I already shared my thoughts with you last night on Central 46 and Yamamoto. Aizen did Soul Society a favor by offing the whole lot. I have a niggling suspicion that it was an act of revenge almost - the whole deal screams of a crime of passion: brutally slaughtered and left to rot in their grand chamber. He could've easily used his power to manipulate them without killing them and thus prevented the unraveling of his plans that happened when Hitsugaya busted in.
One of the things that really makes me love Bleach is that Kubo really swings for the fences with the moral ambiguity. Most series make half-hearted attempts at it: a villain might have a secret love or have a case for righteous vengeance, but rarely do authors try to pull down the good side and bring up the bad side to near even grounds.
At the beginning of the series, the examples of Hollowdom we're presented fall in line with the stark good/evil dichotomy that Rukia presents. Screecher especially is an evil, sadistic bastard that deserves his stay in Hell. But post Rukia Rescue Arc, the Arrancar show up. I think its important that its Yammi and Ulquiorra we meet first - the two opposite ends of the spectrum both in emotion and thought. Right away, we're given a clear view that these are not simply mindless, instinctual killing machines. Further on, we meet Grimmjow and his strange but straight forward sense of honor, Ulquiorra's fascination with the heart is so very poignant, almost childlike in its curiosity. Nel's Warrior/Philosopher stance (Kubo's tribute to the myth of Charon, most definitely) is what you would expect out of the shinigami rather than the Arrancar. Then there's the incredible loyalty and devotion of the Fraccion to their Espada, Halibel's protectiveness towards her own Amazon Trio, Stark's relationship with Lillinette. We start to see incredibly redeemable qualities in the Arrancar as we progress further along, twisting the lines further.
The lines blur even more with the Szayel/Mayuri and Kenpachi/Nnoitra fights. Kubo deliberately sets up these two - arguably the least admirable of the captains - against their direct parallels. While I personally don't rank Kenpachi anywhere NEAR a thug like Nnoitra (he's closer to Grimmjow really), its the Szayel/Mayuri fight thats the important one. Its one disgusting, depraved exchange of warped science and absence of morality after another, two monsters trying to out squick each other. Kubo really made it clear with that fight that neither side can claim the moral high ground - both allow monsters to walk unchecked among them.
As for Seireitei, it - and here's where I show my Poli Sci stripes - seems to parallel modern day China in their subtle and ingenious brand of brainwashing and subtle control. Its so insidious because its so well-meaning. The Shinigami are taught from day one that they protect the human world and the balance of souls. The grand machine and its continued functioning is whats important, not the individual cogs. Its a very Asian mentality - as compared to the individualism that marks the American/European culture. Perhaps Japanese fans dont regard these issues the same way we do.
But the real backbone of the brainwashing, conformist structure is even more subtle and usually passes under people's radar. Its the fact that shinigami see themselves as something completely different and better than human souls. When, really, it makes no sense. What really separates a shinigami from a human? Training? Knowledge? Zanpakutou? Ichigo's easy transformation from one to the other proves that there is little that actually divides the two. All shinigami are originally human souls that possessed spiritual power enough to learn skills like Kidou or Shunpo. You dont drink some magic potion and - tada! - you're magically different now. In fact, the most glaring example of this is Hachigen and Orihime. When Hachi summons her to him to inspect her power, he's utterly floored that she has so much power as a human and that her barrettes function remarkably like zanpakutou.
Essay Incoming
One of the things that really makes me love Bleach is that Kubo really swings for the fences with the moral ambiguity. Most series make half-hearted attempts at it: a villain might have a secret love or have a case for righteous vengeance, but rarely do authors try to pull down the good side and bring up the bad side to near even grounds.
At the beginning of the series, the examples of Hollowdom we're presented fall in line with the stark good/evil dichotomy that Rukia presents. Screecher especially is an evil, sadistic bastard that deserves his stay in Hell. But post Rukia Rescue Arc, the Arrancar show up. I think its important that its Yammi and Ulquiorra we meet first - the two opposite ends of the spectrum both in emotion and thought. Right away, we're given a clear view that these are not simply mindless, instinctual killing machines. Further on, we meet Grimmjow and his strange but straight forward sense of honor, Ulquiorra's fascination with the heart is so very poignant, almost childlike in its curiosity. Nel's Warrior/Philosopher stance (Kubo's tribute to the myth of Charon, most definitely) is what you would expect out of the shinigami rather than the Arrancar. Then there's the incredible loyalty and devotion of the Fraccion to their Espada, Halibel's protectiveness towards her own Amazon Trio, Stark's relationship with Lillinette. We start to see incredibly redeemable qualities in the Arrancar as we progress further along, twisting the lines further.
The lines blur even more with the Szayel/Mayuri and Kenpachi/Nnoitra fights. Kubo deliberately sets up these two - arguably the least admirable of the captains - against their direct parallels. While I personally don't rank Kenpachi anywhere NEAR a thug like Nnoitra (he's closer to Grimmjow really), its the Szayel/Mayuri fight thats the important one. Its one disgusting, depraved exchange of warped science and absence of morality after another, two monsters trying to out squick each other. Kubo really made it clear with that fight that neither side can claim the moral high ground - both allow monsters to walk unchecked among them.
As for Seireitei, it - and here's where I show my Poli Sci stripes - seems to parallel modern day China in their subtle and ingenious brand of brainwashing and subtle control. Its so insidious because its so well-meaning. The Shinigami are taught from day one that they protect the human world and the balance of souls. The grand machine and its continued functioning is whats important, not the individual cogs. Its a very Asian mentality - as compared to the individualism that marks the American/European culture. Perhaps Japanese fans dont regard these issues the same way we do.
But the real backbone of the brainwashing, conformist structure is even more subtle and usually passes under people's radar. Its the fact that shinigami see themselves as something completely different and better than human souls. When, really, it makes no sense. What really separates a shinigami from a human? Training? Knowledge? Zanpakutou? Ichigo's easy transformation from one to the other proves that there is little that actually divides the two. All shinigami are originally human souls that possessed spiritual power enough to learn skills like Kidou or Shunpo. You dont drink some magic potion and - tada! - you're magically different now. In fact, the most glaring example of this is Hachigen and Orihime. When Hachi summons her to him to inspect her power, he's utterly floored that she has so much power as a human and that her barrettes function remarkably like zanpakutou.