I was thinking about possible themes and symbolism associated with some of the Espada's resurreccións. Any additional thoughts on the Espadas I've discussed or the other Espadas are welcome.

Starrk
With a rresurrección named Los Lobos and one particular technique in his arsenal that involves a pack of wolves, it is very clear that Starrk is associated with certain characteristics of the animal itself. The most popular term associated with this animal is the idea of a "lone wolf," which corresponds with Starrk's aspect of death - solitude. A stereotype commonly attributed to the lone wolf is the idea of independence and a rebellious nature however, in actual fact, wolves have a strong social nature and sense of family. A lone wolf is in reality one that has been driven from the pack and, in most cases, will seek to join another pack or seek a mate to start a new pack of wolves. Starrk's character emphasizes a desire for companionship however his high spiritual power isolated him from being in the company of other Hollows, exiled from the "pack" so to speak.

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Nnoitra in Bleach has been associated with the death aspect of despair and considering his view on the existence of hollows it's easy to see why he was assigned as such. But what bears mentioning and discussion is his relationship with Nel, which seems to have affected his character slightly if not offer a little more than just despair in his life.

As the most blatantly sexist character in Bleach, ironically or rather, befittingly, Nnoitra developed something of an inferiority complex to Nel, a woman, who was more powerful, physically and emotionally, than he was.



When Nnoitra appears after Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow, he is strongly presented as someone who does not believe in fairness on the battlefield. He has no qualms in beating down an already exhausted and injured opponent despite the dishonor in it as a warrior although he makes a good point that one cannot just waltz into a battlefield expecting to fight just one enemy.

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My translation

Humans are in all circumstances evil,
In order to put one under the delusion that one is justice,
One deludes oneself into thinking that,
No other person is more evil than one is.

The so-called genuine justice is evil,
For justice to be (true) justice,
One must always question one's sense of justice.

*

I really like this poem as it lends quite a bit of insight into Tousen's character. The first poem is interesting in its suggestion that justice is a relative idea instead of a hard and fast concept. If we may allude this poem to Tousen, it seems that he bolstered his own belief that he is justice by thinking of everyone else as more evil than he was. In that effect, he became the most righteous of them all because he was the least evil hence the no other person is more evil than one is.

The two poems also appear to reflect what Tousen did and what he should have done. If he had looked at his own brand of justice in a critical manner, he might have realized the hypocrisy in his words as his "justice" was veering towards the much darker side of the concept, ie. vengeance. True justice as this poem suggests seems to be about being able to evaluate the ethics of one's own actions than judging others to be good or evil.

One of the more prominent recurring themes of Bleach is the significance of the "heart." By common definition, the "heart" can allude to the emotional seat of a person, the central essence of an individual. The Japanese define kokoro as the heart, mind and spirit. In Bleach, the "heart" is given additional significance as an emotional bond between two or more people based on the individual's capacity for sympathy or affection.

It's not in the body. When you think of something, when you think of someone, a heart is born there. - ch.268

To emphasize the notion that the "heart" is not just about one's ability to feel, Kaien states that there is no heart if only one person existed. There wouldn't be a heart anywhere because there is no one to connect to. Just one-sided thinking or feeling without a receiving end does not constitute a "heart" because a connection cannot be made.

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The highlight of this chapter for me is most definitely the interaction between Isshin and Ichigo and the artwork in 398 is a very good example of how Kubo can be so utterly expressive in his panels even without any words.

This little panel here was all it took to tell me of the deep bond between father and son. In fact, the Kurosakis seem to be a closely knit family judging from how much the siblings care for each other. Despite Isshin's ridiculous antics in the early part of the manga, there is no doubt that he loves his family as much as he argues with them (namely Ichigo and Karin). And the same could be said for Ichigo in regards to his father.

Ichigo is just beautiful in this chapter in his sensitivity towards his father, in the way he borrows Rukia's words. I think both of them know that Aizen's words were starting to allude to Masaki's identity and her death has been depressing for everyone in the family. Ichigo actually understands that his father might have kept mum over certain things for the same reason that he didn't want to talk about his mother to Rukia. Despite his shock at Isshin's appearance, there's no anger only trust that his father is here for him. After the way he started to isolate himself from everyone and his missteps in Hueco Mundo, seeing Ichigo open his heart a little to someone close to him gives me hope that his character is on his way to recovery although there's no guarantee that he has gotten his confidence back. I guess Isshin will always be "daddy" and can provide the comfort that a parent can give even if it's in the form of a headbutt.

Whether Aizen is outright lying or telling the truth or a mixture of both is anyone's guess but he's obviously screwing with Ichigo's head just as he did when Ichigo made his appearance in Karakura. Just a couple of chapters back, Aizen tried this verbal trick on Yamamoto by asking if he had caught his real arm, an attempt to make Yamamoto doubt his own perception with the suggestion that he was under the illusion of grasping Aizen's arm.

But unlike Yamamoto, Aizen's words affect Ichigo, who is at an emotional low at this point of the story. Instead of declaring that "I planned this... I planned that..." which would've sounded presumptuous and frivolous, Aizen challenges Ichigo with rhetorical questions. By letting Ichigo answer those questions mentally, he's taking advantage of the self-doubt, fear and helplessness in Ichigo to cloud the latter's judgment, making him buy into the implication that his life had been planned to suit someone's fancies.

Aizen asks, "Did you think it was your own hard work?"

The answer is YES. Yes, it was. Because no matter how brilliant Aizen may be, he cannot plan or engineer a chaotic factor like emotion, which was what strengthened Ichigo's determination and led to his victories in Soul Society and not because of anything else. If Aizen had made these claims back in the Soul Society arc, Ichigo would've refuted his words, would've asserted that his power was gained for Rukia and his friends, and Aizen should just STFU about his machinations.

But having gone through Hueco Mundo, Ichigo's self-esteem has been demolished to the point where he can't even recognize his truly heroic efforts in Soul Society. He had transformed into the very monster he tried to suppress, stabbed a friend and killed an opponent when he had always healed or showed compassion to those he had fought with. And he now has an even greater fear of his Hollow. On his way back to the human world, Ichigo clung onto the sense of duty to give himself a reason to fight despite having never been one to believe in fighting out of obligation. As a result, Aizen shattered his resolve within seconds. The last thing he needs is for someone to discredit all of his efforts in the previous arc. Ichigo has been left with nothing but the notion that he has existed up to this point only to be a pawn in Aizen's grand scheme.

At least his father is now here to protect him and hopefully kick Aizen's ass.

Karakura Log was created to house my thoughts and theories on Bleach in a public space. However, I welcome any additional discussions or essays you may want to share.

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