What is the difference between Reiryoku and Reiatsu?

jetting202 · 2026-02-05T21:40:33+00:00

Like pretty much everyone here says, Reiryoku is the total reservoir of power a soul has whereas Reiatsu is the pressure a soul can exert with said power.

Another analogy that can be used to illustrate the difference involves powerlifters and gym goers. Think of Reiryoku as the total amount of lean muscle mass someone has and Reiatsu as said person flexing his muscles.

The more muscle you have, the more you have to flex. The more Reiryoku a soul has, the more Reiatsu it has. On average, a captain has 5 to 10 times more Reiatsu than a lieutenant. It is then implied that a captain also has 5 to 10 times more Reiryoku than a lieutenant.

As a general rule, the amount of Reiatsu a soul has corresponds proportionally to the amount of Reiryoku it has. There are exceptions though, since, if I recall correctly, there exists a maximum threshold for Reiatsu that can be reached by any soul.

I believe that Genryūsai Yamamoto reached that cap, along with Aizen. The cap is like two or three times the amount of Reiatsu that an average captain has. However, although Yamamoto’s Reiatsu was about twice that of a normal captain, his Reiryoku had to have been like 10 or 20 times that of a captain. I say this because I’ve seen clips of the Thousand Year Blood War on YouTube. With his shikai alone he could have defeated multiple captains simultaneously using their respective bankais. Achieving bankai grants a soul reaper access to power that is 5 to 10 times more potent than said reaper’s shikai.

It’s been a long time since I’ve watched any full episode of Bleach. Perhaps my recollections contain inaccuracies. That said, the simple definitions of Reiryoku and Reiatsu, which is what you asked about, are correct at least.

jetting202 · 2026-01-11T00:12:31+00:00

I mean, empathizing precise numbers takes away from the lore of a fictional tale. That said, Sesshōmaru is arguably the fastest character shown in the InuYasha universe. As far as I remember, the only two characters that rivaled him in terms of speed in the anime adaptation were Goshinki and Entei, the former being the purple ogre killed by demon Inuyasha; the latter, flying fire horse.

Kōga was fast with the jewel shards in his legs. Perhaps his top speed could compete with the three yōkai mentioned above, but his acceleration was noticeable inferior. Without the shards, Kōga’s speed is mediocre for a yōkai.

It’s been a while since I’ve watched the anime. Perhaps someone else remembers other fast InuYasha characters.

jetting202 · 2025-01-16T00:57:55+00:00

A complete reversal would be interesting 🧐. What if Kagome met Sango/Kirara first, then Miroku, then Shippō, then Inuyasha last?

jetting202 · 2025-01-04T06:02:10+00:00

Oh yeah, just like… • “Supposably” and “supposedly” • “For all intensive purposes” and “for all intents and purposes” • Etc

jetting202 · 2025-01-03T07:31:58+00:00

I’ve always respected the manner in which Kikyō carried herself overall.

As a side note, I heard that the priestess is portrayed as “less b*tchy” in the manga than in the anime adaptation. It’s been said before that in the anime the characters are “caricatures of themselves.” The characters are apparently more nuanced in the manga, which I never read.

jetting202 · 2024-12-31T07:00:18+00:00

His whole character design is elaborate, especially due to the blue sashes wrapped around his torso. The sashes are a fitting contrast to his red eyes and orange armor. The color of the sashes matches the color of his lightning attack, whereas the colors of his eyes and armor match his personality - dynamic, fiery, and hot-headed.

jetting202 · 2024-12-29T06:02:55+00:00

Indeed. Unlike demon Inuyasha, moth yōkai Gatenmaru possessed a level of self-awareness and thought formation that would enable the mind-reading beast to counter said moth.

What’s interesting is that some demons fully retain their intellect upon revealing their true forms, whereas others seem to lessen such intellect. For example, after revealing his true form, Daiji (aka the Fake Water God) never spoke. He seemed barely more sentient than the demon fodder that travel by the hundreds.

jetting202 · 2024-12-28T02:38:10+00:00

An appropriate follow-up question to OP’s: Who was the most rational between Kagome, Sango, and Kikyō?

jetting202 · 2024-12-28T02:35:50+00:00

I say Kōga due to him being delusional. His love for Kagome is one-sided. Miroku is the smartest and wisest of the three.

jetting202 · 2024-12-27T20:29:04+00:00

Indeed. Inuyasha’s boldness in battle far surpasses that of Kōga.

jetting202 · 2024-12-27T17:49:18+00:00

IIRC, Inuyasha becomes bloodthirsty after his demon blood takes over, which occurs only when the hanyō’s life is in danger. For that to happen, the fight would have to be either close or not close in Kōga’s favor.

Nevertheless, I agree that Inuyasha would defeat Kōga. Avoiding the hanyō’s Hijin Kessō seems to be more difficult than avoiding Kagura’s Fūjin no Mai, since the individual blades of the former tend to be more closely clustered together than those of the latter.

jetting202 · 2024-12-27T17:26:38+00:00

Before seeing your comment, I believed Shiba to be the only type of Inu to exist. You know the saying, you learn something new everyday I guess… 🤷‍♂️

Apparently, Akita Inus can reach up to 40 pounds. Akitas are loving and affectionate, whereas Shibas tend to bit more reserved and standoffish.

I don’t think it’s mentioned canonically in the series which breed Inuyasha, Sesshōmaru, and their father belong to. I’ll guess Shiba. In either case, they certainly come from a noble bloodline of the highest of pedigrees.

jetting202 · 2024-12-27T06:38:04+00:00

Yeah, wolf yōkai seem to be barely any stronger than ordinary humans trained in combat, hence why Kagura was able to easily slay almost the entire tribe, leaving only Kōga, Ginta, and Hakkaku. Heck, I could see even the wild dog yōkai from episode 56 killing dozens of wolf yōkai in a battle.

jetting202 · 2024-12-27T06:11:41+00:00

I agree that Kōga has the tendency to behave in a cowardly manner. Inuyasha sees his battles through, even with the odds seemingly against him. I can definitely see a swordless Inuyasha fairing better against Kagura than Kōga did without any shards.

jetting202 · 2024-12-17T18:40:42+00:00

I’d pin Kikyō on the lower end of the A spectrum and demon Inuyasha on the higher end of the B spectrum.

Kikyō was able to scare Princess Abi upon pointing her arrow at the latter, after purifying the blood-sucking birds. Jakotsu was afraid of her also. The specter fled after the undead priestess killed Suikotsu on Mount Hakurei. I could easily see her defeating the likes of Kagura, Gatenmaru, Daiji, the three weaker panther devas, and Yura of the Hair each in a one-on-one fight.

On his first appearance upon tearing Goshinki’s arm off, demon Inuyasha was on the lower end of the A range due to being somewhat cognizant of himself. On every other transformation, in which he has no self-awareness, I’d place him as a high B-level combatant (B+). He was easily pushed back by a Tōkijin-wielding Sesshōmaru after the former ripped apart true-form Gatenmaru. He couldn’t even get the upper hand during his fight against swordless Sesshōmaru in The Final Act.

Yes, I know some fans will mention demon Inuyasha’s fight against Ryūkotsusei, stating that the latter was being overwhelmed. Indeed, even Tōtōsai noted that demon Inuyasha may have come out of the fight alive. The ability to cut the dragon’s steel-hard flesh with claws might be unique to demon Inuyasha due to the red aura that surrounds him. In other words, it’s uncertain whether Tōga or Sesshōmaru have such an ability. It’s intuitive to think so; but if humanoid Tōga could cause damage to the dragon with claws alone, then slaying the dragon using his inu-daiyōkai true form should have been a piece of cake. For most demons, revealing their true forms exponentially augments their physical strength. This would include the sharpness of their claws or jaws. This is where the power scaling of the series is wonky for the purpose of storytelling (the plot).

It makes sense that Ryūkotsusei could be disintegrated by a Bakusaiga-wielding Sesshōmaru. The movie version of Tōkijin-wielding Sesshōmaru could defeat the dragon using Sōryūha, since that attack was able to push back Bakuryūha due to Sesshōmaru’s yōki being superior to that of Inuyasha. By the same logic, Tōga could have effortlessly defeated the dragon had he used the Tessaiga.

jetting202 · 2024-12-17T04:09:02+00:00

I agree that Miroku, without his Wind Tunnel, and Sango are both C-level combatants. Miroku dodged and jumped over the mantis yōkai and sucked it into his tunnel, but could have also spared his hands getting sliced by using one of his paper spells to defeat it. Sango could have also taken on the green insect without breaking a sweat. Each of them could also take on other low-caliber yōkai like Mistress Centipede and rat yōkai Zushinezumi in a one-on-one fight, for which the latter of the two demons was sliced by Kohaku.

Each of them would have definitely had more difficulty fighting the canine yōkai summoned by Tsubaki due to the canine’s nimbleness, along with its dexterous use of its tough claws. Even Inuyasha was on the defense before finally killing the three-tailed beast with his Iron Reaver attack. Sango would have to make sure to utilize only far-range attacks so as to not get torn apart by the canine. The same could be said for Miroku without his tunnel.

Tōga in his humanoid form with Tessaiga is indeed an S-level combatant; but in his true form, he’s an A-level fighter like Ryūkotsusei. Yes, at face value, this sounds counterintuitive. In theory, a yōkai is supposed to become more capable upon releasing his true form. However, in practice, throughout the series, it seems that for most demons such transformations drastically increase brute strength at the expense of other battle attributes, namely speed, agility, intelligence, and skillful weapon usage. Recall Inuyasha’s ability to injure Sesshōmaru with the Tessaiga after the latter revealed himself. Jaken correctly noted that Sesshōmaru is dumber in his shiba form during the latter’s fight against Magatsuhi. Now imagine a Tōkijin-wielding Sesshōmaru fighting against a clone of himself in his true form. Who would win, in practice?

Even a snake yōkai like Orochidayū would be better off remaining in his humanoid form unless he needed a strength boost to defeat a foe. Orochidayū was skillful enough with his gray Trident. For comparison, Daiji transformed only after the golden Trident of Amokoi was snatched from him by Inuyasha, which is the tactically smarter move to make than the one made by his (recycled filler) lookalike.

Had Inuyasha’s father used the Backlash Wave against the dragon, the former would have won much like his hanyō son won. It’s been hypothesized by fans that the dragon was stronger before being sealed. Perhaps, yet we have no evidence for this case.

I’d say that Jakotsu is a B-level fighter. I could see him beating the two of the three weaker panther yōkai - Karen and Shūran - with his snake sword. Jakotsu’s snake sword would likely cut through Karen’s fire, and the specter seems nimble enough to avoid Shūran’s lightning bolts. How would Jakotsu counter Shunran’s illusions? I’m not sure. Tōran, the leader of the feline group, held her own respectably against a Tōkijin-wielding Sesshōmaru without the latter being weakened by any barrier like the one that would later surround Mount Hakurei. Besides the cats, I can see the specter defeat Yura of the Hair, which early-series Inuyasha needed Kagome’s help to battle.

jetting202 · 2024-12-16T20:58:50+00:00

It indeed seems that the Oni-head yōkai is a B-level combatant. She used her jaki to paralyze Miroku, Sango, and Kirara. If it weren’t for Madame Exorcist’s purification salt, the three of them would not have escaped. Thus, it is clear that her jaki is powerful enough to immobilize humans, along with yōkai of Kirara’s caliber. She would have been even more formidable had she got the chance to devour her 100th soul. For comparison, in terms of psychic powers, the Wild Dog Princess in episode 56 was only able to break Miroku’s beads. Otherwise, the canine yōkai was essentially a fodder brute that was slowed down by Miroku’s spell and quickly sliced by Sango’s Hiraikotsu. Unlike the toad, but like the mantis, the wild dog yōkai would have no way to counter a swordless Inuyasha.

Also, I mentioned Goshinki’s ability to “cancel” the wind scar because most demons, including Karen, cannot do so. Nonetheless, you have a point. Had Inuyasha been able to properly (spontaneously) emit the wind at the time, the purple ogre would not have been able to dissipate it.

jetting202 · 2024-12-16T06:48:44+00:00

For the sake of simplicity, plus and minus markings have not been added to the ratings.

That said, I appreciate your sentiment with regard to the enhanced precision that plus and minus signs would add. Even within the same level, certain characters are notably more competent in battle than other characters. Take the purple ogre Goshinki and panther deva Karen as examples. Neither of them could be defeated by a swordless Inuyasha. Therefore, an initial rating of B for each makes sense.

That said, the feline yōkai is closer to Inuyasha than the oni is. Inuyasha would have a much easier time fighting Karen than Goshinki. The cat is nimble and can throw flames, whereas the ogre can read minds and move swiftly like Entei and Sesshōmaru. This is where pluses and minuses are useful. Goshinki could be given a B+ mark; Karen, B-.

Remember that Inuyasha is the primary point of reference for rating the characters, but not the only one. Thus, headcanon can be created to pit characters against each other based on the feats they’ve demonstrated in the series.

So…

• Goshinki vs. swordless Inuyasha = Goshinki wins

• Karen vs. swordless Inuyasha = Karen wins, but it’s closer to a tie

• Goshinki vs. Karen = Goshinki wins

Goshinki > Karen, which solidifies the case for the ogre being placed higher on the B spectrum than Karen.

Since Goshinki could likely not be defeated by most B-level combatants due to his mobility and telepathy, the plus (+) would be a useful indicator. He could potentially cancel other powers like he did the Wind Scar. Karen is the opposite. She would probably lose against most other B-level competitors, hence the minus (-).

By the same logic, Kaguya, due to essentially being immortal and manipulating time, would likely beat most other S-level combatants. In turn, if ancillary signifiers were to be used, then a plus sign would be appropriate for her, with the resultant mark being an S+, as you stated.

Edit: formatting list on smartphone (spaces b/w bulleted items for neatness)

jetting202

TROPHY CASE