Important takeaways
- The Vizored were powerful, motivated warriors banished by Aizen
- Vizored trained Ichigo and had strong potential but left the storyline
- Vizored's engagement after the Arrancar Saga was underwhelming
The Vizored are the exiled Soul Reapers with hollow powers who lived in the world of the living for a hundred years. Although they are a beloved group in the eyes of fans of Whitentheir involvement after the Arrancar Saga disappointed them. Shinji Hirako and his group would be exciting and interesting warriors, completely separate from the law-abiding members of the Gotei 13. And while their powers are definitely flashy, their place in the story seemed to be left aside.
Why do fans feel disappointed with Hirako and his team? Could Vizored have done more in the Millennium Blood War arc Whiten or are they just fine as they were?
Started Out Strong, The Mysterious Visored
The first victims of Aizen
Shinji Hirako and the others were all high-ranking members of the Gotei 13. Shinji, Kensei, Love, and Rojuro were all captains, while Lisa and Hiyori were lieutenants. So, off the bat, they were all established to be very powerful. Shinji was the captain of Squad 5, with Sousuke Aizen as his lieutenant. During this time, Aizen began his Hollowfication experiments, and Shinji and the others caught the worst of it. Shinji, Love, Kensei, Rojuro, Lisa, Hiyori, Mashiro and Hachigen were hollowed out by Aizen, only narrowly saved by Kisuke Urahara and Tessai. However, through Aizen's machinations, they were banished along with Urahara, Tessai and Yoruichi from Soul Society.
The Vizored lived in the world of the living for a hundred years, waiting for his time to take revenge on Aizen. Meanwhile, they learn to use these newfound powers. They are trained to master their Hollow side and use their powers as a new asset. Eventually they met Ichigo Kurosaki, a natural born Vizored, and they trained him to use his powers just like them.
The team began with close involvement with Ichigo, giving him the tools to fight the Espada and Aizen, and they had their own dedicated arc, Turn Back the Pendulum. They were quickly established to be powerful and important characters with their own agenda. The Gotei 13 fought Aizen out of duty, Ichigo fought him out of his sense of justice and to protect everyone, but Vizored had a very personal reason to kill him. Aizen had hurt everyone involved, he had Kaname Tosen and Gin Ichimaru betray the Gotei 13, he had kidnapped Orihime Inoue and put Karakura Town in danger. But for Vizored it was another level of betrayal, he had ruined their lives.
The Vizored arguably had the best motivation to defeat Aizen. However, their commitment left much to be desired. They fought Aizen alongside Gotei, but they barely contributed to the fight except for Shinji. They barely had any conclusion regarding their conflict with Aizen. Kaname Tosen had his revenge arc that showed how wrong he was and how it corrupted him, so revenge wasn't the ideal path for them. But it feels like a missed opportunity not to show Vizored processing Aizen's defeat.
Millennial Blood Wars, Vizored's lowest point
Only weakened captains now
It is revealed in supplementary material that Central 46 had banned Vizored from using his hollow powers after Shinji, Rojuro, and Kensei regained their position as captains of the Gotei 13. So this explains why these three could have had a better fighting chance, but they simply didn't . Kensei and Rojuro battled Sternritter S – Mask de Masculine. They both used their Bankai against him, but Mask's unfair abilities were a harsh contrast to them. While their Bankai would have made short work of many other enemies, Mask was able to heal from any damage thanks to his Schrifft: The Superstar.
Kensei and Rojuro are then killed by Gremmy Thoumeaux and turned into zombies by Giselle Gewelle, making their involvement even more humiliating. Shinji Hirako also had a brief moment of glory. He used his Shikai, Sakanade, to stop Sternritter E – Bambietta Basterbine in her tracks. But as soon as Bambietta used her Vollstandich, she defeated him with one blow and left him out of commission. In the anime version, Shinji used his Bankai: Sakashima Yokoshima Happo Fusagari to dispatch a group of Soldier. While this new scene was much appreciated, Shinji used his Bankai on grunts, making the inclusion a little less impressive.
The Vizored were arguably humiliated in the Thousand Year Blood War, after all the build-up and plot relevance they had previously. The team is very popular among the fans. However, Tite Kubo doesn't seem to like them as much. The Vizored could have had a lot more to do, something better to do. But they were simply pushed aside while the rest of the Gotei 13 had incredible moments throughout the arc. That's why fans feel disappointed with the conclusion that Vizored had. Hopefully the rest of the anime adaptation will find a place to give them something new and exciting that wasn't in the manga, just like Shinji's Bankai.
