would reinforce her identity when, in truth, it was her relationship to Yoruichi that was responsible for everything.
It begs to question that maybe she truly was never fooled by Aizen.
@@Konstant Well, she said it herself, "I don't trust anyone", not really because she has the role of an assassin, but more because it's "for the glory of the Soul Society". She likely didn't want to trust Aizen, or any squad member for that matter, but had to, "for the glory of the Soul Society", and she likely had her doubts and insecurities about him, similar to how she felt about Yoruichi's decision to make Urahara a captain, though that was for an entirely different reason, but she kept it to herself. She was more vocal about said doubts and insecurities when Yoruichi was around, but now that she's a traitor, she has no one to confide in about her doubts since she believes everyone could be a traitor to the society, especially if the one person she trusted could end up as one, which ties right back to her shikai and bankai dilemma.
It's mostly why she's so eager to jump on someone about the rules of the Soul Society. She's trying to convince herself that it's the right option. The best example is in the 2nd movie during the final confrontation against Toshiro. Ichigo's confronting everyone about attacking an ally without question and she's the only one to instantly snap back about it being an order and their duty as soul reapers.
Even some of the other captains who you'd think would share the same mindset (Shunsui, Ukitake, Unohana, Komamura) do not. This is more of a Soifon thing and would've acted like this regardless of what squad she was a part of.
Personally, I like her bankai because of how much depth it gives to the concept of zanpakuto relating to the soul.
Her shikai feels like a show of everything she wants to present herself as. It’s the perfect weapon for an assassin, quick, efficient, silent. Her Bankai though, I believe represents the true personality she tries to hide from the world. It’s explosive, flashy, and aggressive.
Made me look at every bankai differently after I thought about it. Hopefully this is what Kubo actually went for cause it’s cool as hell, and got me to appreciate her more
I agree. I used to hate her Bankai, but there isn't really of a "bad way" of being an assassin if you LEGIT blow the up the enemy and or area. Because there is no one to tell that it was you/who you faced against. While not being stealthy, it sure is efficent!
I like your comment! Good job of knowing what is the job of killing by being an assassin. This was not meant for me to be sound condisending, I really meaning it. Being an assassin isn't about ALL being stealthy, if you can do your job by killing the target, then it doesn't matter the method you use as an assassin.
her Shikai is perfect fitting her personality 100%
She definitely shows that true personality at every opportunity.
Her Bankai goes 1 step deeper as well. Its a "Stinger" Missile. That is a real world shoulder fired missile.
Soifon is bae, her design made me have such a big crush on her as a kid😫so big that she’s still easily my favorite girl many years later. She’s so cool and underrated.
Truly believe Kubo struck gold with her. Thanks for making a video on her tommo👍
Hot Fon
Based
Kudos on the profile pic
@@Demi_Yamato word, good nickname
I actually love Soi Fon as a character, and my favorite moment of hers by far is also that fight with Yourichi,mainly because of the ending.
When Yourichi cancelled her attack and basically shattered her resolve, showing her that she still isn't on her level yet, her walls finally come down and as you said, she just balls out crying and expresses her feelings. But it's her last line that always gets me when she does this confession......
"I would have gone anywhere with you, you MUST have known that....."
I believe this is so telling of her true pain. Remember, at this time she doesn't know about Aizen or why Yourichi left to begin with. In fact, up until the Fake Karakura Town arc, she never knows about Aizen being the real one to create the Vizards and get Urahara/Yourichi exiled, which is why she has such vitriol for Urahara at that point LOL but she still says this. Which tells me, she is basically saying to her, "you had to have known that I would have stood by you, followed you, been happier with YOU, no matter the reason why we left. You didn't have to 'spare' me, all you did by doing that was leave me her to suffer, and become this person I didn't want to be. You condemned me, and you were OK with doing that. Why??"
I literally cried tears thinking about this......
Regarding her shouting at the Zero Division, I don't feel she was out of line since they were so nonchalant about their lost. The Zero Division later on ended up losing and the Gotei had to pick up the slack for them, which made them look worse after Tenjiro berated Soi Fon on what their duties were.
Thank you I'm so glad someone finally said this, its always bothered me like its all on the Gotei when Soul Society gets invaded because they have to protect the soul king but when push comes to shove they fail and the Gotei have to save the day.
I feel like the most interesting thing is that she sees value in Omaeda, even if he doesn't see his own value. She doesn't like his behaviors and habits, but keeps him as her vice captain when she can literally choose her vice captain.
Omaeda is partially vice captain because of his rich noble family so knowing soul society he is there to stay
To me her Bankai fits her roll as an assassin. The goal is to kill. Her shikai is a single kill and her bankai kills multiple people.
Assassins don't just kill. They kill stealthily, meaning it doesn't fit her. She says it herself.
If assassination fails just nuke them
@@ez_is_bloohey, dead men tell no tales. If no one's left to say you slipped up on your stealth mission than was it really a failure?
@@ez_is_bloo look if Soi fon needs to use her Bankai the situation has already progressed pass stealth
@@ez_is_bloo Bankai also reflects your personslity Soifon is a very hot head person
His explosive Bankai fits her personality
In regards to Soi Fon's bankai, I wonder if it's actually in an incomplete or immature state, much like with Renji and Hitsugaya until the TYBW. While her shikai represents everything she is on the surface, her bankai represents who she is deep down which is someone who is fractured and immature. Soi Fon hasn't learned to channel the volatile emotions she buries and thus they ultimately don't do anyone any good and leave her exhausted. Her bankai perfectly mirrors this flaw and I feel like if she properly dealt with her issues and experienced true character growth, her bankai might refine itself in much the same way as her personality; perhaps manifesting less like a flashy missile and more like a precision sniper.
Maybe it could turn into a much smaller and compressed missile that has a much shorter set up time and is much lighter and faster than her current bankai, but has much more recoil and uses substantially more reiatsu than her current bankai already does.
It would be kinda similar to Rukia's bankai which could damage her badly if she's not careful.
Soi Fon could finally be able to fill her role as an assassin with this more powerful and lightweight missile, but still have to train hard to handle the recoil and the reiatsu cost.
I always held close to my heart the moment Soi fon confesses her real reason for feeling angry. She went full vulnerable there and that takes guts, that moment made me like her a lot.
I feel like if Sui-Feng had killed Yoruichi, her mental stability would have spiraled downward before Yoruichis body could turn cold. Especially when she found out that this whole incident was just Aizen manipulating his events to get his way. I imagine that she'd convince herself that it wasn't her fault and Aizen is the one who REALLY killed Yoruichi
Yeah i bet she would go psycho
See, I'm with Rukia on this one, she's always been a good person. The trick with Soi fung is to watch her actions compared to her words, and watch the intensity she tries to perform them throughout the series. It reminds me of a quote I know "by their fruits you shall know them". If you listen and try to understand Soi Fung by her words you'll be tricked, but if you display them AGAINST her actions you'll see the contrast, therefore discovering the truth about who this character really is.
As a woman, having a friendship like that, and having that beloved friend leave your life with no explanation. That shit hurts. It feels like a betrayal. I totally understand how she feels, and it’s very relatable
She said she was going to kill Yoruichi. But that was all talk. Sure she believed she would, but in the end she would’ve stopped last second. I mean soi Fon literally broke down after realizing she couldn’t even if she tried. Love hurts sometimes.
She just pretends to be a cold, hard, bitch which is why she runs her mouth so much but at the end of the day she's just a softie trying hard to be what she pretends to be.
I mean yoruichi is older than her ans has more experience if she focused more on training harder and building a stronger bond with suzumebachi she would get more powerful and in the future even surpass yoruichi nothing is impossible in bleach
While Kubo did a more or less great job handling the countless characters he created, Soi Fon was one he really dropped the ball with. In the SS arc, she's cold and emotionally fickle because she's still traumatized by Yoruichi abandoning her in her mind. But even after she learns the truth why Yoruichi left she remains that cold and somewhat immature girl even in future arcs. She outright shouts at the Visored, 0 Division and Shunsui in TYBW because her emotions get the best of her. And as for her power, she was hinted to be one of the strongest in the SS arc to the point of rivalling Yoruichi but we see in future arcs she's nowhere near Yoruichi's power. She ends up needing Hachigan's help against Barragan and only barely wins against BG9, and doesn't participate in any other fights against other Quincy. But worst of all, in the manga Soi Fon and Yoruichi never interact with one another again after the SS arc. Soi Fon is probably one of the characters that benefitted the most from anime filler and novels as in those she interacts with Yoruichi more and we see her more friendly and mature side. Which is likely why manga only readers normaly dislike Soi Fon while anime views like her as the manga doesn't paint a good picture of her.
Only reason anime fans like her is because in the fillers, Soi Fon is turned into an obsessed lesbian stalker and constantly fawns at the feet of Yoruichi
@@zemox2534 lol I forgot the anime turned her into a goofy stalker.
Soi fon was never made to be one of the strongest soul reapers in the SS arc because in that very arc she is outclassed by a rusty yuroichi. And yuroichi is never shown to be a top tier soul reaper as far as fighting power goes.
@@zemox2534 Yeah, but at least she had redeeming qualities there as her adoration for Yoruichi was played for laughs. In the manga she has no comedic relief moments so just comes across as bland, hot-headed and immature.
Like soi fon is completely right when she says Yoruichi has gotten weaker and she has become stronger and yet when both pull out their trump cards shunko Yoruichi shuts her down with complete ease
aka the same one who goes damm I have gotten out of shape and then is unable to train herself because she is spending all of her energy to manifest Ichigo Zanpakuto after all that why they stop on the first day because she is exhausted from carrying him through Bankai training
Even with her flaws she's quite the badass,Yoruichi's influence certainly helped taper some of her more ruthless traits especially regarding subordinates. Doesn't take away from her lethality. In CFYOW she wiped the floor with Tokinada's hired assassins, cutting several down while Yoruichi only knocked them out. Once Tokinada escaped Yoruichi expressed concern at Soifon's state covered in blood and seeing the corpses lying around her, warning Soifon not to allow her deadly skills/status dominate her personality. In the end I'm sure Soifon secretly enjoys going to the human world to buy pastries for Yoruichi at Orihime's bakery. Soifon is best Shinigami waifu.
Good analysis. In my opinion, Soi Fon is a lot like Byakuya was in Soul Society who both hold on to their principles to the point it's almost iron clad. But where Byakuya suffers morally from it, Soi Fon suffers emotionally from it. She's incredibly bottled up, acting what she believes to be what she's supposed to be (like her shikai) vs who she is which is an extremely passionate person who when her emotions come out, they're overwhelming (like her bankai).
Indeed. Her extreme training stunted her personality and emotional growth, a byproduct of lifelong training to be an assassin. Ironically Yoruichi's presence provided a degree of humanity that kept some of her more brutal traits under control. Soifon's extremely dangerous temper and tendency to fly off the handle is certainly subconscious anger at her lot essentially being a lifelong killer for power hungry aristocrats and their deadly baggage.
Soi Fon's bankai is a perfect representation of her: Her shikai is how she want to be: a silent assassin like Yoruichi. Her bankai is her true self, a passionate, impulsive and fiery person.
Personally always felt her and omaedas relationship was one of the more underrated ones in the gotei when it came to captain and lieutenant relationships.
She gives him a hard time but it's clear both have loyalty to one another. Omaeda is surprisingly loyal to his captain often putting his own body at risk to cushion her damage while soi fon often goes against her own teachings to save him
She chastised him for not attacking a opponent in the back and choosing to save her while she does the exact same thing for him against BG 9 I kind of love them
They are great as a pair, it’s comedy gold. When she said to an arrancar “being at odds is better for combat training” she was probably telling the truth about her and Omaeda. I’m sure she adopted that style from her days in the Onmitsukido. Like you said though, she is actually very kind hearted and cares about her subordinates dearly as seen by her actions.
Her Bankai is a reflection of who she actually is, not who she's been made to be. Just like how Byakuya was much different when younger. The role they've been forced into changed the outward personality but not her base nature. Just my thoughts anyway.
Agreed. Her explosive attitude when grieving, not getting her ways and when in conflict.
Great character analysis! You brought up some points about her that I never even considered. Also agree with your thoughts on including her in the final TYBW battle against Askin. Just feels weird that her and Yoruichi never really got a chance to fight side by side.
Well since the Bleach Anime is coming back there is a good chance Soi will get more screen time, especially since Kubo wants to include content he didn't get to use in the manga
Thank you for finally getting to my favourite character in Bleach. Been waiting a long time for this video from you.
A fellow soi fon enjoyer :D
Am I the only one that kind of agreed with Soi fon when talking to the 0 division? Especially when they ended up doing just as much as she did in the actual fight
Also liked how she was willing to strike down Tokinada in the novel once it became clear he planned to unleash chaos upon the worlds and was responsible for a number of murders, despite the fact that he's an untouchable noble. Him taunting her over the deaths of her brothers also help set her wrath.
We need those novels adapted into animated form. I'd love movies based on them.
@@enriquetaylor4226 see
Of course the big thing that set her off was him going maybe I should marry yoruichi
@@1234andrewjacksmith Truth, and funnily enough Yoruichi stated that her brain seems to stop functioning whenever she enters the scene with her, something Soifon enthusiastically confirms much to Yoruichi's exasperation.
So poeticly that she fought Bg9 in TYBW a robot type character and she beeing introduced as the same type , a blind person following laws and orders without remourse feeling that she needs to prove her worth and the title that Yoruichi once hold in Soul Society . So poetic indeed and her relation with Yourichi always seemed to me to be more than Capitan/posibile Loutenant to Yoruichi to possible a potentialy love intrest really , im sure im not the only one thinking that and her leaving hurt Soi Fun to her core thus transforming into a cold person that is in pain on the inside .
I thought that too and a wide amount of people thought she might be a lesbian because of how she obsesses over Yoruichi and how cruel she is to Omaeda but then in TYBW she starts fawning over her brother Youchirou and that just flew that theory out of the window. At that point, I think she's just fan girling over the Shihoin family.
Lieutenant. She really isn't even ruthless or cold, she just pretends to be. At the end of the day she's a scared little girl playing pretend
@@A_Black_Sheep94 scared little girl I think not more like fragile cause she lost all her brother and the one person she came to love and also looked up to left her I would be pissed too
@@Fishy_flops. *Scared. Little. Girl.* Even her Zanpaktou said it straight to her face.
soi fon is actually my favorite captain, I feel she's pretty underrated by fans
My favorite thing about soi fon is her shikai/bankai. Her shikai is just super cool and kills (almost) anyone in 2 hits. Requires precision and speed. Awesome. I LOVE her bankai, as a single hit killer. It’s all seemingly the opposite of how soi fon opporates, but also follows the theme of her shikai. The fact that she hates it tells us how she deeply feels about herself. She wants to be a silent killer, per the expectations hoisted upon her by others. But in reality she’s loud, and powerful, and hard to move or reposition once she settles on an idea. Her bankai is simple, but tells us a LOT about her soul.
I LOVE your idea for an alternate ending for Soi Fon. I've always found Yuushirou to be an obnoxious character, and I thought it was a disservice to Yoruichi's big final fight to have her tedious brother introduced. Soi Fon fighting alongside her would have made far more sense, and would be a nice finale to their arc.
She got the short end of the stick because everyone she fights either counters her or is stupidly strong... or its shown offscreen.
I think Kubo did that on purpose because her Zanpaktou is OP. She is the fastest Captain of all the 13 and the best hand to hand fighter. Combine that with her two hit kill and she should blitz most her opponents. But that would make for a boring fight, so we have to put her against opponents who a immune to her powers and have her figure out other ways to beat them. Basically Kubo realized he made her too strong and had to knock her down. Honestly, if that’s the plan then why give her the power if she is never going to have it work aside from weak ass grunts.
She is one of my favorite characters from bleach, her personality, character design (imho she is one of the most beatifully designed characters) her abilities, everything about her is awesome, even her flaws.
Suì-Fēng is such underrated baddie, not only is she fine as hell. But she’s kick ass too. Love her
Your videos butter my biscuits thank you
Soi Fon is so underrated. Easily the best Bleach girl.
No
Yes.... I love her
Love her too
Agreed, easy top-3 for me. Probably #1 tbh.
No
When Yorichi leaves, I really felt the pain to Soi Fon. And when Soi Fon says she created that move when they fighting, and she says it doesn't have a name and the Yorichi says it does, because I created it, that was so great and devastaing to Soi Fon. When Yorichi describes why her sleaves are the way the are, to me that was great. I feel she always had to prove her self, and that came out as being crass to almost every body. And the fact that she hates her Banki, like a few other characters hate there banki or Shiki gave her another level, at least to me.
When Soi Fon fought BG9, she should have allowed them to steal her Bankai and when he shot it, it should have killed him.
She can barely handle the strength of it, and strategically allowing him to steal it before he killed himself could have been great.
Bleach has so many amazing chars Kubo is a genius 👍 love your videos MrTommo 🔝
I think something that's missed is that, frankly, Byakuya was very much like Soi Fon in the Soul Society Arc, but replace youth with a haughty arrogance so thick he could come off as petty. Byakuya is the one who grew due to his ample and critical exposure, however. Another way to put it is, Soi Fon actually thinks a lot like Toshiro or Kenpachi, who prefer to fight alone (Toshiro even asks if he can go solo Aizen lol), but she is arguably less successful and definitely weaker than Kenpachi so she can't afford that same kind of pride or bluster. Even the Visords have this problem, and Kyroaku essentially says Love and Rose were too soft when fighting Starkk.
I do like Soi Fon's personality though because she to me is a bridge between Kisuke's side and the Soul Society and shows the sort of "hierarchy" of character power. It's easy to forget that the captains are mostly secondary to the biggest players like Kisuke, Ishin, and even Ichigo. Despite being in a position of honor, Soi Fon is the student while Yoruichi is the master. I think going forward, I would love to see Soi Fon grow into the role of a powerful, solo agent. Let us see how characters like Kisuke get to be so powerful and experienced. Surely he didn't start that way and it's not like he's the Chosen One or anything.
Also, Soi Fon is right, the Zero Division really is bad at their job.
Soi Fon is easily my favorite character design. Unfortunately, she isn't enough of a main character to ever get a meaningful W. If we get a continuation of the Hell Arc in the future, I think she stands a really good chance of getting some really great character growth because she has some of the most obvious and explored flaws among the cast that are ready to be washed away. A scene where she puts herself in harms way to save Urahara or Ōmaeda would be a fantastic scene.
I think her Shikai and her Bankai make total sense for her character. Her shikai embodies what she tries to be. Her bankai represents her actual personality. While she wants to be more reserved as an assassin, her more explosive personality goes against that want. It mirrors the outbursts she has. We all know people like this, even in leadership.
your alternate ending for Soifon sounds good. let's see what the Anime does with her in that part of the story
I think her bankai highlights how she really isnt MEANT for the stealth division. She only became leader iirc bc Yoruichi left, and she was only in the stealth division because she was born into a vassal family to the Shihoins. At her core, Soi Fon is impetuous, proud and deeply loyal, all of which are traits that conflict with the cold, calculating and sometimes duplicitous world of ninja/assassins. I like her character bc she brings up some interesting issues within the soul society via her misplaced anger and outburst. Also she was right about the zero division lol; complete strangers suddenly show up after the damage is done to help out? Lol if the zero division had actually come to help, they could’ve maybe killed Yhwach before he recovered his full powers (the almighty). I know kubo meant to frame that scene as soi fon being out of line but I think she may have been right lol
I've always been surprised that she isn't more popular. She is a fantastic character.
Her personality is awful
Hey Tommo, I've gotten into Bleach back in January of this year and I've been following your videos since around July.
Just wanted to say, I love your content as it gives me more knowledge of the series as well.
I hope you do more what if videos. If those are your thing, alternate scenarios in the bleach story would be a bit nice.
Anyways, keep up the amazing content.
Banger video!!
Kubo just dropped the ball on her I personally believe. He gave her this incredibly powerful power and decides it never works when she needs it. Her fights are always just horribly mismatched because it’s the only way to prevent her from speed blitzing her opponents like she did the saber tooth Fraccion. The BG9 fight really got me annoyed too because ultimately her training still meant nothing and she lost needing to rely on her bankai in the end and her vice captain to save her. It’s painful how she is supposed to be this master assassin who is the fastest captain and a master of close combat, but she never gets to actually show it and the only time she does she is outclassed by her old captain and undermines her. Just kinda lame. She is my favorite captain too as I love the idea of an entire squad of assassins.
Congratulations on 150k! I've been really enjoying the content lately. TYBW is gonna be lit!
Soi Fon's arc always confused me because she has a clear arc of feeling her emotions more and mellowing out and not being so law abiding and it ends in TYBW arc with her finally not just following orders and not being an unfeeling robot and she gets reprimanded for it? Like it comes across really weird where it's like "Soi Fon congratulations on finishing your arc! Now we'll chastise you for your character development and make it seem like your Soul Society character was actually better."
Shikai : stealthy quick reflects her status as an onmitskido captain
Bankai : explosive reflects her loud brash personality
So glad to see your growth and success mate, I was here when you had like 400 subs lol
I've always viewed the scene with her and the zero division very differently. It seemed like her character arc was really coming to a head with her daring to question such high authority, something that she would have never done back in the soul society arc. Like, I really don't think she's being immature in this scene. She doesn't owe them unconditional respect and silence just because they're her superiors. I think it's very interesting that she doesn't give them blind respect. To me, the previous scene with her and Komamura was meant to show that yes, she can be over-accusatory and disrespectful, but the things she says comes from an empathetic place. So when she questions the 0 division, she's standing up for the gotei 13. It's not just her, but the whole gotei 13 deserves answers, and she's the only one willing to demand them. I think the scene comes off way more embarrassing for Kirinji now that we know how badly his group fails at their job to protect the spirit king.
I really appreciate your take on TYBW Soifon, makes me think of her as a stand in for the reader in which Kubo really utilizes her to bring the reader up to speed on Gotei duties in brief and efficient ways.
Makes me wonder how he could have utilized her if given more time with the arc.
A 49 minute video on my 2nd favorite character?
WASTE👏🏾MY👏🏾TIME!
So happy I discovered this channel yesterday!
Is it just me or does anyone else remember that barragan faught a hollow to a stand still, the same hollow that could not be completely killed even with the efforts of two squad zero members…..
I laughed at soifon but if we put every detail together, we’d discover that she’s actually powerful, just went against the wrong opponents, just like shinji.
To be fair proportionally her bankai would probably kill someone of similar strength but barrigan was of a much higher level and had his ability
Felt like the whole stealing bankai thing was the perfect time for soi fon to shine
Exactly. She should have never pulled it out in the first place, especially since her opponent was like 20ft away. It so weird to see her just so ready to use her bankai after she was so reluctant to use it in the FKT arc. She could have had already had her Shunko perfected and just kept it hidden. This was honestly the best time for her assassin skills to shine considering that the sternritters were just wandering around looking for soul reapers.
he bankai 'is' a stealth weapon, the only way to use it properly is to fire from a position where you cannot be observed. and given the size and looks of it that missile can probably be fired from an 'exceptional' distance away from the target. Yes it reveals your position once you fire it but that shouldnt matter much as the target is ideally vaporized at that point.
I like soi fons bankai because it shows people may not like who they are, or people may not fit the job they've been given
I favorited this video without even watching yet, thanks Mr. Tommo!!
Brilliant analysis as always Tommo, good stuff
Late on this one... Have been too busy lately but, glad you did this one. Always felt Soi Fon was one of those characters that didn't get enough love. Keep it going !! 🔥
LET’S GO NEW TOMMO
Soi fon finally gets her video
Always look forward to your videos especially the analysis!! Love your content and channel!!
Soi Fon is one of those characters that is mostly well-written and well-designed, but is not that popular because of her fairly unpleasant personality. She has her hidden depths, to be sure, but I think it is telling that she is far less prominently featured in the TYBW compared to her more charismatic contemporaries.
Out of all the characters that could have used more spotlight though, she is definitely not very high on my list. Though, I wouldn't mind her getting some shine in the Hell arc.
My favorite underrated character in Bleach. I would have liked her to be on the offensive in TYBW. She's an assassin, I would have liked to see her attack a Sternritter out of nowhere with an instant kill, proving her skills are actually a real threat. Instead she had a stand-up fight with BG9 and got beaten.
Honestly I've always believed she's not trained with her bankai enough to master it. It would make more sense for her missle to leave like a radioactive fallout that guarantees the opponent would die from the poison if the blast doesn't do them in
Soi Fon: *proceeds to scream at the 0 Division"
Shinji: "we're going to get killed"
Jushiro: "we're DEFNITELY going to get killed"
I'll never get the people who downplay soifon from a power perspective lol.
Girl literally fights Yoruichi AND Barragan, two of the most powerful characters in their respective arcs.
And before anyone comes saying dumb bs, She was fighting against barragan with no Shunko, and no Bankai, Barragan would nerf anybody he fights, but Soifon gets counteres by his abilities the hardest in the entire cast, and yet, as soon as her bankai is not nerfed by respira, she blows up half his damn head. Starrk and Hallibel ain't surviving Soifons bankai leaving a massive hole in their skulls, she was reaaally strong.
Even in the TYBW, besides the 5 schutztaffel level captains, who else in the gotei is stronger than her? Rukia unable to move while in bankai? Or shinji whos biggest acomplishment is beating up a near death base grimmjow? Nope.
I see da video I like da video. Keep it up, king
Honestly, I think her Bankai does fit her quite well, even if she doesn't want to acknowledge it. It's not stealthy, but it seems to encompass her "at all costs" mentality when it comes to completing a mission.
If stealthily taking out the enemy isn't an option, then what better way to make sure the target goes down than to blast them and everything around them to make sure they can't escape? It's "Death in 1 Step" like you brought up, but the plot REALLY enjoys hampering that fact, and I hate it.
I had a thought when you were discussing her bankai. Do you think it's kill potential is lowered because she hasn't accepted herself in that regard? Look at Ichigo accepting his zanpakuto and how much more power he gained from it. I think if Soi Fon accepted those traits associated with her bankai, perhaps it'd truly become the "one step to kill," and maybe even more discreetly.
Soi Fon got such a sick character design, hope she gets more development in the new arc.
I get that her bankai can or does represent her explosive nature. Could it also be a situation similar to renji where the zanpakto gave a false bankai release name?
I think so
I believe’s Isshin’s Bandai is a Fire version of Rukia’s ability. He simply controls his body heat. She learned to freeze herself alive while he possible does the opposite. It may also take him a while to cool his body like it takes her a while to heat hers.
Wow your analyzsis really show how much kubo put in these character and what really make Bleach 1 of the top 3 anime in that time.
I definitely agree that Soi Fon should have gotten to fight Askin alongside Yoruichi rather than Yushiro, who always struck me as a pointless, forgettable character. Soi Fon fighting alongside her idol as an equal would have been a really nice conclusion to her story arc, and there's no shame in losing to Askin given how many strong fighters he manages to take down. Also, the chance for more interactions with Kisuke would have been nice.
Soi Fon is perfect
Easily my favorite Bleach character and I'm devastated she couldn't get a more important role in the story.
Thankfully anime filler exists to fill the void.
To me soifon is a great character apart from not receiving a great arc, the start point of her character is so well defined and it’s clear what kubo is trying to convey, however after either her fight with yoruichi or barragan there should of been some sort of development and evolution but sadly there never was.
I love your explanation on how to fix the absence of Soi Fon's during the 2nd half of TYBW,
We could potentially have a reunion of Squad 2, Yoruichi, Soi-Fon and Urahara vs Askin. It would show that Soi-Fon has grown and learns to work with Kiskue this time instead of Hachi-we can also address how Hachi imprisoned Urahara.
Have a team-up of Yoruichi and Soi-fon and then the rest. I think that would have been a perfect(taking the canon into consideration) way to end Soi-Fon.
My favorite captain finally gets her own video!!! LETS GOOOOOO!!!!
Maybe as soi fon gets stronger her bankai will evolve to something more subtle
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She comes off like someone who would deny doing a task yet still carry it out anyhow, tho possibly reluctantly
I think it's helpful when looking Soi Fon's bankai to assume that she hasn't mastered it.
It's cumbersome, ineffective, and shows how at odds with her own soul she is. If Zabimaru never gave Renji a real bankai, who's to say that Jakuho Raikoben isn't the same situation.
It seems like something given out of spite, or neglected out of the same.
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Same here lol I am not the only one noticing this
Head cannon I had with her bankai is that she hasn’t mastered it yet simply because she hates it.
Video 9 asking for: Idea for a video: all of kisuke urahara creations, inventions and achievements. Thank you
I love Soi Fon. She is actually my favorite female character in Bleach.
I feel like Soi Fon’s Bankai could evolve with her character as she matures and gains more captain experience. I don’t know what it could really be, but it could change similar to characters like Renji, Ichigo, and so on
Love the cover photo of that video
Really great ✨💯
Underrated
One of my personal big problems about bleach is the level of pride that fill the character when it comes to life and death. Ikkaku rather die than use his bankai, soi fon rather die then help and use her bankai. The visored captains not hollow powers. Like is your pride for the sake of life and death worth dying for?
I enjoy that aspect because it makes it more... dynamic? Then there's the opposite end of the spectrum where Yamamoto would burn up the entire soul society to win, or kyoraku giving up his pride releasing aizen.
For some people, it is. They rather die than ask for help; especially with people they don't like. I've met some people that the idea of them compromising is not an option. It can definitely be annoying.
These people are soldiers and samurai coming from Japanese culture. It fits imo,but I understand the cultural gap.
I feel like her bankai is a great symbol of how childish her idea of how do I take out someone in one shot? Rocket launcher.
The captain of the L Division-right up there with Shinji.
imagine if soi fon was allowed to have emotional growth and a big fight with BG9 revealing a new true bankai that reflects her matured soul... just imagine
SoI Fon, what a cool character, she’s deeply confident and yet clearly flawed.
If you look at her choice of lieutenant it becomes clear she was deeply damaged to the point of never being close to anyone nor relying on anyone again. She purposely does not train omeada or get close to him to avoid another abandonment like she suffered from Yoruichi
Soi Fon is not my favorite character, but I do appreciate her character. Sh is brash and short tempered which is a bit refreshing. Bleach has a lot of characters with a cool, stoic/quiet/reserved personality type like Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Gin, etc. it makes her stand out even if not in a good way. Her background or relationship with Yoruichi is interesting. Sadly, it’s not expanded/explored much after soul society arc. I really like her battle with Baraggan. It’s rare to see a captain and vice captain in battle together in the series, so it was nice. Plus, Hachi joining was great. Generally, bleach characters take turns fighting an enemy which usually leads to several characters losing before someone finishes off the enemy. But the soi fon, Omaeda, and hachi vs Barragan was really a team effort.
If I had to make a guess, I'd say Soifon's Bankai hasn't been perfected yet because of how emotionally repressed she is, and because she uses Jakuho Raikoben so rarely she hasn't really started mastering and refining it into what she would consider her ideal weapon; in a way, it's representative of how she's given up on herself in favor of being what she thinks others expect of her.
If I had to wager a guess, I'd say her perfected version of Jakuho Raikoben would either be a cannon, or perhaps even a missile battery instead of one singular RPG that she struggles to fire even once.
Great vid