Would You Have Liked Bleach Without Zanpakuto Releases?

[windleopard]

Something I've been wondering. Let's say the Shinigami swords had no special abilities and they were just limited to flash steps, kido and swordsmanship (and whatever other unique abilities they had like Komumaru's lycanthropy or Yoruichi's cat shapeshifting and her mix of kido and shunpo). How well would you have liked Bleach? Would the battles still be interesting to you

 

[Gohara]

Yeah Zanpakutos of course add a lot of value to that series however I am passionate about swordsmanship thus I would like that series with swords.

 

[wowzers]

I would have probably still enjoyed it but the Zanpakuto is one of, if not my favorite anime weapon. I love the whole idea of having a sword that contains a unique spirit for every soul reaper, so I'm glad they exists the way they do.

 

[Tom2rules]

Honestly, I'm not sure I would have.

I know series that can easily pull off intense action and conflict with swordsmanship alone, but some of the most striking and cool moments of Bleach do come from the Zanpakuto releases. Things like Byakuya's first reveal of his shikai, Kira's downright chilling reveal of the true purpose of his shikai's shape, and many others. With things like that and the various bankai we have, its one of the most iconic aspects of Bleach.

Thats not to say that I don't think other things could have worked in their place. I bet they could have, but to me at least? I'm honestly not sure if Bleach would have hit it off with me like it did original without the Zanpakuto concept.

 

[shodic]

Of course! Bleach is much more than super powers battling and The series doens?t depend any of that! I didn?t much liked when someone only go nuts about bankai and shikai

 

[windleopard]

Honestly, I'm not sure I would have.

I know series that can easily pull off intense action and conflict with swordsmanship alone, but some of the most striking and cool moments of Bleach do come from the Zanpakuto releases. Things like Byakuya's first reveal of his shikai, Kira's downright chilling reveal of the true purpose of his shikai's shape, and many others. With things like that and the various bankai we have, its one of the most iconic aspects of Bleach.

Thats not to say that I don't think other things could have worked in their place. I bet they could have, but to me at least? I'm honestly not sure if Bleach would have hit it off with me like it did original without the Zanpakuto concept.

To be clear, in the offered scenario, the Shinigami still have their other non-Zanpakuto powers like kido, shunpo and some unique abilities like Komumaru's lycanthropy.

 

[wanda lensherr]

Hmm for me i would want/prefer the swords ability. It seems more fun/entertaining that way. Dont get me wrong i would try watch it still but ...yeah

 

[akhal-teke]

I think they definitely made it more entertaining for me in certain ways. It helped them to heighten the drama in battle and add in more fantasy-type elements. Without the power-ups, everything would have been more realistic, but I think it would have lost something important.

That being said, I personally liked the Quincy and Espada power-ups better than the Bankai releases (at least overall). I especially loved the creativity of the Stern Ritters' angel-based designs. They came in both traditional-looking forms as well as those that really pushed the envelope in spectacular ways. I always thought the Bankais seemed more eclectic. It's easy for me to see how As Nodt resembles a fierce monster, or Opie a proud Pegasus, but I don't really understand why Komamura (a werewolf) was represented by an armored giant, nor Shunsui by tricky shadow games with no human or animal-based alter ego. I do understand that there are stories behind these designs, but they are not readily apparent when you look at them.

 

[The Outlier]

Yes of course if swordsmanship aspect is kept intact...Though it would lose some of its charm without the releases, but even so, Bleach has other cool things besides a Zanpakutou release...And it's not only just the Zanpakutou which defines the swordsmanship aspect of the series...For instance, some quincies have swordsmanship aspects without the Zanpakutou...Yhwach, Hashwalth, Gerard, Quilge, etc., and fullbringers like Tsukishima too...So in case of Shinigami, losing of inner-world aspect of Zanpakutou in case of Ichigo, and losing other aspects like imbuing part of the soul into the sword and the spirits having their own mind and body aspects, they might develop some other abilities if the concept of imbuing the part of their soul is replaced by some other means perhaps developed by SRDI instead of a concept of blank asauchi by amalgamation of souls.

So in my imagination, if the medium(imbuing the part of their soul into a sword) is kept intact but the form changes(concept of asauchi) besides the concept of the weider's spirit having a shape, body, mind and is replaced by something else(a different theme or a concept), then it would be fine for me...Even without that, it would be still fine to me, but would lose some of its charm to some extent...

 

[Tom2rules]

To be clear, in the offered scenario, the Shinigami still have their other non-Zanpakuto powers like kido, shunpo and some unique abilities like Komumaru's lycanthropy.

Of course. I could easily imagine alternatives for stuff like the Zanpakuto. Just personally, the Zanpakuto were one of the big takeaways I had from Bleach. Taking away that also takes away a lot of things like the Zanpakuto spirits themselves, the inner world, the various and different powers...

Again, the alternatives could easily make up for the latter, but its just personal for me. I really liked the Zanpakuto concept, but thats not to say I wouldn't give this version a shot either. I certainly would, it just would be...different.

Not a bad different either, just different.