Forum - View topicSome nitpicky Bleach questions
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TranceLimit174
 Posts: 960 |
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1. Where do those who die in Soul Society go when they die? I thought Soul Society was the afterlife, so what happens when you're killed there and you're already dead?
2. Aging seems inconsistent. We saw Rukia and Renji age, but in one episode there was the boy who befriended the kid who was a cockatiel and he was killed in the 20s. That child hasn't aged at all. So does aging only occur to those who are born in Soul Society? As awesome as this series is, I think it gets forgotten or pushed to the back so to speak that Soul Society is supposed to be the afterlife and occasionally the show sort of reminds itself of that fact. I know they don't really have anything to do with the story, but I just thought they were interesting quesitons and I was curious about them. |
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joel_s95387
Posts: 1804 Location: California... The Village Hidden In The Porn |
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I don't remember Soul Society being described as the afterlife. Obviously Ichigo, Sado, and the girl are not dead but they still go there.
I think the little kid who was turned into the bird didn't age because well his soul hadn't been able to "rest" so he hasn't aged. I don't think the Deathgods are dead. Wow I thought I knew what I was talking about and now I have more questions as well. I just always thought of Soul Society as an alternate universe that was able to interact with Earth. Should you add "Spoilers" to the subject of this topic? |
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Fui
 Posts: 339 |
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The story has a lot of holes in imo...a lot of the stuff regarding death and Soul Society is inconsistent or unclear.
spoiler[Yes, it is stated that people who die go to the Soul Society (technically Rukongai). Well, at least people who didn't want to go to the afterlife and are "stamped" on the dead as spirits, sending them to Rukongai. That would mean that everyone in Soul Society died already, which doesn't really make much sense at all in the way the story flows. And as someone stated, where do they go after they die? Also, aging makes no sense because some people state that they've been training for hundreds of years but are only look like they're 30. Rukia/Renji aged normally, so that doesn't make sense. People don't look very old for being there since their deaths...who knows how long that could be.] spoiler[Ichigo's "death." Remember that the "chain of life" connected to the soul and the body determines whether you die or not? Then Urahara cut Ichigo's chain in half so he could become a Shinigami? How is Ichigo able to return to being a human in the real world without a gigai? Shouldn't he be "dead"?] spoiler[Shinigami deaths. It is stated that shinigamis only sleep when they die and wake up eventually. The guy who came for Rukia (not Renji or Byakuya...just a no-namer dude) got pierced by the hollow that killed Ichigo's mom and "died," but then Rukia said not to worry because shinigamis only fall asleep when they die. Yet tons of shinigamis have died already. And so they never mention that again. That was just stated for convenience of the episode.] There's a lot more, but those are just a few examples. I guess this kind of stuff happens in pretty much any series but it was a lot more noticeable with Bleach. I thought so many times "wait...that doesn't make sense..." while watching the episodes regarding dying, shinigamis, and the afterlife. Not believing in an afterlife makes it even more difficult for me to swallow... |
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CyberViper
Posts: 218 Location: Matsumoto, Nagano Japan |
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In regards to Soul Society spoiler[it is where people in the 'living world' go when they die. That...or hell. I don't think they go to the part where the shinigami's are though.]
I've actually never thought about this when watching the show, but it came to me right now. Here is a theory: spoiler[ Maybe this is what happens...Living world --> Death --> Soul Society --> Death --> Living World. In other words, maybe shinigami are just people who used to be alive in the living world. Maybe the people in the living world used to be in soul society. (If this wasn't the case wouldn't Soul Society become HUGE due to the number of souls entering but not leaving?)] Also there was that time during one of Rukia's flashbacksspoiler[ where she was with that guy who looked a lot like Ichigo. And then remember he died during the mission, or whatever they were doing? (Maybe my memory is foggy but didn't something like this happen?). Now we have Ichigo in the living world, who looks like the guy from Soul Society.] Anyway that's my crackpot theory. |
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dark_hand
Posts: 42 Location: Canada |
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here's another question. why soul society looks like ancient japanese civilisation? how bout europeans who die or africans or any other race for that matter? oh, and the name "soul society" is english but there is not a trace of western culture there. oh, and don't bother to find the answer cause you can't.
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IchigoK90
 Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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Ok to answer some of those questions you'd have to look ahead in whats happening in the manga or at what happened near the Soul Society arc. spoiler[Aizen clearly states that he will enter heaven which leads to the fact that there is another level of afterlife beyond Soul Society]. spoiler[Ok Urahara cut the chain to force ichigo to reclaim his Shinigami powers. I forgot how that works but once Ichigo reclaimed his Shinigami powers he no longer needed the chain to be connected to the body or else you'd have seen a chain linking him before he died. The chain only appears to normal humans who have died. He doesn't need the gigai because his body was still there with Urahara soo once he got back his powers as a Shinigami Ichigo could just return to his body. I'm believing this is just one of many abilities a shinigami has]. "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 |
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CyberViper
Posts: 218 Location: Matsumoto, Nagano Japan |
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Who knows, maybe there is another part of Soul Society we just didn't see. Use your imagination. As for the name, Soul Society, being in english...probably for a similar reason to why the shows title is in english. Maybe the manga-ka just likes to use english words. |
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IchigoK90
Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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Well who knows. I have a theory though this is all speculation which I hate doing because I should really just leave it to the creator, anyhow notice that in soul society everyone looks japanese or I assume they are japanese. Ok let me put it simple maybe the Soul Society we saw in the series and manga is just the Soul Society for people from japan. Maybe there are other Soul Societies for other groups of people. Just an assumption though. "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 |
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Fui
Posts: 339 |
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Because it's anime. Anime: made in Japan. Aka, Japan ftw, JP onry! I doubt these kinds of questions even occur to them. |
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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Yes, everybody who lives in Soul Society is dead, except Ichigo's team because, if you'll notice, they all passed through a special gate designed to allow non-dead people to enter without dying in the process. Presumably if any of them HAD died during the Soul Society arc they would pop right back up as ghosts or something.
For all you anime fans, this would be similar to DBZ'S heaven, which non-dead people COULD enter if they knew the way, as Goku did from time to time (even while alive). Now what happens when you die in Soul Society? No clue. The theory I subscribe to is that you are reborn on Earth, but of course with no memory of your previous life, so it's a very real death. Why do people age in Soul Society? Mind over matter I assume. People age until they're comfortable with their age, and then they stop, or at the very least greatly slow. Most of the characters are hundreds of years old, even Rukia is, I believe, over fifty years old, she just didn't age much after reaching her teen years. Why does it look like ancient Japan? It's a Japanese heaven. I would assume that the heaven of other countries might look different. Perhaps it's even a matter of perception, that, say, a Christian would percieve the style to be completely different, but that since we're seeing it through Ichigo's eyes it looks Japanese. For some reason the Hollows and their society are all Mexican, I have no idea what that's about.
One, that was filler, so who knows how much sense it made, and two, perhaps when a Shinigami "dies" on Earth, it's not true death, they just return to Soul Society, and only there can one die. The recent manga arc seems to contradict that, but it's possible. I'm going to chalk it up to it being a filler character. |
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TranceLimit174
Posts: 960 |
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The reincarnation theory seems to be popular, but I don't really agree with it. Aside from it trivializing any meaning to life (my own opinion) it seems pretty clear that Death Gods and for that matter those who live in Soul Society, unless they are killed by another individual they can live on for eternity. Many characters have been around for at least a few hundred years and with that taken into consideration I'm gonna point to the episode about Rukia and Renji's past. As far as I can tell, based on the reincarnation angle those who die in Soul Society are reincarnated into the living world with memory loss. Well, Rukia and Renji spoiler[lost their childhood friends over the years] but as Death Gods they do travel to the living world to essentially take care of business. Now still rolling with the theory, is it out of the question that while in the living world they would run into the reincarnations of their friends? And if that were to happen wouldn't they try to help their friends remember? I guess you could say that both the personality and appearance change but A. wouldn't that defeat the idea of a soul? and B. I would think that would be stretching things too far in order to make the reincarnation theory work. But then again maybe reincarnation is right (could be a law among Death Gods to not interfere with those who are reincarnated) and just hasn't been explored yet although (minor speculation)spoiler[I am assuming that at some point Ichigo will in some way be reunited with his mother.]
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IchigoK90
Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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Wait.....................if people who die can't remember their past life in the human world then how did the Parakeet boy remember Chad?
"Believe it!" - IchigoK90 |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6897 Location: Kazune City |
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If you want more in-depth discussion on this subject, you can probably find it at the forums of one of the fansub groups working on Bleach...people have debated these questions pretty much since the Soul Society Arc began. I can't give the link, but it's the group that seems to be a few weeks behind (and hasn't released the ep 63 special yet).
And to very briefly answer one question: spoiler[If you remember the business about the Quincy back in episode 13-14, you'll recall that the Shinigami were against the Quincy because the Quincy fully destroyed Hollow souls, thereby disrupting the balance of souls between Soul Society and the living world. From this, we deduce that there is an exchange of souls between Soul Society and the living world. If souls go to Soul Society when they die in the real world, then it makes sense that souls that "die" in Soul Society are returned to the living world--reincarnation or something like that. ] And, as for why it's called "Soul Society" in English? It's nothing to do with the plot--English sounds "cool" so they throw it in there. Sure, they could call it "hakushakai," but that wouldn't be as cool, right? For the same reason, "Scrapped Princess" has an English title, instead of the term they use for Pacifica within the series, "haikioujo." Full Metal Panic isn't "Zenkin***(whatever the on-yomi for the kanji meaning "panic" is), Trigun isn't "Mittsu no juu" (then again, there's probably a special counter for guns/weapons), and the Sailor Scouts in Sailor Moon aren't called "Sailor Tsuki," "Sailor Suisei, "Sailor Kasei," "Sailor Mokusei" etc., they're called Sailor Moon / ~ Mercury / ~ Mars / ~ Jupiter. English is "cool," just like it's "cool" to for others to get kanji or other characters in tatoos & T-shirts without really knowing what they mean. . .There are many other anime titles alone (not to mention other terms) where the title could easily be Japanese (Last Exile, for example), but they choose to do English or some other cool foreign language. |
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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There are billions of people in the world, what are the odds of meeting someone you knew in a past life? Besides, I doubt they'd look the same. What does your appearance have to do with your soul? When in Soul Society they look like they did in their most recent life because that is their image of themself, but that doesn't mean it's the "true" representation of their soul.
It's fairly clear that the ghosts in Soul Society DO remember their immediately prior life on Earth, as they appear as they were on Earth. Anyone who died as a child appears in Soul Society as a child, and teenages (or not) from there. Rukia, for example, died as a baby.On the other hand, when they're returned to Earth, it's as a baby, in a new body, with no memory of their past lives. If a dead Shinigami was reincarnated to Earth, he wouldn't remember anything more than any of us remember from birth. If he then died and went to Soul Society, he would remember his life on Earth, but would not remeber being a Shinigami, or anything that came before, although he might have it in his personality to become a Shinigami again. I'm fairly certain that at least one character in the show is the reincarnation of another already. . . |
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TranceLimit174
Posts: 960 |
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Just to make sure I read that right, are you saying that you think spoiler[Inoue is Ichigo's mother reincarnated?]
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