Summary
The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, Episode 11, “Too Early to Win, Too Late to Know” available onHuluandDisney+.
One of the Sternritter that has barely gotten a moment in the limelight until the most recent episode ofBLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War,“Too Early to Win, Too Late to Know”. Designated the Schrift W by His Majesty Yhwach, Nianzol Weizol’s ability would have been the decider in the battle that ensued between Yhwach and the members ofthe Soul King’s Royal Guardhad Senjumaru Shutara not been around to counter it.
As evidence of the ability’s fearsome potential, Nianzol Weizol was one of the elite Quincies that Yhwach took with him to the Soul King’s Palace. Here’s a breakdown of Sternritter W – The Wind, Nianzol Weizol.
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Wind-Up Boy
Carried to the Soul King’s Palace in Yhwach’s shadow, Nianzol’s presence was not revealed until after the Blade of the Soul King agents had done away with the Quincy Soldat. When they tried to attack the Quincy King, their attacks would veer off course, making it impossible to inflict damage. When Nianzol Weizol is revealed, he explains that his ability is one that enables him to push attacks away from a target of his choosing. This effect pushes the attacks away but does not counter them, andthe effect also has offensive applications. When Nianzol focuses his attention on Shutara’s soldiers, he uses The Wind to push their torsos away from their legs, effectively cutting them in half. Naturally, attacks that target Nianzol himself are also deflected from their initial trajectory.
During the battle against Shutara and the Blade of the Soul King, Nianzol explains that the effects of The Wind are effective on the enemies whose abilities he has seen. What he didn’t realize is that he had already sealed his fate with that explanation, as The Wind is not effective on the attacks that have escaped his perception – so if he can’t see or predict it, he can’t stop it, provided he hasn’t already been exposed to the attack or technique before. This is how he’s able to be unaffected by an unexpected attack from Shutara’s soldiers, because he can divert the attacks of enemies whose abilities he has seen.
Meanderer
In Japanese, the ability is called 紆余曲折, pronounced “Uyo-Kyokusetsu”, a phrase translated to “twists and turns” and is sometimes used in a way that is similar to the use of the English phrase “ups and downs”. Much like 5th Squad Captain Hirako Shinji, Nianzol’s character reflects this two-part element, with his appearance being a huge nod at his ability. With two tongues and a Sternritter uniform that looks like a big collarless trenchcoat that looks exactly the same in front and at the back. Interestingly, if Uyo-Kyokusetsu is split into its operative parts, (so “Uyo” and “Kyokusetsu”), then both parts still retain the meanings of twisting or winding which would then mean that The Wind is characterized by “twists, turns and meandering”. The “Uyo” part is particularly interesting because the first kanji refers specifically to twisting or meandering, while the second kanji is used to refer to the concept of “leeway” or “surplus” and is the operative character in the word “yoyuu” – often translated to “piece of cake” (as in,an incredibly easy task).
In “kyokusetsu”, the first kanji is often used to denote bending or crookedness, while the final kanji brings in an ominous element – folding, fracturing or breaking. It is the kanji used in the first syllable of “origami”. How Nianzol’s appearance reflects The Wind is through his two tongues, double-sided coat and the observation he makes about his inability to give satisfactory explanations; which is in effect a kind of verbal consequence of having an ability defined by the very concept of winding, turning, zig-zagging, all of which are a form of meandering. His very name also bears an interesting musicality to it that follows the quiet English rule known as ablaut reduplication, which dictates how vowel sounds follow each other. It is because of ablaut reduplication that words and phrases like “hip-hop”; “tic-tac-toe”; “tick-tock”; “ping-pong”, etc., aren’t backwards – because this quiet rule requires a vowel order that goes “i”, “a” and then “o”. The sounds in the name Nianzol Weizol (pronounced “Ni-an-zol Wai-zol”) follow the rule and because it’s a subconscious linguistic pattern that isn’t just seen in English, and inBLEACH, the name ofHirako Shinji’s Bankai employs ablaut reduplication, hence “Saka-shima, Yoko-shima” (where the stress is in the “saka-” and “yoko-” which demarcate position and direction).
Pin Cushion
While The Wind is extremely powerful in its ability to divert attacks, which sounds like it’s the precursor to certain victory, there are a number of weaknesses, one of which is tied directly to Nianzol himself. If he doesn’t perceive an attack as such, he can’t or won’t divert it, which is how the Master Weaver Shutara was able to turn the very trenchcoat he was wearing into an enemy and despite his best efforts, Nianzol was unable to escape the prison made from his own clothing, dying as countless giant sewing needles skewered him as he writhed in fear. Based on his defeat, The Wind as seen in Nianzol Weizol is probably the kind of ability that is rendered ineffective if there is no discernible distance between the attacker and the target, which is how his attire became his downfall. The Wind is definitely set to be a far greater threatwhen wielded by Yhwach himself.
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