When your own creator is said to be a troll by the fandom...
Format to use:
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme.[[/labelnote]] ExplanationLike this.
- The Loituma Girl cartoon
Explanation Which consists of a short looped animation from Episode 2, showing Orihime twirling a scallion, while a snippet of the nonsensical middle section of "Ieva's Polka", as performed by Finnish group Loituma, plays. This was deliberately given homage in Negima!? (second season), the Alternate Continuity Negima! Magister Negi Magi series. - NOBODY DIES IN BLEACH Explanation A reference to the fact that almost none of the main characters have died. Lots of people die in Bleach, but they're all the guys the Soul Society fights against. Meanwhile, the people who work with Soul Society can receive a crippling sword wound that drains them of enough blood to power a water slide yet still survive.
- QUALITY: Bleach frequently has bouts of Off-Model in a variety of ways. (Examples moved here)
- I lost... Grimm Jaw... ExplanationReferring to some really bad-quality scanlations of chapter 212. Common jokes include mocking how the pages look like they're drawn with charcoal, as well as the hilariously-bad dialogue writing.
- Kubo is a Trolling Creator Explanation The notion that Tite Kubo loves to troll the fandom is gaining popularity, as is mentioning that he must be insanely rich.
- In fact "author x is a troll" is a quick way to complain about things fans don't like in a work, with pictures being generated of Kubo teaching "X work's" creator how best to troll his fandom.
- A popular manifestation is the all caps I LOVE MY LIFE stories◊ about being in Kubo's shoes for a day that start with "SO THERE I WAS BEING KUBO" and end with "I LOVE MY LIFE"
- Who ever said the Espada went from 1 to 10? ExplanationYammy introduces himself as the tenth Espada but later on reveals he becomes the Zeroth Espada when he releases. He smugly asks the shocked protagonists who ever claimed the ten Espada were numbered from 1-10 (as opposed to 0-9). Unfortunately for the manga, Shawlong told Hitsugaya exactly that. And Ulquiorra, who's the 4th, explicitly stated he was the fourth strongest Espada.
- "Who said the letters go from A to Z?": ExplanationIn chapter 495, it is revealed that the Stern Ritter of the Vandenreich use a letter-based ranking system of some sort. This reveal, combined with the observation no claim has been made that the lettering system will cover all the letters of the alphabet (or even which language's alphabet will be used given the villains are German-inspired), and the fact that while not every Stern Ritter's letter had been revealed there were more than 26 of them, was combined with the Cero Espada meme to spawn this new variant.
- An entire page dedicated to memes about Tite Kubo and THE HEART (see here) thanks to this.
- "X just died, that means X/Y was canon!" is another Running Gag variation.ExplanationKubo confirmed he wasn't writing a romance storyline but there is romance in the background of some character histories. However, every time a romance has been confirmed, one of the partners has been killed off (and sometimes both). The fandom therefore jokes that, when two characters are paired as friends or battle partners, if one of the pair dies, Kubo's just confirmed romance. The reverse is also the case: if Kubo has confirmed two characters were in love (or worse, married), the fandom's immediate reaction is to start speculating which of the pair is going to be killed off, how soon and in what tragic manner. To date, the following romances have been confirmed and the dead party of the pairing is listed in bold; Isshin/Masaki; Kaien/Miyako; Byakuya/Hisana; Gin/Rangiku; Ryuuken/Katagiri.
- The Worf Effect is common and several of the characters are used commonly.
- Renji never wins a fight! Ever! (Him defeating an X-Cution member doesn't count because Fullbringers have their own Fail memes.)
- "Where's Chad?" "Lying in a pool of his own blood.", " ______ won't let Chad win. Ever." In fact, Chad x Floor is a OTP meme.
- It was joked that he might finally get to win in his You Shall Not Pass! moment in the final arc, because he was fighting stone warriors that rose up to block the heroes from Yhwach's throne room. In other words, his opponents were literally made out of the floor, and no one hits the floor harder than Chad.
- TACO AIZEN◊ Explanation So named because "Hueco Mundo" sounds like it ought to be a food chain (given the life cycle of a hollow, it kinda is). The LiveJournal community capslock_bleach has taken this meme and run with it.
- BAN... KAI! Explanation The One-Winged Angel form of the swords carried by shinigami have a variety of shapes and powers, resulting in a "what would be this characters bankai?" game, regardless of media source, such as the Team Fortress 2 Bonkai◊ pun.
- Uryuu Ishida has become a Memetic Badass, to the point where he even has hardcore sewing◊ memes Explanation So badass that even when it seems he's about to be killed, he never stops emanating geek badassery.
- "All your opinions are rejected◊" Explanation When Ichigo tries to rescue her from Soul Society, she demands he leaves her behind. The way he dismisses her comment has created the meme.
- "Are they still in Hueco Mundo?" or alternatively "Are they still in Mexico?" Explanation The Arrancar Arc became vastly extended by Executive Meddling when it took four years to cover a mere couple of days in-universe.
- "Kool Aid Kubo" Explanation A Big Damn Heroes moment where Ichigo breaks through to Fake Karakura Town to attack Aizen has spawned a new meme. It came with a caption "Now they stand a chance!" So people have been photoshopping the scene in such a way that everyone from Tite Kubo himself to the Kool Aid Guy is now trying to get at Aizen.
- Kubo vs Nick Simmons Explanation Various instances of Kubo himself, or any of his characters getting back at Nick Simmons for the Incarnate plagiarism incident.
- "Animu and Magma" Explanation Referring to manga as "magma" in reference to a troll on Facebook pretending to be Nick Simmons during the plagiarism controversy.
- Rape, Kazeshini. ExplanationHisagi Shuhei's command to release his sword, Kazeshini, is "Reap". A slight misspelling, and it metaphorically describes what he does to Findor when he releases it.
- "Since when were you under the impression/illusion [action]" Explanation Spawned from a line by Aizen, when did you come under the impression that these memes weren't created by Aizen?
- If you have to know, ask Aizen.
- "BLEACH HAS NO BACKGROUNDS" Explanation A reference to the simplified backgrounds used in Bleach compared to Naruto and One Piece.
- The background artist finally got to design a character. Explanation The fanbase's reaction on seeing Aizen's mostly white "new form"
- Sexual Innuendo jokes consisting of "It's 13 Kilometers!" and "It's 500 times as fast as that!" ExplanationThe way Gin explained his Bankai to Ichigo led to a lot of sexual innuendo jokes based around length and speed/flexibility. Now the quotes get applied to anything that involves ego, especially male ego.
- "Aizen is Superman" and Superman is a dick. ExplanationAizen is faster, stronger and more powerful than anyone else, even multiple captains attacking him together. He can anticipate anything, plan for anything, and counter anything. He is Superman. As the Big Bad, he's also a jerkass.
- "Captain Condom". Aizen is Captain Condom and will get inside you, no matter what. Explanation After he entered a "new form" that looks like he is entirely encased in white. Coupled with his habit of stabbing everyone with his sword, especially Hinamori, the condom jokes were born.
- Lol, Hogyoku. Explanation A Fanon misconception that the Hogyoku is revealed to have the power of Winds Of Destiny Change, resulting in any plot hole or question being responded to with Lol Hogyoku.
- "Rukia Rocket", leading to Imma firin' ma Rukia!? jokes. ExplanationWhen Ichigo cuts Rukia free of her gibbet, he's standing many feet above the ground and is confronting the reality of having to fight the captains to escape. So he hurls Rukia towards Renji, leaving Renji to have to rush to try and catch her.
- "GOOOD MOOOORNING IIICHIGOOO!!!!"ExplanationIsshin's constant ambush attacks whenever Ichigo comes home from school are taken to an entirely new level every morning when he gets "ambush woken up".
- "Titty Kubo" Explanation Tite Kubo has a preference for big breasts as evidenced by his female characters frequently being examples.
- The panel focusing on Aizen's finger as he tells Ichigo "Don't raise your voice like that, Kurosaki Ichigo."
- "Aizen has been watching [these memes] ever since they were born." Explanation Aizen claims to have been engaging in a lifelong plan keeping track of one of the protagonists "since they were born".
- Komamura is not amused◊ Explanation Komamura's reaction to Tousen-fly telling him he is far uglier than he had imagined. Tousen previously being blind and Komamura having severe self-image issues.
- Some versions have Komamura presenting a mirror to this "new and improved" Tosen.
- "Mullets" Explanation Power-ups in Bleach inevitably lead to sudden and often extreme hair growth.
- Aizen's transformations to various forms have resulted in the following:
- "All hail Butterflaizen".
- KKK!Aizen.
- "Aizen has become Lady Gaga/Lady Butterfly!Gaga". The counter-response meme is "That's LORD Gaga to you!"
- Gin's bankai should have been a flyswatter or a can of Raid.
- Any attack being replaced with Momo on the receiving end. Explanation A use of Aizen's perfect illusion ability resulted in an entire series of attacks from the Captains being directed at Momo instead of Aizen. It's not entirely clear when Aizen made the switch.
- AizenxTeacup is tru canon lub!!!11!! ExplanationAizen's response to learning Hueco Mundo has been invaded by Ichigo's group to rescue Orihime is to offer the Espada a cup of tea. Therefore, tea is clearly more important to Aizen than anything else. Exaggerated by the anime which has the Espada take set breaks whenever filler episodes interrupt the canon storyline. Ulquiorra tends to mimic Aizen by drinking tea whenever chaos erupts around him.
- Ichigo's costume changes. ExplanationWhenever his costume changes, it means he's had a change in power level. Therefore different costumes have different codes based on whether the meme is poking fun at Rule of Cool or Rule of Drama moments. For example, 80s Punk!Ichigo in Ch 417 means shit just got real.
- Ulquiorra is The Batman. ExplanationBecause his Segunda Etapa form is a bat, and he's serious.
- ABANDON YOUR ARROGANCE, HUMAN! ExplanationAizen begins suffering a Villainous Breakdown and starts accusing Ichigo of all the flaws he's guilty of. Used to humorously point out when a character or a fan is being hypocritical.
- Soul Society is the Worst Heaven EVAR!!1! ExplanationBased on early mistakes in fans translating Soul Society as "Heaven", and a continued misunderstanding by some Western fans who think Soul Society is "Heaven". It's a Crapsack World where the dead go until they're reincarnated.
- Soul Society Is Watching. Explanation Existed in mild form due to the Shinigami having a system whereby they spied on the last few Quincies in the World of the Living. Kicked off into high gear when it's revealed the Substitute Shinigami Badge is a surveillance device for spying on substitute shinigami. A system controlled by the friendliest and kindest of the captains.
- "Kurosaki-kun!" ExplanationOrihime repeats Ichigo's name inside her head as a Madness Mantra when Ulquiorra has defeated Ichigo and Uryuu and there's nothing Orihime can do to save either of them. It's a Drinking Game staple as a result.
- The Couch Behind The Man◊. Explanation Aizen's couch is so insanely large that it's a meme in its own right, evidence of ridiculously sized egos.
- Chapter 426: "Want some ramen?"
- Everything is part of Aizen's plan.
- Getting sealed and imprisoned was part of Aizen's plan.
- Chapter 433: Riruka glancing at Ichigo's face and going "OMG He's a hottie!"
- RUUUUUUUKIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!! ExplanationMorita giving the fandom his infamous "Rukiagh" scream of anguish.
- Kira Izuru is a complete gangster. ExplanationHe may act all depressed when fighting, but after he forced an Arrancar to behead himself while grovelling on the ground, pleading for mercy...
- BANZAI AIZEN-SAMA! BANZAAAAAI!
- Orihime wants doughnuts or hot dogs badly.ExplanationOrihime has been pictured by Kubo as eating cream cakes or hotdogs in a sexually suggestive way. When Riruka offers her doughnuts, she salivates at the mouth with giant puppy dog eyes until Riruka caves and gives her one. Gifs keep cropping up of Bleach characters eating doughnuts or hotdogs in either a cute or sexually suggestive way.
- Tsukishima's Retcon sword: Remember when Tsukishima helped to found TV tropes?
- Kenpachi Fried Chicken
- Gin is a pedophile.◊
- Take it off! Here.
- As Nodt is a troll. ExplanationThe Stern Ritter have the ability of stealing their opponents's bankais. When As Nodt does it to Byakuya, he then gives a VERY creepy smile. Fans have likened it to As massively trolling Byakuya...and to be fair, stealing bankai before they're even released can easily count as the Vandereich trolling the Shinigami.
- And then Rukia was a zombie. ExplanationThe picture linked here is from chapter 501, where a Byakuya who's getting badly mindraped by As Nodt has a vision of Rukia melting and dying. 4chan had a field day with it, obviously.
- Ichigo is part everything.ExplanationAs of Chapter 514, he's Human(with Quincy powers), Shinigami (Captain-level too, not not just any old Shinigami), and Hollow (with both Vizard and Fullbringer powers). Pretty much all that's left is for him to manifest an Arrancar-style Resurrección (like the similarly Hollowfied Tousen did) and he'll have dipped into every possible type of powers in the Bleach universe. Although his Ulquiorra-killing form may just be the Bishōnen Line of Resurrección...
- When in doubt, GETSUGA TENSHOU!◊ ExplanationCredits to troperKing9999
- "Your Stern Ritter Name" ExplanationAnother one from 4chan: using the Captchas given to mock Kubo's tendence to give the Ritters rather unfortunate names. In fact, here is where Haschwalth's "Lord Toofsie" Fan Nickname comes from.
- "Bye-Bye!" ExplanationFrom Ichimaru Gin's introduction back in Chapter 75, when he ever-so-cheerfully put a Shinso-shaped wrench through our heroes' plans. Remained popular, even if it didn't see much more use before the Arrancar Encyclopedia incidents, and even popped up in one of his Bleach Beat songs.
- "Too much happens, fake." ExplanationA common refrain on English-language message boards when spoilers get posted of the latest chapter, in reference to Bleach's (in)famous pacing issues. While a lot of things being claimed to happen in a single chapter actually is a decent sign that a spoiler was fake, "too much happens" and similar lines are commonly posted even when the spoiler is from a well-known reliable source. And even when the spoiler actually indicates that very little happens in the chapter.
- "WHAT THE HELL". ExplanationThis is the title of Chapter 603, thanks to Yhwach performing The Purge on page. The fandom was completely "W-what the HELL?!" at it.
- "Hitsugaya-kun, denwa" ExplanationOne of the methods used by Mayuri to defeat Zombie!Hitsugaya and immobilize him enough to try de-zombiefying him is sticking him into a sort-of "Groundhog Day" Loop. The Haruhi Suzumiya jokes practically wrote themselves.
- "SHINIGAMI JESUS DIED FOR YOUR SINS!" ExplanationIn 616, Ukitake performs what looks a LOT like a Heroic Sacrifice to sustain Soul Society. That earned him the Fan Nickname "Shinigami Jesus" in some fandom corners, and one thing led to another.
- Aizen's chair. ExplanationIn 622, Aizen, still bound to the chair Shunsui brought him to the surface on, uses a powerful Kido spell in an attempt to destroy it and is impressed when he finds that it isn't even scratched. Given that said Kido spell one-shotted Komamura back in the Soul Society arc and Aizen was explicitly stated to have grown even stronger during his imprisonment in this chapter, fans have taken this to mean that the chair is an almighty being whose power surpasses that of a captain and who will become the final villain of the series, surpassing even Yhwach.
- Between Chair-sama and Couch Behind The Man, Aizen clearly has a thing for chairs.
- Yhwach's horse.ExplanationIn the same vein as the above, Yhwach is seen riding a horse during flashbacks to a thousand years ago. Nothing special on its own, but 632 has Yhwach exerting his massive Reiatsu and forcing damn-near everyone nearby to the ground with its sheer force...except for said horse, which remains standing upright perfectly fine alongside Haschwalth. The fans are taking this to mean it's just below Chair-sama in power.
- Bleach needs Maury Explanation Yhwach has stated that he is the father of Ichigo because he engineered the events that led to his birth. This has led to numerous The Maury Show shoutouts and the need for DNA tests.
- "I can't imagine Chad losing." ExplanationIn 2023, Ichigo's comment about his confidence in Chad's combat capability during the Soul Society arc took off on the series' subreddit, with fans using it as proof that he's never actually lost a fight, that Gremmy thought the exact same thing, and that he's consequently going to be the MVP of the final arc.
- Aunt Harribel. ExplanationTier Harribel was frequently translated as "Tia Harribel" prior to Viz confirming her name as "Tier". Due to her protective role for female Hollows, as well as "Tia" meaning "Aunt" in Spanish, people jokingly referred to her as "Aunt Harribel" and actually thought "Tia" was intentional.
- According to CFYOW Explanation The light novel Cant Fear Your Own World serves to explain many of the gaping holes in the manga storyline, like whether Urahara and co. survived their battle with Askin or not, and gives a wealth of other general informations about a character's motivation or background facts. Thus whenever someone ask about things the manga failed to explain adequately they tend to get greeted with "according to CFYOW". Due to the novel being generally unavailable outside Japan though its not long before people started spreading misinformation either by accident or deliberately using this format, which results in a lot of people jokingly claim a blatantly untrue information is contained in the light novel.
- "Your Honor, the Bount arc" Explanation During the rapper Young Thug's RICO trial in 2023, one of the defendants' attorneys inexplicably decided to compare her client's involvement in the case to the meta nature of the Bount antagonists in the eponymous filler arc - namely, that her client wasn't actually important to the case and, like the Bount, wouldn't be relevant to it again after taking the stand, but was instead there to take up time during the trial. A large chunk of the fanbase found this hilarious due to the sheer Insane Troll Logic of bringing up an anime filler arc as a legal defense against a very serious criminal charge - as well as for using an arc that was over 15 years old by that point, well out of the public consciousness - and so ran with it as proof that the client was absolutely going to jail, celebrated it as the Bount finally mattering again after over a decade, or used it as an excuse to rag on the villains and the arc as a whole as being so bad that they sank the case there and then.
- Protect [x], [y] ExplanationThe panel of Ichigo arriving in the Soul Society during the Wandenreich's first invasion◊, with an off-screen Byakuya pleading for Ichigo to protect it, is a popular meme edit, with "Protect Soul Society, Kurosaki Ichigo" replaced with whatever the creator thinks needs to be saved or protected.
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