Some Alternate Titles.

I wonder if his status as a low-ranking noble and how he saw the difference between nobility and regular shinigami is what made him a more colder and serious shinigami after the academy.

Side note: I have to read 13 blades, Kira taking responsibility for his actions, such integrity.

Kira Izuru and loyalty

Among the many misconceptions people seem to have about Izuru, he’s “loyal to a fault” is a very, very popular one.

For some reason.

But he’s not. Not really. It’s a lot more complicated than that.

Keep reading

It feels like the whole using mentally broken Shinigami souls for asauchi system implies it's a recycling process. Like the post says the Shinigami in Maggot Nest's are being broken down for this but there's also the chance of Shinigami that survive war and fighting but come out mentally broken, they would also get turned into asauchi if they're not of noble upbringing.

How Zanpakutō Are Made

We have enough pieces of the puzzle to guess how zanpakutō are made and how and why zanpakutō spirits manifest the way they do. I'm going to outline it for you presently.

We're told in chapter 540 that:

Asauchi are created in the same way as White was: many different Shinigami souls are used to create them; both are examples of what I call a "Cyber-Hollow".

With natural Hollow evolution, Hollows will eat other souls (with all of these being "interned" rather than destroyed) and each other until they gain enough "mass" to become a Gillian, all of which look and act totally identical. Asauchi are actually essentially Cyber-Gillians. They too look and act identical, as we're shown in chapter 523:

Ōetsu goes on to call them:

This is akin to how an individual Gillian can become just about anything when it transforms into an Adjuchas, after one soul achieves supremacy over the others. Now there's an interesting point to make here: Ōetsu claims White was made from the souls of many Shinigami, whereas Kaname says in chapter 532 and 533:

Now it could be that this is yet more singular/plural confusion in the translations here, but Kaname seems to be suggesting that White was made from a single Shinigami.

At any rate, White's purpose is confirmed in Kaname's second statement: White was meant to infect Shinigami as it did Masaki. It is, in effect, a Hollow equivalent of a zombie carrier for a zombie virus, a refined "bioweapon" compared to direct infection with the Hollowfication agent as seen in TBTP; Kaname & Co. were basically playing Umbrella Corporation from Resident Evil or Weyland-Yutani from Aliens and creating Bio-Organic Weapons for military purposes. The infection vector being through bites is more readily controlled and less dangerous to the operators than the original form of a loose agent. This is again confirmed by chapter 529:

Whatever the truth is with regards to Kaname's construction of White, it's sort of immaterial as Ōetsu tips his hand: his Asauchi are made from many Shinigami souls layered together. Before we go on to the obvious problem of "Where does Ōetsu get the souls from?" we should finish up with the distinction between asauchi and zanpakutō. Our first clue is in chapter 522:

You can visually see the difference between the two entities. Asauchi are "blank", zanpakutō are "actualized" and can seem extremely human. He goes on to openly mock Ichigo and Renji's inability to distinguish them from Shinigami:

We get told in chapter 523 that:

This hints at the full story, as does chapter 529:

Until finally, we're told the truth in chapter 540, right before and after the comments about White:

So we need to take a step back and clarify something here as Ōetsu is being sloppy: Zangetsu is not White, or the remnants of White. White did not "enter" Masaki. Kaname tells us directly that White is a Hollow with "the ability to convert others into Hollows like itself," emphasis mine. White infected Masaki and Masaki began to Hollowfy, a process arrested by Kisuke. So what Ichigo absorbed was not White, but rather... Hollow Masaki.

This, plus her Quincy blood, fused with his Shinigami powers from Isshin. This is "the will and destiny Ichigo inherited." In a very real sense (in the same sense that Ichigo is Masaki and Isshin's flesh and blood) Hollow Masaki is Ichigo's zanpakutō.

Certainly puts the "I will protect" lines during the fight with Ulquiorra in a different light, doesn't it?

It was never about Orihime. It isn't, "I will protect her," in the original Japanese, it was only, "I will protect," and it is Zangetsu speaking about Ichigo. This is confirmed by 1. Zangetsu almost immediately taking several actions that threaten to kill Orihime (and Uryū) and 2. by Tensa Zangetsu later saying during Dangai training that the things Ichigo wants to protect are not what he wants to protect. Orihime almost dies during the fight because Zangetsu doesn't care about her, just like Zangetsu doesn't care about Karakura, as we're told in chapter 429 (admittedly also involving the sentiments of "Zangetsu", that is to say, not-Yhwach, which is also why Yhwach claims to be Ichigo's "father" later on):

In a very real sense, "Full Hollow Ichigo" can be read as Hollowfied Masaki protecting Ichigo yet again. Don't believe it? This parallel from chapter 680 ain't for nothing:

The Quincy power was mingled with the Hollow power because both were Masaki.

In another sense though, Zangetsu is Ichigo, as chapter 221 shows up with Ichigo beginning to dehollowfy Zangetsu into himself:

This presages the final revelation of the reforging of Zangetsu in chapter 542:

Now, we can all readily see that Ichigo's backstory is extremely convoluted compared to every other Shinigami's, but from his example we can generalize the truth of how an asauchi becomes a zanpakutō. It lies within two statements from Ōetsu:

"I used the asauchi just now as a trigger to extract this zanpakutō from within you."

"… And became your zanpakutō."

Again, Ōetsu is being a little sloppy in his terminology here, but we can divine the basic truth: your zanpakutō (essence) is something that's inside you all along. The asauchi is simply a mechanism for drawing it out and materializing it. So if you ever wondered why Tōshirō already has Hyōrinmaru in his soul in chapter -16, that's why:

The essence of a zanpakutō comes from within, not from without. In some sense, Hyōrinmaru is and always was part of Tōshirō. The same is true of every other Shinigami as well. (The correct way to think about Kusaka, if one credits that movie, is therefore that he shared an essence with Tōshirō.) It is the form of it that changes... on exposure to an asauchi.

To recap:

all Shinigami have a zanpakutō essence within them already

an asauchi serves to draw out this zanpakutō essence and fuse with it, creating a zanpakutō sword

this zanpakutō sword can manifest a zanpakutō spirit, its own personification

At this point you should be wondering: why do zanpakutō spirits look so different from their wielders if they are their wielders?

Well that's very simple: they're mixed with the asauchi. Remember: the asauchi is a collection of Shinigami souls (or parts of them, it's not clear). The essence of a zanpakutō is absorbed from the wielding Shinigami, creating a new entity. But that collection of Shinigami souls still has a massive influence on the manifestation of the completed zanpakutō, thus its radically different appearance and personality. These come from some kind of amalgamation of the souls used to create the asauchi.

Ichigo did not have this issue because there "was nobody else" influencing the expression of his zanpakutō (except the shard of Yhwach, which was also dormant until his powers woke up). Zangetsu simulated a normal zanpakutō using Hollow mask matter, but there were no "outside influences" in the form of an asauchi to change his appearance or behavior, hence why he's a mirror of Ichigo. Not so with every other Shinigami.

(This is bolstered by the assertion by Kubo that when someone else comes into possession of a deceased Shinigami's zanpakutō, although it can be completely overwritten, there is sometimes a "mixing" where the current owner's aspects mix with the previous one's.)

In other words, just like an asauchi is a Cyber-Gillian, a zanpakutō is a Cyber-Adjuchas. The wielding Shinigami provides the dominant soul to bring the component souls of the asauchi into order and advance their evolution to the next step. However, whereas natural Hollows become more animalistic as Adjuchas, Cyber-Hollows become more human as Adjuchas. This is why Ichigo and Renji couldn't tell the difference between all of Ōetsu's zanpakutō and Shinigami.

This also strongly suggests that the zanpakutō essence already residing within oneself is also what is unleashed via Hollowfication. It's simply that in Hollowfication, this essence is twisted and corrupted by the loss of heart, whereas in an asauchi-release, it's kept whole and pure. This in turn suggests that the zanpakutō essence is essentially a personification of the individual's will. This will be important momentarily.

So now we know how this process occurs once someone is handed an asauchi. But where do the components for asauchi come from? Well...

As @uraharashouten has recently noted, the Maggot's Nest is a prison exclusively for Shinigami who are believed to potentially be future problems. It's essentially the Shinigami equivalent of a CIA black site used by Minority Report's Pre-Crime Division.

Notice also what Kisuke says here in chapter -106:

The Maggot's Nest is not Kisuke's main responsibility, nor is it where people who have done normal crimes end up. There is an entirely separate facility for those, which is his main duty, and the Maggot's Nest is just a side-gig. That's why it's such a rinky-dinky little jail. We know of exactly one big prison in the Seireitei: the Central Great Underground Prison. That was his actual main job (although that facility is likely under Central 46's direct supervision, not the Onmituskidō/2nd Division). This is why Kisuke's punishment in TBTP was to be depowered—the warden of the CGUP would know too much to be imprisoned within it.

Now, why would you put the pre-crime prisoners in a separate facility from the normal crime prisoners? Because you want to do something else with them, of course.

Haven't you ever thought it was weird the Maggot's Nest looks more like a psych ward?

I'm going to move a little faster now. We get told in Can't Fear Your Own World, volume 3, chapter 21:

Oh-Etsu had initially planned to hold back the thing by turning him into a full Asauchi, but the Soul Reaper was still in the process of doing that research and was not capable of entirely erasing individuality in those days, so the monstrosity ended up becoming a demonic sword with the ability to devour his own wielder’s konpaku.

We're told in Spirits Are Forever With You that it takes much more time for Azashiro to assimilate people than objects, because their reiatsu resists the effects of his Bankai. As is usual, everything in Bleach is a test of will. So, in other words, the Maggot's Nest exists to break down a Shinigami's will:

This way it's much easier to erase their individuality before shredding their souls and forging asauchi out of them. The listless and broken cannot resist.

Which in turn ensures that the soul of the wielder of an asauchi will always be the dominant soul and properly inject their zanpakutō spirit into it. It's like a rigged version of a Gillian where a particular soul will always effortlessly dominate the others, regardless of how strong it is. There is no competition as in wild Hollows. Even the weakest Shinigami can subjugate an asauchi. And when that soul is strong enough...

They will all acknowledge it and submit automatically.

So there you have it: potentially dangerous Shinigami are mentally broken before being turned into asauchi, those asauchi then draw out an inner zanpakutō essence in a Shinigami and actualize it into a weapon, eventually forming its own "person" which is the same-as-but-different-from the wielder. All of the unsightly Hollow aspects of this are conveniently hidden from all parties, and no Shinigami ever suspects that they're using tame Hollows made from their dead comrades.

It's all nice and "clean".

Good questions tbh

They said they used Reishi to create space in the Seireitei's shadows, and everything in the Soul Society is made of Reishi, so I guess that whole Shadow realm was literally part of the Soul Society's composition like it's other half. Plus, couldn't Quincy hide their reiatsu like Shinigami do?

Hueco Mundo still has tons of Hollows in it that would come and go from the World of Living to Hueco Mundo. Hollows would go after the Quincy there and get killed, which would be troublesome, possibly alerting the SS if the balance of souls gets tilted. It also gets rid of the territorial advantage the Quincy had by staying in the Soul Society's shadows and avoiding the "Soul Shield Membrane" which vaporizes Reishi. https://bleach.fandom.com/wiki/Sekkiseki

Quilge (The Quincy guy I assume you're talking about) was using his Reishi subordination to make the hollow/Ayon part of him. He mentioned it was unholy to him. This post talks about that stuff and has a manga panel where Quilge said the Ayon monster he absorbed was corrupting his holy wings. Ayon wasn't the Tres Bestia's true power so Quilge could somewhat integrate that Hollow into himself But he wouldn't be able to do the same to Resurrecion which is a Arcancar Hollow's true power. ihttps://saranel.tumblr.com/post/156307147675/remember-those-bankai-hollowify-pills-urahara-made

Oh yeah, the brainwashed Arcancar soldier has that Quincy cross which allowed him to use Reishi like a Quincy could, I don't think the Quincy powers were actually integrated into that Arcancar. Plus, Yhwach probably granted him the ability through that cross.

Honestly, I think Kubo should have had Urahara bring in that Tenshintai doll or something based on it, considering it manifests a Zanpakuto spirit in the Soul Society. They could have focused on the zanpakuto's spirit's bond with a Shinigami but then the Quincy's medallions could have recaptured them or the medallion is literally forcing the Zanpakuto spirit away from it's owner. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/tenshintai/4055-49138/

Just watch a few clips on youtube while skimming through the wiki and I have. so many questions.

* How did none of the scientist in bleach notice any of the thousands Quincies building up their strength right under the Seireitei?

* Why is it suddenly impossible to detect another dimension when Hueco Mundo (and the Valley of Screams if you’re a novelist truther) were so easy to find when they’re spiritual pressure went up?

* Wouldn’t it make more sense to put the shadow dimension in Hueco Mundo since it’s been far less researched and the giant amounts of hollow Reishi that’s build of could have disguised the Quincies well? Especially since YHWACH is basically a Hollow that nobody had a chance to put down?

* Why is hollow said to have been poisonous to Quincies and yet that n@zi based Quincy was able to observe it’s powers pretty easily? And how does it explain the brainwashed Arrancar soldier we saw in the first Episode?

* Why didn’t the show just create a telepathy booster for bankai users to be able to reconnect with their bankais even after they’ve been stolen to showcase how strong a bond can be between the sword and it’s user instead of these last minute hollow pills that were mostly just fan service for Toshiro fans?

And I cannot stress this enough how this is not at all sarcastic. I am legitimately confused.

Happy New Year everyone! 🥳 🎇2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣

BLEACH × BURN THE WITCH Happy New Year

Bleach characters, Ichigo has decided to quit being a soul reaper and go to college instead! Your reactions?

As requested by anon. :)

Hisagi: Awwww….I kinda *liked* the universe.

Soi Fon: Kurosaki is abandoning the fight now? Ridiculous.

Soi Fon: If he had learned the importance of duty and assassination when he was little, like a normal child, this would not be happening now.

Urahara: Actually, children in the human world learn things like coloring and counting! Not murder!

Soi Fon: No wonder humans are so weak.

Chad: Ichigo, I support education, but are you sure you want to *completely* give up being a soul reaper?

Chad: When you lost your powers, you were not happy.

Ishida: Plus, the universe tends to need you, Kurosaki! You have obligations!

Orihime: Maybe you should go on doing both school and shinigami stuff? We’ll help!

Ichigo: Guys…I was basically never in class during high school.

Ichigo: Being a shinigami is too much of a time commitment! So if I want to do college, I need to just do college.

Keigo: I-Ichigo…

Keigo: You…

Keigo: YOU REALLY ARE A NERD!!!

Ichigo: Shut up.

Byakuya: Kurosaki Ichigo, you do not need further schooling to achieve success.

Byakuya: Merely tell people that you are a noble. 

Ichigo: Yeah…being a part of a dead noble family from the afterlife doesn’t do much in the human world, Byakuya.

Byakuya: Humans are more barbaric than I realized.

Rukia: Hmmm….I’ve never been to college…

Rukia: It sounds fun!

Ichigo: W-what makes you think you’ll come??

Rukia: Because you always need me, fool!

Grimmjow: I don’t buy it, Kurosaki!

Grimmjow: You love fighting too much to give it up!

Grimmjow: The first time you see a hollow, your shinigami instincts will take over!

Ichigo: Naw. I’m probably gonna be a shinigami for the rest of my natural life and then for eternity in Soul Society.

Ichigo: I think I can handle taking four years off.

Grimmjow: WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH KUROSAKI?!?

Ulquiorra: All of you, enough. Kurosaki Ichigo is a human. He is allowed to lead a human life.

Ichigo: Uh….thanks, Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra: He will most likely be dead before he manages to finish four years of anything, after all.

Ichigo: …

Ichigo: Thanks so much.

Me writing a meta for my favorite series: -Write write write evidence write perfect flow write write great organization write evidence write-

Me writing an essay at school: what the hell am i supposed to write for this crap

Child of Demeter Congratulations and welcome to cabin 4! You are a demigod child of Demeter, goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. As such you have a natural inclination toward the culinary arts and possess the ability to control plants, sense them, and make them grow faster. Additionally, but in rare cases, you might be able to teleport through plants and summon Karpoi and Satyrs to your aid. Something you can look forward to is working on the strawberry fields alongside cabin 12 and enjoying the first ripe strawberries.

Not bad, the quiz had some fun questions. I'll tag my mutuals if they want to try it out.

@getsusun, @doomsminion, @headcanonsandcupcakes

making a new tag game because i wanna !!

do this pic crew > post your creation 😁

take this quiz > post the photo of your godly parent n copy/paste the description 😤

like so 😋

child of zeus Congratulations and welcome to cabin 1! You are a demigod child of Zeus, the king of the gods and ruler of the sky. Aside from being more likely to die before the 6th grade, you possess the ability to summon storms and rain clouds and perhaps even shoot lightning and electricity! Children of Zeus have enhanced leadership qualities and naturally assume positions of responsibility in whatever group they are in. Much rests upon your shoulders!

starting off the tagging w some moots from my writing blog n my personal😁

@kamesama | @usoppsstar | @pileofmush | @anemptypuddingcup | @kibblz-n-bitz | @leakyweep | @zimzalabimmmmm | @kingofthe-egirls | @alice-chan-chan | @sanjisjuul | @captkiddd | @bby-deerling | @ohmaswife | @alastair-fics

Santa, all I want for Christmas is no more Shinji scenes or dialogue to be cut from Cour 3 or Cour 4 🥺

this is haRDLY THE TIME

Finally, someone articulates the whole dynamic of Renji's soul in early Bleach and how that would have led to an incomplete Bankai with the rushed training. Plus, there's also the way he honed himself solely to fight Byakuya, but ended up having a snake based Bankai that was missing Zabimaru's baboon motif until TYBW.

in before i see any hot takes on zabimaru being a prick for holding out on renji: they didn't. they gave him half a bankai when he needed one, even though he wasn't ready. they gave him a half-bankai he could face byakuya with, a half-bankai that gave him the courage to turn his back on forty years of being a good soldier because it was all for rukia anyway. zabimaru said "jump in the ocean, renji, we'll learn to swim as we go" and if my man has taken a lot of L's over the years, it's because he's literally learning on the job what every captain in the gotei has had years to practice and perfect.

hey, just noticed that you liked one of my manga colorings. glad to see you appreciated my nearly decade old post and seeing other bleach fans :')

No problem! Your manga edits are pretty colorful especially the Oetsu ones lol. I wasn't really into manga/anime back then so now I'm just seeing what awesome fan work was made during the Bleach manga's run. You should reblog some of them, they're really good!