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Yumichika’s Underrated (and unique) Character: Beast in Beauty’s clothing.

First appearance:

We get to know Yumichika at the chapter 96 of the manga. From that moment, he is set as a simple minor character.

“Minor character. A minor character is usually a character who's not the protagonist or one of the main supporting characters or secondary characters. They usually have a relatively small role and often only appear for a few scenes. But even if they aren't on stage for very long, minor characters can have a big impact on the story.“

Besides the filler episodes of the anime, we can only get to see him if he’s either following Ikkaku or Kenpachi, as the typical “puppy character”. He is there to fight the one that Ikkaku won’t because the opponents are weaker, to watch him fight or take care of something else as Ikkaku does all the hard work.

We do get a lot more of Minor Characters on bleach and mostly all of them have, at least, some sort of backstory. In comparison, we don’t really have much information about him as we have from other minor characters and at first sight he’s not crucial for the plot.

So, what makes Yumichika so special and different from everyone else? I’ve been wondering for some time now, why is Yumichika in the 11th division if he’s so different from the rest of his comrades? We know that there, people only like to fight. But we got to see multiple times that the 5th seat is the only one who actually does the work, he even cares about his appearance almost more than fighting.

Said that, why is Yumichika, a feminine male character (Who are most of the time viewed and written as a joke) on the strongest squad of the Gotei 13?

First, we’re going to get a look at his first fight.

First battle:

Yumichika’s first fight happened when he was still viewed as an antagonist and his worst traits had the focus on the audience: Some random dude obsessed with beauty who says some cruel and sadistic stuff to one of Ichigo’s allies. Besides, as I said before, male characters with femenine traits are viewed not only as a joke but as disgusting (Let's remember that Bleach’s first episode was in 2001 and Japan isn’t the most friendly country with non-manly-men who actually take showers).

This is, mostly, a comedy relief fight while we see the main one between Ichigo and Ikkaku; in contrast, Yumichika vs Ganju isn’t really a proper fight, Ayasegawa just follows Ganju around and falls on his silly tricks over and over again until he’s defeated by a firework.

But, as a Yumichika starved fan, I could rescue some content from this. That is, we got to know Yumichika’s only weak spot in the entire series: Ikkaku.

That might be some irrelevant thing, based on Yumichika’s existence is only Ikkaku because he’s his minor character, a mere shadow to not leave Ikkaku alone on his important scenes, right? Wrong, but that comes later.

Let’s focus on this first. The fight was almost comical, Ganju and Yumichika running in circles, getting lost in the process, falling on a hole full of garbage bags; but at the mere mention that Ikkaku lost, Yumichika seems to turn on a completely different character. He loses his composure, that could be taken as just a normal thing for newer viewers, but after finishing the manga for the 10th time I can’t let this fact go unperceived.

Yumichika starts fighting for real, looking almost feral and with ugly expressions that he doesn’t normally make since he’s obsessed with his looks. There, you can understand why he is a part of the 11th division (But there’s more).

That is, also, an important fact regarding his and Ikkaku’s past. Where they would normally walk around looking for the strongest ones to fight.

What we learned here is; Yumichika knows how to fight dirty, and he doesn’t lose a single second in seriously attacking his opponent when he thinks that Ikkaku is in danger. That kinda resembles Kenpachi, who says that he doesn’t fight with all his strength from the beginning because otherwise he wouldn’t get to enjoy the fight and get fun, because it would end too early, too boring.

Second battle:

We already know that Yumichika is, in fact, part of the 11th squad. But we still have more doubts left: Why is he so different from everyone else there?

If you’re a fan of Bleach, you probably know by now that every dumb detail on this anime has sense, you get an explanation for every thing that happens. So what is Yumichika’s reason to be an unusual character with femenine traits, obsessed with beauty and fashion, who is also a part of the 11th division but also enjoys killing people? (Sounding not correlative at all).

And, most important, why is he so relevant even though his entire life is just Ikkaku?

On his fight with Hisagi, Yumichika talks about that a little. This takes place in chapter 139 and 147 of the manga. Here, Hisagi mentions that a 5th place can’t even win against a Co-lieutenant.

We do know that Ikkaku is the second strongest men on the 11th division, and the only reason why he isn’t lieutenant is because Yachiru has that place (If you finished the manga, you probably know why); and Yumichika didn’t say that he couldn’t achieve the 3rd place, he just mentions that Ikkaku took it, making it seem as it’s not really about power balance. Him and Ikkaku have, or almost have, the same amount of strength.

That makes Yumichika, also, an almost Lieutenant if we speak about power.

And he is not even training his real powers (Remember this for later); later on, Yumichika shows his true form to Hisagi, but we don’t get to see it until the White Invasion.

I said before that the reason for him being in a lower position than Ikkaku is not power imbalance. He is fighting with an arm besides his back, he always has been since him and Madarame have been friends from the beginning, therefore he probably hasn’t even trained his true powers because he’s afraid of Ikkaku sensing his reiatsu.

That almost makes pieces fall together in place: He is different from everyone on the 11th division because he’s the only one with a Kidou Zanpakuto, but he feels as he belongs there, therefore he hides his true self so he can be at Ikkaku’s and Kenpachi’s side, even if that means never achieving Bankai.

Yumichika not only loves his own pride, not only cares about what other think despite his narcissistic personality, but he also must love fight if that means he’s always wining with a half-released Zanpakuto, making every battle last longer than it should because he’s having fun.

One-sided pinning:

This far, we already know more about Yumichika. At this point is even a liked character for most of the viewer audience and even a comedy relief when he’s at Rangiku’s side; we also see him as a part of the 11th division and it’s been a while since we have seen him actually struggling in the first two fights.

On the chapter 202 of the manga, during the arrancar invasion. Bleach takes a more defeated turn where everyone learns that their power isn’t enough to fight Aizen and, therefore, to save the world and his loved ones in the process.

During this fight, Yumichika is once again spectating as one of the viewers while he takes care of Keigo. On his personal plot, I see this fight as one approaching the point of no return, but we’re not quite there yet.

As we know already, Ikkaku is Yumichika’s weak spot, that’s why he doesn’t want him knowing the true identity of his powers. In this battle, we know a little bit more about their dynamic, as Yumichika tells Keigo that they have some sort of agreement where they have prohibited to help each other in a fight, saying that if he dies during a battle, he’ll be proud of him.

This thing seemed a little odd for me; even as a part of the 11th division, why would you let someone so strong die? Also, remembering the first battle of Yumichika vs Ganju, why would Yumichika react so strongly to Ikkaku’s potential death if he’s so chill about letting his best friend die?

But nothing happens during this, we get to see Ikkaku getting his ass kicked and Yumichika talking on the phone in an oddly relaxed tone, saying to make the preparations for Madarame’s funeral, as if he has accepted his death already and he’s fine with it (Except, he’s not).

That doesn’t make sense, not even for Yumichika’s wolf-in-sheeps-clothes character. As the battle goes on, Ikkaku summons his Bankai and that’s where everything makes sense (For now).

Yumichika is not okay with Ikkaku’s death besides having accepted that agreement, who would be, if his plot is always revolving around him? But they both were hiding their true powers due to similar reasons: Yumichika didn't want to be rejected and Ikkaku didn’t want to leave the squad because of the empty captain spots; and even though Yumichika is an hypocrite, or at least his character has a lot of contrasts that shouldn’t make sense together but somehow they do, he accepts if Ikkaku wants to die for the same reason as him: his pride.

Point of no return: “Beauty is solitary”

During the White Invasion, Yumichika has to defend one of the fourth pillars protecting Karakura city along Ikkaku, Hisagi and Kira. I see his battle against Charlotte (Episode 319 of the manga) as a point of no return on Yumichika’s character.

First, they’re presented as mirror characters.

“Mirror characters are used for a similar purpose. They tend to share several qualities and are used to complement and highlight each other's traits. Common mirror characters embark on parallel plots, sometimes to achieve a single goal, which tests them and highlights their traits in different ways”

But that is highly debatable, even though they do share a common goal and several qualities such as obsessive beauty, we can hardly see them alike during the fight. Charlotte’s beauty is more prominent, exaggerated and doesn’t lose a single second in trying to show off. At the same time, Yumichika shows off his beauty because he can’t show his powers and strength without limiting himself due to his pride; he doesn’t even use Fuki-Kujaku until seconds after the end of the battle.

Yes they are, at some point, mirror characters. But at the same time, they’re foils.

“Foil Definition. In literature, a foil is a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character. The objective is to highlight the traits of the other character.”

The first Chapter of the fight is titled “Beauty is so solitary” and that will make sense in just a minute. On the battle, Yumichika is losing without looking much affected by it, he is angry, but he doesn’t show the kind of feral-angry that he should even knowing that his death will mean that one of the pillars broke.

Almost at the end of the fight, Charlotte shows what it seems to be his most powerful technique, leaving him and Yumichika both alone in some kind of alter-dimension; a black sphere made of briars that doesn’t let other people even sense the spiritual pressure of the ones inside it.

At first, “Beauty is so solitary” resembled Charlotte; meaning his beauty was so unique that only he could truly understand and appreciate it. But now, it takes a completely different turn. “Beauty is so solitary” meaning Yumichika being trapped in a place where nobody can see him, where he can show his true beauty only when he’s alone.

That is why his beauty is solitary, and why he is so different from the rest of the 11th squad, he is meant to be different because otherwise it wouldn’t be solitary, he’d completely fit in.

Yumichika reacted automatically, releasing the true power of his Zanpakuto. But unlike with Hisagi’s battle, we can actually see how his power are this time.

We also get a explanation on why he can have two Shikais; that being him calling his Zanpakuto “Ruri-iro Kujaku” as a true name.

瑠璃色孔雀 = Azure peacock, being azure his zanpakuto’s hair (and more prominent) color on his humanized form.

He says his sword hates the color light-purple (More specifically wisteria) so when Yumichika calls “Fuji-Kujaku” only does half of its Shikai, the multiple blades showing what it should be vines.

Fuji-Kujaku = Wisteria peacock. And, funny fact, wisteria is the color of Yumichika’s eyes.

Here Yumichika explains how the victim dies once the flowers bloom. His true Shikai is so strong that Charlotte later asks if that was his Bankai; besides that, Yumichika can actually eat the flowers and consume his enemy’s powers by doing that. Each one of the flowers representing a fraction of their powers.

So, if Yumichika would actually train and use his Shikai on every battle, he’d soon become a Reiatsu monster in just a few battles. Yumichika is not only risking his own life by keeping his powers by himself, he sacrifices his Bankai (Why would he want to achieve a Kidou one anyway), he sacrifices his strength (Even if he’s part of the 11th division where being strong is kinda the main goal).

He also says he would have sacrificed his own life if Charlotte didn’t show him that technique. And all that is just for his squad, mainly Kenpachi and, most important, Ikkaku.

Yumichika’s weakness:

I said multiple times that Yumichika’s only weakness is Ikkaku, and I will say it again. The previous scene about him planning his funeral takes a different turn now.

It did seem that Yumichika was accepting that Ikkaku and him had the same destiny: dying because of denying the use of their true powers. But the last few times Ikkaku was in true danger, Yumichika’s reaction was far from accepting.

Even if he was accepting his own death and he would be gone if it wasn't for Charlotte’s technique, when we see that Ikkaku’s pillar got destroyed…

In the anime he goes as far as trying to attack Hisagi, telling Yumichika that he’ll lose too if Ikkaku loses in the first place. Once again, Yumichika lost it completely just for the fact that Ikkaku lost (He is not dead and he recovers consciousness two seconds after the first frame).

Sadly, they sedate Yumichika so we don’t get any answer as to why this happened. We do know that is completely different from the time where Ikkaku showed his Bankai, but what happened in the middle?

I, unfortunately, can’t answer that. We did see them together many times when the invasion was going, they lived together with Keigo some time, but there was nothing plot-related that could send Yumichika on a rage tantrum; maybe that time he just knew that Ikkaku was going to use his Bankai and that’s why it’s the only time on the entire series where he doesn’t lost his composure at Ikkaku’s safety.

And, in the Quincy Blood War, it happened again.

When Bambinetta was about to explode Ikkaku’s head, she didn’t even get to touch him for more than a fraction of second before Yumichika this time stepped on the fight and broke their agreement of “We mustn't help each other”.

Only, this time, Ikkaku seemed to help Yumichika too, pushing him away with his sword when Yumichika pretended to block an attack with Kidou. So maybe after some years they both agreed that their promise to not help each-other wasn’t worth keeping anymore, but that’s just speculation.

Once again, Yumichika lost his brains when Toshirou attacked Ikkaku. Which is surprising, because on the Quincy arc we do get to see that Yumichika got smarter, being now on the 3rd seat and being able to read his enemies just a second in the fight. But when things are about Ikkaku, he just stops thinking.

Sadly, Toshiro knocked him out before he could release his true Shikai so we didn’t get to see him in action again after Charlotte’s fight.

Is subtle development enough?:

I am still upset that we didn’t get to see Yumichika releasing his true powers in front of everyone and his plot stayed the same. But we do got some Yumi character development on the Quincy Blood War.

Now, Yumichika acts more assertive, smarter and faster than before which is… Not surprising, but at the same time, we are in a shonen where characters usually don’t think before they act (Goodbye to all the Bankais of those who didn’t use their brain in this war). The Gotei 13 is showed as “not strong enough” during this arc, but somehow Yumichika is once again different from everyone else, since he seems to have gotten better, because his “beauty is solitary”.

For example: on their fight with Giselle, he discovers her stupidly fast.

The same happened with Bambinetta.

And he actually uses Kidou now, that’s why it was so disappointing to see that they didn’t do much plot-development for him. Maybe they’re saving Yumichika’s power for the Hell Arc, I hope, because otherwise they would be throwing an amazing and underrated character to the trash.

Anyway, that’s everything I have on the subject. Feel free to comment if I forgot about any details + theories you have :)

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I'm the better of two evils