Let me talk about these three a little.
Some years ago, when I was reading the manga for the first time, if somebody had told me that I would see Byakuya and Zaraki crying in a desperate situation, I wouldn't have believed them. It surprises me tho, that even when it was the time for Toshiro to cry for he was in a similar situation than these two when they shed at least a single tear, being the youngest, he didn't cry either way. Yet, his eyes can tell how broken he was at that moment.
When Byakuya cried, he got his bankai stolen and was almost killed by it, by his own power.
But that wasn't exactly what made him to reach this point, it was also that his pride had been broken. He was ashamed for failing Rukia and Renji and Soul Society in general. I was moved the time I saw his first concern was to know if these two were okay and then, when Ichigo reassured him about them being still alive, it was the time when he asked Ichigo to save Soul Society swallowing his pride. It's interesting to see him crying since his poem even talks about how one should never cry. But he was allowing himself to do so because he truly believed he was about to die at that moment. Rukia was his pride and since the moment he didn't protect her from her execution judgement, you can tell he didn't want to make such an awful mistake again and then he failed her once again. She was probably one of the persons he cared about the most.
The only other time we get to see Byakuya crying is when Hisana dies. To know he wasn't able to fulfill his promise to her and to protect Rukia is a good reason for him to allow himself this moment of fragility.
When Zaraki allowed himself to cry, he also believed he was about to die by Unohana's sword and without ever having defeated her once. His poem talks about how if one throws away their pride, they're closer to become beasts, so... is he crying for his pride the moment he allows himself this moment of fragility in front of her? Why is he so concerned that he comes so far to even cry?
Zaraki's main interest has always been to enjoy a good fight and to find strong opponents as him. Unohana was the woman he respected the most for she was the first person who made him enjoying a fight. He even named Yachiru after her. He didn't simply respect her, but he admired her. He probably was about to die in front of the person he cared about the most besides Yachiru. In the language of fight, to lose to the person one wants to defeat the most is of course a low blow to one's pride and at the moment he did cry he really thought he wouldn't have any other chance to fight her since he believed it was his turn to die.
He had to kill Unohana in order to find his own true strength. The moment Unohana dies is the moment he first hears his sword. And we all know Yachiru was his sword all the time but it seems Yachiru wasn't pretty aware of it until that moment. Unonaha herself accepts that it was her sin to be the reason as to why Zaraki kept his power restricted so she wouldn't be weak enough to fight him. Zaraki didn't know the name of his sword since he gave it a name withouth knowing it thanks to Unohana and that was the reason as to why he started to use his powers at his fullest until the end of the series. Unohana had this big importance in his life, so it is expected at some point that the only time he cries, he does it in front ot her and in the middle of a fight to death.
As I've said before, the time Toshiro is pushed at his limit he doesn't cry but you can tell how tired and defeated he felt by looking at his expression because here's the only time he really looks defeated. Before this, we saw him angry, mad, serious and all that, but never like this. He got his bankai stolen, he had to endure to lose Hyorinmaru, something really hard for him since Hyorinmaru was "the place he beloged to" (he actually was the one who looked really pained when the captains lose their bankais). He was defeated by Bazz-B without any opportunity to fight for his life and then Cang Du shows up and drops Rangiku beside him, she was defeated too and Cang Du not only tells Toshiro that he's going to kill him but that he's going to kill his partner too, that he's going to kill the person who has always been by his side. And to make things worse, Cang Du not only tells him all of this, but he also makes it clear that he's going to kill Ran and him by using Hyorinmaru.
I can imagine Toshiro having flashbacks of all the problems he has always had for having Hyorinmaru with him: the time he almost froze his granny to death, the time he stabbed Momo with Hyorinmaru and if you take into account DDR, the problem he had for having Hyorinmaru shared with Kusaka. And now, the person who helped him to be aware of his power and basically saved his granny and helped him his whole career and was always there for him is going to be killed by his own power too. I don't think Toshiro cared much about his own life, that's why probably to break his spirit Tite also included Ran in the formula.
But his poem actually talks about how one should never be afraid of being decieved because the world was full of deception. Since his first big role in the series, he gets attacked by Momo, his childhood friend (It's an awful way to put it, but it wasn't Momo's intention too, she believed she was betrayed by him too) and from there Toshiro faces a lot of shitty stuff but he always accepts it and tries to overcome it as soon as possible instead of taking a moment to cry about all his tragedies. His poem tells how much he's aware of the fact that he's gotten nothing for granted. I guess that's why he also doesn't cry. The only time we see him crying is when he tells his granny that he needs to leave her in order to protect her and in that moment he was still a child so it's even more understable why he cried.
We saw Byakuya, Zaraki and Toshiro at their weakest moments during TYBW in order to be awarded with them working together against one of the strongest quincies ever. And what we got from that fight? The three of them using new forms of their bankais, the powers that almost killed themselves and the ones they got stronger thanks to the important ladies in their lifes (Hisana and Rukia for Byakuya, Unohana and Yachiru for Zaraki, and the lovely granny who took care of him during his childhood, Ran and Momo for Toshiro). It was pretty funny and interesting to see them fighting as a team after all of this. Also, it's interesting how much they have in common: they're probably the youngest males captains, they're really serious and awkward at their sense of humor (xD) and they're pretty strong too. I've seen some people saying that Zaraki and Toshiro have a similar dilemma of their powers being too strong for their bodies to handle them. In other hand, Toshiro and Byakuya are somehow similar in their behaviour (It's still so cute and funny to me how the both of them talk about Renji and Rukia going to fight to Ichigo's side as if they were Byakuya's kids and Tosh is the friend who reassures him that they're going to be okay xD).
Anyway! What is your opinion about this? Do you like this combo? Feel free to add your own opinion about this!
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