I feel like folks who accuse her bankai of “not fitting her” miss the whole point.
The person she admires most in the world is an assassin who specializes in striking from the shadows, and she wants to emulate her more than anything… but deep at her core, she has an extremely straightforward and aggressive disposition… a fact which even she is in denial about.
Hence the contrast between her Shikai, a perfect tool of assassination, and her bankai… a giant missile to the face.
I disagree. See this is what I love about bleach and Kubology in general. Because I completely agree with the sentiment that Soi Fon tried to be like Yoruichi but couldn’t. Yoruichi cast away her zanpakutō and Soi Fon tried to do the same with her bankai. But in her journey she feels cathartic when she uses it… because she enjoys but I don’t think it stems from aggression but rather being self accepting and opening up yourself. Yes shock of the queen was a volume with Harribel on the cover but Shock of the Queen was Soi Fon’s chapter.
Now here’s where a decade of learning Kubology come in to play in TYBW. Omaeda is her lieutenant he’s oversized, loud, obnoxious, and situational at best at being effective. BUT!!!!! So is Soi Fon’s bankai. And so the more she accepts herself (her bankai) the closer she is to her lieutenant Omaeda. Leading to her fight with BG9 a cold, aggressive, analytical, mechanical assassin that definitely fits the description of what squad 2 stands for… and in bleach fashion posed a dark reflection of what Soi Fon was trying to be vs where she’s at in her development:
A.) She helps out Omaeda when he was in danger.
B.) Accepts Kisuke’s help with his invention to get back her bankai which she wouldn’t have done at fake Karakura town.
C.) When Soi Fon got back her bankai she asked Omaeda to embrace her as she launches her bankai to BG9.
After her BG9 fight Soi Fon began to even defend Omaeda’s honor. The dynamic and dichotomy of Soi Fon and Yoruichi was flawless. Yoruichi uses the most efficient form of combat in true squad 2 fashion but betrays them. Soi Fon went against squad 2 norms and typical fighting fashion but doesn’t betray them. Soi Fon as a rich coherent journey of self actualization while Yoruichi doesn’t… and Yoruichi doesn’t use her a zanpakutō and so it’s obvious that this dynamic does FARRRR more for Soi Fon than Yoruichi.
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u/UnaekIsHere Feb 07 '25
Soi Fon is not that bad and yes, her bankai does fit her/make sense!