That's something I've always enjoyed about Bleach--the "good guys" aren't really that good. If anything, I think they're more like the lesser of two evils--Hueco Mundo is the more 'primal' side of it, and Soul Society is the more 'calculated' side.
I've never really fully agreed with what kind of society they have--if they're supposed to defend souls, and send them to a peaceful place, why is Rukongai in the shape that it is? Rukongai is anything but peaceful when you get past the first few districts that border Seireitei.
And I also agree with the statement about Kusaka. Why did he have to die? Hyourinmaru may have chosen Hitsugaya for his spirit, yes, but just because Kusaka didn't receive it doesn't mean he should perish for it. But, it brings me back to what Kisuke said in the Maggot's Nest--the Gotei 13 are an elite organization--and once a person has qualified to be a member, incompatibility and non-conformance are impermissible." Part of me thinks this is what happened to Kusaka, but on a grander scale.
To keep up their ruse of infallibility, they had to take an element like him out--even though he was a loyal shinigami--they couldn't have something that even slightly went out of the realm of 'tradition'. It's a terrible state of affairs. The following of the rules blindly goes along with this too--it's as if people are too afraid of the 46 making a mistake to question their rulings; that Seireitei and all of Soul Society will fall apart if they do. I feel like Yamamoto, sadly, is just a product of this--he's too set in his ways--and by the same token, their ways--to remember how to think for himself.
Oh, I thought it was neat a zanpakutou could choose two wielders is what I meant by 'I thought that was neat'--not the fact that Kusaka had to die, because that wasn't cool at all.
And about the episode--I feel badly for the Arrancar, and even the Hollow to a degree as well. Hollows act upon instinct, and if you remember what Zommari said in chapter 302: The Shinigami feel it's their righteous duty, spoken by providence, to levy judgment on the hollows and arrancar.
Some of them seem so smug, almost happy to do it--like Soi Fon with Ggio--it's almost as if she feels she's so much above him, just due to the fact that he's got the blood of a hollow, and she thinks nothing of slaughtering him. This may be a war--but the Arrancar at least have tried to, in some ways, be sporting--while the Shinigami are killing with cold, emotionless intent. It's actually seemed that way to me throughout the entirety of the dealings between the Arrancar and Shinigami--the latter seem a lot more pompous in some of the fights than the former.
I think Ichigo and Kenpachi are the only ones who have really seen the arrancar on common ground, as another combatant, and not a monster needing to be slaughtered.
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Date: 2009-06-11 01:17 pm (UTC)That's something I've always enjoyed about Bleach--the "good guys" aren't really that good. If anything, I think they're more like the lesser of two evils--Hueco Mundo is the more 'primal' side of it, and Soul Society is the more 'calculated' side.
I've never really fully agreed with what kind of society they have--if they're supposed to defend souls, and send them to a peaceful place, why is Rukongai in the shape that it is? Rukongai is anything but peaceful when you get past the first few districts that border Seireitei.
And I also agree with the statement about Kusaka. Why did he have to die? Hyourinmaru may have chosen Hitsugaya for his spirit, yes, but just because Kusaka didn't receive it doesn't mean he should perish for it. But, it brings me back to what Kisuke said in the Maggot's Nest--the Gotei 13 are an elite organization--and once a person has qualified to be a member, incompatibility and non-conformance are impermissible." Part of me thinks this is what happened to Kusaka, but on a grander scale.
To keep up their ruse of infallibility, they had to take an element like him out--even though he was a loyal shinigami--they couldn't have something that even slightly went out of the realm of 'tradition'. It's a terrible state of affairs. The following of the rules blindly goes along with this too--it's as if people are too afraid of the 46 making a mistake to question their rulings; that Seireitei and all of Soul Society will fall apart if they do. I feel like Yamamoto, sadly, is just a product of this--he's too set in his ways--and by the same token, their ways--to remember how to think for himself.
Oh, I thought it was neat a zanpakutou could choose two wielders is what I meant by 'I thought that was neat'--not the fact that Kusaka had to die, because that wasn't cool at all.
And about the episode--I feel badly for the Arrancar, and even the Hollow to a degree as well. Hollows act upon instinct, and if you remember what Zommari said in chapter 302: The Shinigami feel it's their righteous duty, spoken by providence, to levy judgment on the hollows and arrancar.
Some of them seem so smug, almost happy to do it--like Soi Fon with Ggio--it's almost as if she feels she's so much above him, just due to the fact that he's got the blood of a hollow, and she thinks nothing of slaughtering him. This may be a war--but the Arrancar at least have tried to, in some ways, be sporting--while the Shinigami are killing with cold, emotionless intent. It's actually seemed that way to me throughout the entirety of the dealings between the Arrancar and Shinigami--the latter seem a lot more pompous in some of the fights than the former.
I think Ichigo and Kenpachi are the only ones who have really seen the arrancar on common ground, as another combatant, and not a monster needing to be slaughtered.