The long-running Bleach anime must give the most character development to its main cast since characters like Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends are the stars of the show. Still, plenty of side characters got much-needed glow-ups or transformed their personal lives at different phases in Bleach‘s story as well. However, the Bleach anime still neglected some of its other side characters and never gave them any serious growth, making them feel wasted, like fluff characters. Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu of Squad 4 is one of them.
Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu appeared alongside many other Soul Reapers back in the Soul Society story arc, where she played a minor role, but she hasn’t said or done anything of note since then. Even in the wake of the Soul Reapers’ tragic losses and Unohana’s death, Isane is the same nobody she ever was. However, Bleach should have done more with her in the context of war, where medics like her are needed most.
Who Is Isane Kotetsu In Bleach?
The story of Bleach only gave fans some general facts about Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu, giving her ample room for character growth and development. Isane is the loyal subordinate of Captain Unohana, but their bond goes beyond their professional duty. Isane Kotetsu almost saw Retsu Unohana as a protective mother, and Isane relied heavily on Captain Unohana for guidance and even for her self-confidence. Isane Kotetsu is a kind but timid and unassertive person, or a dandere in anime terms, just like her squadmate Hanataro.
Even if Isane has genuine skill with medical kido as a member of Squad 4, the medical corps, she can’t easily stand on her own. Every time Isane faces a challenge or enemy, she can only face it with allies by her side, such as Lieutenants Omaeda and Sasakibe when the three of them tried to fight Ichigo in the Soul Society arc. She also needed Yachiru’s help to face Gremmy Thoumeaux’s puppet in the TYBW arc and did little to fight back.
All this means that while Isane Kotetsu has some appeal as a good-hearted and timid anime girl, similar to popular danderes like Miku Nakano and Hinata Hyuga in other anime series, Isane’s character doesn’t yet feel complete. She has serious untapped potential, and unlike other Soul Reapers like Momo Hinamori and even Rukia Kuchiki, Isane is making no appreciable effort to up her game. She isn’t even getting stronger for the sake of her hotheaded younger sister, Kiyone, a member of Squad 13. Isane appears content to just be Unohana’s apprentice while making no effort to catch up to her skill level. The Thousand-Year Blood War anime arc is Isane’s last chance to get a glow-up, but at this rate, it won’t happen, and it’s a shame.
Isane Kotetsu Needs An Anime Glow-Up
Isane Kotetsu was one of many minor Bleach characters who only got token development in the Soul Society and Arrancar story arcs. After all, the Bleach anime has a bigger cast of characters than it knows what to do with, so the narrative is stretched pretty thin among them. Even so, the Thousand-Year Blood War arc is a lengthy yet well-paced story arc that is concluding a variety of character arcs, and Isane Kotetsu is missing out. Even Momo Hinamori, always a minor character, is now being depicted as someone more confident, someone who has moved on from her unhealthy fixation on Sosuke Aizen. Yumichika and Ikkaku didn’t get much development recently, but they don’t need it since combat is what defines them. So, that leaves characters like Isane Kotetsu, who’s poised to get a glow-up and needs one more than ever.
Isane appeared a few times so far in the TYBW arc, such as when she and Unohana noticed Yamamoto’s bankai from afar and, more recently, when the imaginary creature Guenael Lee attacked. Isane didn’t do much, so it fell to Yachiru Kusajishi, of all people, to fight back and protect the wounded Soul Reapers in the room. Isane simply isn’t doing much in this story arc, but funnily enough, war is where medical Soul Reapers like her can shine, and the stage is already set for Isane to do just that. She doesn’t have to fight or kill any Sternritter to impress Bleach fans — she just needs to become more assertive and act like the leader Squad 4 needs her to be.
With Unohana gone, Isane is now Squad 4’s most skilled and most senior officer, and she must act the part. Despite her timid personality, Isane Kotetsu must push herself to the next level and glow up as a confident leader who can coordinate all of Squad 4’s efforts to rescue and stabilize the wounded. Plenty of shonen anime have given characters some impressive moments with their words and leadership alone, such as Ochaco Uraraka’s heartfelt speech to the panicking crowds in My Hero Academia, and Isane needs a moment like that, too. Doing so could transform her from an obscure dandere into a strong-willed, fearless leader of medics who can do her part to ensure victory in this blood war. However, she’s running out of time to do that in the TYBW anime, even if this adaptation diverges from the original Bleach manga to give her such a scene when the manga didn’t.
Isane Kotetsu Should Help Unohana’s Death Mean Something More
In earlier episodes of the TYBW story arc, Captain Unohana revealed herself as Yachiru Unohana, the first Kenpachi and a brutal warrior who belonged to Yamamoto’s original lineup of thuggish Captains. Unohana had personally recruited and trained a young Kenpachi Zaraki as her eventual successor, though with Unohana around, Kenpachi Zaraki held back his true potential. Eventually, they fought to the death, and with his victory, Kenpachi let go of his attachment to Unohana and embraced his true power, including his long-awaited shikai, Nozarashi. Unohana’s sacrifice, at a steep cost, greatly benefitted another Soul Reaper, but Unohana’s death could have meant even more for another officer — Isane Kotetsu.
Kenpachi became both mentally and physically stronger with Unohana’s sacrifice, and on a personal level, Isane should have gotten stronger, too. She always clung to Unohana as a senior officer and mother figure, but Isane had to grow up eventually, and with Unohana gone, now is the time. Isane almost saw herself as Unohana’s “daughter,” or at least, that’s what Bleach fans can infer from her behavior. All Soul Reapers need to grow up and realize their true potential on their own, and even the likes of Captain Byakuya Kuchiki are doing just that, along with his foster sister, Rukia.
Now it’s Isane’s turn and time to make her beloved Captain’s death mean something more. Isane is grief-stricken, as expected, but she can and should learn to stand on her own and be her own Unohana. The “daughter” can now be the “mother” of Squad 4, and Isane can act more like the responsible, strong big sister Kiyone needs her to be. Even if Isane never contributes a single kill to the blood war, that can be her contribution, a heartfelt and personally meaningful glow-up that would suit her character perfectly as a big sister and as Unohana’s true successor.