2007, raynos, “DVD Commentary 3”, in LiveJournal[1], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO plot-kai. *rolls eyes* I wanted to have an excuse for the Hollows to be stomping around Karakura and have a shinigami base here.
2008, Shark Skin, “Kubo being put to the test - Ikkaku's Life”, in Naruto Forums[2], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
Maybe you've missed all of the plotkai that we've had before, but if it looks like there is no way for something to happen, Kubo will find a plotkai to make that something happen.
2008, Shokuten, “Why are people saying that..”, in BleachAnime.org Forums[3], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
He uses friendship, and resolve too much which seems to be played out, and IMO, I think those are involved in plot-kai as well. I don't usually include plot-kai in my posts because its[sic] basically a way to BS Ichigo out of tough situations. Shirosaki, or Zangetsu coming out to help him is very possible because Ichigo even with his mask and bankai couldn't really hurt Ulquiorra. Logically, if Ichigo fought Ulquiorra the exact same way that he fought Grimmjow, which is the way it should be, Ichigo should lose. Unless, plotkai occurs.
2008, NaruHina_fan_girl, “Bleach Chapter 420 Spoiler Pic & Shizzle”, in Island Forums[4], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
[...] I dont care about Ichigo's epic plotkai,[sic] It does me a favor and speeds up the fight, [...]
2008, xPyrox, “Biggest Plotkai Moments”, in Bleach Exile Forums[5], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
plotkai doesn't exist. It's a way for anyone to say "o noez they shouldn't be allowed to do that because the universe bleach exists in works on RULES" well no. It works on how the writer wants it to work.
2008, aoshishinamori, “Gin Ichimaru vs Hitsugaya Toushirou....TThe Conclusion..!!!”, in BleachAnime.org Forums[6], retrieved 2010-11-16:
Unless Hitsugaya gets some type of power up through plot kai he's gonna get his royally whipped by Gin.
2008, _debbiechan_, “Karenai's Lust Arc Essay Goes To China!”, in LiveJournal[7], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
No harsh character/pairing bashing in posts/sig’s/av’s. You may discuss characters flaws but please try and do it in a sensible way. Example [of tone to be avoided]: Ichigo sucks, I’m sick to hell of his lame ass plot kai abilities.
2008, tinklesnow, “Ichigo Overpowered?”, in BleachAnime.org Forums[8], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
He has the most powerful weapon of Bleach history, which is called plot-kai.( Or the proper term is Deux Ex Machina)
2009, the_sun_is_up, “Bleach? Moar liek BLECH, amirite?”, in LiveJournal[9], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
Kubo Tite will never kill off a good character and it becomes pretty obvious that the good guys will win no matter what. The fans have even conjoined[sic] a phrase "plotkai" to illustrate any situations where a character wins by a fluke (gaining new powers etc) because the plot obviously demands it, despite the fact that statistically they have no chance of winning.
2009, Ace85, “Why is Bleach so good ?”, in BleachAnime.org Forums[10], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
I like Bleach because of the wonderful cast of characters whose spectrum of appearance and personalities stretch so wide. Creativity and originality is admirable. However the storyline sometimes has inconsistency plotkai and cliche situations.
2009, kramsib, “PlotKai-d? Analysis of Ichigo's Wins (Includes any & all)”, in Bleach Asylum[11], retrieved 2010-11-15:
To me plotkai is subjective and is never absolute, but the general idea is when something outrageous and hard-to-swallow happens that tips the battle scales in favor of the plotkaist. The keyword is hard-to-swallow, which is dependent on individual tastes.
2009, kaibasgirl, “Bleach Ep. 243 Discussion”, in LiveJournal[12], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
Honestly, they did a very smooth job with this fight. Unlike the Ikkaku/Houzukimaru fight, where it was just like, "I win cause of plot-kai and shounen clichés", this was actually very clever.
2009, lennan, “Bleach 383 Script”, in LiveJournal[13], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
Quite honestly, if he didn't spend all of his time explaining his [...] plans [...], he would actually be mysterious, since no one knows what he's thinking. But conversely, people would probably complain of plotkai or something because no one would have figured out what happened.
2009, AceCrusades, “Aizen dies in Fake Karakura Town arc?”, in BleachAnime.org Forums[14], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
Aizen would definitely not die thanks to the infamous plotkai , there are still too many stories to be revealed and thus Aizen can't die yet , not until we saw the King 's dimension and the royal guards .
2009, Balthazars, “BLEACH ~ Manga Discussion Thread, Spoilers inside”, in Aquastar Anime/Manga Forums[15], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
However, being Bleach and the apparent inability of the author to kill off any of the 'good guys' due to certain characters either have immense plotkai or haxxor healing powers, he will get real hurt, then Ichigo will turn up to save the day.
2009, Abazagaroth, “Plotkai”, in Bleach Forums[16], retrieved 2010-11-15:
So, other than being japanophiles, is there any particular reason people keep saying "plotkai" when they mean "deus ex machina"?
2010, “Asspull”, in TV Tropes[17], retrieved 2010-11-14:
The fans have come to nickname such occurrences plotkai(Note: Plotkai generally refers to an unprobable powerup/ability not even hinted at before). We've got Ichigo getting a new form out of nowhere, Kira being a former fourth squad member so he could have healing powers, and Yammy being the 0 Espada for no apparent reason other than to have a plot twist.
2010, cindylevanna, “BIGGEST Plotkai in Bleach?”, in BleachAnime.org Forums[18], archived from the original on 2010-11-15:
For me the biggest plotkai was when Ichigo was in training with Urahara and he was put in the pit. I couldn't rationalize why that happened. I felt so so sorry for Ichigo. I am glad he survived it all.
2010, _debbiechan_, “Aizen's descent from good to bad villain.”, in LiveJournal[19], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
Unless Aizen slips out of this and gets away with some shiny new plot kai (and yes, I do love his plot kai--his invicibility is one of his major charms), his sudden descent to tantruming bowling ball head is just ugh.
2010, maaghms, “PLOTKAI”, in mangahelpers[20], archived from the original on 2010-11-16:
If the majority of people think that there are a lot of plotkai in Bleach, it is very probably there really are. I am of course aware that manga writers, unlike other (non-graphic) novel writers, also have to draw (which takes up a lot time) in addition to writing. But it does not give a manga writer the excuse to be lazy in putting sufficient effort and thinking up a coherent story.
Of course, if Aizen was able to die with that gigantic hole, it would be all over. But hell for the plotkai that didn't allow that smugger to die because of his final foreshadowed showdown with Ichigo.
2010, conquistadora, “Bleach 408 is Out”, in LiveJournal[22], retrieved 2010-11-14:
Kubo making up his own time rules made me want to go back to bed, but I read on--he could have done it a lot worse, but this little plotkai isn't too bad.
2010, bwoodswa, “So You Haven't Forsaken Me After All, Eh Luck?”, in LiveJournal[23], retrieved 2010-11-14:
Kubo Tite has a bad habit of building up a lot of suspense only to have it turn out less-than-stellar. Fans at a forum I used to frequent called it "Plot-Kai"
2010, kluxorious, “Bleach: Episode 248”, in LiveJournal[24], retrieved 2010-11-14:
For a minute there I was afraid that Ichigo would get another plotkai and would have been able to defeat Ryuujin Jakka.
2010, eccentricways, “Week Update”, in LiveJournal[25], retrieved 2010-11-14:
The latest chapter spoilers have told us quite a lot of interesting things too. For example, Hitsugaya really wasn't cut in half and it was really just a wall of ice. Not that plotkai I guess as at least there was a logical explanation.
2010, pb_cookie, “A little sugar, a little spice...”, in LiveJournal[26], retrieved 2010-11-14:
It does seem to be selective plotkai that they can walk through the air on some occasions (and remember Rukia walking through Ichigo's wall in the first chapter?) but other times... bah.
2010, wtf-dninja, “Happy 400th chapter”, in LiveJournal[27], retrieved 2010-11-14:
Tite Kubo really out does himself. He has practically kept me in the entire series for all this time either because he has a sensational artistic and writing skill (or because he used plotkai) or he has successfully trolled my entire fandome and I am still under the spell of his mindfuckery (because of before mentioned plotkai).
2010, Kenkai, “I NEED INSULTS!!!”, in Five Lifetimes, One Love[28], retrieved 2010-11-15:
Besides the usual insults of her being a bimbo and being weak around Ichigo and not being kick-ass enough, I've also heard her get bashed because her powers are too good. Apparently, she's a walking plotkai because of her Soten Kesshun or something.
2010, Gran Maestro, “PLOTKAI”, in MangaHelpers[29], retrieved 2010-11-15:
99% of the plotkai is our resentment to failure of our favourite characters or success of our hated characters.
2010, Senbonsakurazukamori, “Is this the reason why Tite Kubo would not kill a good guy?”, in BleachAnime.org Forums[30], retrieved 2010-11-15:
Imagine if Yama-jii, Unohana, Shunsui and Juushiro all die to Aizen and Co. during this particular storyline. That's too much death in the upper level of the heroes power. It would be completely unbelievable for the remaining heroes to have any chance of winning moving forward without some serious plotkai which would turn many people off.
2010, dragonmeister, “Upcoming Episode Titles”, in AnimeSuki Forum[31], retrieved 2010-11-15:
Either that or it's a gaiden where Ichigo comes across the Hogyoku, believing it to be a magic lamp, and uses it it to make a wish that he's not such a whiny little brat who only survives battles through plotkai, and stops sucking for an arc, only to lose his new-found power and confidence at the conclusion of the arc.
2010, lurk_stiltzkin, “Bleach discussion - after chapter 423”, in LiveJournal[32], retrieved 2010-11-14:
It's also an interesting fact that Isshin somehow figured out that the Visoreds would contact Ichigo after he came back from SS, while Shinji himself didn't recognize Isshin's reiatsu. It could be two reasons: he made it to Gotei 13 after Shinji's exile, or because Isshin somehow just retained his shinigami powers after 20 years, the reiatsu just sort of changed, thus Shinji couldn't put a finger to it. Knowing Kubo, it could be the latter. It screamed plotkai after all.
Noun: by extension, deus ex machina by any author[edit]
2008, para, “Moments of plotkai”, in Bleach Forums[33], retrieved 2010-11-14:
Plotkai is a moment in an anime where an event happens and it's never quite explained how or why it happened. Most of the time, some character gains some unexpected, temporary boost in power to take down an otherwise undefeatable foe and no one really thinks much of it afterward.
2009, kluxorious, “Diary of a tard - week 1, December '09”, in LiveJournal[34], retrieved 2010-10-14:
Holy cripes! Claymore chapter 98 showed us why Priscilla is scary! [...] There goes Clare's dream of defeating Priscilla. Unless she gets a plotkai, it would be impossible.