Bleach: Did Mayuri Revive Szayelaporro?

Mayuri reviving the Arrancar is a well-known scene from the second invasion of the Seireitei by the Wandenreich, but it is not the only relevant one as far as the appearances of the Arrancas in the Quincy Blood War are concerned. And while Kubo never really had much time to go back to the four revived Arrancar later on in the story, another one did appear during a different battle, and that one is Mayuri’s Arrancar rival, Szayelaporro Granz, the former Octava Espada whom Mayuri Kurotsuchi personally killed in Hueco Mundo. Szayelaporro reappeared during Mayuri’s fight against Pernida, and in this article, we will tell you whether Mayuri actually revived him or not.

No, Mayuri Kurotsuchi did not revive Szayelaporro Granz. And while he probably could have, as his corpse was there, there was no way Mayuri would do it because he despised Szayelaporro. But, Szayelaporro did appear in Mayuri’s mind after Mayuri lost Nemu, and it actually hurt him. He teased Mayuri about his views on Nemu, his feelings, and the fact that he actually thought Nemu was perfect, referring to Mayuri’s old monologue from Hueco Mundo. And while Mayuri simply crushed the mirage away, Szayelaporro will later appear in the “No Breathes from Hell” one-shot after escaping from Hell.

The rest of this article will examine the relationship between Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Szayelaporro Granz in Bleach and their shared story in the manga and anime. We will go over what happened and tell you about this shocking moment that we can expect in one of the future episodes of the anime series, as well as its implications. You’re also going to find out why Szayelaporro is such an important character in the series, but we have to warn you that the article will contain numerous spoilers, so be careful how you approach it.

No, Mayuri would never revive Szayelaporro, but this mirage was not the last we’re going to see of him

First, Let us go back to Hueco Mundo to tell you what happened to Szayelaporro and how he died. Szayelaporro, the scientist among the Espada, faced Renji and Ishida, and despite all their efforts, he managed to defeat them easily. But, just as he loses interest in them and is about to kill them, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the 12th Company Captain, comes to the rescue.

Mayuri can quickly render all of Szayelaporro’s abilities useless due to his scientific and analytical fighting style, which is similar to Szayelaporro’s own. When he manages to recover after being mortally wounded by Mayuri’s Bankai, he accidentally ingests a large dose of poison that is in Nemu’s body.

This greatly increases his responsiveness and awareness, so much so that one second feels like a century to him. Due to his body being physically unable to take advantage of this over-extended mental strength, he is completely incapacitated and, therefore, unable to act. Mayuri takes advantage of this, stabs him in the heart, and leaves him with pain that will plague him for more than 100 years from his own perspective.

This was all we’ve seen of him for a while, and although he did appear in the HellVerse movie, this appearance cannot be considered canon. Fast forward to Yhwach’s second invasion of the Seireitei, we find out that Mayuri managed to resurrect three Arrancar from Szayelaporro’s laboratory (Dordoni, Luppi, and Ciruci) and Charlotte. The four Arrancar became Mayuri’s allies, and they helped him defeat Giselle Gewelle’s zombie army. And while Mayuri confirmed that he resurrected only these four, another Arrancar appeared later: Szayelaporro. How?

Later, when Mayuri Kurotsuchi faces the Sternritter “C” (“The Compulsory”), Pernida Parnkgjas, he is pushed to his limits against the powerful Sternritter. As Pernida gains the upper hand, Nemu Kurotsuchi stands in the way of Quincy but is killed in battle. With the death of Nemu, Mayuri finds himself in a mental crisis as a scientist in the midst of battle.

Mayuri seems to lose interest in confronting Pernida when suddenly, the former Octava Espada Szayelaporro appears and gleefully asks Mayuri if he is desperate now.

Szayelaporro asks Mayuri again if he’s desperate now and emphasizes that he did not get a clear answer to his question from Mayuri at first. The Espada goes on to say that this can’t be possible, that Mayuri is now distraught over the death of Nemu, having once scolded Szayelaporro about how to be a scientist.

There is no way Mayuri should have any reason to despair just because Nemu, as an artificial life form created by his experiments, has now died in battle. Szayelaporro reasons that Mayuri himself once claimed he abhors any kind of “perfection”, that for any scientist, “perfection” means “despair,” and that it is only good for Mayuri that Namu is now dead because she was not perfect, so he would be able to create a new, even better artificial life form.

Szayelaporro would have expected such words from Mayuri himself, but the latter doesn’t seem quite sane after Nemu’s death, as Mayuri seemingly started viewing Nemu as perfect. According to Szayelaporro, Mayuri has now fallen very low as a scientist since he considered an artificial life form he had created to be perfect and should be grateful to Pernida for killing Nemu to show Mayuri his current limitations, which had to be overcome. Because what Mayuri saw as perfect about Nemu had nothing to do with perfection.

This is a shame for Mayuri. Through Szayelaporro’s words, Mayuri understands his misconception and shatters the illusion of Szayelaporro that appeared before him after he agrees with his words and leaves the conversation strengthened to face Pernida again, ultimately killing him.

So, no, Mayuri never revived Szayelaporro (there was no chance in Hell he’d do that), and the Szayelaporro that appeared in front of him was a simple mirage, a simple illusion, and nothing else. It was Mayuri’s subconscious self scolding his conscious self for his reaction, and due to the history that the two of them shared and the symbolism of the moment, the scolding being “handed out” by an illusion of Szayelaporro made a lot of sense.

And while Szayelaporro was dead at the time, the “No Breathes from Hell” one-shot welcomed him back to the story, as he escaped from Hell and revealed some shocking truths about the fourth, yet-unexplored realm of Kubo’s fictional world. So, if the manga is continued, we’re sure we’ll see more of Szayelaporro later.