First things first, I'd like to talk about how I got into bleach.
I've been an anime fan since the prime age of 12 years old. No doubt I have heard about bleach, but I just never got the urge to watch it or read it.
That was until, 10 years later, I found a TV channel airing bleach. Here where it gets annoying. It was airing bleach tybw. And I decided it was a good a idea to watch bleach starting from the latest arc, to judge whether I should watch it from the begging.
So I was, watching Tybw with no idea what "spiritual pressure", "zanpakuto", or "quencies", where.
It gets worse. I did watch tybw, but I didn't watch it chronologically. I would turn the TV on whenever I had the time. So I watched the first 2 episodes of the season, skipped like 6 more, watched 2, and so on.
I spoiled myself a hella lot. Looking on the bright side, if I didn't do that, I wouldn't have gotten into it.
Right now I have finished watching the soul society arc. (great story line, amazing characters) I heard a lot that the anime cuts out some important scenes, so I'm reading the manga from the begging.
Yumichika Ayasegawa is filming a met gala outfits review for his tiktok right now as we speak. (He's giving everyone bad reviews because he is salty he didn't get invited)
Straight up, I enjoyed the book. It continues after the events of tybw and provides a new plot, characters, and conflict while still being connected to the world we know.
We have Hisagi's internal conflict of whether he should give in to the revenge brewing inside for Tosen, and as an external conflict we have Tokinada who is brewing up trouble for the Seireitei.
However, I had a problem with how much beating around the bush there was. All this book did was give an introduction to what will be covered in the next books, which isn't how a typical trilogy works.
The moment a scene starts to make sense and looks like it's going somewhere, we jump to another scene with different characters and a different conversation. The main plot was barely evolving so I can see why cfyow is split into three. Like we had three pages of Hanataro looking at an angry Hisagi and then talking a little about his self esteem and stuff.
But anyways it was a fun read, I want to read the next book and see if Hisagi will be able to cover talk objectively about Tokinada in the newspaper as he was trying to, and see him coming to terms with his revenge. If he will learn something new about how Tosen dealt with his own revenge.
I see this going two ways. In the end Hisagi must make peace with his self ie his zanpakuto and achieve bankai, so will he approach that through:
Embracing his feelings of revenenge as he embraces his zanpakuto's thirst to kill and deal accordingly with the one who pushed Tosen towards hatred.
Or will he learn to let go of the cycle of revenge that "ruined" Tosen (not according to Aizen) and still find a way to make peace with his zanpakuto and aquire bankai?
Idk how much liberty the writer of the light novel took but I have a clearer image now of how age works in souls society.
We are introduced to Hikone - a new character - and they were stated to be fifteen years old if measured in the world of the living way. Everyone who meets them however refers to them as a child, even in narration.
Ichigo was the same age at the beginning of the series, but he was still acknowledged as a young adult.
So in soul society someone who passes 15 years hasn't became a teen yet. They age slower. Fifteen year olds are still children. Because I was wondering if they age normally and things slow at a certain time, so I take it as people just age slower.
According to the Can't Fear Your Own World novel which Kubo supervised, the Seireitei Bulletin was a one page publication printed off a wooden block like the Edo period publication, until Tosen became captain.
He adopted printing methods from the world of the living which makes me think that he was a soul who lived in the modern world and came to soul society after dying. He retained his memories and experiences, using them to modernize printing and publications in the soul society. (Well, seireitei mainly. According to the novel, the rukongai receives copies of the Bulletin on special occasion only.)
Or maybe he simply is a WOTL guru, saw it once while deployed there and thought how much easier paper printing produces journals and announcements.
On another noter, I think Tosen must have asked Mayuri and the departement of research to develop printers for him and provide them with ink. And I think Mayuri was very happy with the development.
Tokinada Tsunayashiro is a prime example of the divide and classism in the soul society.
As I have discussed before here, there is a wide, obvious divide in the soul society between Rukongai citizens and Seireitei ones.
Rukongai citizens are ridiculed, (Tosen being called a Rukongai urchin.) Their lives are easily expendable to maintain balance of souls, or for some Seireitei aristocrat's fun. They live in poverty and their needs, such as fuel which is necessary for transportation or heating, are always second to the Seireitei.
CFYOW SPOILER ALERT
It makes me wonder about the reason Tokinada married Kakyo. She was Tosen's friend and Tokinada's wife. For him she was just another Rukongai resident to kill. He said he was sickened by her dreams and was already looking down on her for being from the Rukongai, so did he marry her out of pure spite? To have fun of his own? I'm still in the first book so his character is still a mystery to me.
Sorry for the wall of likes btw, I'm getting back into Bleach and deeply enjoying reading your takes and speculation on things!
I was genuinely so happy to open tumblr and find 60+ notifications.
And I'm really glad you're enjoying my takes! Bleach is just that good isn't it? It made me come up with good interpretations and opinions (even though sometimes I'm just saying how hot the characters are lol.) But whatever they are it is really fun writing them and sharing them and seeing people enjoying and discussing it, and getting back into bleach through it <3
Soul Society: The Seireitei vs Rukongai - A Social and Political Commentary
While rewatching soul society arc, Jidanbo's line here caught my attention. He assumed Ichigo and co. were country people, basing it off their "bad manners", and proceeded to put them down in comparison to himself, a city guy.
Now you can take what he said as a joke and an intimidating tactic for his opponents, but here I'm willing to see beyond it because each joke has some truth underneath.
I am going to assume and base the rest of my analysis to the idea that by city folk, Jidanbo refers to the Seireitei shinigami, and the country folk to the Rukongai residents (specifically those in the poorer, more rural districts.)
The classism between these two groups of people is clear. Presuming a group of people lacks hygiene (wash your hands and don't eat stuff off the floor) and then lecturing them how to behave is a classical way of alienating them by seeing them as lesser people, poor and dirty.
Assuming someone comes from a certain place just because the have bad manners is crazy.
Then Jidanbo talks about the people he have fought before (Been gatekeeping for 300 hundred years... First person in decades to block... In chapters 73 and 74) Who other than our Ryoka is constantly trying to force their way into the Seireitei? Who is this giant standing to block the Seireitei from? Hollows? Maybe sometimes. But they could spawn in the middle of the Seireitei as far as I know, so they are not the most frequent. It's more likely rebels.
Suppose someone in the Rukongai was born with the same mentality as Kenpachi minus the spiritual pressure. He is strong. He wants to fight. And who else is better to fight than the rich higher ups who see themselves as better than you, keeping themselves secluded and surrounded by high walls that can fall over you if you try to cross the barrier, and are heavily guarded by Jidanbo who's strength was glazed by Yoruichi.
Notice how small ichigo is in comparison to that wall. You can barely see him. Is this necessary?
I know I've talked a lot about Jidanbo, but I don't mean any real hate towards him. In fact he acknowledges how mean people inside the walls are, and he is well liked by the the first district's Rukon residents despite his judgments. But he is an example of how things are like in the bigger picture. The Rukon guy in the panel to the right confirms the repulsion they have towards shinigami, people of the Seireitei.
And since Jidanbo is a Rukon man originally, a country boy in other in this case, his comments sound as someone who feels insecure about his origin, so he associates with the Seireitei, but is still kind to his people.
So yes, diving seriously into the Rukon - Seireitei social and political status, I think of the Seireitei as the government facing frequent rebellions from the Rukongai. We saw Mayuri kill off Rukon residents to maintain balance of the worlds. He took the role of the governor who kills innocent people for the greater good. But in the eyes of Rukon people they have every reason to riot against the Seireitei. Not to mention the poor living conditions they live in.
But unfortunately the shinigami are better in terms of strength, seeing as they have spiritual powers.
So it is a thing, to think that the heros of this story are villains from another point of view.
Looking at the divide and classism present in soul society got me thinking about shinigami who are Rukon born. Did they face judgment and criticism by their the rukon friends and family - who don't have spiritual pressure - for joining the government and the people they hate? Was there any bullying and divide in the academy too between the Seireitei born, like the noble families, and the Rukon born?
The latter argument is weak seeing how close Izuru was with Renji and Momo. In addition to how low in number noble family kids can be in the entire shinigami academy.
So in conclusion, we all know Soul Society isn't a perfect place, and it heavily divides and brews hatred between two factions of people. It is a divide based on spiritual pressure, something no one can control. Which drives to a little comparison between it and Hueco Mundo.
In Hueco Mundo there isn't a big of a divide between the Espada, Menos, and hollows. It is still stuck in a "survival for the fittist" construct, and the only divide relies in an individual control; strength and desire to evolve.
I'm in no way saying Heuco Mundo is better than Seireitei or that it provides equal opportunities to rise to power between all its people. Just raising a speculation as to how an individual in the Rukongai can strive for a better life when only those who have spiritual pressure are given an opportunity. (Perhaps they get jobs that the shinigami need but can't preform, like opening restaurants or assisting in health care in the 4th division)
Thing is, in tbtp arc he was drawn more buff. So I'm thinking if his muscles are reflection of the mental state he was in? He was exercising and taking care of his body when he was a captain. When they were banished to the world of the living he didn't have a reason to train that hard, maybe even stopped eating as he used to before, and all the muscle and weight is gone. Then after getting back to soul society he got motivated and on track again
I think there is a deeper reason why Yhwach recruited the Arrancar.
And captured Harribel.
It was stated that the Arrancar had been recruited because they were valuable assets he needed no training.
But we never saw them again and funny enough the Shinigami side ended up using Arrancar soldiers. I was hoping that the anime would expand that plot point.
But I think the true reason Yhwach recruited them were as a backup to Ichigo to break the Soul King's seal. In the anime Yhwach revealed he needed someone who was a Shinigami, Quincy, Human, Hollow and Fullbringer to break the seal. I think he used the Arrancar as a base to create the being he needed. Arrancar already have Shinigami and Hollow powers and Yhwach was able to grant Ebern Quincy powers.
I think BG9 is a result of this. There is a theory that BG9 is Shawlong Koufang because of their similarities. And in the anime they have the same voice actors. I think he was experimented on but ended up becoming a full Quincy. Him having a 9 in his name suggests he is the ninth version.
I think the group that Luders Friegen was that first invaded the Sereitei are Arrancars who were experimented on. Maybe in the anime they will appear.
Hii I hope your doing well. I'd like to request this if you're willing to do it <3 Yumichika in a sassy pose, he has on hand on his hip and the other 🤙 like this to his face as if talking on the phone. (It's a dance from le sserafim's spaghetti 😭) Thanks
Set during the Ryoka invasion; how the Hisagi vs Yumichika fight ended ~
Yumichika enjoyed the sight of Lieutenant Shuhei Hisagi - panicked and confused - swatting uselessly at Ruri'iro Kujako's vines binding his limbs.
Wiping blood off his face, the beautiful man explained the nature of his real shikai with easiness and pride of a winner.
Then he limped closer and grabbed Hisagi's face. "But I won't let you die," he smirked. "Your face is scarred and marked with tasteless tattoos... but it's a surprisingly beautiful face. One I can trust."
And when he bit into the flower, warmth broke loose inside him. Hisagi's electrifying reiatsu was spreading through Yumichika in a sweet frenzy.
