Bleach: When Students Oppose Their Mentors

I noticed something new while rereading the Sui-Feng vs Yoruichi Shihoin fight. So, interspersed between said fight is another fight: Jushiro Ukitake, Shunsui Kyoraku vs Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. I just noticed that the way the story switches back and forth between these two fights strongly highlights the student vs mentor theme. In fact, there are some interesting parallels between them.

Student vs Mentor

Both Sui-Feng vs Yoruichi and Ukitake, Kyoraku vs Yamamoto are student vs mentor fights. The ones that are disappointed in the other party's betrayal (and are eager to fight) are Sui-Feng and Yamamoto. I'd say the other party is more passive. Yoruichi remains unusually silent during the majority of her fight, and Kyoraku even asks Yamamoto whether there is no other way other than fighting.

Chapter 155

Although both fights involve students in conflict with their mentors, the heart of the problem in each fight is different. I think Sui-Feng vs Yoruichi is more personal than Ukitake, Kyoraku vs Yamamoto. It has more emotional baggage. Sui-Feng is fighting because of the hurt and wounded sense of self-worth she received from Yoruichi's leaving. However, Yamamoto's reason to fight is simply because there is no mercy for rulebreakers. On one hand we have an emotional reason, while on the other hand we have an impersonal reason. Interestingly, these two reasons are taken up and discussed in the Ichigo Kurosaki vs Byakuya Kuchiki fight. I might make a different post about this in the future!

Jumping off the Sokyoku Hill

The beginning of both confrontations start with our beloved characters jumping off the Sokyoku Hill. 

Sui-Feng is snatched away by Yoruichi, while Kyoraku and Ukitake jumps off the hill on their own. Well, Ukitake is snatched by Kyoraku, but the point here is that they are not snatched away by their opponent. We also see that Ukitake is later beside Kyoraku, which means he didn't spend the whole time getting away from the hill in Kyoraku's clutch. 

Ukitake beside Kyoraku

This matter of who-gets-snatched reflects the agency/control in their teacher-student relationship and the fight. Sui-Feng is metaphorically still in Yoruichi's clutches. Her life revolves around Yoruichi.  One hundred years ago, Sui-Feng obsessed over serving Yoruichi, and one hundred years later, Sui-Feng obsessed over exacting revenge on Yoruichi. Sui-Feng's defeat in the fight reflects this dynamic as well. Now, Ukitake and Kyoraku have more agency in their relationship with Yamamoto. They are able to decide the battleground by themselves unlike Sui-Feng. What about the outcome of this fight? It's undecided. The fight is interrupted by the report that Aizen is a traitor. However, an undecided outcome is arguably still better than being defeated. Again, this shows that Ukitake and Kyoraku have a better degree of control than Sui-Feng in their relationship with their mentor.

Using the same logic, Ukitake being snatched by Kyoraku - signaling a lesser sense of agency - may say something about Ukitake's general presence in the story. Ukitake gets less screen time and is more passive due to his illness.

Discarding the captain's haori

This one is perhaps more trivial but Sui-Feng and Yamamoto both discard their captain's haori. 

In my Sui-Feng analysis, I mentioned that I like MrTommo2304's interpretation that this symbolized Sui-Feng making the fight personal. It's totally alright if you want to extend that interpretation to Yamamoto. Considering that he removes the upper part of his shihakusho (the shinigami uniform) as well, you can say that the fight is even more personal. However, I'm thinking that this might simply be a habit of Yamamoto's. He does the same thing in the battle against Wonderweiss. Also, like what I said above, the fight with Ukitake and Kyoraku doesn't seem very personal to me. I guess it is personal in the sense that Yamamoto is fighting as a mentor - not as a captain - who is exacting punishment on his students. But still, it doesn't feel as personal as Sui-Feng vs Yoruichi.

Conclusion

So those are the parallels that stood out to me! Feel free to impose whatever meaning you want to the actions I mentioned. And it's equally fine if you don't want to give any meaning whatsoever to it! It's possible that there is no intended meaning behind it. I just think of analyses and the search for meaning as something that can further enrich our reading experience :)

Lastly, a comment on the translation of this panel:

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert! I'm not a native Japanese speaker either!

I have seen multiple English translations of this panel into something like "You got here first?" or "You're early". The confusion comes from 早い, which can mean early, quickly, and too soon, among others. I don't think "You got here first?" is the intended meaning here. If Yamamoto really got there first, Ukitake and Kyoraku should have seen Yamamoto when they first arrived there. Kyouraku says something like, "As expected. You arrived early/quickly". Therefore, Ukitake and Kyoraku got there first, and Yamamoto arrived not long after.