Bleach is all about the supernatural, but even spirits can suffer serious harm and require medical attention. It may seem odd to give medicine to a ghost, but Soul Reapers aren’t just spooky specters roaming the streets. They are solid, humanoid beings with human anatomy, which helps keep them grounded throughout the story.
For that reason, the Gotei 13 has a dedicated medical corps, or Squad 4. The other squads might poke fun at these non-warrior members, but medical Soul Reapers have served a vital function for centuries — and their services are needed more than ever in the war against the Quincy empire. Squad 4’s Soul Reapers can also be compared to healers and support characters in other shonen anime.
The Medical Sevices of Squad 4 In Bleach
Bleach’s Squad 4 is strictly a support squad that does not engage in patrols or combat assignments. Instead of slaying Hollows in the world of the living or capturing criminals in the Soul Society, its members perform manual labor jobs in times of peace and medical work in times of war. This humble squad is like a team of nurses/janitors, since its members work hard to keep the Seireitei sparkling clean and free of debris. Most of all, this squad is all about medicine and emergency aid, for which all other Soul Reapers owe them a great debt.
Squad 4’s barracks doubles as a hospital, housing the Sogo Kyugo Tsumesho (coordinated relief station). This medical facility holds remarkably advanced technology, going far beyond what the Soul Society’s pre-industrial aesthetic would suggest. There’s modern, human-style hospital equipment such as heart rate monitors and oxygen masks, which ensures a high rate of survival among patients. Isshin Kurosaki may run a family clinic for first aid in Karakura Town, but Squad 4’s coordinated relief station is where patients in critical condition stand the best chance of survival.
The members are split up into 14 relief teams, each with a leader. A few relief teams actually are capable of combat, but their primary goal is to provide medical care for other Soul Reapers wounded in battle. Lighter wounds can be treated on the battlefield, but warriors in critical condition must be rushed off to the coordinated relief station, where Squad 4 nurses will look after them. The members are all proficient with medical kido spells, which can mend flesh, restore blood, and generally stabilize a patient until the nurses can look after them.
Many Squad 4 members also have medical zanpakuto, whose shikai can restore a patient’s health in many ways. The dandere Hanataro Yamada, for example, wields a zanpakuto called Hisagomaru. It will heal a patient with a touch and can charge up energy according to how much healing was done. Hanataro used this shikai to heal Ichigo in the Soul Society arc despite the latter being an intruder. Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu, meanwhile, is well-versed in medical kido, as is her mysterious Captain, Retsu Unohana. Aside from kido, Unohana can heal patients with her shikai, Minazuki. Its shikai state resembles a giant flying manta ray that can store up to six people in its stomach to heal them with powerful ointments.
How Bleach’s Squad 4 Compares to Other Shonen Healing Teams
Most shonen titles focus on fighters and adventurers rather than healers, so only a few medical groups or individuals can be found. Compared to its peers, Bleach is largely ahead of the game with Squad 4; other shonen series, such as Naruto and My Hero Academia, tend to have token medical characters at most. Naruto’s famed sannin Tsunade made an effort to standardize medical ninjutsu, advocating the idea of each ninja squad having one dedicated healer. She was her own team’s healer once, and now her apprentice Sakura Haruno is Team 7’s medical specialist. Tsunade argued that such an arrangement could greatly reduce the Hidden Leaf Village’s casualties, and she has a point.
MHA’s characters rely on traditional hospitals for medical care, and there are few medical specialists even among the supporting Pro Heroes. Most are tasked with rescuing civilians and getting them to a hospital or evacuating them from war zones, such as Uwabami, who can locate stranded civilians with her snake-like Quirk. The main exception is Recovery Girl, who can heal people with kisses, but she is meant to be UA’s token school nurse character rather than a representation of medical support heroes. Many more lives could be saved if the Pro Heroes had a whole division of Recovery Girls — their own version of Bleach’s Squad 4.
Other shonen titles continue the trend of token doctor characters rather than specialized medical groups, such as One Piece’s Tony Tony Chopper, the sole doctor aboard Luffy’s various pirate ships. Trafalgar D. Water Law is also a healer, but two doctors don’t make for a Squad 4. Some series don’t even go that far, with Natsu’s team in Fairy Tail having no medical expertise and the Scouts in Attack on Titan relying on traditional medical care rather than specialized healers. The nine Titan Shifters vary greatly in their abilities and the wielders can heal themselves, but alas, there is no medical Titan.
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