#zanpakutou rebellion arc

[recurring-polynya]

Hi! I saw your post on Bleach world building and I loved it! It was so interesting and I feel like the intent behind how you use all the elements you mentioned really comes through in your writing and makes the world feel so much more grounded. The bit about the Zanpakutous reminded me of a previous post (a long time ago I think hah) where you said that Senbonzakura’s appearance in the Rebellion Arc wasn’t how you imagined them or something to that effect. Since you said you’re starting to write more of them, anything you can share on how you picture them to be? Sorry for the long ask!

Thank you!!

To be honest, I have not done enough thinking about Senbonzakura, and I've taken this ask as an opportunity to do so. Fanfic writers have weird hang-ups and one of mine is that I don't really want to make up zanpakutou headcanons for characters that are not my main blorbos. On the other hand, I have written enough Byakuya that he is...I don't know what he is to me, but at this point, I feel like it would not be too presumptive to have some my own spin on Senbonzakura.

So! For starters, I actually do like Senbonzakura's physical design in the Zanpakutou Rebellion Arc. I tend to think there were too many human-shaped zanpakutou spirits, but Senbonzakura is one that I would keep.

Here are the things I did not like (which I mention not to be a hater, but just to help me get my thoughts together):

I did not like his juvenile "become ungovernable" personality (this was mostly in the follow-on Sword Beasts Arc). I know this was meant as a comment on Byakuya's Rich Inner Life and was half a gag, but it doesn't extrapolate at all to the lifelong companion and advisor of one of the best and most disciplined swordsmen in the Gotei, a man whose life if riddled with tragedy.

I did not like the way Byakuya was generally very dismissive of him both during the climactic fight with Kouga and then again, in the Beast Swords Arc, leaving him for Rukia and Renji to deal with. I like to think that Senbonzakura is incredibly important to Byakuya. I think he is closer and more open with his sword spirit than any person in his life, and that he would regard Senbonzakura manifesting as an opportunity, not a pain in the ass.

I did not like the way some of the other zanpakutou spirits were horny at Senbonzakura (perhaps this is more of a complaint about them).

I did not like the way Sode no Shirayuki was somewhat subservient to Senbonzakura. The Sword Beasts arc made it clear that the manifested zanpakutou had bankai-equivalent power, even if their shinigami had not yet reached bankai. I can see younger zanpakutou being deferential to hella old zanpakutou, like Minazuki or Sougyo no Kotowari, but Senbonzakura and Sode no Shirayuki should regard each other as peers, imo.

I did like the fact that Senbonzakura was masked, but instead of the sort of running joke about people trying to see under the mask, I think Senbonzakura should always be masked. Is there anything under the mask? Are they human, actually, or are they animate armor? This is Senbonzakura's business and no one else's, not even Byakuya's.

My original headcanon for zanpakutou spirits was that they were a sort of an agglomerate ghost passed down from shinigami to shinigami, where when the shinigami dies, they become part of their zanpakutou spirit, when then attaches itself to some young person with shinigami-potential. They retain their values and general themes, although these may influence the person they select, but they lose their form between incarnations, and gain a new one that is shaped by imagery that is meaningful to their new person. I guess there was some stuff, maybe in CFYOW?, about asauchi being made from thousands of souls of dead shinigami. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it's not entirely incompatible with my original idea, so I'm sticking with mine.

To that end: I think Senbonzakura embodies the spirit of bushidou (or whatever variant of bushidou exists in Soul Society). In my mind, one of Byakuya's youthful struggles was that the adults in his life spoke one thing and did another-- they spoke of honor and morality and uprightness, and then turned around and played politics and displayed favoritism. Senbonzakura is an idea that Byakuya can look to and admire and aspire to, who doesn't have a disappointingly human side. Appropriately, they take the form of a samurai, always seen in battle dress.

I think a lot of zanpakutou are tricky or roundabout, because they need their shinigami to learn essential truths about themselves, or just because they are Like That, but I think Senbonzakura is extremely straightforward. Byakuya has to deal with enough convoluted noble bullshit in his daily life. I think Senbonzakura would give B easily explained, but nigh-impossible challenges like "Go cast sokatsui 10,000 times and get back to me." Byakuya would just go fucking do it, and then Senbonzakura would teach him some new thing.

When Byakuya was young (and I think he met Senbonzakura at a very young age), he thought Senbonzakura was male, and Senbonzakura never corrected him. As he got older and had some thoughts about people he knew and about himself, Byakuya realized that there may be masculine and feminine expressions of concepts like honor and duty, but those concepts themselves are genderless, and Senbonzakura seemed to encompass all of them. I tend to think that Byakuya identifies as male by default, and because it affords him more power in society (which is not personally important, but because it's his duty to head his clan and power is a thing he needs) but he doesn't feel particularly attached to the concept. He's also bishounen and is into a lot of stuff like flowers and poetry and tea that was very masculine in the Edo era and has been more feminized in the modern era and his signature color is Barbie pink. He probably wouldn't have given it much thought, but once he realized that he didn't know what gender Senbonzakura was, he started thinking about it more, and realized that sometimes Senbonzakura is more female and sometimes more male and sometimes both and sometimes neither, and maybe that's very cool of them, actually.

Byakuya also thought that Senbonzakura was also very not into love and romance and sex stuff. He also thought this was very cool of them, because he also wasn't much into that stuff, and many of his peers were and talked about it incessantly. Then, when he met Hisana, it turned out that Senbonzakura was big into idealized, courtly love. From what I've read, the Japanese concept of chivalric love was majorly influenced by Heian era women poets, and Senbonzakura spent most of the Hisana years in, quite literally, A Big Sapphic Mood.

I think an important thing about bankai is that it reverses, or at least removes the master-student model between zanpakutou and shinigami. Senbonzakura relinquished this very readily, and slid into the role as Byakuya's equal partner, his comrade-in-arms and truest companion. I think Senbonzakura hated Byakuya's villain era during the Soul Society Arc, because Senbonzakura's interests mostly align with the law, but when they don't, they don't. Having his zanpakutou disagree with him didn't exactly put Byakuya into any better of a mood, and he in some part blamed it on Senbonzakura being still hung up on Hisana. If he hadn't yet gotten bankai, they might have come to loggerheads, but despite their disappointment, Senbonzakura's loyalty to Byakuya won out, and they stood by him, even though he was being a butt.

I don't remember if they hung out much in the Zanpakutou Spirits Arc, but I do think that Senbonzakura would like Hyourinmaru a lot, because they are both Noble and Dignified Beings, and I think Hyourinmaru returns the feeling, because Senbonzakura is polite and honorable. As I said earlier, I think Senbonzakura should regard Sode no Shirayuki as a peer-- they are somewhat alike but also very different in some respects. I think Senbonzakura is rather curious of Sode no Shirayuki, actually. Mysteriously, at least to Byakuya (and definitely to Renji, if he knew about it), I think Senbonzakura has a very "yeah, they're cool" attitude about Zabimaru. Senbonzakura is very fond of both Rukia and Renji and their zanpakutou and is very hype for Ichika when she comes along.

I think that's all the Senbonzakura thoughts I got in me for now! This was a lot of fun, thanks for the ask!

#byakuya kuchiki #senbonzakura #bleach worldbuilding #zanpakutou rebellion arc #i wrote this for my own birthday treat :D #byakuya-posting on my own birthday what have i become?? #usual disclaimer that these are my ideas and everyone is entitled to their own 💕 #i got thru this whole post without using the word autism but byakuya meeting senbonzakura was like when two autists meet on the playground. #a match made on the wikipedia page for flags of the world

[bleachbleachbleach]

In our Bleach rewatch, we are about halfway through the Zanpakutou Rebellion arcs, and a few nights ago we hit my VERY FAVORITE SCENE IN THIS WHOLE ARC. (Other notables: Byakuya and Renji sparring, Hitsugaya putting his hand up for dragon-Hyourinmaru like he’s giving him an apple, the Kuchiki hanami/10th bonfire, and all the shots of the Wind Sock.) Like, I had been waiting for this every night like “Boy gee golly I hope we get to see that scene where Chirpy floats past Isane and Iba!!!! Will it be tonight!! Will we see it?!?!” AND THEN WE SAW IT and it was even more glorious than one could ever dream.

Ashisogi Jizou is hands-down my runaway first bestest top favorite zanpakutou manifestation. I’m generally very lukewarm on humanoid versions of anything that has a non-human form or several that it could otherwise be manifesting as, so for this arc this weird-ass chirpy butterfly baby is my favorite manifestation by default. But it goes so much further than that. You need to understand.

I LOVE this thing. It is a screaming, all-caps, heart a-flutter love. Never have I so hotly anticipated the appearance of a character on my screen as much as Chirpy. In my mind, no character has ever had a more celebration-worthy intro than Chirpy meandering its way through the background of the Zanpakutou Rebellion’s D-plot, encountering Sirs Who Are Not Appearing In This Film because we don’t know shit about Isane nor Iba’s zanpakutou. 

It’s just THERE. To conduct mayhem and be cute and off-putting in a haunted sort of way. And you have the bonus of Isane’s ICONIC OBSERVATION, 

“It’s very distinctive.”

Though tbh, the shinigami had a relatively hard time parsing out whose zanpakutou was whose, including their own. Except Isane. Isane knew everyone’s and I feel in my heart it’s because working at the 4th she has had much more direct and contained experience with most everyone’s reiatsu. And then you have this weird butterfly baby and whose tf else’s would it be.

Top 5 great features of Chirpy:

HE CHIRP. BEST SOUND GREAT SOUND

HE MILL. just wandering around, havoc seemingly both optional and inevitable

Zaraki grabs him by the face

accurately represents real-life moth feature, ‘squeeze me to see my eldritch blades’

could not begin to care about the arc lore. he is here to fuck around and find absolutely zero things out

I LOOOVEEEEEE HIMMMMMMMM

#zanpakutou rebellion arc #ashisogi jizou #kotetsu isane #chirpy #no brain just bleach #bleach

[crehador]

looks like someone skipped the zanpakutou rebellion filler arc

#crab watches #bleach #tybw

[aurora-313]

I got interested at Bleach again recently, and sadly, some of my favorite characters in Bleach is very minor characters, include Kaien and Masaki. I came across your fic just about a week ago, and thank you for the great works. I think I read each and every one of your fic at least four times last week. I never knew I needed some good Ichigo-Kaien cousins relationship, and your works scratched an itch I never knew I had.

So, how long do you planned to write your works? Most Bleach fic writers hate lost agent arc (I dont like it either, but the concept of fullbring is good. I just hate Ichigo's final fullbring design), and you jokingly said something about BB!Kaien flirting some of the female quincies on other asks. Nepenthe starts even before turn back the pendulum arc, so it may take a completly different course of actions from canon. The twin fic, you said it will go under a rewrite, didnt even started soul society arc. I am just curious how long I can enjoy your fic.

And I admit I am curious about how Kaien will play out in some of the anime only arcs. I am manga only reader, and I dont really watch anime in general, but I am seriously considering to watch the anime arc only episodes. Im pretty sure that you will skip those parts, but can you show us what do you think of them?

I'm glad you're enjoying what I've written so far.

Kaien is a criminally underused character and he was one of my favourites for a good long time. I genuinely believe he and Ichigo would've gotten on extremely well, and that Kaien would've been the big brother Ichigo never realised he needed.

For Black and Blue, obviously its going to be canon divergent by virtue of Kaien's living status and his speed-running Ichigo through 'How To Train Your Hollow'. Events will not marry up to the canon timeline. At least not completely, Aizen will face the music - that's a given.

Truth be told I actually dislike Thousand Year Blood War. And in my story, several character's fates set in stone. Many of which run heavily contradictory to the events of TYBW, so I'm electing to ignore that arc. If I touch the Quincy conflict... I'd probably rejig a lot of lore for my narrative.

Tangentially, regarding the flirting with a Quincy joke? BB!Kaien already has an endgame love interest. Hilarious as that would be, they are not a Quincy.

Lost Agent Arc is... one that I've grown to appreciate as I've gotten older, but back when I was reading Bleach week by week, I found it completely insufferable and I spent most of my time bemoaning 'Hurry up and give him his powers back, Kubo."

Though, frankly, I never bought why Ichigo had to lose his powers in the first place, especially when the Hyog had established weaknesses within it which would’ve allowed victory by attrition. And Duex Ex Final Getsuga hits a wrong note with me no matter how you slice it. You can’t describe it as anything other than an ass pull and hand of the author at play.

My conclusion as an adult looking back; Lost Agent, I sit comfortably on the fence. Its okay. Not offensive, not inoffensive, just average. That being said, I have touched on Ginjo Kugo's existence in BB, so that might be another thing I'll have to explore as part of the epilogue. Or in a side/sequel story.

However. My dislike for TYBW aside, I do intend to write independent What-If scenarios for certain events that take place; Kaien's reaction to Ukitake's sacrifice, what Sternritter I'd of had him fight. Things of that nature.

My intention for Black and Blue is to conclude the Winter War with Aizen's defeat and have the Zanpakutou Rebellion arc (anime only) function as a winddown with some rejigging to make it fit into BB's narrative. Then a 'Where are they now' epilogue some years or decades hence because after this hell, these guys have earned their happy endings.

Once More To See You Again I'm focusing on transforming it into a cohesive narrative with some liberties taken with worldbuilding. Rather than have Rukia be persecuted for creating a Shinigami Substitute when there's clearly provisions for one; she pleads guilty to interfering with the Cycle of Souls and reassociation with a reincarnated soul. In OMTSYA Rukia is trapped in a catch-22; Report the Shinigami substitute which reveals the reassociation and end in both their executions, or request a transfer, which leaves a substitute undocumented and unsupervised and end in both their executions. Dealing with that conundrum is going to be interesting. :)

(That, and I didn't like Kaien's aspects fighting each other during Ashewallen. Especially considering how Ichigo's aspects only ever desired to protect him.)

That will last until at LEAST the end of Soul Society. But I do have ideas for interactions with the Visoreds, other Arrancars and how Hueco Mundo would go down. Let's face it: Neo!Kaien vs Aaronerio!Kaien would be a delicious match-up and great character exploration.

Nepenthe was inspired by Cywscross' Swinging Pendulum (but really, what Bleach Time-travel story isn't these days?) - but I wanted to take all the usual time-travel clichés attached to Ichigo and play them completely straight. Rather than pretending, Ichigo does legitimately have amnesia. Rather than hiding his power, Ichigo was injured in such a way that he needs to regain his powers the old fashioned way. Effectively, I dumped him in the past with a clean slate and I look forward to seeing how he adapts to living with and as a Shiba.

But to answer your question: So, how long do you planned to write your works?

For as long as people keep reading and commenting on it, I suppose. :)

There's a criminal lack of Kaien content. I aim to rectify this.

#kaien shiba #ichigo kurosaki #my writing #bleach #bleach tybw #bleach arrancar #bleach au

[thelandswemadeofpaper]

I want a Arc about Kyoka Suigetsu or at least the parts about him in the Zanpakutou Rebellion. I see a bit of Nooroo vibes on the guy, maybe a Kitsune instead? The Butterfly can be from the Hougyoku, make them friends or rivals.

Also, the Sokyoku, I imagine a bird-like armor with helmet and all. Given they don't have a wielder, they are probally an agorophobic lobster.

Nozarashi too! I want to see everyone reaction to Zaraki's zanpakutou! Bonding with Yoruichi's one over their shinigami ignoring them.

#kyoka suigetsu #nooroo #miraculous #bleach #zanpakutou #zanpakutou rebellion

[chanceofarin]

love how this could be considered vaguely canon

#he may be off model but his characterization in this filler arc was pretty spot on imo #also the frame where he's pointing at ichigo is very funny #thinking about a canon-compliant zanpakutou rebellion arc... #long post #love it when him and the old man are ominously cryptic #his shit-eating grin... #bleach #hichigo shirosaki #zangetsu #ichigo kurosaki #shiro bleach

[kaicko]

#so there's a public garden near my college and it has absolutely beautiful cherry blossom trees #and recurring-polynya's zanpakutou rebellion arc recap made me remember about my boy senbonzakura #he's quite a jerk and also really dumb but I love him #I may have low standards #if byakuya could disown half of his soul I think he wouldn't hesitate #at least his character design makes sense after all #bleach #senbonzakura #zanpakuto #cherry blossom #zanpakutou #byakuya kuchiki #I guess

[recurring-polynya]

I was thinking today about how Rukia's attacks are all in the forms of circles, and that her usual attack position starts with herself inside the circle, when it occurred to me that this is also the classic Hihiou Zabimaru position.

Interestingly, I think this is actually Hihiou Zabimaru's defensive position, but it's also their "ready position." As soon as I started thinking about this, I realized that this is actually a carryover from Zabimaru's shikai behavior-- they extend to attack, but retract to protect Renji in between attacks.

That's not actually what I wanted to talk about, though.

I've talked before about how I think that the fundamental theme of a zanpakutou and the foundation of its abilities is inherent to itself, but that the expression of those powers is strongly influenced by the shinigami and has the potential to take many forms. For example, I think the reason Rukia's shikai attacks are all focused on hitting people with ice are because she was trained by and idolized a man with a water zanpakutou, even though Sode no Shirayuki's powers are really more about thermal manipulation. I think this extends, not only to the effects of the attack, but the aesthetics of them. I mean, if you think about Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, is it really necessary that a bunch of swords rise up out of the ground? No, of course not. Are they the very essence of Byakuya-core? Yes.

To that end, I want to talk about the similarities between Hakka no Togame and So-oh Zabimaru-- not in the broad strokes, because they are very, very different zanpakutou-- but in the details. Rukia and Renji grew up together. They are best friends and battle partners and at some point become romantic partners. They get their bankai together. We already know they like making dramatic entrances together. It's no surprise that they have a similar sense of what it means to look sick as Hell.

Clad bankai. For starters, they are both bankai that are worn. I'm not sure if this is a term that's ever used in canon with regard to bankai, although it is used in reference to some Fullbring. In any case, it's a bankai that changes your outfit, as opposed to making some giant construct (like Komamura or Kurotsuchi's) or, um, special effects-based like Rose's or Tousen's, or just a better weapon, like Soi Fon's or Ikkaku's. There's no hard and fast here-- Ichigo also has a clad bankai, which is a full outfit change, like Rukia's. Renji's is somewhere between that and Kensei and Hitsugaya, who just get some shoulder accessories (and one could argue that Kensei's is more "big weapon" than "clad"). The point is, they're in the same ballpark.

Neck protection that leaves the throat exposed. I spent a bunch of time looking up historical armor to try and figure out if this is even a thing, and as far as I can tell, it is not. This says "I love a cowl neck, but I also want to be tits out." I think they both really loved those Hueco Mundo cloaks they had, except for the fact that they made it hard to talk or something and this was the result.

Shoulder guards. I'm not sure Rukia's are actually functional, but they give impression of armor. You'll sometimes see Renji's referred to as "pauldrons" or "spaulders", but these are European terms. In Japanese armor, the piece that covers the shoulder is called the sode. Yeah.

Stripes! "Don't say tiger print is lame!" Rukia says. "Renji really likes it!" Rukia says. Mm-hmm. You know who else has stripes on their neck and shoulders?

(Oh jeez oh jeez, looking at these two pictures underneath each other, Rukia's loops look exactly like Zabimaru's snaketail who stole this from whom?????) Speaking of...

Loopies!! The loopies are cool enough by themselves (if not performing any battle function at all aside from getting caught on shit), but here's the best part: Rukia's appear to be an extension of Sode no Shirayuki's ribbon. When Renji shifts into Orochi-Oh form he gets a bone ribbon.

On some level, maybe subconscious, maybe not, this man looked at the most beautiful zanpakutou in Soul Society and said "I want that for me."

Fringe. Rukia is mostly very stiff looking, but she's got these little ice crystal thingies dangling at various places. We'll have to see how this gets animated, but I hope that they blow around a little to add some kineticism and maybe make some bell-like noises. Bankai is all about making big winds and explosions and smoke clouds and you gotta have some dangle-y shit to blow around, it's compulsory.

Connections to royalty. In Rukia's it's more visual-- the ice tiara, the formal upright kimono. On Renji's side, his bankai is literally called "Two Kings", and it's two forms are "Baboon King" and "Serpent* King." ("Orochi" is used for a giant mythical serpents and dragons, including the eight-headed dragon Yamato no Orochi). I love this imagery being used for them in particular because of their origins as street kids. I hope, with all my heart, that someone makes an AMV for their bankai set to Royals by Lorde.

There's some other aspects that not necessarily inherent to their bankai. Rukia's ice crown is somewhat similar to Renji's bandana/sunglasses, in the sense that it's a head accessory. Rukia's bankai also includes tekkou (which she wears normally, but I assume these are bankai tekkou?) and Renji has his wrist wraps. Rukia's little ice flower on her chest reminded me a little of the baboon skull Renji had on Hihiou Zabimaru, in terms of, it's just...like...decoration? Their #brand? Finally, the cover on the sheath of Rukia's sword (which she also has in shikai) looks a little the extended hilt-guard Renji has going on. (For that matter, does Rukia have to wield Sode no Shirayuki two-handed in bankai? I feel like Kubo drew it that way because he couldn't figure out how to fit the hilt up her sleeve.

#renruki #renji abarai #rukia kuchiki #bleach worldbuilding #red carpet looks only #i am so happy for them they deserved this #this post is peak 'me on my bullshit' and i am not sorry #the other reason i am salty about zanpakutou rebellion arc Saru + Hebi is because zabimaru's black-and-white coloring #is so important to my incredibly niche renruki zanpakutou headcanons

[bleachbleachbleach]

At work, everyone has the same laptop and therefore the same charger. I put a name label on mine just in case it ever needs to be identified, but sometimes I forget that I also put a label on it that says “Gonryoumaru” and I think that’s very Sasakibe of me

#you lived your best life in the zanpakutou rebellion arc gonryoumaru my beloved!!! #no brain just bleach #gonryoumaru #sasakibe choujirou

[akaluan]

Are the others already starting to suspect Kaito is somehow Ishida? It still seems like a bit of a logical leap at this point, but of course we haven't seen as much of the other characters' POV as Kaito's; can you tell us some of the things they're seeing that've begun to tip them off? Is it little things, or is something in his guise slipping?

They’re not, honestly. It /is/ a huge leap in logic, and it’s not one that immediately comes to mind when faced with the facts as portrayed.

What they ARE starting to suspect is that Kaito isn’t being entirely honest about a lot of things. Uryuu is especially suspicious, because he’s watching Kaito closely (a thing that started out of self-preservation, based on their initial interaction) and he’s seeing lots of familiar patterns in Kaito’s actions? And he really doesn’t like the thought of that for several reasons; first because it’s humanizing a being that he initially wants to fear/distrust/hate (due to that first meeting and also because of being a Shinigami in all but name), second because it means Kaito had similar experiences, and third because he’s seeing Kaito turning towards Urahara a lot and that makes Uryuu kinda lowkey hate Kaito sometimes? Because Kaito has something that Uryuu’s never had.

Kaito’s guise isn’t slipping; if anything it’s solidifying as Kaito starts to internalize more and more of the habits of those close to him, especially Urahara. Combine that with his moments of cheerfulness and laughter and the way he /appears/ to be pretty open, and he contrasts pretty drastically with Uryuu.

But then you have moments where they act the same. I don’t make a big deal about it, especially since DE is written from Kaito’s POV, but Kaito does slip at times. Because of the way Kaito is weaving his /actual/ history into his backstory as Kaito, some of the worst of it can be brushed off as similar upbringing or experiences, but there are other things, like Kaito and Uryuu’s reactions to praise, or thanks, that stand out. Not so much that they would react in a specific way? (Because that can be chalked up to similar experiences of an upbringing lacking such things) But because they /make the same motions in response/. If you put them next to each other and made them both react, it would be like looking at a copy, though Kaito’s motions are starting to lose the sharpness of Uryuu’s due to exposure to the Shoten’s residents.

Also, I know I mentioned it almost exactly once and then never brought it up again (sloppy writing on my part), but I REALLY cannot overstress the fact that KAITO ISN’T WEARING GLASSES. And, in fact, the character of “Kaito” would have NEVER NEEDED THEM. And yet Kaito has the automatic “adjust glasses” response that /all/ glasses-wearers develop. That’s an awkward tell that Uryuu’s noticed and picked up on, but no one else has because no one else wears glasses amongst the Karakura crew. Uryuu’s not sure what to make of it right now, but he’s suspicious of it. On the other hand, Kaito actually hasn’t spoken about his vision at all? So Uryuu’s suspicions are partially allayed with the idea that Kaito ONCE HAD glasses, and Urahara has introduced him to contacts since coming to the Living World. It’s a pretty easily disproven theory, but at this point in the story Uryuu hasn’t had the close-friendship-invading-private-spaces sort of relationship with Kaito that would reveal a lack of backup glasses laying around.

All in all, none of them have anything solid for their suspicions, beyond “Kaito sometimes acts weirdly akin to Ishida”. And of course Uryuu has the glasses thing.

#Anonymous #replies #in all honesty tho #even if the zanpakutou rebellion reveal doesn't end up being canon #I really can't see Kaito escaping being discovered by the other teens #especially as he grows to trust them and starts letting his guard down even more #but the more i play with the rebellion #the more i think it will be an actual arc #and the place where the teens actually discover the truth #there's just a bunch of potential for clearing up multiple things #including some stuff with Ukitake and Kaito's relationship

[megashadowdragon]

The Truth Of Yachiru & Nozarashi Finally revealed by Kubo !!

comments on youtube @dopepoisonivyoncrack

So by Zaraki giving Yachiru a name, Yachiru didn't only Manifest but also evolved to gain/become more human like by being a soul reaper? Isn't that fascinating

Bleach still remains to be a thinking man’s anime/manga. From the start clues were dropped left and right or Kubo conveniently built off the concepts he already introduced. We know from the fact that zanpakutou’s can manifest and these stems from the fact that everything in soul society is made up of reishi which is also the source of reiatsu. Higher spirit particle grade (main concept used on the latest bleach one shot)  means higher reiatsu and who’s to say reiatsu can’t be turned back to reishi right? That’s the phenomenon that’s happening. High level reiatsu can manifest even other beings such as yachiru and her being just a part of zaraki’s power means that zaraki is much more powerful than we thought.

a form of nozarashi's bankai....meaning kenpachi's bankai has more than one forms..and by the way, tensa zangetsu had two forms..the hollow form and the qincy form

Well this confirmed my suspicion. There is another character that never called their character by their true name and never got it’s full power, the guy with the eyebrow piece that is under Kenpachi. He hates his sword because it is a Kido weapon so he called it by a different name which altered its form. Kenpachi gave Yachiru her name in a similar manner, but because of the nature of their relationship she became something different as it was not a name out of spite. He gave her a unique identity. She had a true name but Kenpachi never knew it. I believe that is because Kenpachi never tried to depend on his weapon to work with it, speak to it and be United with it. It was just a tool that served. Giving Yachiru a name separated her from the “tool” as he actually cared for the spirit form of his Zanpaktuo without realizing it when they first met. Others who have done the same thing, making their sword a tool, never had real relationships with their weapon but knew exactly what they were doing, they were subjugating their servant. Kenpachi was just using a sword while caring for Yachiru. That is honestly why Kenpachi had to be lead away during the Zanpaktuo rebellion arc. That would have exposed the secret of what Yachiru was. Honestly I believe Yachiru purposely led Kenpachi away from Muramasa knowing the nature of their relationship would have been destroyed before Kenpachi was ready. Kenpachi and Yachiru’s story was beautifully done even though I was already certain Yachiru was Kenpachi’s Zanpaktuo in physical form. It wasn’t the first time that had occurred and Kenpachi was clearly not ready for that step in his life as a Soul Reaper.Show less Kubo has a Q and A website called Klub Outside The process of naming Yachiru so that she gains Soul Reaper powers is something we see before. This process is analogous to other Soul Reapers who don't have good relationships with their Zanpakuto. Firstly, Yachiru is a part of Kenpachi's Zanpakuto, correct? That means her relationship with Zaraki is a Zanpakuto and it's master. Problem is, Zaraki doesn't even want to listen to his Zanpakuto. To reach out to Zaraki, his Zanpakuto manifests physically in the form of Yachiru. Yachiru sort of does embody Zaraki. She is carefree and seemingly oblivious to the world of violence and massacre in the same way a child doesn't understand the true magnitudes of atrocities. This sort of encapsulates Zaraki as he loves to fight, he loves the feeling of going toe-to-toe with someone. Yachiru is probably a unique case because Zaraki's Reiatsu is so damn high it can facilitate such phenomena. Okay, so Yachiru is definitely a part of Zaraki, she is like a Zanpakuto, she can exist because Zaraki is a powerhouse but why does she gain Soul Reaper powers? The answer can be seen with Yumichika, Hihio Zabimaru and Zangetsu. Yumichika's Zanpakuto is unique because it has preferences in colours. It loves the colour azure but hates the colour wisteria. Yumichika knows this and leverages it. Yumichika doesn't like his Shikai because it's a Kido type, which is forbidden in the 11th Division because they hold only melee Zanpakutos as acceptable for their Division. Yumichika doesn't want people to know that his Zanpakuto is a Kido type because he wants to stay with his friend Ikkaku and doesn't want to be forced out for his Zanpakuto. Thus, he calls his Zanpakuto "Fuji Kujaku" or "Wisteria Peacock", which makes the Zanpakuto unhappy and only draw out part of it's power, creating a melee weapon that is acceptable in the 11th Division. Only by calling the Zanpakuto by it's true name of "Ruri'iro Kujaku" or "Azure Peacock" can the Soul Reaper draw it's full power, and by definition, it's true nature out. Similarly, when Yachiru forced herself into existence, Kenpachi giving her a name also gave her some powers. If Yachiru was thought of as a sword, he could now draw out some of it's power with a name, albeit, not it's true power, but some power nonetheless. That's why we see Yachiru with her own Shikai because it is part of Zaraki to a very small degree. I.e. Bloodthirsty to the point of lacking sanity -> Oblivious to the carnage like a child -> an actual child's behaviour and tastes manifesting in a Zanpakuto. The fact that Yachiru was Zaraki's Zanpakuto is even referenced chapters before Zaraki unveils Nozarashi. Yachiru seems to be inexplicably getting closer to hit Guenael Lee based off of pure instinct , just like how Zaraki fights. As for Hihio Zabimaru, it's a much closer comparison to the Yachiru-Nozarashi/Kenpachi dynamic than the Yumichika/Kujaku one. Renji thinks his Zanpakuto's true name is Hihio Zabimaru, which we learn is not true. How is it that Renji achieves Bankai while not using it's true name? Because "Hihio" is only partly it's true name, just like how "Yachiru" only describes Zaraki through Unohana, the bloodthirsty, diabolical criminal that knew every swordfighting style just 'cause she loved to fight. But that didn't describe who Nozarashi was, so only a part of Yachiru's power was drawn out. When Zaraki discovered Nozarashi's name, perhaps Yachiru was called back as Zaraki released all of his power (not on the Bankai level but in the sense that he realized who he was and who his Zanpakuto was - the shackles were broken). Even more on the nose, Old Man Zangetsu even said that any attack is more powerful when you know it's name. It's why Ichigo shouts "Getsuga Tenshou!" every time he wants to release that attack. He has to, otherwise it won't be as powerful - it'd just be the force of his sword. Similarly to both Zabimaru and Yachiru, only parts of their true name, and by extension, their true nature, has been revealed which is why only part of their power had been revealed.Show less

@dopepoisonivyoncrack

#bleach #kenpachi zaraki #zaraki kenpachi #yachiru kusajishi #bleach meta #nozarashi #kusajishi yachiru

[littleeyesofpallas]

Bleach - Snake Name Games

Still mulling over where exactly I want to take this series of posts [1][2] after being asked about interesting zanpakutou names.  I was just gonna do a short blurb about Sarugaki Hiyori’s Shikai at first, but there are a lot of weird vaguely adjacent characters, so this one’s going to be kind of aimless...

Her sword is Kubikiri Orochi[馘大蛇], written with the kanji for 馘:“Decapitation,” 大: “Great”/“Big,” and 蛇:“Snake.”  Viz translates it as “Head-Slicing Serpent” which is kind of a weird choice, but other than missing a specific reference, it’s not technically that big a mistranslation.  But of course there is a reference, because Orochi [大蛇] isn’t just the words “Big Snake” it’s a reference to the mythological creature, Yamato-no-Orochi[八岐大蛇].

The Yamato-no-Orochi sees a lot of exposure in pop media.  It’s an enormous snake with 8 tails and 8 heads spanning the length of 8 hills and valleys, red eyes, and moss and cypress trees growing on it enormous back, and a belly that is constantly bleeding and inflamed.  The Orochi would annually devour the daughters of a village, until it was defeated by the god, Susanoo.  It was tricked into drinking itself to sleep and then beheaded eight times.  From its corpse, Susanoo retrieved the legendary sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. 

The fact that the kanji 馘 isn’t commonly used makes it kind of confusing to parse as part of a name at a glance.  But I do recognize the more common, Kubikiri[首斬り] which is the noun “Beheading” (as in the act there of, not the verb) or just “Decapitation.”  But I’ve also seen it translated (granted with some liberties based on context) as “Executioner.”  Alternatively, Kubikiri[首切り] also means “Beheading”/“Decapitation” but apparently can refer to “a small samurai sword used for decapitation.”  So, I think the meaning that the name was supposed to convey was,

“Sword-for-Decapitating Giant[8-Headed]Snake”

...and not, “A Serpent that Slices Heads” the way Viz wrote it out.  Which makes sense given that the sword itself is a giant serrated cleaver/saw, appropriately sized for cutting off the head of a giant snake.  While the mistranslation would suggest her spirit to be the Orochi, this reading makes it sound more like her spirit is Susanoo himself?  Which is a curious idea...

But there's a little more going on here...  Because at some point or another, there became kind of a recurring trend of the Orochi being depicted as a white snake, which has vague associations with the Lady White Snake myth, from China.  In fact Hakujaden[白蛇伝]:“White Snake Story” (Arbitrarily localized in English as, “Panda and the Magic Serpent”) has a particular special place in Japanese pop culture as it was the first ever full color anime film, in 1958.  It was a big influence on an early generation of animators, including Miyazaki Hayao.

In it a young boy is accidentally involved with a magic snake being fed immortality granting medicine, which amplifies her existing magic by multiple lifetimes.  She is grateful to the boy for it, and after he grows up the two meet again, the snake being in the guise of a woman, and they fall in love. (That’s the real REAL short version anyway...)

And this is just me going out on a bit of a limb, but I feel like the random intersection of these two myths is where a lot of Orochi characters who are also shapeshifting humans comes from, because the actual Orochi never had this association with being a white snake, having magic powers, or taking on human form, yet it seems to be the prevailing role of Orochi characters in pop fiction.

Also, equally unrelated to the actual Orochi myth and the Lady White Snake myth, some renditions of the Orochi make it a fullblown dragon rather than just a monstrous snake.  I don’t know that this comes from anything in particular, other than just wanting to amp up the threat factor of the Orochi to make Susanoo look more triumphant as a hero...  There’s some possibility that it’s a conflation of the Nine-headed Dragon God, Kuuzuryuushin[九頭龍神].  Funny enough, I’ve seen Kuuzuryuushin drawn as a nine headed snake instead of a dragon as well...

In fact Kubo’s already has one character who seems to be associated with the Lady White Snake myth: Cyan Sung Sun.  Her Resurreccion, Anaconda is written with the kanji [白蛇姫]: “White Snake Princess,” which is a conspicuous name for anyone familiar with the very well known myth.  But I think we all remember someone else who is associated with White Snake imagery...  Ichimaru Gin.

There’s not actually a lot of word play with Gin and snakes.  His name is a homonym for “silver” like his white/silver hair, and his “fox-eyed” look is actually leverage to be more snake-like a lot of the time, so those two bits together kind of orbit around the idea of a White Snake theme.  And of course he spends most of the series living up to his cold-blooded, treacherous, viper-waiting-to-strike kind of persona.  But it’s not like he or his sword have any snake themes in their names.

Whether or not Kubo had plans for Hiyori to have a more substantial confrontation with Gin, we’ll never really know.  Sadly the one we got didn’t last long and wasn’t particularly exciting or satisfying.  But it was an interesting brief moment during the weekly publications.  And if anyone’s in need of some fanfic prompt, I’ve always been kind of fascinated by the idea that there could have been a parallel between Gin’s relationship with Rangiku and the boy and Lady White Snake of myth, with Gin in the role of powerful snake indebted to and in love with the normal mortal who unknowingly helped them gain great powers.

But while we’re on the subject...  There’s another white snake loitering around the Bleach franchise: One half of Zabimaru...  sort of...

This one is weird, because by all rights it was the anime, not Kubo, that set the precedent of Zabimaru having white fur and a white snake tail.  Zabimaru, btw, is a mythical creature called a Nue, which is supposed to have the head of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, body of a dog, and a snake for a tail.  Zabimaru doesn’t quite fit that full description, as it’s predominantly just a baboon with a snake tail, and Renji’s tribal tattoo pattern substituted in for tiger stripes.

But the one time Kubo actually colored in Zabimaru himself was part of a joke omake comic (where Renji and Hisagi find out, in the aftermath of Renji’s fight with Byakuya, that Mayuri can apparently perform cosmetic surgery to zanpakutou) and even though they’re only imagining a busty Zabimar as a punchline, Kubo made the fur what I think was supposed to be an olive green/grey, which matches the description of the Olive Baboon’s fur.  The anime sort of took that and drifted more green when they adapted the omake, and then drifted it even further when the Zanpakutou Rebellion filler arc brought zabimaru back...  In the end her fur looks both nothing like the original color and nothing like the anime’s white furred Zabimaru.

So, hand-in-hand with that, it seems kind of arbitrary that they made snake boy white, apart from the previously mentioned associations of Snakes-in-Human-Form as a trope and Lady White Snake.  But I figured if I didn’t mention it someone might ask, and oddly enough it is more of a coincidence than anything else, at least as far as I can tell.

Correction: I totally forgot, when Renji gets his True Name Bankai from Ichibe he appears to have a “mode” where the snake spine that is normally looped around his waist like a belt unfurls to the call, Orochi-ou[オロチ王]: “Orochi King.”  So there is a direct reference to the Orochi, although weirdly it’s only in kana and not kanji?  But I have no idea for what reason. And in any case, the second bankai came after the anime created snake boy, so it’s entirely possible it was just Kubo riffing off their continuity rather than something he’d had in mind when he made Zabimaru the first time.

Funny thing: Hiyori’s surname, Sarugaki[猿柿] is written with the kanji for monkey[猿], something she points out herself when she’s first introduced. (I did a whole rambling thing on the Visored’s names too, naturally...)  So she and Renji both have associations with monkey and orochi imagery.  It’s kind of a shame Hiyori and Renji never even got to be in the same room for their wild type routines to interact.

#Bleach #Hiyori Sarugaki #Kubikiri Orochi #yamata no orochi #orochi #zabimaru

[aurora-313]

Hey! Hope you're doing great.

I've found out your Black and Blue fanfictions and I'm such a fan of your Kaien, he's awesome and badass, and his thing with Lisa is sooo cute and funny too.

Just wondering something , though. So, it's stated that he achieved Bankai.

Do you think his bankai, if it enhances his water-based abilities, could make a nice duo with Hakka no Togame or Daiguren Hyourinmaru? This is, of course, if Kaien ever becomes a captain (I'm rooting for this, though. I think it would be amazing, and having Rukia as lieutenant... and maybe even Ichigo as third seat on a far future, they'd be so fun).

Also, if we get to the point of fullbringer arc... Please tell me he'll kick Ichigo's sorry ass right alongside Rukia, it'd be so funny. Or kick Ginjo's ass.

Anyway, just showing some love to your amazing work.

Hi there. I'm doing great, thanks for asking! And thanks for the ask.

Haha. I'm glad you've enjoyed what I've written so far. Its been a blast seeing this little brainchild grow into... well, what it is now. I have to say I expected it to be over by now and I'm only just finishing the first act. Funny, huh?

As for Kaien's little thing with Lisa? What can I say? They'd be chaotic gremlins together... (You know Ukitake and Kyoraku would ship the hell out of it too)

For spoiler reasons, I can't get into what Kaien's Bankai does specifically, but being that snow and ice are both states of water, Hakka no Togame and Daiguren Hyourinmaru would be excellent combat partners - either as the main combatant or in a support role. But to tickle your fancy: Behold~! The Chibi Captain Kaien

I'm not too sure if I'll touch the Fullbringers. I did acknowledge they existed but in hindsight, I admittedly regret it. If I manage to get there, it'll be a completely different story to the manga because Ichigo will be in a completely different place. Hell, I'm still on the knife's edge about the Quincy arc. I've been on the record to say I despise TYBW, but I'm leaving the door open for if I choose to write that too. At the same time, it'll be a drastically different story because Ichigo will be in a different place, mentally, physically and power-wise.

My primary concern is completing the current arc by defeating Aizen and the Arrancars. If I get there far, the Zanpakutou rebellion will be my epilogue - because honestly, that's a fun filler.

TYBW and FB arcs might be relegated to one-shots or short side stories about what Kaien would be doing, who'd he be fighting, how he'd react to certain events, etc etc. But ultimately, that'll only be side material. BB's epilogue has several fates set in stone that run contrary to Bleach canon.

Thanks for the appreciation Buddy! Means the world to me. <3

[gunnerpalace]

Wait, what the fuck? Did KLab add this in? Is the Zanpakutou Rebellion filler arc being treated as canon now? What the fuck?

Please please please, make it be real in the novel. Make all the filler into canon. Make the Bount real! Make Hikone part Bount too!

Let’s have Rukia’s gigai come back as Super Mecha Dark Rukia II EX Turbo Edition, injected with the blood of Shinigami, Quincy, Hollows, Fullbringers, and Bount, turbocharged with Twin V8 Awakened Hougyokus, and piloted by KITT a Chappy mod-soul! Fuck it! Why not!?

EDIT: I have been informed that Muramasa was re-appropriated as the Kuchiki’s clan sword, which feels honestly even dumber than making the filler arc canonical.

EDIT 2: Tokinada also mentions the Ryoudouji in the Valley of Screams, so I guess Memories of Nobody is pseudo-canon? Boy, that’d sure make Ichika being a palette swap of Senna awkward, huh?

[chire-senbonimagines]

From the zanpakutō arc, may I have headcanons or a scenario, which ever you prefer, of S/O thinking that Kazeshini is NOT just a demon/weapon of death and both Hisagi and Kazeshini getting a crush? I’m sorry if the way I worded that got confusing.

Yessss zanpakutou, you know me too well, nonnie

Kazeshini and Hisagi Shuuhei

After the whole zanpakuto rebellion, Shuuhei was used to being avoided a little. Everyone had seen Kazeshini and not just the sword but the spirit behind it. He honestly didn’t blame people being scared of him or a little more wary of him.

Shuuhei probably walks past them having a conversation and overhears the usual comments about people being scared of him or Kazeshini until a lone voice argues back. “He’s still part of Hisagi-fukutaichou, there’s no way he’s just a demon.”

Shuuhei feels Kazeshini perk up at that and he can’t help but slow his step a little to listen as that one voice continues to defend them until the others sigh and declare them ridiculous before leaving.

Shuuhei’s cheeks are a little hot, Kazeshini is noisily telling him to go talk to them. Shuuhei’s just arguing with him in his head when their defender comes round the corner. He’s a little flustered at the same time he’s trying to pretend that he didn’t hear anything until Kazeshini puts in an appearance.

Kazeshini is testing the waters as he leans on Shuuhei’s shoulder, bending over to peer down at the other shinigami that was defending him. Kazeshini doesn’t like people insulting Shuuhei - that’s his job - his eyes narrow a little at them as if daring them to be scared and back pedal.

“Yes, Kazeshini? Do you need something?”

The spirit throws his head back and cackles. “I like this one, let’s keep ‘em. Oi aibou, ask them out.”

He promptly vanishes leaving Shuuhei to have lost all cool and awkwardly ask if they wanna go out for a drink.

#Hisagi Shuuhei #Kazeshini #bleach headcanons