Three Paces Less, Five Captains Less, One King Left
With Ichibei now in pieces, Yhwach reiterates what he said in the beginning of the chapter - that he'd have Ichibei dead in three paces less, and that appears to be exactly what happened. He then waltzes past Ichibei's body parts, and with one movement destroys the "Seal" Ichibei made, comments on how Squad Zero has fallen, cutting back to the defeated members of Squad Zero, and states that the Soul King is next in line.
I know that a lot of people are complaining about how the rest of the Squad Zero was effectively taken out off-screen while we had Yhwach dealing with Ichibei, but I only have this to say upon reflection - what were you expecting? The last time we saw them, Lille Barro had not only put a hole clean through Nimaiya's chest with "The X-Axis", but he shot through the Zanpakuto of two other Squad Zero members as a side-effect. With Lille Barro being powered-up that much, the same would hold true for the other three Elite Guard. With odds like that, it'd make sense for the battle to not get focus while their boss was dealing with Ichibei - the outcome was decided, as Lille said, the moment Yhwach stepped into the Soul King Palace.
Now, I may be looking into the panel too much, but it seems like Yhwach is bearing his teeth in anger in the page where the chapter number is shown. It does not look like his usual smile, so Yhwach definitely has some personal grudge against the Soul King.
Late As Usual
It is only after he's already left for the Soul King that Ichigo and Co finally arrive in the cannon, with a moment of comedy to spare for Ganju collapsing out of the cannon due to not being caught by the Santen Kesshun. Given the current situation, forgive me for saying if I felt that moment was out-of-place.
At any rate, Ichigo and Co exit the cannon, and we have Sado stating the obvious: "It's too quiet...what's going on here? Has the battle already ended?" This is what being late to the party gets you, Sado - a big void of silence. Be thankful you and Inoue were not hear when the battle was still going, because you'd just end up as casualties, given that the Elite Guard dealt with Squad Zero so easily.
Bring Me to Life - Call My Name, And Save Me from the Dark
They see just how late they are by sighting the blown apart corpse of Ichibei (cue horrified Inoue expression), and Ichigo explains to Sado just who that was: the monk who trained him and Rukia. Inoue says that she is going to try to fix Ichibei up, and Ganju pretty much mirrored my thoughts: it's crazy talk because he's in piece and his head is without his body.
Thank God that Ichibei had other plans, as the Monk is able to call to Ichigo despite his predicament, and tell him to call his name. Ichigo does so, and Ichibei promptly revives and restores his body, explaining to the flummoxed Ichigo the mechanics behind how it was possible despite him actually being dead - as "Power" resides in the "Name", having Ichigo call his "Name" allowed him to take some of Ichigo's power and use it to restore his power, with Ichigo acting as audience surrogate based on his reaction.
Just what did the Soul King do to give Ichibei this "Power of Names"? I suppose it explains why speaking his name caused Yhwach to lose his voice - every time he did so meant Ichibei stole some "Power" from him - but essentially self-resurrecting himself just by having Ichigo call his "Name" is definitely not an ability he would have had naturally. It seems that the Soul King did more than just bestow the Squad Zero members with the Ouken - he also gave them "Powers" that correspond to their title, if Ichibei is any indication.
The Monk's Mask, the World of Contradictions
Now that Ichibei explained his revival, he then asks Ichigo to stop Yhwach. With the Squad Zero defeated and Ichibei yet to recover his power, he states that there is no one else who can stop Yhwach. He then says that he isn't telling Ichigo to kill, but just to stop him. Ichibei then echoes what Urahara said about the Soul King at the end of "Deicide", but the wording is distinctly different. While Urahara only talks about Soul Society "becoming divided", and how the Soul King is the "linchpin" that binds them together, Ichibei calls the Soul King "the "linchpin" of the world", and that Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, the Living World, and everything would disappear. He then apologizes to Ichigo for burdening him with such a task, and asks him to protect the Soul King as Ichigo and Co runs towards the Soul King Palace.
I find it odd how this is all coming from the guy who, just a few chapters ago, was revelling in his power over "blackness" and seemed delighted at the prospect of killing Yhwach, even going so far as to try to remove Yhwach from the cycle of reincarnation entirely in the process of killing him - not to mention how he renamed Yhwach into an "ant" and tried to kill him just like he would an ant. Ichibei may have acted like the Monk we knew before this fight, but that seems to be a "mask" to hide the monster that lurks beneath it.
Which brings me to the differences between Ichibei's words and Urahara's words. While Ichibei states that the existence of all the worlds hinges on the Soul King's life, Urahara's words were more about the Soul Society becoming "divided" because the Soul King is the "linchpin" that binds everyone together in the Soul Society, and that "without such a bond, we crumble easily". So here is the question: if the Soul King is vital to maintaining the existence of the world, why are there two different men (Aizen and Yhwach) who seek his destruction?
In Aizen's case, he was incensed at Urahara for following "that thing" and not taking action, like he did. Something Aizen learnt when he saw the Soul King drove him to the lengths he did to try to kill the Soul King. While Shutara (and the UNMASKED databook) claims he sought to become God and take the Soul King's place, there is likely something really wrong with the Soul King to make Aizen go to such extremes.
As for Yhwach...
Blood War's Origin
He has seemingly succeeded in killing the Soul King, as the next page shows the Soul King run through by Yhwach's blade. As the chapter ends, Yhwach bids the Soul King farewell and makes the entire origin of the war clear with one line of dialogue: "For I have seen the future, MY FATHER."
Before we get into the wham line delivered at the end of this chapter, let us look at the Soul King himself. He is...not what I expected. The idea he has eyes similar to Yhwach may have been disproven (they even have a different shape from before yet still echo Aizen's eyes in his third Hogyoku evolution), but what was unexpected is how inhuman he actually looks. For starters, he has no arms or legs. He's literally just a head and torso with no discernible lower half to speak of. I can see where Aizen gets the perception that the Soul King is a "thing", and why Urahara could not disagree with him - "it" cannot be called a Human through any means.
Another thing is how "powerless" the Soul King seems to be. "It" made no attempts to resist Yhwach as "it" was stabbed, and that barrier around "it" did nothing to protect "it" from Yhwach. It could explain the reason why the Soul King needs Squad Zero to protect it at all - perhaps many people were right in claiming that the Soul King cannot protect "itself". Pity this may also disprove the notion of a Royal Family...Almost.
Yet we know this "thing" has taken an interest in Ichigo, and we know "it" is what bestowed the Ouken onto the Squad Zero, so we know it is intelligent and alive. "It" just does not seem like the thing that could have been born to any Human, and I'm starting to get the impression I may have to revisit an age-old theory I once made, and tweak it a bit to take our knowledge of what the Soul King is into account.
Either way, a lot of questions raised about the Soul King - what is "it", how/when did it come to be, it is truly the creator of the world, was Ichibei telling the truth when he said all of reality would collapse/disappear with "it's" death? These are just the tip of the iceberg, but the immediate revelation takes precedence:
The Soul King is the father of Yhwach. Now we know for certain what "The Thousand Year Blood War" is all about, and we can see that the history between Quincy and Shinigami goes far deeper than what the original feud was. This is not a war between Shinigami and Quincy - it is a war between father and son, between the Soul King and Yhwach.
This in itself raises new questions - none of the Shinigami, not even Ichibei, seem aware that Yhwach is the son of the Soul King, so for what reason did the Soul King never inform anyone of this? Haschwalth certainly seemed aware of it, given that he gave Yhwach his condolences upon their arrival in the Soul King Palace, so why are the Shinigami all in the dark?
How did the feud come about in the first place? Since the Shinigami-Quincy War of 1000 years indicates that the Quincy existed for a considerable amount of time before that war occurred, so Yhwach and the Soul King may not have always been at odds with one another. There needed to be an event in the past that sparked the conflict.
What future did Yhwach see? Since Yhwach can see the future, he should know better than anyone that the Soul King's death would result in the end of all the worlds...That is, if Ichibei was telling the truth. Perhaps Yhwach's ability to see the world's future after the Soul King's death is possible proof that the Soul King is not the "linchpin" to all of reality's existence as Ichibei claims. It is also entirely possible that Yhwach is taking his father's power, and therefore taking his place as the world's "linchpin", but we cannot be entirely certain until the next chapter clarifies things.
Either way, this revelation definitely explains exactly where Yhwach's power comes from. Imparting pieces of his soul unto others; 'creating' the Quincy; the Auswahlen; being able to restore power lost back to himself; "The Almighty" - all of these powers come from his being the Soul King's son, effectively making him a Demi-God, if not a full-blown God, by right of his parentage.
Which makes me wonder what the Soul King is, and how the concept of Transcendent Beings fit into the world of Bleach. My theory that Yhwach is a Transcendent Being definitely feels like reality now that his being the son of the Soul King has been revealed, but there is also the question of what the Soul King is. Because of an old theory I made a long time ago (you can find it in my blog under the November month), I'm starting to think that the Soul King may be similar to the Kikoo and Koutotsu - not as a "soul" like a Shinigami or others, but as a "Being of Reason".
Friday 26 December 2014
Thursday 18 December 2014
Bleach Two-in-One Chapter Review - Chapters 609 and 610
Bleach Chapter 609 Review
The Void Without a Name
As this chapter opens, we see the aftermath of Yhwach being struck by Ichimonji's ink, and there's a whole page spread of the ink extending out from the Vestibule Road in a horizontal line, and we cut to Yhwach completely blotted out as the chapter title "A" is shown. As Yhwach stands there helpless, Ichibei mocks him for his lost name, and states he will bestow a new name upon "the thing formerly known as Yhwach" as a whiteness emits from Ichimonji.
The effects of Ichibei's Ichimonji are truly terrifying to behold, and his power to take away names is a mix of his power over "Black" and the "power of the Void" that is sometimes seen throughout media. After all, he completely rips away a person's "Name" and "Power" from them, leaving a "black emptiness" from the void left behind by their lost name. As I stated before, this power is one of the most terrifying seen in Bleach, and leaves all struck by it at Ichibei's complete mercy.
As a Zanpakuto is a reflection of the Shinigami's soul, one must wonder what this says about Ichibei, for what kind of man must he be to bear a Zanpakuto with power over the "Black" and takes away the "Name" of all it covers in "Black"...
The "Evolved Zanpakuto"
As Ichibei's Ichimonji begins to emit a white light, he calls it "Shinuchi (True Hit)", "Shirafude Ichimonji". He goes on to explain that, based on the most recent terminology (which he invented, as you all know), "Shirafude Ichimonji" is a Bankai. Before Ichibei brought the terms "Shikai" and "Bankai" into existence, the Zanpakuto first born with such forms were called "Evolved Zanpakuto", and "Shinuchi" was the term used to describe the state that would become "Bankai".
However, there is a distinct difference in the terminology's meaning. "Shinuchi" indicates that the Zanpakuto has reached its true form, while the "Bankai" indicates the "Final Release". Moreover, the term "Evolved Zanpakuto" does not imply an end to the Zanpakuto's evolution, whereas a "Bankai" does. But while all Shinigami we know of before now - even Yamamoto - use the term "Bankai", Ichibei uses the term "Shinuchi", despite being the man who coined the term "Bankai" in the first place.
As a whole, Ichibei's Zanpakuto is quite out of the ordinary for Zanpakuto. While most Zanpakuto lack any abilities in their "sealed" state, Ichibei's paintbrush has abilities that reflect those of the Shikai. They reflect the power to a lesser extent, but his Zanpakuto still has its ability in the form of a paintbrush all the same. The same could be said for all the Royal Guard Zanpakuto, if they follow a similar pattern - their "sealed" Zanpakuto possessing abilities that reflect their Zanpakuto's true power.
Either way, this is a mystery I would like to see dug further into, because I wonder if the concept of "Evolved Zanpakuto" is actually tied in with Ichigo's Mugetsu, since "Deicide" was implying through Aizen and Ichigo's fight that "evolutions" of the Zanpakuto beyond the Bankai exist.
He Taketh Thine Name, and He Giveth Thine Name
As Ichibei explains this, he describes his Bankai's ability as being to give a "Name" to anything Ichimonji has blotted out, and he decides to vindictively give Yhwach the name "Black Ant" by painting the "Name" onto his body, giving Yhwach the "Power" of a black ant, making his life fragile and fleeting.
Yhwach appears to be in disbelief that he could only "go this far", and Ichibei continues his sentence, stating this was as "far" as Yhwach could go, how "far" behind in terms of abilities he was, and as "far" as his life will go, and tells Yhwach to carry all the lives of the Shinigami he has killed with him as he crushes him like the ant he now is, creating a giant foot construct to smash Yhwach down through the Vestibule Road and away from the Royal Realm.
Yhwach being smashed through the Vestibule Road grabs Haschwalth's attention, who calls out to "His Majesty" as Ichibei bids farwell "to the king of insects", and smashes him between two hand constructs, leaving the Quincy King to fall, believing him to be finished.
As a whole, this scene really shows Ichibei's vindictiveness and the inner "blackness" that shows through his Zanpakuto. It's not enough for him to simply take your "Name" and "Power" and the kill you; he will give you a new "Name" which reflects how lowly he thinks of you, and crush you in the manner he would crush what he named you as. It is a terrifying power, and is a further reflection of Ichibei's own soul, and how ruthless and wicked the "Head of the Shinigami" is.
However, Yhwach is not the kind of man who lets anyone take anything from him...
Eyes of God
He then clarifies on what he meant by "to go this far": he did not expect to see this far ahead with his eyes closed. We then get a close up of his eyes as a second iris and pupil splits off from the first one, and the next page immediately opens with a pillar of fire erupting from behind Ichibei, who turns around only to receive a sword to his chest as he does so. He expresses surprise at Yhwach still being alive, as the words "Black Ant" peel away from the completely black figure before him.
As Ichibei expressed his shock at how it should be impossible, Haschwalth narrates from afar how it is possible. Different translations say different things (Mangastream has him saying Yhwach "can understand all things that he sees from any given perspective"), but the one thing that seems to be constant throughout a number of the translations is this: he can see all that will happen. Haschwalth further explains that no power that Yhwach knows is able to best him, and he reveals what the meaning of "A" is:
"The Almighty". In the original Kanji, it is spoken as Zenchizennou i.e. "Omniscient and Omnipotent", and the two-page spread in which this is revealed shows us that both of Yhwach's eyes now have two irises and pupils in them.
Kubo is really going all-out with the symbolism here, as "God almighty" is one of the terms used to describe the Abrahamic God. As if his name being derived from YHWH was not enough. Either way, even if the original chapter translations left things up to interpretation, there is no denying the immediate effect of Yhwach activating "The Almighty" - the complete negation of Ichibei's Zanpakuto ability.
NOTE: I did not notice this before (and I have JohosafatsStudios to thank for pointing this out), but Yhwach also seems to gain these black marks below his eyes upon activating "The Almighty".
Bleach Chapter 610 Review
"...And Regain His Power After Nine Years"
In this chapter, Haschwalth explains that Yhwach usually fights with "closed eyes", and we see that he is talking to Uryu as he explains this. He clarifies it is not a matter of him taking his opponents lightly, and recites the "Kaiser Gesang", stating that he did not "open" his eyes during the "Nine Years for Power" because he could end up losing control over the power of his letter "A", and the abilities of all the Stern Ritter would end up being taken.
Since his eyes are now "open", the "Nine Years for Power" have come to an end, and states that the time for the Quincy's prayers, which spans across a thousand years, to be answered has finally come, and we see a double-page spread of Yhwach, with his Spirit Weapon now becoming pure white and radiating power.
What comes after the "Nine Years of Power" is "The Reclamation of the World In Nine Days", and I wonder if this is what Haschwalth meant by the Quincy's prayers - their prayers were for Yhwach to "reclaim the world". Yhwach spoke of the world "coming to an end in nine days", so I wonder if he was not referring to the world's physical destruction, but the destruction of the world created by the Shinigami. This certainly seems to be the case, since Yhwach wasted no time in going to the Soul King Palace when the opportunity presented itself.
The Eye Of Omniscience and Omnipotence
As Ichibei recovers from his wound, Yhwach exchanges bards back at Ichibei, reciting the questions that Ichibei must be asking himself, such as "how did he survive", "how did he free himself from my power", and "why am I the one about to be destroyed". He then proceeds to explain to Ichibei what his ability is - given that he can afford to, considering what he says.
Yhwach tells Ichibei that, with his eyes now "opened", he can see everything from the present all the way to the future. He states that he "knows"/"understands" everything he sees, and that he can make use of any power that he knows/make the "abilities" he knows become his allies. In other words, as long as he "knows" a person's power, they cannot defeat him, much less hurt him, with that power. That is "The Almighty".
The translations are a bit confusing on both sides when compared to each other, but the general message seems to be the same - once Yhwach "knows" a power or ability, he cannot be affected by it because he can "make use of it".
I'll probably sound like a broken record, but I will say it again: Yhwach consistently has shown himself to possess powers that I have not seen of anything else in the series, and I believe that makes him a Transcendent Being. I mean, he can see into the future, and he can make use of any abilities he comes "to know" through his eyes. This is on top of his ability to impart a piece of his soul upon others, the Auswahlen, being able to restore his own power back to himself if it were to be taken from him, and only Kubo knows what else.
And he is only starting to show us the scope of his power at this point!
The Perpetual "Blackness"
Ichibei, on the other hand, is unfazed, and seems to think that Yhwach defeating him is some kind of joke.
Really, even though he just up and negated your power?
This is where the translations take their standard complete deviation from one another. While they both have Ichibei telling Yhwach to not get too far ahead of himself because he removed the name "Black Ant", the next set of text is where the deviation comes in. Mangapanda has him call Yhwach "the one once known as Yhwach" again, in reference to his taking away his "Name" before, but Mangastream has him claiming the name "Yhwach" never meant anything to begin with. A re-iteration of what Ichibei did in the past in one, a blasphemous boast in the other.
Given that Yhwach seems to have completely cleaned himself of Ichimonji's "black ink", I might have to go with Mangastream on this one.
Ichibei asks how Yhwach will defeat him if he is still surrounded by "blackness" (like his own mantle), and claims that, no matter how much Yhwach may know, all the "blackness" is still his to control. A wave of "blackness" surges from Yhwach around Ichibei as the around around them is engulfed in "blackness", and we see echoes of Yamamoto once more as something familiar begins - the incantation for a Zanpakuto technique, and the longest incantation for a spells in the series period:
"Oh Twilight, and everlasting darkness, come to me, come and have a drink, and once you do, your life will fade. The flowers will bloom along the road to hell. Where are the fish, let me paint them black, cut them into eight, and cook them well atop a flame of black, and then enjoy the meal. All that's left are bones of white, make them a gravestone, and pay respect. May they never be reborn again, so that you won't be sacrificed as food."
The ritual involved in this is quite complex as well, as a bowl made of "blackness" forms in his hand, "black" pours into the bowl, he pours it around him into two circles. He then stabs Ichimonji into the ground as he completes the incantation for his final technique - Futen Daisatsuryou ("Slaughterous Mausoleum of Non-Reincarnation").
The "Blackness" of the Soul
Ichibei tells us that the Futen Daisatsuryou was made from the "blackness" of one hundred nights from the Soul Society's future, and he made it to be Yhwach's final resting place. Now, Mangastream says it is a hundred nights from the Soul Society a hundred years in the future, while Mangapanda just says Soul Society's future. I'll once again wait on another translation to see what this means, but I'll just stick with saying its future for now.
Depending on the translation, either it takes away the "blackness" Yhwach is enveloped in, or the "blackness" within him, latter which might led credence to those theorizing that the "blackness" taken from people is also on a metaphysical level i.e. the "blackness" of their soul. The technique will also take away the target's flesh, blood, and bones, until it is completely crushed and made into nothingness. He even says there will be no chance for reincarnation to whomever is taken by the technique, and he tells Yhwach to enjoy his descent into a pitch-black Hell.
Remember what I said about the Zanpakuto reflecting the Shinigami's soul, and what Ichimonji said about Ichibei's soul? Well, if there was a man who was the embodiment of evil in Bleach, I actually would not say it is Yhwach; at this point in time, I would say it is Ichibei Hyosube.
Akin to Yamamoto, Ichibei possesses a technique with his Zanpakuto requiring an incantation, but the nature of the technique also reflects the darkness that exists in both of their souls - in Ichibei's case, even more so. Yamamoto can reanimate all the dead he has ever killed via his Zanpakuto's flames, and use them in battle; on the other hand, Ichibei's technique summons this pitch-black mausoleum - created from a hundred nights of darkness stolen from Soul Society's future, no less - that crushes anything consumed by it into complete nothingness, even negating the possibility of the soul's reincarnation.
I do not know if the "blackness" of the technique actually destroys the soul itself, or if the person's soul is trapped in the mausoleum's "blackness" for all eternity - it is a mausoleum, after all - but this technique, the incantation involved, and the name itself just screams out to me - screams that Ichibei is one of the most vile beings in existence. The Shinigami were exterminating the Quincy because the Quincy are believed to destroy the souls of Hollows - I say "believed" because Yhwach's ability and connection to the Quincy may throw that into question - but Ichibei possesses a technique that not only transcends Time to steal the "blackness" from a hundred nights in the Soul Society's future to fuel it, but removes a soul from the cycle of reincarnation entirely, either through destroying it outright or trapping it in the mausoleum for eternity.
The fact that he knows how many nights' "blackness" it took to create the mausoleum means Ichibei has used this technique once before in the past, meaning someone (or a whole group of them) either had their souls trapped in this mausoleum or crushed entirely. If Ichibei was a member of the Gotei 13 in the past (their name as Squad Zero indicates a relation to the Gotei 13), then he is living proof that Yhwach was speaking the truth when he described the original Gotei as blood-thirsty, cold-hearted killers. He is a vicious monster who revels in his power over "blackness" and the dominance it gives him over others, from taking away their "Names" and renaming, to crushing them so absolutely that their souls are removed from the cycle of reincarnation entirely.
He may have the title of "Monk", but the true personality behind the jovial behaviour he exhibited before is sure as hell not that of a true monk. As it stands, this fight has really shown what Ichibei's true nature is like. It seems to be a tendency in Bleach that a person's heart is revealed through the battles they take place in (one of Ichigo's main traits is to see the hearts of anyone he clashes blades with), and we have definitely seen the true blackness of Ichibei's own heart through his fight against Yhwach.
Speaking of Yhwach...
I am Yhwach
When Ichibei tells Yhwach to enjoy his descent into a pitch, black hell, the speech bubble also connects to Yhwach, meaning he is saying the exact same thing as Ichibei. This shocks Ichibei, and Yhwach reminds Ichibei that he is all-seeing. As such, there is no ability he cannot "comprehend" and cannot "counter", and that everything he sees becomes powerless before him - just as a THIRD iris and pupil appear in his eye alongside the other two - and asks Ichibei if he still thinks his name means nothing/he has lost his name.
He declares that he is Yhwach, "the one who shall take everything from you", raises his hand, and completely blasts away Ichibei's torso in one of the most gruesome deaths seen in Bleach.
Now, unless Ichibei has something crazy up his sleeve, such as the "blackness" reconstituting him so long as Futen Daisatsuryou is active...He. Is. Dead. I mean, you can see the vertebrae of his neck attached to his now bodiless head. There is no coming back from that kind of destruction. Unless it's some kind of darkness clone, he's dead. But any possibilities of him surviving would be negated by the fact that Yhwach, who can see into the future, would see it coming. Unless Yhwach is stated to know it's not the real Ichibei and destroyed the clone to draw him out, he is dead.
Unless the Spirit King can do for him what Yhwach did for the Elite Guard, Ichibei is dead. But even if that were possible, Yhwach would probably just do what he did to Yamamoto's corpse and blow the rest of his body away, and ensure that no force in the world can bring him back.
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Kubo is a madman.
Bleach is the kind of series where the power of a person's ability reflects their overall potential power, so there is always a relation between how powerful a character is depicted as being or can become, and the overall power displayed by their ability. Whenever a powerful character is revealed in Bleach, you can sure as hell expect them to have an ability that is just as powerful.
That is certainly the trend with abilities among the Shinigami - all the most powerful Zanpakuto are generally possessed by the most powerful Shinigami, or Shinigami who have immense potential.
But with this last arc, Kubo is raising the bar to a level no one could possibly have anticipated prior to this arc.
First, Zanka no Tachi was so powerful that it could destroy Soul Society if left active for too long; Gremmy's "The Visionary" could create a Seireitei-razing meteor, and Zaraki smashed that meteor to pieces with Nozarashi; Ichibei's Ichimonji can take the night's "blackness" from one hundred days of the Soul Society's future to create a mausoleum of blackness that crushes anything consumed by it so thoroughly that they cannot reincarnate.
But Yhwach tops all that. He can see everything in front of him all the way into the distance future; he can "know" and understand any ability he sees, "make use of its power", and completely negate it, even if that ability is something as immensely powerful as Ichimonji's "power of black", along with possessing enough power to completely blast away Ichibei's torso in an instant when "three eyes are open".
At this point, I believe that there will be at least one more eye that "opens" at this point. Hell, perhaps it will be a fourth set of irises and pupils and that way his eyes will look the same as those of the Spirit King, or perhaps it will be a third eye on his forehead to give him seven in total, further pushing the symbolism of him being God, as God is said to have "seven eyes" that represent the "Seven Spirits of God".
I expect this kind of shit from MITSUTOSHI'S TORIKO, but Kubo just keeps pushing the envelope even further. What happened to the days when the strength of the Captains of the Gotei 13 was actually considered significant? When we were in awe of the power of the Gotei 13 Captains? All the craziness happening in this arc is making them look like scrubs, and we have not even returned to the levels of power we saw in "Deicide".
I am being proven right in my thinking that the powers seen in "Deicide" were a preview for things to come. But despite claiming that, I did not even know what coming. I did not even think that the powers of the Shinigami and the other main races could come even close to what we've seen in this arc thus far.
It's incredible, and I'm loving every chapter of it.
The Void Without a Name
As this chapter opens, we see the aftermath of Yhwach being struck by Ichimonji's ink, and there's a whole page spread of the ink extending out from the Vestibule Road in a horizontal line, and we cut to Yhwach completely blotted out as the chapter title "A" is shown. As Yhwach stands there helpless, Ichibei mocks him for his lost name, and states he will bestow a new name upon "the thing formerly known as Yhwach" as a whiteness emits from Ichimonji.
The effects of Ichibei's Ichimonji are truly terrifying to behold, and his power to take away names is a mix of his power over "Black" and the "power of the Void" that is sometimes seen throughout media. After all, he completely rips away a person's "Name" and "Power" from them, leaving a "black emptiness" from the void left behind by their lost name. As I stated before, this power is one of the most terrifying seen in Bleach, and leaves all struck by it at Ichibei's complete mercy.
As a Zanpakuto is a reflection of the Shinigami's soul, one must wonder what this says about Ichibei, for what kind of man must he be to bear a Zanpakuto with power over the "Black" and takes away the "Name" of all it covers in "Black"...
The "Evolved Zanpakuto"
As Ichibei's Ichimonji begins to emit a white light, he calls it "Shinuchi (True Hit)", "Shirafude Ichimonji". He goes on to explain that, based on the most recent terminology (which he invented, as you all know), "Shirafude Ichimonji" is a Bankai. Before Ichibei brought the terms "Shikai" and "Bankai" into existence, the Zanpakuto first born with such forms were called "Evolved Zanpakuto", and "Shinuchi" was the term used to describe the state that would become "Bankai".
However, there is a distinct difference in the terminology's meaning. "Shinuchi" indicates that the Zanpakuto has reached its true form, while the "Bankai" indicates the "Final Release". Moreover, the term "Evolved Zanpakuto" does not imply an end to the Zanpakuto's evolution, whereas a "Bankai" does. But while all Shinigami we know of before now - even Yamamoto - use the term "Bankai", Ichibei uses the term "Shinuchi", despite being the man who coined the term "Bankai" in the first place.
As a whole, Ichibei's Zanpakuto is quite out of the ordinary for Zanpakuto. While most Zanpakuto lack any abilities in their "sealed" state, Ichibei's paintbrush has abilities that reflect those of the Shikai. They reflect the power to a lesser extent, but his Zanpakuto still has its ability in the form of a paintbrush all the same. The same could be said for all the Royal Guard Zanpakuto, if they follow a similar pattern - their "sealed" Zanpakuto possessing abilities that reflect their Zanpakuto's true power.
Either way, this is a mystery I would like to see dug further into, because I wonder if the concept of "Evolved Zanpakuto" is actually tied in with Ichigo's Mugetsu, since "Deicide" was implying through Aizen and Ichigo's fight that "evolutions" of the Zanpakuto beyond the Bankai exist.
He Taketh Thine Name, and He Giveth Thine Name
As Ichibei explains this, he describes his Bankai's ability as being to give a "Name" to anything Ichimonji has blotted out, and he decides to vindictively give Yhwach the name "Black Ant" by painting the "Name" onto his body, giving Yhwach the "Power" of a black ant, making his life fragile and fleeting.
Yhwach appears to be in disbelief that he could only "go this far", and Ichibei continues his sentence, stating this was as "far" as Yhwach could go, how "far" behind in terms of abilities he was, and as "far" as his life will go, and tells Yhwach to carry all the lives of the Shinigami he has killed with him as he crushes him like the ant he now is, creating a giant foot construct to smash Yhwach down through the Vestibule Road and away from the Royal Realm.
Yhwach being smashed through the Vestibule Road grabs Haschwalth's attention, who calls out to "His Majesty" as Ichibei bids farwell "to the king of insects", and smashes him between two hand constructs, leaving the Quincy King to fall, believing him to be finished.
As a whole, this scene really shows Ichibei's vindictiveness and the inner "blackness" that shows through his Zanpakuto. It's not enough for him to simply take your "Name" and "Power" and the kill you; he will give you a new "Name" which reflects how lowly he thinks of you, and crush you in the manner he would crush what he named you as. It is a terrifying power, and is a further reflection of Ichibei's own soul, and how ruthless and wicked the "Head of the Shinigami" is.
However, Yhwach is not the kind of man who lets anyone take anything from him...
Eyes of God
He then clarifies on what he meant by "to go this far": he did not expect to see this far ahead with his eyes closed. We then get a close up of his eyes as a second iris and pupil splits off from the first one, and the next page immediately opens with a pillar of fire erupting from behind Ichibei, who turns around only to receive a sword to his chest as he does so. He expresses surprise at Yhwach still being alive, as the words "Black Ant" peel away from the completely black figure before him.
As Ichibei expressed his shock at how it should be impossible, Haschwalth narrates from afar how it is possible. Different translations say different things (Mangastream has him saying Yhwach "can understand all things that he sees from any given perspective"), but the one thing that seems to be constant throughout a number of the translations is this: he can see all that will happen. Haschwalth further explains that no power that Yhwach knows is able to best him, and he reveals what the meaning of "A" is:
"The Almighty". In the original Kanji, it is spoken as Zenchizennou i.e. "Omniscient and Omnipotent", and the two-page spread in which this is revealed shows us that both of Yhwach's eyes now have two irises and pupils in them.
Kubo is really going all-out with the symbolism here, as "God almighty" is one of the terms used to describe the Abrahamic God. As if his name being derived from YHWH was not enough. Either way, even if the original chapter translations left things up to interpretation, there is no denying the immediate effect of Yhwach activating "The Almighty" - the complete negation of Ichibei's Zanpakuto ability.
NOTE: I did not notice this before (and I have JohosafatsStudios to thank for pointing this out), but Yhwach also seems to gain these black marks below his eyes upon activating "The Almighty".
Bleach Chapter 610 Review
"...And Regain His Power After Nine Years"
In this chapter, Haschwalth explains that Yhwach usually fights with "closed eyes", and we see that he is talking to Uryu as he explains this. He clarifies it is not a matter of him taking his opponents lightly, and recites the "Kaiser Gesang", stating that he did not "open" his eyes during the "Nine Years for Power" because he could end up losing control over the power of his letter "A", and the abilities of all the Stern Ritter would end up being taken.
Since his eyes are now "open", the "Nine Years for Power" have come to an end, and states that the time for the Quincy's prayers, which spans across a thousand years, to be answered has finally come, and we see a double-page spread of Yhwach, with his Spirit Weapon now becoming pure white and radiating power.
What comes after the "Nine Years of Power" is "The Reclamation of the World In Nine Days", and I wonder if this is what Haschwalth meant by the Quincy's prayers - their prayers were for Yhwach to "reclaim the world". Yhwach spoke of the world "coming to an end in nine days", so I wonder if he was not referring to the world's physical destruction, but the destruction of the world created by the Shinigami. This certainly seems to be the case, since Yhwach wasted no time in going to the Soul King Palace when the opportunity presented itself.
The Eye Of Omniscience and Omnipotence
As Ichibei recovers from his wound, Yhwach exchanges bards back at Ichibei, reciting the questions that Ichibei must be asking himself, such as "how did he survive", "how did he free himself from my power", and "why am I the one about to be destroyed". He then proceeds to explain to Ichibei what his ability is - given that he can afford to, considering what he says.
Yhwach tells Ichibei that, with his eyes now "opened", he can see everything from the present all the way to the future. He states that he "knows"/"understands" everything he sees, and that he can make use of any power that he knows/make the "abilities" he knows become his allies. In other words, as long as he "knows" a person's power, they cannot defeat him, much less hurt him, with that power. That is "The Almighty".
The translations are a bit confusing on both sides when compared to each other, but the general message seems to be the same - once Yhwach "knows" a power or ability, he cannot be affected by it because he can "make use of it".
I'll probably sound like a broken record, but I will say it again: Yhwach consistently has shown himself to possess powers that I have not seen of anything else in the series, and I believe that makes him a Transcendent Being. I mean, he can see into the future, and he can make use of any abilities he comes "to know" through his eyes. This is on top of his ability to impart a piece of his soul upon others, the Auswahlen, being able to restore his own power back to himself if it were to be taken from him, and only Kubo knows what else.
And he is only starting to show us the scope of his power at this point!
The Perpetual "Blackness"
Ichibei, on the other hand, is unfazed, and seems to think that Yhwach defeating him is some kind of joke.
Really, even though he just up and negated your power?
This is where the translations take their standard complete deviation from one another. While they both have Ichibei telling Yhwach to not get too far ahead of himself because he removed the name "Black Ant", the next set of text is where the deviation comes in. Mangapanda has him call Yhwach "the one once known as Yhwach" again, in reference to his taking away his "Name" before, but Mangastream has him claiming the name "Yhwach" never meant anything to begin with. A re-iteration of what Ichibei did in the past in one, a blasphemous boast in the other.
Given that Yhwach seems to have completely cleaned himself of Ichimonji's "black ink", I might have to go with Mangastream on this one.
Ichibei asks how Yhwach will defeat him if he is still surrounded by "blackness" (like his own mantle), and claims that, no matter how much Yhwach may know, all the "blackness" is still his to control. A wave of "blackness" surges from Yhwach around Ichibei as the around around them is engulfed in "blackness", and we see echoes of Yamamoto once more as something familiar begins - the incantation for a Zanpakuto technique, and the longest incantation for a spells in the series period:
"Oh Twilight, and everlasting darkness, come to me, come and have a drink, and once you do, your life will fade. The flowers will bloom along the road to hell. Where are the fish, let me paint them black, cut them into eight, and cook them well atop a flame of black, and then enjoy the meal. All that's left are bones of white, make them a gravestone, and pay respect. May they never be reborn again, so that you won't be sacrificed as food."
The ritual involved in this is quite complex as well, as a bowl made of "blackness" forms in his hand, "black" pours into the bowl, he pours it around him into two circles. He then stabs Ichimonji into the ground as he completes the incantation for his final technique - Futen Daisatsuryou ("Slaughterous Mausoleum of Non-Reincarnation").
The "Blackness" of the Soul
Ichibei tells us that the Futen Daisatsuryou was made from the "blackness" of one hundred nights from the Soul Society's future, and he made it to be Yhwach's final resting place. Now, Mangastream says it is a hundred nights from the Soul Society a hundred years in the future, while Mangapanda just says Soul Society's future. I'll once again wait on another translation to see what this means, but I'll just stick with saying its future for now.
Depending on the translation, either it takes away the "blackness" Yhwach is enveloped in, or the "blackness" within him, latter which might led credence to those theorizing that the "blackness" taken from people is also on a metaphysical level i.e. the "blackness" of their soul. The technique will also take away the target's flesh, blood, and bones, until it is completely crushed and made into nothingness. He even says there will be no chance for reincarnation to whomever is taken by the technique, and he tells Yhwach to enjoy his descent into a pitch-black Hell.
Remember what I said about the Zanpakuto reflecting the Shinigami's soul, and what Ichimonji said about Ichibei's soul? Well, if there was a man who was the embodiment of evil in Bleach, I actually would not say it is Yhwach; at this point in time, I would say it is Ichibei Hyosube.
Akin to Yamamoto, Ichibei possesses a technique with his Zanpakuto requiring an incantation, but the nature of the technique also reflects the darkness that exists in both of their souls - in Ichibei's case, even more so. Yamamoto can reanimate all the dead he has ever killed via his Zanpakuto's flames, and use them in battle; on the other hand, Ichibei's technique summons this pitch-black mausoleum - created from a hundred nights of darkness stolen from Soul Society's future, no less - that crushes anything consumed by it into complete nothingness, even negating the possibility of the soul's reincarnation.
I do not know if the "blackness" of the technique actually destroys the soul itself, or if the person's soul is trapped in the mausoleum's "blackness" for all eternity - it is a mausoleum, after all - but this technique, the incantation involved, and the name itself just screams out to me - screams that Ichibei is one of the most vile beings in existence. The Shinigami were exterminating the Quincy because the Quincy are believed to destroy the souls of Hollows - I say "believed" because Yhwach's ability and connection to the Quincy may throw that into question - but Ichibei possesses a technique that not only transcends Time to steal the "blackness" from a hundred nights in the Soul Society's future to fuel it, but removes a soul from the cycle of reincarnation entirely, either through destroying it outright or trapping it in the mausoleum for eternity.
The fact that he knows how many nights' "blackness" it took to create the mausoleum means Ichibei has used this technique once before in the past, meaning someone (or a whole group of them) either had their souls trapped in this mausoleum or crushed entirely. If Ichibei was a member of the Gotei 13 in the past (their name as Squad Zero indicates a relation to the Gotei 13), then he is living proof that Yhwach was speaking the truth when he described the original Gotei as blood-thirsty, cold-hearted killers. He is a vicious monster who revels in his power over "blackness" and the dominance it gives him over others, from taking away their "Names" and renaming, to crushing them so absolutely that their souls are removed from the cycle of reincarnation entirely.
He may have the title of "Monk", but the true personality behind the jovial behaviour he exhibited before is sure as hell not that of a true monk. As it stands, this fight has really shown what Ichibei's true nature is like. It seems to be a tendency in Bleach that a person's heart is revealed through the battles they take place in (one of Ichigo's main traits is to see the hearts of anyone he clashes blades with), and we have definitely seen the true blackness of Ichibei's own heart through his fight against Yhwach.
Speaking of Yhwach...
I am Yhwach
When Ichibei tells Yhwach to enjoy his descent into a pitch, black hell, the speech bubble also connects to Yhwach, meaning he is saying the exact same thing as Ichibei. This shocks Ichibei, and Yhwach reminds Ichibei that he is all-seeing. As such, there is no ability he cannot "comprehend" and cannot "counter", and that everything he sees becomes powerless before him - just as a THIRD iris and pupil appear in his eye alongside the other two - and asks Ichibei if he still thinks his name means nothing/he has lost his name.
He declares that he is Yhwach, "the one who shall take everything from you", raises his hand, and completely blasts away Ichibei's torso in one of the most gruesome deaths seen in Bleach.
Now, unless Ichibei has something crazy up his sleeve, such as the "blackness" reconstituting him so long as Futen Daisatsuryou is active...He. Is. Dead. I mean, you can see the vertebrae of his neck attached to his now bodiless head. There is no coming back from that kind of destruction. Unless it's some kind of darkness clone, he's dead. But any possibilities of him surviving would be negated by the fact that Yhwach, who can see into the future, would see it coming. Unless Yhwach is stated to know it's not the real Ichibei and destroyed the clone to draw him out, he is dead.
Unless the Spirit King can do for him what Yhwach did for the Elite Guard, Ichibei is dead. But even if that were possible, Yhwach would probably just do what he did to Yamamoto's corpse and blow the rest of his body away, and ensure that no force in the world can bring him back.
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Kubo is a madman.
Bleach is the kind of series where the power of a person's ability reflects their overall potential power, so there is always a relation between how powerful a character is depicted as being or can become, and the overall power displayed by their ability. Whenever a powerful character is revealed in Bleach, you can sure as hell expect them to have an ability that is just as powerful.
That is certainly the trend with abilities among the Shinigami - all the most powerful Zanpakuto are generally possessed by the most powerful Shinigami, or Shinigami who have immense potential.
But with this last arc, Kubo is raising the bar to a level no one could possibly have anticipated prior to this arc.
First, Zanka no Tachi was so powerful that it could destroy Soul Society if left active for too long; Gremmy's "The Visionary" could create a Seireitei-razing meteor, and Zaraki smashed that meteor to pieces with Nozarashi; Ichibei's Ichimonji can take the night's "blackness" from one hundred days of the Soul Society's future to create a mausoleum of blackness that crushes anything consumed by it so thoroughly that they cannot reincarnate.
But Yhwach tops all that. He can see everything in front of him all the way into the distance future; he can "know" and understand any ability he sees, "make use of its power", and completely negate it, even if that ability is something as immensely powerful as Ichimonji's "power of black", along with possessing enough power to completely blast away Ichibei's torso in an instant when "three eyes are open".
At this point, I believe that there will be at least one more eye that "opens" at this point. Hell, perhaps it will be a fourth set of irises and pupils and that way his eyes will look the same as those of the Spirit King, or perhaps it will be a third eye on his forehead to give him seven in total, further pushing the symbolism of him being God, as God is said to have "seven eyes" that represent the "Seven Spirits of God".
I expect this kind of shit from MITSUTOSHI'S TORIKO, but Kubo just keeps pushing the envelope even further. What happened to the days when the strength of the Captains of the Gotei 13 was actually considered significant? When we were in awe of the power of the Gotei 13 Captains? All the craziness happening in this arc is making them look like scrubs, and we have not even returned to the levels of power we saw in "Deicide".
I am being proven right in my thinking that the powers seen in "Deicide" were a preview for things to come. But despite claiming that, I did not even know what coming. I did not even think that the powers of the Shinigami and the other main races could come even close to what we've seen in this arc thus far.
It's incredible, and I'm loving every chapter of it.
Thursday 4 December 2014
Bleach Three-In-One Chapter Review - Chapters 606, 607 and 608
It has been a while since I engaged in a chapter review, so forgive me for not making reviews for the last two weeks.
Bleach 606 - Divine Division
The Trouble-Making King
The chapter picks up where we left off in the previous one with Ichibei lamenting Yhwach's behaviour. He goes on about how Yhwach refuses to behave despite being told not to call Ichibei's name and being sent flying by Senri Tsuutenshou to repent for his actions. Ichibei then mentions that, despite having gotten older, Yhwach is still a "trouble-making brat", and he states that now he has no choice but to kill Yhwach as they prepare to clash.
While this statement could disprove some theories I had in my mind, the fact that Ichibei calls Yhwach a "trouble-making brat" means that Ichibei is far older than Yhwach. This makes sense because Ichibei is one of the founding fathers of Soul Society, and it also presents a possible interpretation as to what relationship Yhwach initially had with the Shinigami before the war of 1000 years ago.
After all, Yhwach must have had a relationship with Yamamoto and the older Shinigami before the war of 1000 years ago if he is on such familiar terms with them.
Gathering of the Exiles
We cut back down to the Seireitei as a figure is running with a large package over their heads calling to Nee-sama. This will be addressed later, because this section of the chapter heralds the return of characters we haven't seen for a long time.
We see Urahara drawing a line outside of the area where the 12th Division's lab is, and Hiyori and the other Visoreds make their entrance into the Seireitei. While Urahara and Hiyori begin trading banter, Hiyori then asks why he sent Yoruichi and Ichigo on ahead, because the original plan was for them to meet up and all go together. While Urahara defends his actions by saying the situation changed (Yhwach going up to the Royal Realm immediately after Ichigo's arrival) and Hiyori accuses Urahara of not caring whether or not Ichigo and Yoruichi die so long as they slow down Yhwach.
This brings up a wide range of interesting implications. For starter, it implies there may be another method of reaching the Royal Realm that Urahara has up his sleeve but did not use before. The one thing I could think of is the two Forbidden Kido spells that Tessai used in "Turn Back the Pendulum", since their being able to take one up to the Royal Realm could be reason why their use is forbidden.
But Hiyori's accusation of Urahara not caring if Yoruichi and Ichigo die has the more troubling implications. While Hiyori could very well be wrong, it does cast Urahara's actions into doubt.
Before Urahara can form an answer, our mystery figure shows up.
Warden of the Divine Armaments
We quickly learn that this is Yuushiro Shihouin, the younger brother of Yoruichi and the 23rd Head of the Shihouin Clan, and that he was bringing what I assume are the "Divine Armaments" to Yoruichi to help her. When he realizes Yoruichi already left, he starts crying as Urahara assures him that the items he brought would help Yoruichi a lot, and that it was for the sake of the Seireitei that he sent Yoruichi ahead.
NOTE: Someone on tumblr broke down that Yushiro is a boy by looking at the Kanji of the name "Yuushirou", and the "rou" in the name means "son".
While some people may think this came out of nowhere, it was established back in the Soul Society arc that the Shihouin Clan was still active, since Soi Fon indicated that the Shihouin Clan would have fallen in a manner similar to the Shiba if it was learnt she was collaborating with the Ryoka. The fact that the Clan did not fall after its last head vanished indicates that there needed to be someone to replace Yoruichi as the Head of the Clan. As this chapter shows, that burden apparently fell to Yuushirou.
To continue on, Urahara invites everyone into the 12th Division, Hiyori recalls that she really hates it when Urahara says things are "for the good of the Seireitei", which is a line that Mayuri said a while back as well. While Mayuri would probably vivisect anyone who said so, he's more like Urahara than he likes to think, since both of them both morally ambiguous things "for the good of the Seireitei".
Inter-Script: For the past two and a half chapters, the focus has been solely on the fight between Ichibei and Yhwach. I didn't do last week's review because I had initially thought to wait out the entire fight before I give my thoughts on the chapter. But considering the events of this chapter, I decided to get caught up.
Half the Name It Used To Have
We cut back up to the fight between Ichibei and Yhwach, with brush clashing against blade as the Quincy King comments on how Ichibei's demeanour has changed, bringing up how Ichibei seems remarkably happy and that the decision to kill Yhwach turned Ichibei's expressions rather ghastly. It is curious that Yhwach brings this up, as if he has not seen this side of Ichibei before, despite the two apparently knowing each other in the past.
The two continue exchanging blows and Yhwach blocks the paintbrush with his left hand, asking if their current clash is all that Ichibei has got.
As it turns out, it was a mistake on Yhwach's part, because Ichibei reveals that his brush "cuts" through the "Name" instead of flesh, which causes Yhwach's arms to drop as they are weakened from having their name cut in half. The Japanese name for "Arm" is made up of two Kanji, which taken separately are "U" and "De", meaning the name of Yhwach's "Arm" was cut in half to "U".
Because of this, the strength and capabilities of Yhwach's arm have now been reduced by half, making it difficult to even swing his sword. As he says this, he proceeds to "cut" Yhwach's "Body", reducing its power by half and sends Yhwach flying back to the Vestibule Road with one powerful strike of his brush.
Demon Monk
Having struck "Yhw" such a blow, he then mockingly asks "Yhw" how it feels to be smashed to pieces by the Shinigami Leader he despises with only half his strength, to which "Yhw" dauntlessly replies by asking if he looks like he is suffering, as he prepares a technique.
NOTE: I say "Yhw" because two translations have Ichibei referring to Yhwach as such, having just cut Yhwach's power in half.
Throughout this entire chapter, we can see clearly the change in demeanour that Yhwach was talking about. His appearance in a number of scenes seem straight up demonic compared to the jovial personality he seemed to have before, as if the battle is bringing out a much darker side of the leader of Squad Zero. It is also quite the turn around to see Yhwach struggling against Ichibei in such a manner, since he was unstoppable against anyone else he thought, and his power is beyond the capabilities of normal individuals.
Chapter 607 - The Master
To Myself I Give All Things, For Myself I Take Away All Things
Continuing from where we left off, Yhwach then explains that there is no better feeling than what he is feeling right now, since he sees his predicament as the Leader of Squad Zero, the individuals who watch over the Shinigami, as fearing his power to the extent that he has to cut it in half. But he calls it a shame, because he reveals that he can just restore any power that he has lost back to himself, and he takes the reishi runes and does just that.
When I originally commented in the chapter thread, I had assumed that the power was the Kirchenlied, but it is in fact the same power he used to restore his "Voice" in 605. It is an ability like this that makes me think Yhwach is a Transcendent Being by nature, because he is basically a superior, Humanoid Hogyoku at this point. He can bestow Schrifts to Quincy to draw out their latent power, his soul fragments can cause "wounds" impossible for one soul to heal to finally mend, and he also showed he can use Auswahlen to distribute "Power" to Quincy he deems essential by taking it from those deemed unnecessary.
Now he is doing this with himself again, restoring all the abilities of his "Arm" and "Body" that Ichibei had reduced by half before. This actually surprises Ichibei, and Yhwach informs him that no one can simply take something from him even if they had abilities like Ichibei's, and he states his belief that everything in the world exists for his taking. This statement really gives strong insight into Yhwach as an individual, and ties in with his power to bestow a part of his soul unto others and to absorb their souls upon their deaths. It could show why he feels no emotion when using Auswahlen on the Quincy - he feels their power exists for his to take, which is backed up by Robert stating that the Stern Ritter's reason for existence is to live for and to die for Yhwach.
For the Sake of Preserving Dignity
Having restored his power back to himself, Yhwach then directs the columns of reishi against Ichibei, who claps his hands togethers and stops the stream of reishi cold, describing Yhwach as someone who takes people's kindness for granted. He explains that he chose to only take away "half" of Yhwach's abilities because it would forever tarnish the Quincy's reputation if he had crushed Yhwach at full power, but states that his reputation isn't worth anything if he's dead anyway, and prepares the Hyappo Rankan to fire at Yhwach.
While it seems like Ichibei is taking it easy against Yhwach, it really shows how confident Ichibei is in his ability to take down Yhwach, and he seems undaunted by Yhwach's ability. But his "kindness" is more of a mocking one than anything else, since he was smiling with glee when talking about how the Quincy's reputation would be tarnished if he killed Yhwach at full power.
Pinnacle Of Their Races
As the Hyappo Rankan is cast, black grid-like constructs extend out of Yhwach's arm and form a barrier around him, and Hyappo Rankan completely fails to get through. Ichibei exclaims that it is the Blut Vene, but Yhwach corrects him and calls it the Blut Vene Anhaben ("Outer Shell Blut Vene"), a defensive barrier that extends outside of the body.
Given the nature of this technique, I suspect that only the highest level of reishi manipulation would allow a Quincy to use the Blut Vene Anhaben since it is usually contained within the body. Since Yhwach is the "Father of the Quincy", it makes sense only he would have access to such a technique.
But Ichibei has his own tricks up his sleeves, and reveals a new sub-section of Kidou - "Ura Hadou - San no Do - Teppusatsu" (Hidden Kido - The Third Path - Iron Wind Strike"). This manifests through a karate chop motion by Ichibei and the manifestation of a dragon's head which appears to literally blow away the Anhaben with a blast of air, allowing Ichibei to bypass the barrier and grab Yhwach's throat.
Since the Teppusatsu seems to have been formed in a way similar to Senri Tsuutenshou, I suspect that the latter technique is also a Hidden Kidou, given Ichibei forms the hand out of reishi and uses it with a martial arts-style hand movement. While he could be the only one to know this technique, I would suspect that these Hidden Kidou are also known to the Grand Kido Chiefs of the Kido Corps. Either way, using this Kidou against Yhwach once again shows Ichibei's prowess in battle.
The Punchline Is Machismo
But simply making physical contact with Yhwach is shown to be dangerous in itself when Blut Vene Anhaben is active, as the Blut begins to extend along Ichibei's left side of his body, and Yhwach explains that the Blut Vene Anhaben corrodes anything that comes into contact with his body to expand its coverage, and boasts about how he is going to take Ichibei's left side.
But Ichibei has none of that, as he either exerts his reiatsu or flexes his body to force the Blut Vene Anhaben back into Yhwach's body, causing a spray of blood to erupt from Yhwach's face and neck.
And yes, I did refer to the web comic "Manly Guys Doing Manly Things" when I made this section title, because people would definitely consider forcing out an intrusive entity by flexing your body to be pure manliness.
Blackened By the Straight Line
I have just noticed now, but it seems every front of resistance Yhwach has displayed in this battle just makes Ichibei more and more angry, because he has now violated the body of one of the Zero Division members, "the family of the Soul King", and that he should keep his "Human-like insolence within its bounds" as he twirls around his paintbrush.
If you want to know why I say these lines and the reason for them, follow the link for more information. PlasmaWolf is very good at translating the raw.
But to give the short-form version, Ichibei is scolding Yhwach for his lack of manners and respect, and the "family" aspect is "kenzoku", a term with Buddhist connotations that refers to one who pledges an oath to follow a Buddha. The "Royal Family" mentioned by Matsumoto in 223 is written and spoken as "ouke" in Japanese. In other words, the Zero Division can be seen as "those who pledge an oath to follow the Soul King".
The chapter ends with Ichibei proclaiming he will punish Yhwach, and calls out "Black, Ichimonji", revealing his Zanpakuto with a black line forming in the air behind the blade.
Bleach Chapter 608 - Darkness From The Blackest of Black
The Brush and the Sword
The chapter opens in an unexpected setting. We are outside of the Seireitei in a forest nearby. Deer are drinking from a river and there is a black salamander in the water, whose tail suddenly starts to emit something black. While strange, the event does have relevance to the chapter, as we go back up to the Seireitei with Ichibei having released Ichimonji. From what I can see, it seems that the black line was in fact generated by Ichibei's blade.
Yhwach comments on how the blade transformed from the paintbrush, and makes a curious statement: despite the thickness of the blade, he can sense no reiatsu coming off of it. As we know, the size of a Zanpakuto's blade in some cases correlates with the amount of spiritual power a person possesses, so Yhwach might have been commenting on how he can sense no reiatsu from the blade despite its size.
However, his eyes seem to start playing tricks on him as the blade suddenly changes back into a brush, and then back into a sword, with Ichibei mockingly asking him if it is getting hard to distinguish the two. This follows up with the two clashing again as Kubo pulls some clever artistry with the title and number of the chapter being in Japanese instead of the usual English, and depicts the chapter title as if it was splattered onto the sky from the battleground, and we see an ink ring above where Yhwach and Ichibei are fighting.
According to Mangastream, the "Blackness" term which is associated with "Darkness" apparently refers to the evil connotations of the colour "Black". The fact it is an ink splatter shows right off the bat that the writing motif of the paintbrush sticks around with Ichimonji.
A Blotted Out Name
As the two clash, Yhwach tries to figure out what Ichibei's blade is. He cannot slice through it despite it splattering ink everywhere, and he inquires if it is the same blade that sliced his "Name" in half before. However, he remains confident that he can take it on, since he showed himself able to restore his "Power" and "Name" against the paintbrush's power. He seems prepared to use his Spirit Weapon - the implication he was going to call out its name - but something is terribly.
Once again with a mocking demeanour, Ichibei enquires to what Yhwach was going to say. He states he believes that Yhwach was about to state his sword's name, and asks whether or not he know the fact that blade has no name. Ichibei then clarifies Ichimonji's power - anything blotted out by its ink loses its "Name", thus losing its "Power". He blotted out the name of the sword, and he blotted out Yhwach's Quincy Cross as well, and asks with a terrifying countenance if Yhwach still thinks he can kill Ichibei.
Yhwach's sword having a name can mean two things: 1) Either it is a named weapon, like Uryu's Kujaku and Ginrei Kujaku, or 2) He was about to reveal a Zanpakuto, as a number of people have speculated. Regardless, we will not know its name right now because it has been "blotted out", and as a result Yhwach cannot call out its name.
In the context of Bleach, Ichibei possesses a most terrifying power. "Names" have power in Bleach, and Ichibei can remove the "Name" from anything Ichimonji blots out with its ink. Making it even more terrifying is how he could also do it to someone as powerful as Yhwach, meaning virtually no one is safe from his power in the series.
The Light Altar of the Cross
However, Yhwach is not done yet, as he intends to steal Ichibei's power using the power of his own body, and summons the Sankt Altar, five points of reishi that surround Ichibei and strike him.
I would assume that the Sankt Altar is another one of the Kirchenlied - given it shares a title with the Zwinger - but I am starting to wonder if this technique is not simply exclusive to Yhwach. The fact that stealing Ichibei's power fits along the lines of Yhwach's power as a whole seems to indicate that much. It is either that or this is another high-level technique that only a Quincy at Bach's level could perform.
If it is, then this is a very potent spell, if it is able to take the power of the enemy and make it the Quincy's own. Yet this is apparently below the Sankt Zwinger that Yhwach!Royd tried against Yamamoto.
But we do not see how it turns out because Ichibei simply dispels it in a splatter of black.
The Master of the Black
Yhwach's legitimately shocked by this, and wonders if he failed to take Ichibei's power. Ichibei replies that his power was stolen, but that Yhwach simply could not make the power his.
This is when the scene with the salamander is made clear - Ichibei's power is "blackness". Until a better translation appears, it is hard to figure out what Ichibei means. According to Ichibei, once Ichimonji is released, all the "blackness" of the world, be it from Quincy, Shinigami, the living or the dead, is his. As he said "all the blackness in the world is mine", the chapter end with Ichibei's face once again takes on a demonic countenance and he blots out Yhwach's body with Ichimonji.
Throughout this entire fight, Ichibei has been depicted as being some kind of demon. What Ichimonji's power have been revealed to be is just the clincher - any it "blackens" loses it name, and all the "blackness" in the Universe is its source of power. In a sense, it is an abstract power dictated by the existence of "blackness" in the world. That is the reason why Yhwach cannot sense any reiatsu from Ichimonji - its power is not Ichibei's reiatsu, but the abstract existence of "blackness". As long as anything with "blackness" exists in the world, Ichimonji will have power.
It is why he cannot take Ichibei's power for his own. It is terrifying, to tell the truth - it does not seem to be an ability dictated by "Power" or "Reiatsu", but it seems like an ability dictated by "Reason/Nature" like the Koutotsu. Yhwach could take the "Power" or "Reiatsu" from anyone else, but Ichimonji's source of power being "Blackness" means it cannot be taken - it is "Absolute", and nothing that uses "Reiatsu" can interfere with it.
The only thing I could possibly think of that could resist or override Ichimonji is a Transcendent Being, which throws doubts onto Yhwach being one unless he is not yet drawing on that aspect of his power.
That's now terrifying the power of Ichimonji is - it is making me doubt my belief that Yhwach could be a Transcendent Being.
Can Ichibei even be called a "Shinigami" at this point?
Bleach 606 - Divine Division
The Trouble-Making King
The chapter picks up where we left off in the previous one with Ichibei lamenting Yhwach's behaviour. He goes on about how Yhwach refuses to behave despite being told not to call Ichibei's name and being sent flying by Senri Tsuutenshou to repent for his actions. Ichibei then mentions that, despite having gotten older, Yhwach is still a "trouble-making brat", and he states that now he has no choice but to kill Yhwach as they prepare to clash.
While this statement could disprove some theories I had in my mind, the fact that Ichibei calls Yhwach a "trouble-making brat" means that Ichibei is far older than Yhwach. This makes sense because Ichibei is one of the founding fathers of Soul Society, and it also presents a possible interpretation as to what relationship Yhwach initially had with the Shinigami before the war of 1000 years ago.
After all, Yhwach must have had a relationship with Yamamoto and the older Shinigami before the war of 1000 years ago if he is on such familiar terms with them.
Gathering of the Exiles
We cut back down to the Seireitei as a figure is running with a large package over their heads calling to Nee-sama. This will be addressed later, because this section of the chapter heralds the return of characters we haven't seen for a long time.
We see Urahara drawing a line outside of the area where the 12th Division's lab is, and Hiyori and the other Visoreds make their entrance into the Seireitei. While Urahara and Hiyori begin trading banter, Hiyori then asks why he sent Yoruichi and Ichigo on ahead, because the original plan was for them to meet up and all go together. While Urahara defends his actions by saying the situation changed (Yhwach going up to the Royal Realm immediately after Ichigo's arrival) and Hiyori accuses Urahara of not caring whether or not Ichigo and Yoruichi die so long as they slow down Yhwach.
This brings up a wide range of interesting implications. For starter, it implies there may be another method of reaching the Royal Realm that Urahara has up his sleeve but did not use before. The one thing I could think of is the two Forbidden Kido spells that Tessai used in "Turn Back the Pendulum", since their being able to take one up to the Royal Realm could be reason why their use is forbidden.
But Hiyori's accusation of Urahara not caring if Yoruichi and Ichigo die has the more troubling implications. While Hiyori could very well be wrong, it does cast Urahara's actions into doubt.
Before Urahara can form an answer, our mystery figure shows up.
Warden of the Divine Armaments
We quickly learn that this is Yuushiro Shihouin, the younger brother of Yoruichi and the 23rd Head of the Shihouin Clan, and that he was bringing what I assume are the "Divine Armaments" to Yoruichi to help her. When he realizes Yoruichi already left, he starts crying as Urahara assures him that the items he brought would help Yoruichi a lot, and that it was for the sake of the Seireitei that he sent Yoruichi ahead.
NOTE: Someone on tumblr broke down that Yushiro is a boy by looking at the Kanji of the name "Yuushirou", and the "rou" in the name means "son".
While some people may think this came out of nowhere, it was established back in the Soul Society arc that the Shihouin Clan was still active, since Soi Fon indicated that the Shihouin Clan would have fallen in a manner similar to the Shiba if it was learnt she was collaborating with the Ryoka. The fact that the Clan did not fall after its last head vanished indicates that there needed to be someone to replace Yoruichi as the Head of the Clan. As this chapter shows, that burden apparently fell to Yuushirou.
To continue on, Urahara invites everyone into the 12th Division, Hiyori recalls that she really hates it when Urahara says things are "for the good of the Seireitei", which is a line that Mayuri said a while back as well. While Mayuri would probably vivisect anyone who said so, he's more like Urahara than he likes to think, since both of them both morally ambiguous things "for the good of the Seireitei".
Inter-Script: For the past two and a half chapters, the focus has been solely on the fight between Ichibei and Yhwach. I didn't do last week's review because I had initially thought to wait out the entire fight before I give my thoughts on the chapter. But considering the events of this chapter, I decided to get caught up.
Half the Name It Used To Have
We cut back up to the fight between Ichibei and Yhwach, with brush clashing against blade as the Quincy King comments on how Ichibei's demeanour has changed, bringing up how Ichibei seems remarkably happy and that the decision to kill Yhwach turned Ichibei's expressions rather ghastly. It is curious that Yhwach brings this up, as if he has not seen this side of Ichibei before, despite the two apparently knowing each other in the past.
The two continue exchanging blows and Yhwach blocks the paintbrush with his left hand, asking if their current clash is all that Ichibei has got.
As it turns out, it was a mistake on Yhwach's part, because Ichibei reveals that his brush "cuts" through the "Name" instead of flesh, which causes Yhwach's arms to drop as they are weakened from having their name cut in half. The Japanese name for "Arm" is made up of two Kanji, which taken separately are "U" and "De", meaning the name of Yhwach's "Arm" was cut in half to "U".
Because of this, the strength and capabilities of Yhwach's arm have now been reduced by half, making it difficult to even swing his sword. As he says this, he proceeds to "cut" Yhwach's "Body", reducing its power by half and sends Yhwach flying back to the Vestibule Road with one powerful strike of his brush.
Demon Monk
Having struck "Yhw" such a blow, he then mockingly asks "Yhw" how it feels to be smashed to pieces by the Shinigami Leader he despises with only half his strength, to which "Yhw" dauntlessly replies by asking if he looks like he is suffering, as he prepares a technique.
NOTE: I say "Yhw" because two translations have Ichibei referring to Yhwach as such, having just cut Yhwach's power in half.
Throughout this entire chapter, we can see clearly the change in demeanour that Yhwach was talking about. His appearance in a number of scenes seem straight up demonic compared to the jovial personality he seemed to have before, as if the battle is bringing out a much darker side of the leader of Squad Zero. It is also quite the turn around to see Yhwach struggling against Ichibei in such a manner, since he was unstoppable against anyone else he thought, and his power is beyond the capabilities of normal individuals.
Chapter 607 - The Master
To Myself I Give All Things, For Myself I Take Away All Things
Continuing from where we left off, Yhwach then explains that there is no better feeling than what he is feeling right now, since he sees his predicament as the Leader of Squad Zero, the individuals who watch over the Shinigami, as fearing his power to the extent that he has to cut it in half. But he calls it a shame, because he reveals that he can just restore any power that he has lost back to himself, and he takes the reishi runes and does just that.
When I originally commented in the chapter thread, I had assumed that the power was the Kirchenlied, but it is in fact the same power he used to restore his "Voice" in 605. It is an ability like this that makes me think Yhwach is a Transcendent Being by nature, because he is basically a superior, Humanoid Hogyoku at this point. He can bestow Schrifts to Quincy to draw out their latent power, his soul fragments can cause "wounds" impossible for one soul to heal to finally mend, and he also showed he can use Auswahlen to distribute "Power" to Quincy he deems essential by taking it from those deemed unnecessary.
Now he is doing this with himself again, restoring all the abilities of his "Arm" and "Body" that Ichibei had reduced by half before. This actually surprises Ichibei, and Yhwach informs him that no one can simply take something from him even if they had abilities like Ichibei's, and he states his belief that everything in the world exists for his taking. This statement really gives strong insight into Yhwach as an individual, and ties in with his power to bestow a part of his soul unto others and to absorb their souls upon their deaths. It could show why he feels no emotion when using Auswahlen on the Quincy - he feels their power exists for his to take, which is backed up by Robert stating that the Stern Ritter's reason for existence is to live for and to die for Yhwach.
For the Sake of Preserving Dignity
Having restored his power back to himself, Yhwach then directs the columns of reishi against Ichibei, who claps his hands togethers and stops the stream of reishi cold, describing Yhwach as someone who takes people's kindness for granted. He explains that he chose to only take away "half" of Yhwach's abilities because it would forever tarnish the Quincy's reputation if he had crushed Yhwach at full power, but states that his reputation isn't worth anything if he's dead anyway, and prepares the Hyappo Rankan to fire at Yhwach.
While it seems like Ichibei is taking it easy against Yhwach, it really shows how confident Ichibei is in his ability to take down Yhwach, and he seems undaunted by Yhwach's ability. But his "kindness" is more of a mocking one than anything else, since he was smiling with glee when talking about how the Quincy's reputation would be tarnished if he killed Yhwach at full power.
Pinnacle Of Their Races
As the Hyappo Rankan is cast, black grid-like constructs extend out of Yhwach's arm and form a barrier around him, and Hyappo Rankan completely fails to get through. Ichibei exclaims that it is the Blut Vene, but Yhwach corrects him and calls it the Blut Vene Anhaben ("Outer Shell Blut Vene"), a defensive barrier that extends outside of the body.
Given the nature of this technique, I suspect that only the highest level of reishi manipulation would allow a Quincy to use the Blut Vene Anhaben since it is usually contained within the body. Since Yhwach is the "Father of the Quincy", it makes sense only he would have access to such a technique.
But Ichibei has his own tricks up his sleeves, and reveals a new sub-section of Kidou - "Ura Hadou - San no Do - Teppusatsu" (Hidden Kido - The Third Path - Iron Wind Strike"). This manifests through a karate chop motion by Ichibei and the manifestation of a dragon's head which appears to literally blow away the Anhaben with a blast of air, allowing Ichibei to bypass the barrier and grab Yhwach's throat.
Since the Teppusatsu seems to have been formed in a way similar to Senri Tsuutenshou, I suspect that the latter technique is also a Hidden Kidou, given Ichibei forms the hand out of reishi and uses it with a martial arts-style hand movement. While he could be the only one to know this technique, I would suspect that these Hidden Kidou are also known to the Grand Kido Chiefs of the Kido Corps. Either way, using this Kidou against Yhwach once again shows Ichibei's prowess in battle.
The Punchline Is Machismo
But simply making physical contact with Yhwach is shown to be dangerous in itself when Blut Vene Anhaben is active, as the Blut begins to extend along Ichibei's left side of his body, and Yhwach explains that the Blut Vene Anhaben corrodes anything that comes into contact with his body to expand its coverage, and boasts about how he is going to take Ichibei's left side.
But Ichibei has none of that, as he either exerts his reiatsu or flexes his body to force the Blut Vene Anhaben back into Yhwach's body, causing a spray of blood to erupt from Yhwach's face and neck.
And yes, I did refer to the web comic "Manly Guys Doing Manly Things" when I made this section title, because people would definitely consider forcing out an intrusive entity by flexing your body to be pure manliness.
Blackened By the Straight Line
I have just noticed now, but it seems every front of resistance Yhwach has displayed in this battle just makes Ichibei more and more angry, because he has now violated the body of one of the Zero Division members, "the family of the Soul King", and that he should keep his "Human-like insolence within its bounds" as he twirls around his paintbrush.
If you want to know why I say these lines and the reason for them, follow the link for more information. PlasmaWolf is very good at translating the raw.
But to give the short-form version, Ichibei is scolding Yhwach for his lack of manners and respect, and the "family" aspect is "kenzoku", a term with Buddhist connotations that refers to one who pledges an oath to follow a Buddha. The "Royal Family" mentioned by Matsumoto in 223 is written and spoken as "ouke" in Japanese. In other words, the Zero Division can be seen as "those who pledge an oath to follow the Soul King".
The chapter ends with Ichibei proclaiming he will punish Yhwach, and calls out "Black, Ichimonji", revealing his Zanpakuto with a black line forming in the air behind the blade.
Bleach Chapter 608 - Darkness From The Blackest of Black
The Brush and the Sword
The chapter opens in an unexpected setting. We are outside of the Seireitei in a forest nearby. Deer are drinking from a river and there is a black salamander in the water, whose tail suddenly starts to emit something black. While strange, the event does have relevance to the chapter, as we go back up to the Seireitei with Ichibei having released Ichimonji. From what I can see, it seems that the black line was in fact generated by Ichibei's blade.
Yhwach comments on how the blade transformed from the paintbrush, and makes a curious statement: despite the thickness of the blade, he can sense no reiatsu coming off of it. As we know, the size of a Zanpakuto's blade in some cases correlates with the amount of spiritual power a person possesses, so Yhwach might have been commenting on how he can sense no reiatsu from the blade despite its size.
However, his eyes seem to start playing tricks on him as the blade suddenly changes back into a brush, and then back into a sword, with Ichibei mockingly asking him if it is getting hard to distinguish the two. This follows up with the two clashing again as Kubo pulls some clever artistry with the title and number of the chapter being in Japanese instead of the usual English, and depicts the chapter title as if it was splattered onto the sky from the battleground, and we see an ink ring above where Yhwach and Ichibei are fighting.
According to Mangastream, the "Blackness" term which is associated with "Darkness" apparently refers to the evil connotations of the colour "Black". The fact it is an ink splatter shows right off the bat that the writing motif of the paintbrush sticks around with Ichimonji.
A Blotted Out Name
As the two clash, Yhwach tries to figure out what Ichibei's blade is. He cannot slice through it despite it splattering ink everywhere, and he inquires if it is the same blade that sliced his "Name" in half before. However, he remains confident that he can take it on, since he showed himself able to restore his "Power" and "Name" against the paintbrush's power. He seems prepared to use his Spirit Weapon - the implication he was going to call out its name - but something is terribly.
Once again with a mocking demeanour, Ichibei enquires to what Yhwach was going to say. He states he believes that Yhwach was about to state his sword's name, and asks whether or not he know the fact that blade has no name. Ichibei then clarifies Ichimonji's power - anything blotted out by its ink loses its "Name", thus losing its "Power". He blotted out the name of the sword, and he blotted out Yhwach's Quincy Cross as well, and asks with a terrifying countenance if Yhwach still thinks he can kill Ichibei.
Yhwach's sword having a name can mean two things: 1) Either it is a named weapon, like Uryu's Kujaku and Ginrei Kujaku, or 2) He was about to reveal a Zanpakuto, as a number of people have speculated. Regardless, we will not know its name right now because it has been "blotted out", and as a result Yhwach cannot call out its name.
In the context of Bleach, Ichibei possesses a most terrifying power. "Names" have power in Bleach, and Ichibei can remove the "Name" from anything Ichimonji blots out with its ink. Making it even more terrifying is how he could also do it to someone as powerful as Yhwach, meaning virtually no one is safe from his power in the series.
The Light Altar of the Cross
However, Yhwach is not done yet, as he intends to steal Ichibei's power using the power of his own body, and summons the Sankt Altar, five points of reishi that surround Ichibei and strike him.
I would assume that the Sankt Altar is another one of the Kirchenlied - given it shares a title with the Zwinger - but I am starting to wonder if this technique is not simply exclusive to Yhwach. The fact that stealing Ichibei's power fits along the lines of Yhwach's power as a whole seems to indicate that much. It is either that or this is another high-level technique that only a Quincy at Bach's level could perform.
If it is, then this is a very potent spell, if it is able to take the power of the enemy and make it the Quincy's own. Yet this is apparently below the Sankt Zwinger that Yhwach!Royd tried against Yamamoto.
But we do not see how it turns out because Ichibei simply dispels it in a splatter of black.
The Master of the Black
Yhwach's legitimately shocked by this, and wonders if he failed to take Ichibei's power. Ichibei replies that his power was stolen, but that Yhwach simply could not make the power his.
This is when the scene with the salamander is made clear - Ichibei's power is "blackness". Until a better translation appears, it is hard to figure out what Ichibei means. According to Ichibei, once Ichimonji is released, all the "blackness" of the world, be it from Quincy, Shinigami, the living or the dead, is his. As he said "all the blackness in the world is mine", the chapter end with Ichibei's face once again takes on a demonic countenance and he blots out Yhwach's body with Ichimonji.
Throughout this entire fight, Ichibei has been depicted as being some kind of demon. What Ichimonji's power have been revealed to be is just the clincher - any it "blackens" loses it name, and all the "blackness" in the Universe is its source of power. In a sense, it is an abstract power dictated by the existence of "blackness" in the world. That is the reason why Yhwach cannot sense any reiatsu from Ichimonji - its power is not Ichibei's reiatsu, but the abstract existence of "blackness". As long as anything with "blackness" exists in the world, Ichimonji will have power.
It is why he cannot take Ichibei's power for his own. It is terrifying, to tell the truth - it does not seem to be an ability dictated by "Power" or "Reiatsu", but it seems like an ability dictated by "Reason/Nature" like the Koutotsu. Yhwach could take the "Power" or "Reiatsu" from anyone else, but Ichimonji's source of power being "Blackness" means it cannot be taken - it is "Absolute", and nothing that uses "Reiatsu" can interfere with it.
The only thing I could possibly think of that could resist or override Ichimonji is a Transcendent Being, which throws doubts onto Yhwach being one unless he is not yet drawing on that aspect of his power.
That's now terrifying the power of Ichimonji is - it is making me doubt my belief that Yhwach could be a Transcendent Being.
Can Ichibei even be called a "Shinigami" at this point?
Wednesday 26 November 2014
Digging Up Old Theories - Kikoo (Sokyoku) and the "Third Race"
This one is an oldie - over two years old now.
As of recently, the Sokyoku...To be more accurate, the entity inside Sokyoku, Kikoo ("Blaze Fledgling King"), has caught my interest. We know it is used for executions in Soul Society, particularly of Captains, and we also know that the Shihouin Shield, and artifact which was handed down to the Clan from the "gods", is capable of destroying the Sokyoku. We also know that it is supposed to boast the power of one million Zanpakuto, a power multiplied by tenfold when it strikes a target, and should have been impossible to block, even by Captains, yet Ichigo did just that.
It's debut was literally flaming, only to be destroyed within two chapters of its emergence. What Kikoo is has caught my curiosity, which has led me to speculate about what it is. For that, I have at least one theory on the subject: Kikoo is an imprisoned spiritual entity, with Sokyoku being its seal. This theory will go into a story narrative, so bear with me.
Millenia ago, when the Soul King was rising to power, he created the first King's Key, and gained access to what would be known as the Royal Realm. The Royal Realm is not simply a dimension hidden away in Soul Society that the King might have created, but it was an already existing dimension that the Soul King strove to reach. Originally, the Royal Realm was home to "The Abstracts", spiritual beings of great power beyond that of the Shinigami, and embodiments of the primary and fundamental elements of the Universe. In other words, "Beings of Reason".
Koutotsu was a "Being of Reason" embodying space-time, and Kikoo would be a "Being of Reason" embodying Fire.
When the Soul King arrived in the Royal Realm, he first conquered it, and the "Beings of Reason" that dwelled there. The Soul King could do this because he was a "Being that Defied Reason", or "one that transcends both Shinigami and Hollow". In the dynamic of the universe, the Shinigami and Hollow (or potentially a third, unknown spiritual race) embodies elements of the Universe themselves, which are opposites, like Yin and Yang. While weaker than the "Beings of Reason", they are the most numerous, as each "Being of Reason" is singular in what it embodies. In a reversal, the Shinigami would represent "Death", while the Hollows would represent "Soul".
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My potential reasoning for this is because the Shinigami are the guides to the "afterlife", and Hollows might represent "soul" because of one simple fact: Fullbring is derived from Hollow reiatsu, and the basis of its power is "soul manipulation". This ties into my theory of a third spiritual race, since how can Hollow powers and Fullbring be so drastically different from one another? My belief is that Hollow and Fullbring powers are two separate parts of a "complete power". Of the Fullbringers, Ginjou was closest to it through his abilities after absorbing Ichigo's Fullbring, and the Arrancar are closer to it as well because they are Hollows who gained Shinigami-like powers. But they never reach it; while Ginjou might have gone beyond it by fusing Fullbring and Shinigami powers, Arrancars are only imitating it through their Shinigami-like powers.
This "Third Race" would possess all the powers of Hollow and Arrancar, but their function has a basis in Fullbring and "Soul manipulation". Because of this, the "Third Race" could potentially have "spells" that Human Fullbringers would consider to be Fullbring abilities (Memory manipulation, Dimension Creation, etc.), as their equivalent to Shinigami Kido. They would have their own Inner Worlds and "Inner Spirits" like the Shinigami, only with them being like Ichigo's Inner Hollow, because of the "Third Race's" relation to Hollow and Fullbringers, as part of the same family tree of power. Even if Hollow powers are a "corrupt" form of the "Third Race" power, and the Fullbringers a dilution, both of them still achieve the same effect as the "Third Race" when they fuse with Shinigami powers: "creating a power that transcends both Shinigami and Hollow".
Neither Shinigami nor Hollow are truly "good" or "evil"; they are simply opposite sides of the same coin. This is why when the two powers fuse together into one power, the being inside whom they fuse acquires power that "transcends the Shinigami and Hollow", as well as power that "Defies Reason". It could be said that Fullbringers and the "Third Race" would "manipulate reason" wtih their abilities, but with "Absolute Reason" like Koutotsu and Kikoo, they don't have any effect upon them, being beyond their ability to control.
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Getting back to my narration.
Having conquered the home of the "Beings of Reason", and renamed it the Royal Realm, the Soul King imprisons all the "Beings of Reason", except two: Koutotsu and Kikoo. Koutotsu is a non-sentient "Being of Reason" embodying Space-Time. The Soul King decided to use Koutotsu as a "guard" for the Precipice World, with the Koutotsu's presence there attracting layers of space-time, accelerating time to a point where the 2000-fold time density in the Dangai now exists.
Kikoo, on the other hand, was one of the most powerful "Beings of Reason", embodying Fire, one of the four primary elements of the Universe. Not willing to let Kikoo run rampant in Royal Realm, yet none of the prisons he devised for the other "Beings of Reason" being able to contain Kikoo, he created Sokyoku. Stabbing Kikoo with it, it absorbed the entity, and sealed it inside Sokyoku, stripping it of its free will and sentience. He then presents the Sokyoku as a "gift" to Soul Society, which they use for the execution of Captain-level individuals, showing off the unbridled power of Kikoo, which is only truly released when it connects with its intended target.
The Shihouin Shield was originally devised as a means of destroying Sokyoku, and dispersing Kikoo, should the fierce fire spirit ever regain its free will, and begin to run rampant, seeking revenge for its sealing. However, it was instead used to stop it from destroying both Ichigo and Rukia by Ukitake and Kyoraku. The Soul King, having been locked away in the Royal Realm, is not aware of this. Because it is a "Being of Reason", Kikoo is not truly dead, and could one day reform, and return to exact its vengance for the injustice inflicted upon its kind...
As of recently, the Sokyoku...To be more accurate, the entity inside Sokyoku, Kikoo ("Blaze Fledgling King"), has caught my interest. We know it is used for executions in Soul Society, particularly of Captains, and we also know that the Shihouin Shield, and artifact which was handed down to the Clan from the "gods", is capable of destroying the Sokyoku. We also know that it is supposed to boast the power of one million Zanpakuto, a power multiplied by tenfold when it strikes a target, and should have been impossible to block, even by Captains, yet Ichigo did just that.
It's debut was literally flaming, only to be destroyed within two chapters of its emergence. What Kikoo is has caught my curiosity, which has led me to speculate about what it is. For that, I have at least one theory on the subject: Kikoo is an imprisoned spiritual entity, with Sokyoku being its seal. This theory will go into a story narrative, so bear with me.
Millenia ago, when the Soul King was rising to power, he created the first King's Key, and gained access to what would be known as the Royal Realm. The Royal Realm is not simply a dimension hidden away in Soul Society that the King might have created, but it was an already existing dimension that the Soul King strove to reach. Originally, the Royal Realm was home to "The Abstracts", spiritual beings of great power beyond that of the Shinigami, and embodiments of the primary and fundamental elements of the Universe. In other words, "Beings of Reason".
Koutotsu was a "Being of Reason" embodying space-time, and Kikoo would be a "Being of Reason" embodying Fire.
When the Soul King arrived in the Royal Realm, he first conquered it, and the "Beings of Reason" that dwelled there. The Soul King could do this because he was a "Being that Defied Reason", or "one that transcends both Shinigami and Hollow". In the dynamic of the universe, the Shinigami and Hollow (or potentially a third, unknown spiritual race) embodies elements of the Universe themselves, which are opposites, like Yin and Yang. While weaker than the "Beings of Reason", they are the most numerous, as each "Being of Reason" is singular in what it embodies. In a reversal, the Shinigami would represent "Death", while the Hollows would represent "Soul".
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My potential reasoning for this is because the Shinigami are the guides to the "afterlife", and Hollows might represent "soul" because of one simple fact: Fullbring is derived from Hollow reiatsu, and the basis of its power is "soul manipulation". This ties into my theory of a third spiritual race, since how can Hollow powers and Fullbring be so drastically different from one another? My belief is that Hollow and Fullbring powers are two separate parts of a "complete power". Of the Fullbringers, Ginjou was closest to it through his abilities after absorbing Ichigo's Fullbring, and the Arrancar are closer to it as well because they are Hollows who gained Shinigami-like powers. But they never reach it; while Ginjou might have gone beyond it by fusing Fullbring and Shinigami powers, Arrancars are only imitating it through their Shinigami-like powers.
This "Third Race" would possess all the powers of Hollow and Arrancar, but their function has a basis in Fullbring and "Soul manipulation". Because of this, the "Third Race" could potentially have "spells" that Human Fullbringers would consider to be Fullbring abilities (Memory manipulation, Dimension Creation, etc.), as their equivalent to Shinigami Kido. They would have their own Inner Worlds and "Inner Spirits" like the Shinigami, only with them being like Ichigo's Inner Hollow, because of the "Third Race's" relation to Hollow and Fullbringers, as part of the same family tree of power. Even if Hollow powers are a "corrupt" form of the "Third Race" power, and the Fullbringers a dilution, both of them still achieve the same effect as the "Third Race" when they fuse with Shinigami powers: "creating a power that transcends both Shinigami and Hollow".
Neither Shinigami nor Hollow are truly "good" or "evil"; they are simply opposite sides of the same coin. This is why when the two powers fuse together into one power, the being inside whom they fuse acquires power that "transcends the Shinigami and Hollow", as well as power that "Defies Reason". It could be said that Fullbringers and the "Third Race" would "manipulate reason" wtih their abilities, but with "Absolute Reason" like Koutotsu and Kikoo, they don't have any effect upon them, being beyond their ability to control.
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Getting back to my narration.
Having conquered the home of the "Beings of Reason", and renamed it the Royal Realm, the Soul King imprisons all the "Beings of Reason", except two: Koutotsu and Kikoo. Koutotsu is a non-sentient "Being of Reason" embodying Space-Time. The Soul King decided to use Koutotsu as a "guard" for the Precipice World, with the Koutotsu's presence there attracting layers of space-time, accelerating time to a point where the 2000-fold time density in the Dangai now exists.
Kikoo, on the other hand, was one of the most powerful "Beings of Reason", embodying Fire, one of the four primary elements of the Universe. Not willing to let Kikoo run rampant in Royal Realm, yet none of the prisons he devised for the other "Beings of Reason" being able to contain Kikoo, he created Sokyoku. Stabbing Kikoo with it, it absorbed the entity, and sealed it inside Sokyoku, stripping it of its free will and sentience. He then presents the Sokyoku as a "gift" to Soul Society, which they use for the execution of Captain-level individuals, showing off the unbridled power of Kikoo, which is only truly released when it connects with its intended target.
The Shihouin Shield was originally devised as a means of destroying Sokyoku, and dispersing Kikoo, should the fierce fire spirit ever regain its free will, and begin to run rampant, seeking revenge for its sealing. However, it was instead used to stop it from destroying both Ichigo and Rukia by Ukitake and Kyoraku. The Soul King, having been locked away in the Royal Realm, is not aware of this. Because it is a "Being of Reason", Kikoo is not truly dead, and could one day reform, and return to exact its vengance for the injustice inflicted upon its kind...
Thursday 13 November 2014
Bleach Chapter 605 Review
Can Things Go Back to What They Once Were?
The chapter opens with Kyoraku hopping through the rubble of the battle as he observes all the damage that was done during the past two days of battle. As he does so, he observes the destroyed buildings, and wonders if the Seireitei will be restored to what it once was if their "Quincy friends" are sent home, and if the damage done to the buildings will revert or remain.
As we turn the page, we see that Kyoraku is actually talking to Ukitake as he is saying this, who says that the buildings can simply be repaired if that is the case. It has been a very long time since we last saw Ukitake (not since the second invasion started 58 chapters ago), and it seems his body is completely wrapped in bandages underneath the Shihakusho. When we last saw him, he was in some kind of temple or hot spring with a lotus sculpture in it.
The Shadow is God's Presence
As they finish their brief discussion on the state of the Seireitei's buildings, Kyoraku points out that the Royal Guard let the invasion into their realm happen. This implies that the Royal Guard either had the means of prevent Yhwach and Co from reaching the Royal Realm but they chose not to do so, or they sent Ichigo down to the Seireitei knowing his Ouken Clothing would allow Yhwach to get into the Royal Realm. In other words, the Royal Guard wanted Yhwach to come to them so they could deal with him.
But the big mystery presented in this chapter is the existence of the "Kamikake". Whatever it is, it is connected to what Ukitake was doing before, Kyoraku knows about it meaning he was in on it, and it was apparently a success. Kyoraku confirms this when he looks down to see this bizarre shape with a ring around it and an eye in the middle of it - all stemming from Ukitake's shadow.
Ukitake describes this "thing" as "The 'Kamikake' based on what was foreseen". I doubt it is something to do with some kind of Shinigami Prophecy, because Ukitake and Kyoraku seem to have made this venture on their own. Whatever it is supposed to be, it is linked directly to Ukitake himself, and it may be the reason for the bandages around his body.
I must say, this was almost nostalgic. Just as Ukitake and Kyoraku worked behind the scenes together in the Soul Society arc to save Rukia, so they have done so here with whatever power or force the "Kamikake" is.
Motive for Visiting the Central 46
Kyoraku mentions that the Kamikake's success means they'll be able to handle a little more strain, and then tells Ukitake goodbye for the moment. As Ukitake asks where Kyoraku is going, he responds that he is going to the Central 46.
With all that has happened, I'm surprised that the Central 46 apparently managed to remain intact, much less not be targeted by the Stern Ritter. Since Kyoraku is the Captain-Commander now, I suspect - as is everyone else most likely - that Kyoraku is going to propose something drastic to the Central 46, something he will make them allow.
While I was supportive of the idea that Aizen had disguised himself as Okikiba using his power, I can see the possibility that Kyoraku is going to ask the Central 46 to bring up Aizen for the upcoming battles. But if it isn't Aizen, then it might be something or someone else entirety that Kyoraku is going to talk to the Central 46.
I must admit, it'd be a hoot if the person he's going to ask the Central 46 to release is Azashiro Soya. But if it's not a person, then it may be the other means to reach the Royal Realm, since Kyoraku seems set on going to the Royal Realm to assist the Royal Guard.
I'll Beat You From Within This Space
As we cut back to the Royal Realm, Ichibei is seen painting lines on the ground, and proclaims that he will defeat Yhwach within the distance between the two lines he painted, all with a big and jolly look on his face. However, Yhwach states that calculation is off, because he says that he'll have Ichibei Hyosube dead in three paces less than that.
As we have seen for the past few chapters, Yhwach has been pretty confident in his abilities and those of his Elite Guard. With how the Elite Guard started to perform after having the power of the Auswahlen shared with them, I can see where Yhwach's confidence comes from. He is powerful, he knows it, and he is set on his goals. His Elite Guard have started giving the other four members of the Royal Guard trouble, and they broke the Cage of Life, allowing Yhwach to get out and confront Ichibei in the first place.
While Ichibei is treating the situation in a jolly manner, Yhwach is much more serious about the confrontation. As Ichibei places the finishing touches on his preparation for battle - a "Seal" drawn in the air on the path to the Spirit King Palace, he reminds Yhwach that he should not use his name so casually.
Then we see what Ichibei meant when he said he would defeat Yhwach from within that space - it wasn't about fighting Yhwach in the space, but the space from where he'd launch his attack.
Palm Thrust of Buddha
Cue a giant hand sailing towards Yhwach, an image that actually surprises Yhwach. The hand distorts the air/space around it as it moves forward, collides with Yhwach and sends him flying, the air burning around him because of the speed at which he was blown away. In the same page, Ichibei catches up with Yhwach and explains the name of the attack - Senri Tsuutenshou (Heaven-piercing Palm of One Thousand Ri). As the name implies, anything hit by the technique is sent flying one thousand ri i.e. Three Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty-Seven Kilometres.
We've seen some pretty crazy powers in the Thousand Year Blood War arc, but this the only other time outside of Zaraki smashing the meteor with Nozarashi that such a feat was done casually. It doesn't even seem like Ichibei is using his Zanpakuto for this technique. Whatever it is, be a Hakuda, Kido, or a combination of both like Shunko, the Senri Tsuutenshou is a crazy powerful ability.
Yhwach tries to retaliate, but something is wrong.
He cannot even speak.
Speak Not the Name of the One Who Calls the True Name
Just as Ichibei warned Yhwach, speaking his name one too many times in a casual manner causes him to lose his voice, meaning Yhwach cannot use any technique that require calling names to retaliate against Ichibei. Ichibei manifests the hand of Senrei Tsuutenshou again - showing us the hand seems to be made of spirit energy - and tells Yhwach to make sure he repents before hitting him again with a palm thrust, sending Yhwach flying downward.
Well, there's no question about it now - Ichibei Hyosube is the Captain of the Royal Guard, and for good reason. While Nimaiya could curb-stomp the Elite Guard pre-Auswahlen single-handedly, he still needed help from Kirinji when Askin's "The Death-Dealing" started to affect him. But what Ichibei is doing here blows that feat away - literally. Not once, but twice has he sent Yhwach flying with the Senri Tsuutenshou, and he even briefly gained the upper hand by neutralizing Yhwach's voice.
Considering Yhwach is the same man who killed Yamamoto, that speaks volumes about how powerful Ichibei is. I have little doubt now that he may be the one Shinigami from a thousand years ago who was stronger than Yamamoto. Not only is he one of the oldest Shinigami - the one who named all things in the Soul Society - but his power is also a result of thousands of years of living and honing it. No wonder Yhwach wanted to deal with him personally - he's the only one that probably stood a chance against Ichibei.
Give Me The Voice
As Yhwach is sent flying another 1000 ri, he deals with the loss of his voice in a rather unorthodox way - he pierces his own neck with two of his fingers and streams reishi/power into it, thereby "bestowing" upon himself his "Voice" once more, upon which he immediately creates the Zankuto Bougen (Great Holy Bow) below him, and shoots himself with an arrow to force himself back up to Ichibei's position, slightly cutting his back in the process and drawing a trickle of blood.
This very pragmatic maneuver on Yhwach's part shows just what kind of an opponent Ichibei is. Not only did he have to stab his fingers into his own neck to restore his "Voice", but he also created the Zankuto Bougen to stop himself from flying any further from the Senri Tsuutenshou's attack by shooting himself with an arrow to get back up to Ichibei's position - while Ichibei only has a small cut on his back.
Let me repeat - Yhwach wounded himself twice already in this battle, and Ichibei just has a small cut. If Yhwach has not yet unleashed his true power (implied in 514), then he'll probably need to release at least some of that power in order to stand a better chance against Ichibei.
To get back to the Zankuto Bougen, I have a feeling that this gives more evidence to the idea that Yhwach's Schrift is "The Arrow". While it seems mundane compared to stuff like "The Visionary", what power would be more befitting the "Father of the Quincy" than a Schrift based on the traditional weapons of the Quincy, the Spirit Bow and Heilig Pfiel? It would certainly fit with the power Uryu has displayed with his Spirit Bow, and he shares "A" with Yhwach. After all, he already possesses the Auswahlen as "one of the powers" he possesses, according to Haschwalth.
Let's look at the indicators: he killed Yamamoto with a broadsword-like Heilig Pfiel he summoned from a giant spirit bow he created; he fires his normal Heilig Pfiel from his index finger, and how he has created a giant reishi construct with six giant Heilig Pfiel already primed.
So at this point, I will safely conclude that Yhwach is "The Arrow".
The Demon Monk
The chapter ends with Ichibei commenting on Yhwach firing an arrow through his own body to force himself back up to Ichibei's position, and calls him terrifying. As he states that now he has no choice but to kill Yhwach, we are treated to Ichibei's completely white eyes as he says these words. If Ichibei was part of the Gotei 13 when it was first created, then I can definitely see the demonic personality of the original Gotei 13 shining through in his expression here. Him being a part of the original Gotei 13 can be solidified by the fact Yhwach knows him enough to call him by his full name.
The leaders of the Vandenreich and the Royal Guard are now fighting each other, and already we have an intense battle that is on an entirely different level on our hands. Looking forward to seeing more.
The chapter opens with Kyoraku hopping through the rubble of the battle as he observes all the damage that was done during the past two days of battle. As he does so, he observes the destroyed buildings, and wonders if the Seireitei will be restored to what it once was if their "Quincy friends" are sent home, and if the damage done to the buildings will revert or remain.
As we turn the page, we see that Kyoraku is actually talking to Ukitake as he is saying this, who says that the buildings can simply be repaired if that is the case. It has been a very long time since we last saw Ukitake (not since the second invasion started 58 chapters ago), and it seems his body is completely wrapped in bandages underneath the Shihakusho. When we last saw him, he was in some kind of temple or hot spring with a lotus sculpture in it.
The Shadow is God's Presence
As they finish their brief discussion on the state of the Seireitei's buildings, Kyoraku points out that the Royal Guard let the invasion into their realm happen. This implies that the Royal Guard either had the means of prevent Yhwach and Co from reaching the Royal Realm but they chose not to do so, or they sent Ichigo down to the Seireitei knowing his Ouken Clothing would allow Yhwach to get into the Royal Realm. In other words, the Royal Guard wanted Yhwach to come to them so they could deal with him.
But the big mystery presented in this chapter is the existence of the "Kamikake". Whatever it is, it is connected to what Ukitake was doing before, Kyoraku knows about it meaning he was in on it, and it was apparently a success. Kyoraku confirms this when he looks down to see this bizarre shape with a ring around it and an eye in the middle of it - all stemming from Ukitake's shadow.
Ukitake describes this "thing" as "The 'Kamikake' based on what was foreseen". I doubt it is something to do with some kind of Shinigami Prophecy, because Ukitake and Kyoraku seem to have made this venture on their own. Whatever it is supposed to be, it is linked directly to Ukitake himself, and it may be the reason for the bandages around his body.
I must say, this was almost nostalgic. Just as Ukitake and Kyoraku worked behind the scenes together in the Soul Society arc to save Rukia, so they have done so here with whatever power or force the "Kamikake" is.
Motive for Visiting the Central 46
Kyoraku mentions that the Kamikake's success means they'll be able to handle a little more strain, and then tells Ukitake goodbye for the moment. As Ukitake asks where Kyoraku is going, he responds that he is going to the Central 46.
With all that has happened, I'm surprised that the Central 46 apparently managed to remain intact, much less not be targeted by the Stern Ritter. Since Kyoraku is the Captain-Commander now, I suspect - as is everyone else most likely - that Kyoraku is going to propose something drastic to the Central 46, something he will make them allow.
While I was supportive of the idea that Aizen had disguised himself as Okikiba using his power, I can see the possibility that Kyoraku is going to ask the Central 46 to bring up Aizen for the upcoming battles. But if it isn't Aizen, then it might be something or someone else entirety that Kyoraku is going to talk to the Central 46.
I must admit, it'd be a hoot if the person he's going to ask the Central 46 to release is Azashiro Soya. But if it's not a person, then it may be the other means to reach the Royal Realm, since Kyoraku seems set on going to the Royal Realm to assist the Royal Guard.
I'll Beat You From Within This Space
As we cut back to the Royal Realm, Ichibei is seen painting lines on the ground, and proclaims that he will defeat Yhwach within the distance between the two lines he painted, all with a big and jolly look on his face. However, Yhwach states that calculation is off, because he says that he'll have Ichibei Hyosube dead in three paces less than that.
As we have seen for the past few chapters, Yhwach has been pretty confident in his abilities and those of his Elite Guard. With how the Elite Guard started to perform after having the power of the Auswahlen shared with them, I can see where Yhwach's confidence comes from. He is powerful, he knows it, and he is set on his goals. His Elite Guard have started giving the other four members of the Royal Guard trouble, and they broke the Cage of Life, allowing Yhwach to get out and confront Ichibei in the first place.
While Ichibei is treating the situation in a jolly manner, Yhwach is much more serious about the confrontation. As Ichibei places the finishing touches on his preparation for battle - a "Seal" drawn in the air on the path to the Spirit King Palace, he reminds Yhwach that he should not use his name so casually.
Then we see what Ichibei meant when he said he would defeat Yhwach from within that space - it wasn't about fighting Yhwach in the space, but the space from where he'd launch his attack.
Palm Thrust of Buddha
Cue a giant hand sailing towards Yhwach, an image that actually surprises Yhwach. The hand distorts the air/space around it as it moves forward, collides with Yhwach and sends him flying, the air burning around him because of the speed at which he was blown away. In the same page, Ichibei catches up with Yhwach and explains the name of the attack - Senri Tsuutenshou (Heaven-piercing Palm of One Thousand Ri). As the name implies, anything hit by the technique is sent flying one thousand ri i.e. Three Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty-Seven Kilometres.
We've seen some pretty crazy powers in the Thousand Year Blood War arc, but this the only other time outside of Zaraki smashing the meteor with Nozarashi that such a feat was done casually. It doesn't even seem like Ichibei is using his Zanpakuto for this technique. Whatever it is, be a Hakuda, Kido, or a combination of both like Shunko, the Senri Tsuutenshou is a crazy powerful ability.
Yhwach tries to retaliate, but something is wrong.
He cannot even speak.
Speak Not the Name of the One Who Calls the True Name
Just as Ichibei warned Yhwach, speaking his name one too many times in a casual manner causes him to lose his voice, meaning Yhwach cannot use any technique that require calling names to retaliate against Ichibei. Ichibei manifests the hand of Senrei Tsuutenshou again - showing us the hand seems to be made of spirit energy - and tells Yhwach to make sure he repents before hitting him again with a palm thrust, sending Yhwach flying downward.
Well, there's no question about it now - Ichibei Hyosube is the Captain of the Royal Guard, and for good reason. While Nimaiya could curb-stomp the Elite Guard pre-Auswahlen single-handedly, he still needed help from Kirinji when Askin's "The Death-Dealing" started to affect him. But what Ichibei is doing here blows that feat away - literally. Not once, but twice has he sent Yhwach flying with the Senri Tsuutenshou, and he even briefly gained the upper hand by neutralizing Yhwach's voice.
Considering Yhwach is the same man who killed Yamamoto, that speaks volumes about how powerful Ichibei is. I have little doubt now that he may be the one Shinigami from a thousand years ago who was stronger than Yamamoto. Not only is he one of the oldest Shinigami - the one who named all things in the Soul Society - but his power is also a result of thousands of years of living and honing it. No wonder Yhwach wanted to deal with him personally - he's the only one that probably stood a chance against Ichibei.
Give Me The Voice
As Yhwach is sent flying another 1000 ri, he deals with the loss of his voice in a rather unorthodox way - he pierces his own neck with two of his fingers and streams reishi/power into it, thereby "bestowing" upon himself his "Voice" once more, upon which he immediately creates the Zankuto Bougen (Great Holy Bow) below him, and shoots himself with an arrow to force himself back up to Ichibei's position, slightly cutting his back in the process and drawing a trickle of blood.
This very pragmatic maneuver on Yhwach's part shows just what kind of an opponent Ichibei is. Not only did he have to stab his fingers into his own neck to restore his "Voice", but he also created the Zankuto Bougen to stop himself from flying any further from the Senri Tsuutenshou's attack by shooting himself with an arrow to get back up to Ichibei's position - while Ichibei only has a small cut on his back.
Let me repeat - Yhwach wounded himself twice already in this battle, and Ichibei just has a small cut. If Yhwach has not yet unleashed his true power (implied in 514), then he'll probably need to release at least some of that power in order to stand a better chance against Ichibei.
To get back to the Zankuto Bougen, I have a feeling that this gives more evidence to the idea that Yhwach's Schrift is "The Arrow". While it seems mundane compared to stuff like "The Visionary", what power would be more befitting the "Father of the Quincy" than a Schrift based on the traditional weapons of the Quincy, the Spirit Bow and Heilig Pfiel? It would certainly fit with the power Uryu has displayed with his Spirit Bow, and he shares "A" with Yhwach. After all, he already possesses the Auswahlen as "one of the powers" he possesses, according to Haschwalth.
Let's look at the indicators: he killed Yamamoto with a broadsword-like Heilig Pfiel he summoned from a giant spirit bow he created; he fires his normal Heilig Pfiel from his index finger, and how he has created a giant reishi construct with six giant Heilig Pfiel already primed.
So at this point, I will safely conclude that Yhwach is "The Arrow".
The Demon Monk
The chapter ends with Ichibei commenting on Yhwach firing an arrow through his own body to force himself back up to Ichibei's position, and calls him terrifying. As he states that now he has no choice but to kill Yhwach, we are treated to Ichibei's completely white eyes as he says these words. If Ichibei was part of the Gotei 13 when it was first created, then I can definitely see the demonic personality of the original Gotei 13 shining through in his expression here. Him being a part of the original Gotei 13 can be solidified by the fact Yhwach knows him enough to call him by his full name.
The leaders of the Vandenreich and the Royal Guard are now fighting each other, and already we have an intense battle that is on an entirely different level on our hands. Looking forward to seeing more.
Tuesday 11 November 2014
Instinct and Desire, Belief and Enlightenment - The Nature of Powers
With Bleach Chapter 560, we saw a very unusual Quincy ability with "The
Superstar", and it most likely threw everyone for a loop in one way or another.
How does such an ability relate to reishi manipulation, and how could such an
odd ability exist in Bleach?
When I stopped to think about it, I now believe that the individual abilities of the Quincy may tie into what Aizen mentioned about "Human" hearts in "Deicide":
"...However, it is a peculiar quality of living beings... // ...that when it comes to achieving those petty desires that their crude hearts enshrine... // ...they tend to have remarkable levels of success."
...but living creatures are truly mysterious, you know?
4: Despite the nature of what they wish for with their stunted hearts,
5: they are built so that they are able to realize such.
Before, I only attributed what Aizen said to Fullbring, because the concept of "fulfilling desires" ties into how Fullbring works flawlessly - a Fullbring is a power "born form desire", and the kind of power that is manifested is based on the "desire" of the individual.
But considering Aizen said "living beings" in general, and how "Humans" and "Quincy" fall under that category, it can arguably be applied to the Quincy as well. True, Royd and Loyd seem to counteract this argument because they were born with "The Yourself", but they could have also had "The Yourself" because they were born as identical twins.
So just as Fullbring is "a power of desire", the power of a Quincy is "a power of belief". The Quincy all begin with the basic bow and arrow but, as their power evolves, they shape and create their unique abilities based on their individual beliefs, as well as a power befitting their own personality.
Currently, it seems no Quincy's power shows this more clearly than "The Superstar" just because of how unusual it is.
Alternatively, the Shinigami and the Hollow represent the "inner self" - the "enlightened" inner self or the "instinctual" inner self respectively. Shinigami are "born" with their Zanpakuto power, which represents their "inner selves", while the Hollow is the embodiment of the "instincts" that exists in all individuals.
This is where the opposition between the soul types exist, because of the correlation between the two sets of souls.
Shinigami and Quincy are opposite because the nature of their powers are opposite: while the Quincy form their powers based on "belief/faith", the Shinigami's Zanpakuto is one of "enlightenment", through the understanding of one's own soul, and the acceptance of both the good and bad that comes with it.
"Belief" is trust, faith or confidence in the existence of something or in someone. This is evidence in the Quincy's monotheistic nature and symbolism: they hold a "belief" in God, and that "belief" can also be related to themselves and their powers, as "belief" also encompasses "ideal", often without proof. "Enlightenment" is the opposite, as to be "enlightened" is to have achieved understanding and knowledge of something. For the Shinigami, that "enlightenment" is the understanding of themselves and their own soul through the Zanpakuto.
Humans and Hollow are opposite in the same manner, because "desire" and "instinct" can be seen as two sides of the same coin. We have not really seen any pure "Human" power in the series - aside from potentially Kanonji and the Were-wolf Clan - but Fullbring best represents the "desire" aspect of the "Human" power.
"To desire" something is to want to possess something or to want something to happen. A Fullbringer's ability allows them to "bring about that desire" through their power. "Instinct", on the other hand, is the primal form of "desire", a powerful motivation carved into the behaviour and nature of an individual. This is what the body, Mask and power of a Hollow represents - the primal instincts of the soul.
When I stopped to think about it, I now believe that the individual abilities of the Quincy may tie into what Aizen mentioned about "Human" hearts in "Deicide":
"...However, it is a peculiar quality of living beings... // ...that when it comes to achieving those petty desires that their crude hearts enshrine... // ...they tend to have remarkable levels of success."
...but living creatures are truly mysterious, you know?
4: Despite the nature of what they wish for with their stunted hearts,
5: they are built so that they are able to realize such.
Before, I only attributed what Aizen said to Fullbring, because the concept of "fulfilling desires" ties into how Fullbring works flawlessly - a Fullbring is a power "born form desire", and the kind of power that is manifested is based on the "desire" of the individual.
But considering Aizen said "living beings" in general, and how "Humans" and "Quincy" fall under that category, it can arguably be applied to the Quincy as well. True, Royd and Loyd seem to counteract this argument because they were born with "The Yourself", but they could have also had "The Yourself" because they were born as identical twins.
So just as Fullbring is "a power of desire", the power of a Quincy is "a power of belief". The Quincy all begin with the basic bow and arrow but, as their power evolves, they shape and create their unique abilities based on their individual beliefs, as well as a power befitting their own personality.
Currently, it seems no Quincy's power shows this more clearly than "The Superstar" just because of how unusual it is.
Alternatively, the Shinigami and the Hollow represent the "inner self" - the "enlightened" inner self or the "instinctual" inner self respectively. Shinigami are "born" with their Zanpakuto power, which represents their "inner selves", while the Hollow is the embodiment of the "instincts" that exists in all individuals.
This is where the opposition between the soul types exist, because of the correlation between the two sets of souls.
Shinigami and Quincy are opposite because the nature of their powers are opposite: while the Quincy form their powers based on "belief/faith", the Shinigami's Zanpakuto is one of "enlightenment", through the understanding of one's own soul, and the acceptance of both the good and bad that comes with it.
"Belief" is trust, faith or confidence in the existence of something or in someone. This is evidence in the Quincy's monotheistic nature and symbolism: they hold a "belief" in God, and that "belief" can also be related to themselves and their powers, as "belief" also encompasses "ideal", often without proof. "Enlightenment" is the opposite, as to be "enlightened" is to have achieved understanding and knowledge of something. For the Shinigami, that "enlightenment" is the understanding of themselves and their own soul through the Zanpakuto.
Humans and Hollow are opposite in the same manner, because "desire" and "instinct" can be seen as two sides of the same coin. We have not really seen any pure "Human" power in the series - aside from potentially Kanonji and the Were-wolf Clan - but Fullbring best represents the "desire" aspect of the "Human" power.
"To desire" something is to want to possess something or to want something to happen. A Fullbringer's ability allows them to "bring about that desire" through their power. "Instinct", on the other hand, is the primal form of "desire", a powerful motivation carved into the behaviour and nature of an individual. This is what the body, Mask and power of a Hollow represents - the primal instincts of the soul.
Digging Up Old Theories: The Planes of Souls - An Analysis of Deicide
During "Deicide", Aizen made numerous references to the concept of "Transcendence", comparing it to the relationship between it and Humans and Shinigami as akin to the relationship between a two-dimensional object and three-dimensional objects - because he was in a 'higher plane', Humans and Shinigami could not feel his spiritual power. I think that Aizen was not wrong when he was making this analogy, as he was quite specific when used only the second and third dimensions of objects while ignoring the first dimension.
In Bleach, I believe that the dimensions Aizen made reference to is linked to the nature of the soul itself - in other words, the different "planes of souls". So if Humans and Shinigami occupy the 2nd dimension, while Aizen occupies the 3rd dimension (and Ichigo was able to ascend into a 4th dimension), what would the 1st dimension be?
Looking back with what I know now, I think that answer is clear: the "soul" in "matter" are the "first plane of souls"; living beings and spirits make up the "second plane of souls"; a Transcendental Being like what Aizen became resides in the "third plane of souls", and Ichigo managed to transcend into the "fourth plane of souls" when he "became one with his power".
During "Deicide", Aizen made a curious comment that stuck in my mind and blossomed into thought with the Lost Agent Arc:
"Living beings are strange creatures. They are designed to realize whatever their under-sized hearts desire."
The above is the Viz translation, and translations at Mangahelper give it more depth.
Cnet128 has Aizen say:
when it comes to achieving those petty desires that their crude hearts enshrine... // ...they tend to have remarkable levels of success.
While molokidan translated this:
Despite the nature of what they wish for with their stunted hearts,
5: they are built so that they are able to realize such.
All three point toward one common idea: the Human heart is designed to realize whatever it is the individual desires most. Looking back on this after the Lost Agent arc, I realized Aizen may have been referring to the nature of Fullbring.
Fullbring is a power that allows Humans to manipulate the "souls" in "matter", and each Fullbringer has a unique ability that is closely aligned with a specific desire. By drawing out the souls in matter and boosting it with their own to unleash a greater power, a Fullbringer essentially manipulates "Reason" to achieve their desires.
This "Power of Reason" is a trait possessed by "one-dimensional souls", as it is what defines the Laws of Nature. A Fullbringer can change the "nature of matter" through manipulating the "souls" contained within "matter". To be more accurate, what would define a "two dimensional soul" is the ability to draw out its own power through various methods, something a "one dimensional soul" cannot do.
A "three dimensional soul", on the other hand, defies "Reason" itself.
We saw this occur when Aizen destroyed the Koutotsu. Gin described the Koutotsu as a "Being of Reason/Force of Nature", depending on the translation, and he and Isshin stated that no Shinigami should be able to do anything to it with reiatsu. However, Aizen destroyed the Koutotsu by letting it hit him. The Koutotsu, as a "Being of Reason", was something no being possessing reiatsu should be able to effect, as it was essentially a living embodiment of the Laws of Nature that define the world of Bleach. To even consider destroying it would require one to possess power that stands above and defies "Reason" itself - an action that gives scope to what a Transcendental Being is.
"Transcending one's limits" have been mentioned before in regards to Hollowfication and Hollows becoming Arrancar - even Aizen said Inoue's powers were beyond Human limits - yet neither Visoreds, Arrancar or Fullbringers can possibly be grouped into the same category as a Transcendental Being.
It is at this point where the opposition of souls Urahara brought up applies. While it is Humans and Hollow who are opposites of one another, the process of Hollowfication involves breaking down the barrier between Shinigami and Hollow - otherwise incompatible beings - in order to allow a Shinigami to go beyond their normal limits. However, there exists a natural instability in such a process, leading to "soul suicide" in Shinigami. In regards to Quincy, the opposites of Shinigami, they cannot even gain Hollow power and are out-right destroyed by a Hollow's essence.
As Urahara also explained, the way to stop "soul suicide" in a Visored - and halt Hollowfication in a Quincy altogether - is to introduce an element that corrects the 'imbalance' of a soul caused by such a process. For Visoreds, it is a vaccine of Quincy arrows of light and Human souls; in Masaki's case, Isshin had to become Shinigami-Human and have his soul tied to hers and White's to balance out her Quincy-Hollow.
In contrast, Fullbringers and Arrancar are completely stable, and the reason for this is likely due to the fact Human and Hollow already balance with one another. Fullbring is a Human power derived from Hollow reiryoku; Arrancars are created when a Hollow breaks their mask and regains their Human form. We have yet to see a straight-forward Shinigami-Quincy, but they would likely balance out in a similar fashion.
As a result, a Transcendental Being - or "three dimensional soul" - is likely an entity where the above four soul types are perfectly balanced with one another.
Essentially, it means that a "three dimensional soul" is created when all four types of "two dimensional souls" exist and balance with one another within a single individual. We saw this in "The Lust" with Zangetsu, "Deicide" with Aizen, and I believe we also saw it with Ginjo in "The Lost Agent arc".
However, I once believed that it was simply Shinigami-Hollow-Human balanced in one being.
In support of the Shinigami-Hollow-Human I mentioned earlier, Ginjo told Ichigo that his Shinigami power would fuse with his Fullbring, and that Ichigo would "gain a power transcending the Shinigami". The last time a character talked about "power transcending the Shinigami", he previously destroyed the Koutotsu. Supporting the idea that Ginjo was talking about full-blown Transcendence, when Ichigo released his Bankai after gaining his powers back he shattered Yukio's "chatroom".
An entire team of Captain-level Shinigami were implied to not be able to break into it if they combined all their power, but Ichigo shattered it by releasing his Bankai. It is likely not because Ichigo was stronger than all five of said Captains combined, but because the "nature" of his power allowed him to transcend and defy the laws governing Yukio's "Invaders Must Die", allowing him to interact with it in a way normal Shinigami couldn't.
Also supporting the idea of Shinigami-Human-Hollow Transcendence is Zangetsu during "The Lust", which also indicates a concept of "dominance" in regards to Transcendental Beings. When Zangetsu came out on the Dome, he was more Hollow than Shinigami ("Quincy" Zangetsu was suppressing the Shinigami power), so what we saw behaved and fought like a Hollow. It was likely this entity's power that Aizen used as the basis for his Transcendence, leading to his more Hollow-like appearance with each transformation.
We saw this again in "The Lost Agent arc" between Ichigo and Ginjo. While Ginjo was a Fullbringer who had Shinigami power fuse with his Fullbring i.e. the one he stole from Ichigo, Ichigo was a Shinigami who had his Fullbring fuse with his Shinigami power. In short, Ichigo expressed his power through the medium of a Shinigami, while Ginjo did so through Fullbring, leading to their strikingly different appearances when they entered Bankai - Ichigo remained the same, but Ginjo took on a Hollow-like appearance.
However, Urahara's explanation indicates that a perfect fusion of Shinigami and Hollow balanced by a Human soul isn't enough - there needs to be a Quincy component. "Quincy" Zangetsu provided this for Ichigo, and the idea gives interesting implications for Ginjo - something I'll get into later because of how late it is where I am.
So now we finally move onto the "fourth plane of power/souls" that Ichigo achieved in Deicide. What this "fourth plane of souls" is likely pertains to what the essence behind the Final Getsuga Tenshou was - "becoming Getsuga" i.e. becoming one with his power.
Please note that I do not think this is something exclusive to Transcendents, as Isshin is evidence that Shinigami can "become one with their power". Rather, it indicates that "becoming one with your power" is a natural form of Transcendence accessible to Shinigami. As a result, similar forms likely exist with Hollow, Quincy, and potentially Fullbringer.
Obviously, we have seen what this entails for Shinigami, so I will elaborate on Hollow and Quincy.
In regards to Hollows, I believe this is a state they can only achieve once they become Arrancar, and that it is the Segunda Etapa that Ulquiorra used during "The Lust". The basis of a Resurreccion is to return the Arrancar to its 'true form', usually something representing what they originally looked like as Hollows to varying degrees. But we know there is a Second Stage because of Ulquiorra, and one detail sticks out in my mind regarding his Segunda Etapa - the missing Mask Fragment.
A Mask Fragment often changes with the release of the Resurreccion, but Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa caused the Mask Fragment to disappear completely. As implied by Neliel's turning into a child after her Mask fragment was broken, there is considerable power stored in the Mask Fragment that most Arrancar do not tap into. I believe that tapping into that power involves completely fusing the power of the Hollow with the Arrancar's Human body, their form of "becoming one with their power".
This is possibly evidenced by Uryu noting how the 'nature' of Ulquiorra's reiatsu was different after he went into Segunda Etapa.
In the case of the Quincy, the answer appears to be getting complicated with the depictions of the Stern Ritter and their power, but I do believe the Letzt Stil is the Quincy's key to their "Transcendence" . Much like the Final Getsuga Tenshou, the Letzt Stil increases the Quincy's power to new heights, but the end result with both of them is that the individual using it loses their powers. A Quincy loses their power as a Quincy but still retains their spiritual power, while a Shinigami loses their spiritual power entirely.
The Letzt Stil centers around increasing the Quincy's ability to collect reishi to such an extent that they exert "dominance over reishi", and an example of the power achievable through this method is seen with Uryu when he used it against Mayuri. I cannot say with certainty that a Quincy "becomes one with their power" because of this, but reishi dominance is a power that goes beyond the normal limits of Quincy, as Mayuri pointed out. But perhaps it is that reishi dominance - considering manipulating reishi is the center of a Quincy's power - that symbolizes them "becoming one with their power".
At this point, a similar power existing for Fullbringers is only speculation, but it would likely entail something related to their ability to manipulate the "souls" in "matter" - maybe even along the lines of Shinigami and Hollow, considering the manner a Fullbringer manifests their power is similar to a Zanpakuto. Rather than channelling their power through an item they have a close attachment to, the height of a Fullbringer's power would involve a manipulation of all the "souls" in the "matter" comprising their body, and channeling their power via that method.
For Shinigami, Hollow, Human and Quincy, this would potentially give them access to the 'third plane of power', but I cannot say that with certainty. For a Transcendental Being, this allows them to enter into the 'fourth plane of power'.
In Bleach, I believe that the dimensions Aizen made reference to is linked to the nature of the soul itself - in other words, the different "planes of souls". So if Humans and Shinigami occupy the 2nd dimension, while Aizen occupies the 3rd dimension (and Ichigo was able to ascend into a 4th dimension), what would the 1st dimension be?
Looking back with what I know now, I think that answer is clear: the "soul" in "matter" are the "first plane of souls"; living beings and spirits make up the "second plane of souls"; a Transcendental Being like what Aizen became resides in the "third plane of souls", and Ichigo managed to transcend into the "fourth plane of souls" when he "became one with his power".
During "Deicide", Aizen made a curious comment that stuck in my mind and blossomed into thought with the Lost Agent Arc:
"Living beings are strange creatures. They are designed to realize whatever their under-sized hearts desire."
The above is the Viz translation, and translations at Mangahelper give it more depth.
Cnet128 has Aizen say:
when it comes to achieving those petty desires that their crude hearts enshrine... // ...they tend to have remarkable levels of success.
While molokidan translated this:
Despite the nature of what they wish for with their stunted hearts,
5: they are built so that they are able to realize such.
All three point toward one common idea: the Human heart is designed to realize whatever it is the individual desires most. Looking back on this after the Lost Agent arc, I realized Aizen may have been referring to the nature of Fullbring.
Fullbring is a power that allows Humans to manipulate the "souls" in "matter", and each Fullbringer has a unique ability that is closely aligned with a specific desire. By drawing out the souls in matter and boosting it with their own to unleash a greater power, a Fullbringer essentially manipulates "Reason" to achieve their desires.
This "Power of Reason" is a trait possessed by "one-dimensional souls", as it is what defines the Laws of Nature. A Fullbringer can change the "nature of matter" through manipulating the "souls" contained within "matter". To be more accurate, what would define a "two dimensional soul" is the ability to draw out its own power through various methods, something a "one dimensional soul" cannot do.
A "three dimensional soul", on the other hand, defies "Reason" itself.
We saw this occur when Aizen destroyed the Koutotsu. Gin described the Koutotsu as a "Being of Reason/Force of Nature", depending on the translation, and he and Isshin stated that no Shinigami should be able to do anything to it with reiatsu. However, Aizen destroyed the Koutotsu by letting it hit him. The Koutotsu, as a "Being of Reason", was something no being possessing reiatsu should be able to effect, as it was essentially a living embodiment of the Laws of Nature that define the world of Bleach. To even consider destroying it would require one to possess power that stands above and defies "Reason" itself - an action that gives scope to what a Transcendental Being is.
"Transcending one's limits" have been mentioned before in regards to Hollowfication and Hollows becoming Arrancar - even Aizen said Inoue's powers were beyond Human limits - yet neither Visoreds, Arrancar or Fullbringers can possibly be grouped into the same category as a Transcendental Being.
It is at this point where the opposition of souls Urahara brought up applies. While it is Humans and Hollow who are opposites of one another, the process of Hollowfication involves breaking down the barrier between Shinigami and Hollow - otherwise incompatible beings - in order to allow a Shinigami to go beyond their normal limits. However, there exists a natural instability in such a process, leading to "soul suicide" in Shinigami. In regards to Quincy, the opposites of Shinigami, they cannot even gain Hollow power and are out-right destroyed by a Hollow's essence.
As Urahara also explained, the way to stop "soul suicide" in a Visored - and halt Hollowfication in a Quincy altogether - is to introduce an element that corrects the 'imbalance' of a soul caused by such a process. For Visoreds, it is a vaccine of Quincy arrows of light and Human souls; in Masaki's case, Isshin had to become Shinigami-Human and have his soul tied to hers and White's to balance out her Quincy-Hollow.
In contrast, Fullbringers and Arrancar are completely stable, and the reason for this is likely due to the fact Human and Hollow already balance with one another. Fullbring is a Human power derived from Hollow reiryoku; Arrancars are created when a Hollow breaks their mask and regains their Human form. We have yet to see a straight-forward Shinigami-Quincy, but they would likely balance out in a similar fashion.
As a result, a Transcendental Being - or "three dimensional soul" - is likely an entity where the above four soul types are perfectly balanced with one another.
Essentially, it means that a "three dimensional soul" is created when all four types of "two dimensional souls" exist and balance with one another within a single individual. We saw this in "The Lust" with Zangetsu, "Deicide" with Aizen, and I believe we also saw it with Ginjo in "The Lost Agent arc".
However, I once believed that it was simply Shinigami-Hollow-Human balanced in one being.
In support of the Shinigami-Hollow-Human I mentioned earlier, Ginjo told Ichigo that his Shinigami power would fuse with his Fullbring, and that Ichigo would "gain a power transcending the Shinigami". The last time a character talked about "power transcending the Shinigami", he previously destroyed the Koutotsu. Supporting the idea that Ginjo was talking about full-blown Transcendence, when Ichigo released his Bankai after gaining his powers back he shattered Yukio's "chatroom".
An entire team of Captain-level Shinigami were implied to not be able to break into it if they combined all their power, but Ichigo shattered it by releasing his Bankai. It is likely not because Ichigo was stronger than all five of said Captains combined, but because the "nature" of his power allowed him to transcend and defy the laws governing Yukio's "Invaders Must Die", allowing him to interact with it in a way normal Shinigami couldn't.
Also supporting the idea of Shinigami-Human-Hollow Transcendence is Zangetsu during "The Lust", which also indicates a concept of "dominance" in regards to Transcendental Beings. When Zangetsu came out on the Dome, he was more Hollow than Shinigami ("Quincy" Zangetsu was suppressing the Shinigami power), so what we saw behaved and fought like a Hollow. It was likely this entity's power that Aizen used as the basis for his Transcendence, leading to his more Hollow-like appearance with each transformation.
We saw this again in "The Lost Agent arc" between Ichigo and Ginjo. While Ginjo was a Fullbringer who had Shinigami power fuse with his Fullbring i.e. the one he stole from Ichigo, Ichigo was a Shinigami who had his Fullbring fuse with his Shinigami power. In short, Ichigo expressed his power through the medium of a Shinigami, while Ginjo did so through Fullbring, leading to their strikingly different appearances when they entered Bankai - Ichigo remained the same, but Ginjo took on a Hollow-like appearance.
However, Urahara's explanation indicates that a perfect fusion of Shinigami and Hollow balanced by a Human soul isn't enough - there needs to be a Quincy component. "Quincy" Zangetsu provided this for Ichigo, and the idea gives interesting implications for Ginjo - something I'll get into later because of how late it is where I am.
So now we finally move onto the "fourth plane of power/souls" that Ichigo achieved in Deicide. What this "fourth plane of souls" is likely pertains to what the essence behind the Final Getsuga Tenshou was - "becoming Getsuga" i.e. becoming one with his power.
Please note that I do not think this is something exclusive to Transcendents, as Isshin is evidence that Shinigami can "become one with their power". Rather, it indicates that "becoming one with your power" is a natural form of Transcendence accessible to Shinigami. As a result, similar forms likely exist with Hollow, Quincy, and potentially Fullbringer.
Obviously, we have seen what this entails for Shinigami, so I will elaborate on Hollow and Quincy.
In regards to Hollows, I believe this is a state they can only achieve once they become Arrancar, and that it is the Segunda Etapa that Ulquiorra used during "The Lust". The basis of a Resurreccion is to return the Arrancar to its 'true form', usually something representing what they originally looked like as Hollows to varying degrees. But we know there is a Second Stage because of Ulquiorra, and one detail sticks out in my mind regarding his Segunda Etapa - the missing Mask Fragment.
A Mask Fragment often changes with the release of the Resurreccion, but Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa caused the Mask Fragment to disappear completely. As implied by Neliel's turning into a child after her Mask fragment was broken, there is considerable power stored in the Mask Fragment that most Arrancar do not tap into. I believe that tapping into that power involves completely fusing the power of the Hollow with the Arrancar's Human body, their form of "becoming one with their power".
This is possibly evidenced by Uryu noting how the 'nature' of Ulquiorra's reiatsu was different after he went into Segunda Etapa.
In the case of the Quincy, the answer appears to be getting complicated with the depictions of the Stern Ritter and their power, but I do believe the Letzt Stil is the Quincy's key to their "Transcendence" . Much like the Final Getsuga Tenshou, the Letzt Stil increases the Quincy's power to new heights, but the end result with both of them is that the individual using it loses their powers. A Quincy loses their power as a Quincy but still retains their spiritual power, while a Shinigami loses their spiritual power entirely.
The Letzt Stil centers around increasing the Quincy's ability to collect reishi to such an extent that they exert "dominance over reishi", and an example of the power achievable through this method is seen with Uryu when he used it against Mayuri. I cannot say with certainty that a Quincy "becomes one with their power" because of this, but reishi dominance is a power that goes beyond the normal limits of Quincy, as Mayuri pointed out. But perhaps it is that reishi dominance - considering manipulating reishi is the center of a Quincy's power - that symbolizes them "becoming one with their power".
At this point, a similar power existing for Fullbringers is only speculation, but it would likely entail something related to their ability to manipulate the "souls" in "matter" - maybe even along the lines of Shinigami and Hollow, considering the manner a Fullbringer manifests their power is similar to a Zanpakuto. Rather than channelling their power through an item they have a close attachment to, the height of a Fullbringer's power would involve a manipulation of all the "souls" in the "matter" comprising their body, and channeling their power via that method.
For Shinigami, Hollow, Human and Quincy, this would potentially give them access to the 'third plane of power', but I cannot say that with certainty. For a Transcendental Being, this allows them to enter into the 'fourth plane of power'.
Digging Up Old Theories - Discussion of the Ouken
The following is a part of a series of blog posts that involve me digging up old theories and archiving them here on Bleach - Beyond the Pages.
It is so that more people can look at these theories, and so I don't have to go back in time to find them again.
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The Ouken was one of the major plot-points relating to the Arrancar saga. Aizen sought to create it in order to reach the Royal Realm and kill the Spirit King, and the price for creating one was the destruction of Karakura Town and its 100,000 inhabitants due to the Jureichi (Important Spirit Ground) the town rested on.
Until then, we all assumed that it was an inanimate object (specifically a special key), but it was not until the recent arc that we learnt what the true nature of the Ouken was - the Ouken is a living being. With the Royal Guard members, it was the Spirit King who 'manifested' the power of the Ouken into the bones of the Royal Guard members, allowing them to open the door to the Royal Realm for themselves and anyone they choose to allow.
In Aizen's case, creating an Ouken with his spiritual power would involve re-creating a member of the Royal Guard - creating life, as Shutara put it. In all likelihood, a normal Aizen would have never been able to succeed in such a process, adding another explanation for why Aizen sought the power of a "Transcendental Being" - the power of one is required to create a living Ouken.
This gives way to a number of possibilities - what would the powers of a living Ouken be? Knowing what we know now, the Ouken would not have only been made from the "souls" of 100,000 Humans, but also the "souls" of all the "matter" within the Jureichi. A possible way for figuring out the power of an Ouken would be to look at the Royal Guards themselves.
However, there is one other detail that should be worth considering - the fact that the Great Spirit Library contained the information on the method Aizen intended to use.
Information on such a method would not have existed in the Spirit Library's records unless the process had been done in the past. In other words, a living Ouken was created at some point in the past. It is not among the Royal Guard because Ichibei said that all of the Royal Guard had the power of the Ouken "manifested" into their bones by the Spirit King, which in itself raises the question as to who created the Ouken, when did they do it, why was it done, and where is that Ouken now.
For that, I believe Yamamoto may have given us the answer to three of the four questions:
1) Yamamoto said that the knowledge of the Ouken's location was passed down only through successive generations of the Gotei 13's Captain-Commander via oral tradition. Yamamoto had been the only Gotei 13 Captain-Commander since he created it 1000 years ago before his death, meaning only he knew the location of the living Ouken.
2) The above statement would peg the living Ouken's creation at 1000 years ago during the Shinigami-Quincy War the Gotei 13 fought against Yhwach and the Quincy, given that we know the Gotei 13 was created 1000 years ago.
Now, the answers to the who and why are currently theories at the moment, so I will number them in order of "who" and "why":
3) It was the Gotei 13 who created the living Ouken 1,000 years ago. Yhwach said so himself that the original Gotei 13 were a group of cold-hearted killers, and that Yamamoto was a demon of the sword in those days. This also ties into why it would only be Yamamoto who knew the living Ouken's location for the past 1000 years - as the one either responsible for its creation or the one who ordered it, he took it upon himself to watch over and protect the living Ouken as part of his atonement for his sins.
As to the answer of "why" it was created, I believe Yhwach was the one who gradually gave us the answer, culminating in the addendum to the Kaiser Gesang he revealed in chapter 546 - "...And in the span of nine days, he will reclaim the world":
4) The living Ouken was created to reach the Royal Realm and overthrow Yhwach. The addendum to the Kaiser Gesang would only exist if Yhwach had once been the King of Soul Society. If this were to be proven true, it would have great ramifications for the story's future, and bring into question much about Soul Society. More importantly, it would give further in-sight into the nature of the war that took place 1000 years ago.
The one thing that is not fully clear is "where" the Ouken is. Yamamoto is the only confirmed individual who knew where it was, but he was killed by Yhwach. Given Yhwach's power, it is possible he absorbed Yamamoto's soul upon his death and gained knowledge of the Ouken's current location, so one of Yhwach's future goals could be related to finding and acquiring the living Ouken.
After all, Yhwach will likely not be able to reach the Royal Realm without the aid of the Ouken to open the doors - even if he was once the King of Soul Society.
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Well, those are my thoughts on the Ouken that I will share at the moment. Here are some questions to consider:
1) What are your thoughts regarding the Ouken?
2) What powers do you think the Ouken would possess?
3) Who do you think the Ouken could be? A new character? Someone we already know? If so, why do you think it could be that character?
4) Do you believe what we learnt about the "souls" in "matter" in "The Lost Agent arc" affects the nature of the Ouken's creation?
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P.S. I have another post that discusses the nature of the various Ouken we know of so far. I'll see if I can dig it up and post it here later.
It is so that more people can look at these theories, and so I don't have to go back in time to find them again.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Ouken was one of the major plot-points relating to the Arrancar saga. Aizen sought to create it in order to reach the Royal Realm and kill the Spirit King, and the price for creating one was the destruction of Karakura Town and its 100,000 inhabitants due to the Jureichi (Important Spirit Ground) the town rested on.
Until then, we all assumed that it was an inanimate object (specifically a special key), but it was not until the recent arc that we learnt what the true nature of the Ouken was - the Ouken is a living being. With the Royal Guard members, it was the Spirit King who 'manifested' the power of the Ouken into the bones of the Royal Guard members, allowing them to open the door to the Royal Realm for themselves and anyone they choose to allow.
In Aizen's case, creating an Ouken with his spiritual power would involve re-creating a member of the Royal Guard - creating life, as Shutara put it. In all likelihood, a normal Aizen would have never been able to succeed in such a process, adding another explanation for why Aizen sought the power of a "Transcendental Being" - the power of one is required to create a living Ouken.
This gives way to a number of possibilities - what would the powers of a living Ouken be? Knowing what we know now, the Ouken would not have only been made from the "souls" of 100,000 Humans, but also the "souls" of all the "matter" within the Jureichi. A possible way for figuring out the power of an Ouken would be to look at the Royal Guards themselves.
However, there is one other detail that should be worth considering - the fact that the Great Spirit Library contained the information on the method Aizen intended to use.
Information on such a method would not have existed in the Spirit Library's records unless the process had been done in the past. In other words, a living Ouken was created at some point in the past. It is not among the Royal Guard because Ichibei said that all of the Royal Guard had the power of the Ouken "manifested" into their bones by the Spirit King, which in itself raises the question as to who created the Ouken, when did they do it, why was it done, and where is that Ouken now.
For that, I believe Yamamoto may have given us the answer to three of the four questions:
1) Yamamoto said that the knowledge of the Ouken's location was passed down only through successive generations of the Gotei 13's Captain-Commander via oral tradition. Yamamoto had been the only Gotei 13 Captain-Commander since he created it 1000 years ago before his death, meaning only he knew the location of the living Ouken.
2) The above statement would peg the living Ouken's creation at 1000 years ago during the Shinigami-Quincy War the Gotei 13 fought against Yhwach and the Quincy, given that we know the Gotei 13 was created 1000 years ago.
Now, the answers to the who and why are currently theories at the moment, so I will number them in order of "who" and "why":
3) It was the Gotei 13 who created the living Ouken 1,000 years ago. Yhwach said so himself that the original Gotei 13 were a group of cold-hearted killers, and that Yamamoto was a demon of the sword in those days. This also ties into why it would only be Yamamoto who knew the living Ouken's location for the past 1000 years - as the one either responsible for its creation or the one who ordered it, he took it upon himself to watch over and protect the living Ouken as part of his atonement for his sins.
As to the answer of "why" it was created, I believe Yhwach was the one who gradually gave us the answer, culminating in the addendum to the Kaiser Gesang he revealed in chapter 546 - "...And in the span of nine days, he will reclaim the world":
4) The living Ouken was created to reach the Royal Realm and overthrow Yhwach. The addendum to the Kaiser Gesang would only exist if Yhwach had once been the King of Soul Society. If this were to be proven true, it would have great ramifications for the story's future, and bring into question much about Soul Society. More importantly, it would give further in-sight into the nature of the war that took place 1000 years ago.
The one thing that is not fully clear is "where" the Ouken is. Yamamoto is the only confirmed individual who knew where it was, but he was killed by Yhwach. Given Yhwach's power, it is possible he absorbed Yamamoto's soul upon his death and gained knowledge of the Ouken's current location, so one of Yhwach's future goals could be related to finding and acquiring the living Ouken.
After all, Yhwach will likely not be able to reach the Royal Realm without the aid of the Ouken to open the doors - even if he was once the King of Soul Society.
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Well, those are my thoughts on the Ouken that I will share at the moment. Here are some questions to consider:
1) What are your thoughts regarding the Ouken?
2) What powers do you think the Ouken would possess?
3) Who do you think the Ouken could be? A new character? Someone we already know? If so, why do you think it could be that character?
4) Do you believe what we learnt about the "souls" in "matter" in "The Lost Agent arc" affects the nature of the Ouken's creation?
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P.S. I have another post that discusses the nature of the various Ouken we know of so far. I'll see if I can dig it up and post it here later.
The Four Spiritual Beings - The Significance of Souls
This is not a new discussion. It is an old one that I dug up and decided to archive here.
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In the recent chapter of Bleach, Urahara tells us that the Arrancar's Resurreccion is almost the same as a Shinigami's Bankai, and we have seen - particularly with Vasto Lordes level Arrancar - that the power increase given by Resurreccion is equivalent to that of a Bankai in most cases.
By this logic, Urahara proposed that the Vandenreich could be able to steal an Arrancar's Resurreccion as easily as they are able to steal a Shinigami's Bankai. But there is also a couple questions this brings up: is it a retcon of the Arrancar's Resurrecion, and how would Medallions able to steal Bankai be able to do the same to Resurreccion?
I believe the answer rests with the Asauchi and the form of a Hollows. As we learnt recently, an Asauchi is made from laying multiple Shinigami souls on top of each other, the end result being blank beings with no individuality.
A Menos Grande is formed from a similar process, only it occurs when Hollows begin to devour other Hollows, which causes their souls to merge with one another to create the mindless Gillian, which themselves are blank slates unless there is one Hollow whose ego/personality exceeds those making up the rest of the Menos. We saw an "alternate" method of creating a Menos with White, who could use a Menos' Cero but was made from multiple Shinigami souls.
As we know, the Gillians who maintain individuality have the potential to become Adjuchas and eventually Menos Grandes, becoming distinct individuals, having progressed beyond the Gillian stage. Once a Hollow breaks their Masks to become Arrancars, they regain their Human forms - or as close to Human forms as they can get - and they store the nucleus of their Hollow powers in the Zanpakuto generated by the evolution into Arrancar.
But more importantly is what happens when one Adjuchas devours even a small piece of another - the evolution of the Adjuchas who had part of their body devoured stops. We also know that an Arrancar who discards a part of their physical form in Resurrecion cannot restore themselves to their original state. This is the same as what happens when Bankai are damaged - a Bankai can never be restored to the way it was, and suffers from decreased power.
The composition of a Menos' body is essentially the same as the Asauchi - multiple souls piled on top of one another - and sealing the nucleus of one's Hollow powers in a Zanpakuto represents the same thing as it does for a Shinigami's Zanpakuto. Just as a Bankai is the complete manifestation of a Shinigami's power, the Resurreccion is the manifestation of the Arrancar's true power.
---------------------------------------------------------------
But this is not the case with either Fullbringers or Quincy. In the case of Fullbringers, however, their method of manifesting powers functions very much like a Shinigami - they imprint the essence of their soul onto an object they are close to. In the case of Fullbringers, this can be any Human World object they have a close attachment to, and then manifest their powers by amplifying the power of the object's "soul" with their own.
In the case of Quincy, they use the Quincy Cross to act as the focus of their reishi-gathering abilities in order to manifest a Spirit Weapon. As was explained early on, the Quincy and Shinigami are opposites of one another. A Shinigami channels their inner power through their Zanpakuto, "fighting with the power within", while Quincy absorb reishi and combine it with their power to create weapons, "fighting using outside powers".
In other words, both of these subsets of Humans use their powers to manipulate certain spiritual energies - the "soul" of "objects" or the reishi in the atmosphere - in order to create weapons.
This is in stark contrast to the spiritual beings of Shinigami and Arrancar, who possess weapons in the form of Zanpakuto - which are composed of multiple souls piled/mixed together - which represent the "essence" of the Shinigami or Arrancar's soul, and are "released" to display the individual's true power.
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Which brings us to what Urahara mentioned in "Everything But the Rain". When discussing the method of saving Masaki, Urahara explained that Hollows are opposites of Humans, and Shinigami are opposites of Quincy. In essence, Urahara set up the relevance of harmony between these four soul types, and their relationships to one another.
In the case of Hollows and Humans being opposites, this is best seen when looking at both Arrancar and Fullbringers. Both races are hybrid races created by their opposition. In the case of Arrancar, they are "Hollows" who regain their "Human" selves, resulting in their "Hollow" powers being sealed into a Zanpakuto. In the case of Fullbringers, they are "Humans" who were born with "Hollow reiryoku" mixed into their souls. Because they are opposites, this awakened a power that allows "Humans" to manipulate the "souls" in "matter".
But things get messy if you attempt to mix Hollow powers in with the soul of a Shinigami and Quincy. Because they are spiritual beings - and likely because of the nature of the Zanpakuto being similar to Hollows - a Shinigami who gains Hollow powers is able to "Hollowfy", affording them an increase in power. Despite this, there still exists the risk of Shinigami losing control of themselves, becoming mindless monsters, and self-destructing via "soul suicide".
But a Hollow's true anti-thesis is the Quincy. Both races, as we now know, exist in a mutual relationship of destruction. If a Hollow is killed by Quincy arrows, they are erased from existence, and if a Quincy's soul becomes contaminated with a Hollow's essence, their spiritual powers not only become "weakened", but they can also have their own souls destroyed by a Hollow's essence.
Hence, the only soul able to balance out a "Hollow" and resist its "corruption/poison" is a "Human" soul. This makes sense, considering all "Human" souls can become "Hollows" if their Chain of Fate erodes away.
It is different when you mix "Human" with "Shinigami" or "Quincy". The "Human" soul is neutral to both "Shinigami" and "Quincy", but with different effects. With a "Shinigami", they have a "Human" physical body, and must exit that body in order to assume their "Shinigami" form. It also seems that a "Shinigami" ages at the rate of a "Human" in such circumstances - as we saw with Isshin, who became a "Shinigami-Human" and physically aged twenty years as a result.
With "Quincy", who are Humans with spiritual powers, a Pure-blood "Quincy" marrying a "Human" and having children produces a "Half-blood" Quincy. At this point, it is purely hypothesis, but it is a notion I have heard elsewhere and agree with - specifically Milareppa at OneManga, IIRC.
While a Half-Blood "Quincy" might not have the same innate potential as a Pure-Blood, their "Human" sides might give them the "natural defenses/antibodies" to Hollows that Pure-Bloods lack. This is how we've seen Uryu be injured by Hollows numerous times, yet he has not been "poisoned" like we have just seen happen with Cang Du, and what happened with Masaki. So while they might be considered "inferior" to the Pure-Bloods, a Half-Blood is actually "superior" in the fact they have natural defenses against a Hollow's essence.
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In regards to "Shinigami" and "Quincy", we have not seen a clear end-result of that outside of two - potentially three - instances. In the first instance at the beginning of the series, just by touching Ichigo's Zanpakuto, Uryu's Kojaku, his Spirit Weapon, changed form and most likely would have produced an exponentially more powerful arrow than his normal self.
For the second, we have Ichigo himself. He wields the powers of the Shinigami, but now that his Quincy powers have awakened and his true Zanpakuto revealed, we know three things: 1) Ichigo now possesses dual Zanpakuto, a trait only Kyoraku and Ukitake have displayed among the Shinigami, 2) Ichigo has a manifestation of Quincy powers in his Inner World, and 3) that manifestation can activate the Blut to protect Ichigo even when Ichigo himself is unaware he can use the ability.
The third is how Ichigo and his sisters were safe from the Auswahlen. We know Uryu was also unaffected, but I'll get to that later. Because of their Quincy heritage, the Kurosaki siblings should have all been targeted by the Auswahlen, but Yhwach could touch none of them - he could only take Masaki's powers - so we know that a Shinigami-Quincy hybrid is immune to Yhwach's Auswahlen, essentially meaning they exist outside of his influence.
As to what this means, Grand Fisher mentioned that Ichigo was a "Trueblood" upon learning his father was a Shinigami. But what is a "True Blood"? The terminology Kubo uses for that term is different from the "Pure Blood" and "Half-Blood" used to refer to the Quincy and their lineages.
It could simply mean Ichigo has Shinigami heritage, but why would "True Blood" be used to refer to just anyone with a Shinigami heritage? I think that it is hinting at something in regards to Humans born with "Shinigami" powers. The possibility exists that the only way a "Human" can be born with "Shinigami" powers is if one of their parents was a Shinigami and the other a Quincy. As a result of these two opposing races existing in one being, the end result is a "True Blood" - an individual possessing both the power of "Shinigami" and "Quincy".
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In the end, it is all a matter of the balance between souls and their relationships to one another, which brings us to the last section of my post (hopefully) - the nature of Transcendence.
"Transcendence" appears to be rooted in "transcending Shinigami and Hollow", and Hollowfication was Aizen's main research route in achieving that goal. However, "Hollowfication" is unstable, so creating a "stable" Visored requires a vaccine made from Quincy Arrows of Light and Human souls, with the vaccine's two parts balancing with the conflicting Shinigami and Hollow essences to stabilize the soul. But compared to an Arrancar, a stable hybrid of "Human" and "Hollow", the Visoreds are imperfect.
This is where the "Human" essence becomes key to achieving Transcendence. The "Human" side has to balance with the "Hollow" side in order to make it stable, which will result in a fusion of "Shinigami" and "Hollow" to create a being "transcending both Shinigami and Hollow". Ginjo also made mention of this when discussing Ichigo's Fullbring - when his Shinigami reiatsu fused with his Fullbring, he would gain a power "transcending the Shinigami".
It is because of Ichigo's "Human" side that the "Hollow" powers passed onto him from Masaki, who was infected with Hollowfication by White, fused with his Shinigami powers and became his Zanpakuto without resulting in "soul suicide".
However, there is a catch. As we saw with Aizen, Ichigo and Ginjo, any Transcendental Being with only those three essences inside them - "Hollow", "Shinigami" and "Human" - will appear distinctly Hollow-like in appearance. They may wield Zanpakuto, but their physical appearance is still that of Hollows. Aizen might have been because of the Hogyoku, but we saw the upper limit of this with the abomination he became at the end.
Which brings me to the second, complete stage of Transcendence. In this stage, all four soul essences are in balance with one another - "Shinigami" and "Quincy", and "Human" and "Hollow". Ichigo is the main example of this thus far in the series, and embodies the balance of souls in the series - one the Blood War has thrown out of balance for the past one thousand years.
------------------------------------------------------------------
As a result, the key theme of the Final Blood War arc is not solely about the Quincy, but it will be about the role they fill in the balance of souls in the Bleach universe. If their existence only threatened the balance and to cause the destruction of the world, why would they exist in the first place?
-------------------------------------------------------
In the recent chapter of Bleach, Urahara tells us that the Arrancar's Resurreccion is almost the same as a Shinigami's Bankai, and we have seen - particularly with Vasto Lordes level Arrancar - that the power increase given by Resurreccion is equivalent to that of a Bankai in most cases.
By this logic, Urahara proposed that the Vandenreich could be able to steal an Arrancar's Resurreccion as easily as they are able to steal a Shinigami's Bankai. But there is also a couple questions this brings up: is it a retcon of the Arrancar's Resurrecion, and how would Medallions able to steal Bankai be able to do the same to Resurreccion?
I believe the answer rests with the Asauchi and the form of a Hollows. As we learnt recently, an Asauchi is made from laying multiple Shinigami souls on top of each other, the end result being blank beings with no individuality.
A Menos Grande is formed from a similar process, only it occurs when Hollows begin to devour other Hollows, which causes their souls to merge with one another to create the mindless Gillian, which themselves are blank slates unless there is one Hollow whose ego/personality exceeds those making up the rest of the Menos. We saw an "alternate" method of creating a Menos with White, who could use a Menos' Cero but was made from multiple Shinigami souls.
As we know, the Gillians who maintain individuality have the potential to become Adjuchas and eventually Menos Grandes, becoming distinct individuals, having progressed beyond the Gillian stage. Once a Hollow breaks their Masks to become Arrancars, they regain their Human forms - or as close to Human forms as they can get - and they store the nucleus of their Hollow powers in the Zanpakuto generated by the evolution into Arrancar.
But more importantly is what happens when one Adjuchas devours even a small piece of another - the evolution of the Adjuchas who had part of their body devoured stops. We also know that an Arrancar who discards a part of their physical form in Resurrecion cannot restore themselves to their original state. This is the same as what happens when Bankai are damaged - a Bankai can never be restored to the way it was, and suffers from decreased power.
The composition of a Menos' body is essentially the same as the Asauchi - multiple souls piled on top of one another - and sealing the nucleus of one's Hollow powers in a Zanpakuto represents the same thing as it does for a Shinigami's Zanpakuto. Just as a Bankai is the complete manifestation of a Shinigami's power, the Resurreccion is the manifestation of the Arrancar's true power.
---------------------------------------------------------------
But this is not the case with either Fullbringers or Quincy. In the case of Fullbringers, however, their method of manifesting powers functions very much like a Shinigami - they imprint the essence of their soul onto an object they are close to. In the case of Fullbringers, this can be any Human World object they have a close attachment to, and then manifest their powers by amplifying the power of the object's "soul" with their own.
In the case of Quincy, they use the Quincy Cross to act as the focus of their reishi-gathering abilities in order to manifest a Spirit Weapon. As was explained early on, the Quincy and Shinigami are opposites of one another. A Shinigami channels their inner power through their Zanpakuto, "fighting with the power within", while Quincy absorb reishi and combine it with their power to create weapons, "fighting using outside powers".
In other words, both of these subsets of Humans use their powers to manipulate certain spiritual energies - the "soul" of "objects" or the reishi in the atmosphere - in order to create weapons.
This is in stark contrast to the spiritual beings of Shinigami and Arrancar, who possess weapons in the form of Zanpakuto - which are composed of multiple souls piled/mixed together - which represent the "essence" of the Shinigami or Arrancar's soul, and are "released" to display the individual's true power.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Which brings us to what Urahara mentioned in "Everything But the Rain". When discussing the method of saving Masaki, Urahara explained that Hollows are opposites of Humans, and Shinigami are opposites of Quincy. In essence, Urahara set up the relevance of harmony between these four soul types, and their relationships to one another.
In the case of Hollows and Humans being opposites, this is best seen when looking at both Arrancar and Fullbringers. Both races are hybrid races created by their opposition. In the case of Arrancar, they are "Hollows" who regain their "Human" selves, resulting in their "Hollow" powers being sealed into a Zanpakuto. In the case of Fullbringers, they are "Humans" who were born with "Hollow reiryoku" mixed into their souls. Because they are opposites, this awakened a power that allows "Humans" to manipulate the "souls" in "matter".
But things get messy if you attempt to mix Hollow powers in with the soul of a Shinigami and Quincy. Because they are spiritual beings - and likely because of the nature of the Zanpakuto being similar to Hollows - a Shinigami who gains Hollow powers is able to "Hollowfy", affording them an increase in power. Despite this, there still exists the risk of Shinigami losing control of themselves, becoming mindless monsters, and self-destructing via "soul suicide".
But a Hollow's true anti-thesis is the Quincy. Both races, as we now know, exist in a mutual relationship of destruction. If a Hollow is killed by Quincy arrows, they are erased from existence, and if a Quincy's soul becomes contaminated with a Hollow's essence, their spiritual powers not only become "weakened", but they can also have their own souls destroyed by a Hollow's essence.
Hence, the only soul able to balance out a "Hollow" and resist its "corruption/poison" is a "Human" soul. This makes sense, considering all "Human" souls can become "Hollows" if their Chain of Fate erodes away.
It is different when you mix "Human" with "Shinigami" or "Quincy". The "Human" soul is neutral to both "Shinigami" and "Quincy", but with different effects. With a "Shinigami", they have a "Human" physical body, and must exit that body in order to assume their "Shinigami" form. It also seems that a "Shinigami" ages at the rate of a "Human" in such circumstances - as we saw with Isshin, who became a "Shinigami-Human" and physically aged twenty years as a result.
With "Quincy", who are Humans with spiritual powers, a Pure-blood "Quincy" marrying a "Human" and having children produces a "Half-blood" Quincy. At this point, it is purely hypothesis, but it is a notion I have heard elsewhere and agree with - specifically Milareppa at OneManga, IIRC.
While a Half-Blood "Quincy" might not have the same innate potential as a Pure-Blood, their "Human" sides might give them the "natural defenses/antibodies" to Hollows that Pure-Bloods lack. This is how we've seen Uryu be injured by Hollows numerous times, yet he has not been "poisoned" like we have just seen happen with Cang Du, and what happened with Masaki. So while they might be considered "inferior" to the Pure-Bloods, a Half-Blood is actually "superior" in the fact they have natural defenses against a Hollow's essence.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In regards to "Shinigami" and "Quincy", we have not seen a clear end-result of that outside of two - potentially three - instances. In the first instance at the beginning of the series, just by touching Ichigo's Zanpakuto, Uryu's Kojaku, his Spirit Weapon, changed form and most likely would have produced an exponentially more powerful arrow than his normal self.
For the second, we have Ichigo himself. He wields the powers of the Shinigami, but now that his Quincy powers have awakened and his true Zanpakuto revealed, we know three things: 1) Ichigo now possesses dual Zanpakuto, a trait only Kyoraku and Ukitake have displayed among the Shinigami, 2) Ichigo has a manifestation of Quincy powers in his Inner World, and 3) that manifestation can activate the Blut to protect Ichigo even when Ichigo himself is unaware he can use the ability.
The third is how Ichigo and his sisters were safe from the Auswahlen. We know Uryu was also unaffected, but I'll get to that later. Because of their Quincy heritage, the Kurosaki siblings should have all been targeted by the Auswahlen, but Yhwach could touch none of them - he could only take Masaki's powers - so we know that a Shinigami-Quincy hybrid is immune to Yhwach's Auswahlen, essentially meaning they exist outside of his influence.
As to what this means, Grand Fisher mentioned that Ichigo was a "Trueblood" upon learning his father was a Shinigami. But what is a "True Blood"? The terminology Kubo uses for that term is different from the "Pure Blood" and "Half-Blood" used to refer to the Quincy and their lineages.
It could simply mean Ichigo has Shinigami heritage, but why would "True Blood" be used to refer to just anyone with a Shinigami heritage? I think that it is hinting at something in regards to Humans born with "Shinigami" powers. The possibility exists that the only way a "Human" can be born with "Shinigami" powers is if one of their parents was a Shinigami and the other a Quincy. As a result of these two opposing races existing in one being, the end result is a "True Blood" - an individual possessing both the power of "Shinigami" and "Quincy".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the end, it is all a matter of the balance between souls and their relationships to one another, which brings us to the last section of my post (hopefully) - the nature of Transcendence.
"Transcendence" appears to be rooted in "transcending Shinigami and Hollow", and Hollowfication was Aizen's main research route in achieving that goal. However, "Hollowfication" is unstable, so creating a "stable" Visored requires a vaccine made from Quincy Arrows of Light and Human souls, with the vaccine's two parts balancing with the conflicting Shinigami and Hollow essences to stabilize the soul. But compared to an Arrancar, a stable hybrid of "Human" and "Hollow", the Visoreds are imperfect.
This is where the "Human" essence becomes key to achieving Transcendence. The "Human" side has to balance with the "Hollow" side in order to make it stable, which will result in a fusion of "Shinigami" and "Hollow" to create a being "transcending both Shinigami and Hollow". Ginjo also made mention of this when discussing Ichigo's Fullbring - when his Shinigami reiatsu fused with his Fullbring, he would gain a power "transcending the Shinigami".
It is because of Ichigo's "Human" side that the "Hollow" powers passed onto him from Masaki, who was infected with Hollowfication by White, fused with his Shinigami powers and became his Zanpakuto without resulting in "soul suicide".
However, there is a catch. As we saw with Aizen, Ichigo and Ginjo, any Transcendental Being with only those three essences inside them - "Hollow", "Shinigami" and "Human" - will appear distinctly Hollow-like in appearance. They may wield Zanpakuto, but their physical appearance is still that of Hollows. Aizen might have been because of the Hogyoku, but we saw the upper limit of this with the abomination he became at the end.
Which brings me to the second, complete stage of Transcendence. In this stage, all four soul essences are in balance with one another - "Shinigami" and "Quincy", and "Human" and "Hollow". Ichigo is the main example of this thus far in the series, and embodies the balance of souls in the series - one the Blood War has thrown out of balance for the past one thousand years.
------------------------------------------------------------------
As a result, the key theme of the Final Blood War arc is not solely about the Quincy, but it will be about the role they fill in the balance of souls in the Bleach universe. If their existence only threatened the balance and to cause the destruction of the world, why would they exist in the first place?
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