As a shonen action anime, the hit series Bleach is packed with intense fight scenes between Soul Reapers, Arrancars, and Quincy. Some of those fights are much longer or shorter than others, which provides some rich variety between quick clashes and drawn-out, stubborn duels, and that's what makes Bleach so much fun to watch. Some lengthy fights like Ichigo vs Byakuya in the beloved Soul Society arc or Ichigo vs Grimmjow in Las Noches are excellent, but not every fight should be like that.
The more interesting a fight is, the more patient fans will be, but the opposite is also true. If a fight in Bleach isn't that interesting, then fans don't want to see it dragged out with padding or extra dialogue. Unfortunately, some of Bleach's fights go on too long either because they're not interesting enough for all that material, or they're decent fights that have padding in them. Ideally, these ten fights would be shortened to just a few clashes before a winner is declared, so the anime can promptly move on.
10 Ganju Shiba vs Yumichika Ayasegawa Was Little More Than a Gag Battle
Unncessary Bleach Fight Between Ichigo's Family Member and an Underdog
Many battles took place in the Soul Society story arc, some of which were critical to the plot and others of which were just fluff. For example, there was barely any need to show Ganju Shiba, a member of Ichigo's family tree, fight an underdog battle against Yumichika Ayasegawa of squad 11.
It was amusing to expand on Bleach's combat system and show a non-Soul Reaper like Ganju use resourceful thinking to fight a stronger opponent like Yumichika, but a fight like that doesn't need to last very long. The fight took more time than it needed to conclude and took time to create tension that the Bleach anime didn't even need during that time.
9 Ichigo Kurosaki vs Dordoni Lasted Just a Little Too Long
Ichigo Made Contrived Decisions to Prolong the Fight
When Ichigo and his friends snuck into the desolate world of Hueco Mundo, they fought a variety of battles, some of which simply padded the anime's runtime. One such fight pitted Ichigo against a Privaron Espada named Dordoni, who kept daring Ichigo to useh is true power, such as his bankai and Hollow mask. Ichigo refused, mostly for contrived reasons to prolong the fight.
This particular fight lasted longer than it needed to, and there was no real reason for Ichigo to hold back the way he did. Since Ichigo did hold back, Dordoni got a chance to kick Ichigo around, and he even threatened Nel at one point to goad Ichigo further. Finally, Ichigo did what he should have from the start — activate his bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, to swiftly cut Dordoni down and move on.
8 Soi Fon & Allies vs Baraggan Luisenbairn Was a Protracted Affair
The Fight Between Soi and Baraggan Took Too Long
Several of the battles in the Fake Karakura Town story arc were some of Bleach's best, but those fights took a little too long to reach their climax. Captain Soi Fon's battle against the 2nd Espada, Baraggan Luisenbairn, who had the power to rapidly age and rot anything around him, from flesh to kido spells. It took time for this fight to reach the point where the heroes actually stood a chance.
Until then, Baraggan was just toying with his Soul Reaper and Visored enemies, and finally, Hachigen Ushoda took his chance to teleport his rotting hand inside Baraggan's body and rot him away from the inside. When the fight finally ended, Baraggan took one final swing not at Soi Fon's team, but at Sosuke Aizen, who had once dethroned him as Hueco Mundo's king.
7 Ichigo Kurosaki vs Nnoitra Gilga Only Needed a Few Blows
Bleach's Story Insisted to Drag This One-Sided Fight
Ichigo's fight against his shonen-style rival Grimmjow Jaegerjaques was a brutal and exciting affair in Las Noches, with both warriors going all out to settle their grudge once and for all. The dust barely settled when another Espada arrived, the tall and cruel Nnoitra Gilga, or Espada #5. The battle-worn Ichigo soon traded blows with him, but it was hopeless.
It was clear right away that Ichigo stood no chance, but the story insisted on dragging out the one-sided fight to beat up Ichigo even more, all while the characters kept talking. All that really needed to happen was Nnoitra's shocking reveal that Nel had once been an Espada, and then the story could have brought in Kenpachi Zaraki to settle this tough fight once and for all.
6 Shunsui Kyoraku & Jushiro Ukitake vs Coyote Starrk Took a While to Conclude
Perfect Example of How Bleach Drew Some Fights Out
The #1 Espada, the lazy and surprisingly friendly Coyote Starrk, fought a long, bitter battle against two Soul Reaper Captains and a variety of Visored fighters, but it took too long. This fight was a delightful and memorable one, but ideally, the Bleach anime would have tightened it up a bit. It's an example of how the original Bleach anime drew things out, hence its massive episode count.
In this fight, Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku showed off their respective shikai, with Shunsui Kyoraku's shikai challenging Starrk to deadly "games" that Starrk quickly figured out how to play. Then Starrk released his zanpakuto, Los Lobos, showing off his many new powers to his various enemies, including his pack of explosive energy wolves.
5 Toshiro Hitsugaya & Allies vs Gerard Valkyrie Was a Stubborn, Bitter Fight
Toshiro and Gerard's Fight Was Brutal But Forgettable
Most of the fights in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc are properly quick and decisive, but a few of them still dragged on too long. In the fight against Gerard Valkyrie, or Sternritter M. First, Gerard was seen fighting against the Royal Guard, and then a few Soul Reapers, primarily Toshiro Hitsugaya, fought against him.
The fight was a brutal one, but it wasn't too memorable, so it felt too long. No matter how many blows Gerard took, he conveniently powereds up over and over as a self-proclaimed warrior of God who could endure anything the Soul Reapers threw at him. He was a villain who refused to go down, and the fight only ended because Yhwach lethally reclaimed Gerard's power with Auswählen.
4 Yumichika Ayasegawa vs Charlotte Chuhlhourne Was Padded With Extra Dialogue
Yumichika and Charlotte Talked More Than They Fought
Several minor battles unfolded in the overall fight for the fake Karakura Town, and they barely needed to happen at all. Thus, those low-importance fights should've been quick and simple, and some of them were. An exception was Yumichika's fight against an Arrancar named Charlotte Chuhlhourne, who argued nonstop with him because they couldn't agree on the definition of beauty.
It was a fun idea to pit Yumichika against such an enemy for comedy's sake, but the fight was a little too long, given how unimportant it really was. Ideally, that fight would be trimmed down to just a few verbal barbs before both fighters used their ultimate powers, because gag fights stop being funny when they go on for too long.
3 Renji Abarai, Uryu Ishida, & Allies vs Szayelaporro Grantza Took Up Too Many Episodes/Chapters
Too Many Arrancars Were Involved in This Fight
One of the longest fights in the entire Hueco Mundo story arc involved the 8th Espada, the sadistic scientist Szayelaporro Grantz. It was entertaining to see Szayelaporro unleash his many scientific weapons and techniques against his enemies, making him one of the most memorable Espadas, but the fight feels bloated in hindsight.
Szayelaporro fought many enemies during that mega-battle, including Nel's friends Dondochakka and Pesche. There was no need for those Arrancars to take part in the fight, since they contributed next to nothing, and the fight wasn't going to end until Mayuri Kurotsuchi arrived. Even then, it took a little too long for Mayuri to win, but at least he was victorious in the end.
2 Shunsui Kyoraku & Nanao Ise vs Lille Barro Was a Slog to Read
Lille Showed Off All His Abilities But Could Have Ended The Fight Quickly
Lille Barro was a member of Yhwach's personal guard, and he had far more powers than just his sniper rifle. He fought the Royal Guard, then went up against Shunsui Kyoraku and Nanao Ise later in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc with his true power. He had not one, but two extra forms with The X-Axis, which was excessive.
Lille turned into all kinds of weird animal shapes with extra abilities, including self-cloning, but the fight didn't need to be so protracted. Instead, the fight would have been perfectly fine with Lille's super-sniper skills vs Shunsui's true power and Nanao's mirror sword, so the story could move on to the next battle more swiftly.
1 Ichigo Kurosaki & Allies vs Sosuke Aizen Took Far Too Long to Finish
As expected, it took quite some time to defeat the supervillain Sosuke Aizen in the Fake Karakura Town story arc. No one would expect Aizen to lose quickly, but even so, it took an awfully long time for Bleach's heroes to stand a chance against Aizen. Even with the Soul Reapers, Visoreds, and Kurosaki family united, Aizen stubbornly refused to go down as he assumed more and more forms.
Aizen was like Dragon Ball's Frieza, getting stronger as he took on newer, weirder forms to fight his enemies, but it was too much. Ideally, Aizen would have gained just one form with the Hogyoku to threaten the heroes, and the story wouldn't take so long to get Ichigo ready to fight back with his final Getsuga Tensho.
