Bleach Ch. 254 - Duh! SPOILERS
Just read Bleach Chapter 254 "Leave the chocolate here" and I must say it was an intriguing chapter.
I recently became a Bleach-ite (not sure if that is the right term for a Bleach fan, but I like it, so I'm calling myself one) and the more I read, the more I love it. Right now, Nell Tu is the most interesting new character to me--she is just so intriguing. She, and her adopted brothers along with their pet, definitely reveal that Hollows are not all like the ones that Ichigo has been fighting to this point. Even Dordonie, in this chapter specifically, has shown that the Arrancar, at least, are not mindless followers of Aizen, nor that they do not care for anything.
Now, what remains to be seen, is if it is the Arrancar transformation that gives the Hollow the ability to care about something or, what I think is more likely, it is up to the individual Hollow to determine if they care and how much they do. Also, the question is: can Hollows only care for other Hollows or can they care for others as well?
We know that Nell cares for Ichigo, so much as to intercept a Cero from Dordonie--in his released state--to stop it from hitting Ichigo. Also, Dordonie ends this chapter fighting against the execution squad that has been sent to exterminate Ichigo, stalling their progress to give Ichigo time to escape. This should be proof that Arrancars can care for others than Hollows, but it is not, for the simple fact that Ichigo is fundamentally part-Hollow. So the affinity that Nell and Dordonie feel towards Ichigo may be due, instinctively, to his inner-Hollow--who is a seriously nastily wicked-strong Hollow from what we've seen--and it has proven that animals are instinctively drawn to the strongest, most powerful of their kind because they know--again on an instinctive level--that by being around the strongest increases their chances of survival: others weaker than the one they have attached themselves to are less likely to attack them because it would drawn retaliation from the stronger being and their own survival instincts tell them not to do something blatantly stupid as that, making them find other prey. Yeah, so the Arrancar may like Ichigo because he has the strength to protect them or it may be something else entirely.
I have been wondering where Nell came from. She is an Arrancar, so someone removed her mask, but how did one as small as her become a Hollow in the first place? It has gotten me thinking, strangely, where the souls come from that are born directly in to Soul Society. Are they new souls created in Soul Society by two other souls? Is this what they mean to be a Noble--to be born into Soul Society and live a life in Soul Society before ever living a human life? Or are the souls born simply buried souls that go to a different location than the Outskirts--Rukangi or something like that. But the feeling that I get from Byakuya, at least, is that the only parents he has even had are the two buried Kuchiki that he made his promise to--so either he found his parents after his death and lived with them, unlikely as it seems to not happen that way often unless they die together, or he is a new soul that was born directly into Soul Society, for training or whatever, before going onto a live in the material world.
So how does all this relate to Nell? It does directly. Because, it would make logical sense, that if new souls can be created and then born into Soul Society, why couldn't the same thing happen in Hueco Mundo? They are reflections of one another, it seems, both having societies set up to rule the...dimension I guess is the best way to describe what their world seems to be. Both have soldiers, a ruling body and rules to govern their citizens, even going so far as to both having execution squads to send out to perform, well, executions. Also, both dimensions have a thick spiritual density atmosphere to sustain their occupants.
It seems that the only real difference between the regions are the type of souls that inhabit the region: plus, or whole, spirits in Souls Society, and hollows in Hueco Mundo. Both spirit types seem to originate from two places: one is the material world when humans die and the second is from within the region itself. So, if new souls can be created in Soul Society and born directly there, why could it not be the same for Hueco Mundo, especially now that many of the stronger Hollows are becoming Arrancars to become stronger. They are getting stronger, but they are getting stronger by becoming more like their enemy--the Shinigami that are created from Whole souls.
It also makes them more unstable, more susceptible to their new part--or at least that seems to be the case with Vizard. Does it work the other way? Do the Arrancar care more about things, are they closer to having a heart? Do they have an inner-Shinigami that gives them a conscious, that whispers in their ear at night that the random destruction is wrong, that it is even more wrong to consume other souls? Perhaps that is why the upper two classes of Menos Grande live so far into Hueco Mundo and only eat other Hollows, rarely living or newly-dead Whole souls, and prefer not to leave Hueco Mundo?
The whole thing with Aizen combining all the worlds--which is what I think the whole thing is with creating a new key to the King's dimension--it is the logical progression from attaining the Hougyoku (I'm pretty sure that is spelled wrong, but oh well, I'll fix it later--maybe Fixed it). I mean, if Aizen does manage to activate the Hougyoku and create a ton of perfect hybrids, and even does it to himself eventually, where would they live? Hueco Mundo--where the Hollows live and Shinigami are the enemy? Probably not a good idea, because they are now half-Shinigami, i.e. half enemy, and there is no guarantee that they wouldn't slaughter their former comrades now that they are no longer 'Hollow'.
Same goes for Soul Society--no partial-Hollow would be welcome or even allowed to exist the same space as the Hollow-hunters. Again, they would be too afraid that the hybrids would turn on them. And for practical purposes, invading and taking over Soul Society probably isn't something that even Aizen would consider doing. To me, Aizen seems the type of person to scheme and work behind the scene until everything is in his favor and only acting when he is absolutely certain that he will succeed in what he does. And I am pretty sure that no matter how he schemes, he will never be 100% sure that an invasion of Soul Society would succeed even when the Hougyoku is fully capable. Now, some may point out that the Arrancar have pretty much beat the hell out of the Shinigami in every encounter in the real world and they have--or at least ended in a draw--and they have 10 Espada plus three captain-level Shinigami and Soul Society has 10 captain-level Shinigami in Soul Society plus three captain-level Shinigami living in the material world, basically one-on-one ratio and the Arrancar have come out on top so far.
But, of course, those semi-victories have all been in the material world, not Soul Society or Hueco Mundo, where the level of spirit density is very low--making fighting in that atmosphere possible for only the extremely strong. Soul Society, on the other hand, has high spiritual density and is populated exclusively with Whole souls. There is no way for Aizen to determine how well the Arrancar could fight in Soul Society with any degree of accuracy without sending a Numeros to test it and any Arrancar he sent in would most likely not make it back because of the shear number of Shinigami present and to have a true test, he would have to send at least one Espada to see how they fare against the Captains.
But what would be even more troubling that losing a powerful Arrancar from his army would be where all that power would go. As long as it isn't a Quincy that slays the Arrancar, which inside Soul Society is very unlikely, all the souls of all the Hollows that made up that Numeros or Espada Arrancar would go directly to Souls Society--most of them at least, some may end up in hell. But losing one of your strongest soldiers with all their power going directly to the enemy is not a good bet. I am pretty sure this is exactly why Aizen only sent two for the first incursion, making sure they knew to retreat before coming close to being defeated, and why Grimmjaw's idea of trying to exterminate all with any spiritual energy was not an accepted course of action. Grimmjaw took 5 Numeros with him and they were all killed--that is 5 Menos Grande converted into Arrancars--and all those souls were purified and sent to Soul Society, which is a huge boost for Soul Society.
That makes me think of another thing: since Menos Grande are a combination of numerous Hollows, which soul is it that controls the new combined body? It is one particular soul or is the consciousness created by combining all the consciousnesses together? K, now I lost my train of thought--oh well, I'll post this then as it is.
I recently became a Bleach-ite (not sure if that is the right term for a Bleach fan, but I like it, so I'm calling myself one) and the more I read, the more I love it. Right now, Nell Tu is the most interesting new character to me--she is just so intriguing. She, and her adopted brothers along with their pet, definitely reveal that Hollows are not all like the ones that Ichigo has been fighting to this point. Even Dordonie, in this chapter specifically, has shown that the Arrancar, at least, are not mindless followers of Aizen, nor that they do not care for anything.
Now, what remains to be seen, is if it is the Arrancar transformation that gives the Hollow the ability to care about something or, what I think is more likely, it is up to the individual Hollow to determine if they care and how much they do. Also, the question is: can Hollows only care for other Hollows or can they care for others as well?
We know that Nell cares for Ichigo, so much as to intercept a Cero from Dordonie--in his released state--to stop it from hitting Ichigo. Also, Dordonie ends this chapter fighting against the execution squad that has been sent to exterminate Ichigo, stalling their progress to give Ichigo time to escape. This should be proof that Arrancars can care for others than Hollows, but it is not, for the simple fact that Ichigo is fundamentally part-Hollow. So the affinity that Nell and Dordonie feel towards Ichigo may be due, instinctively, to his inner-Hollow--who is a seriously nastily wicked-strong Hollow from what we've seen--and it has proven that animals are instinctively drawn to the strongest, most powerful of their kind because they know--again on an instinctive level--that by being around the strongest increases their chances of survival: others weaker than the one they have attached themselves to are less likely to attack them because it would drawn retaliation from the stronger being and their own survival instincts tell them not to do something blatantly stupid as that, making them find other prey. Yeah, so the Arrancar may like Ichigo because he has the strength to protect them or it may be something else entirely.
I have been wondering where Nell came from. She is an Arrancar, so someone removed her mask, but how did one as small as her become a Hollow in the first place? It has gotten me thinking, strangely, where the souls come from that are born directly in to Soul Society. Are they new souls created in Soul Society by two other souls? Is this what they mean to be a Noble--to be born into Soul Society and live a life in Soul Society before ever living a human life? Or are the souls born simply buried souls that go to a different location than the Outskirts--Rukangi or something like that. But the feeling that I get from Byakuya, at least, is that the only parents he has even had are the two buried Kuchiki that he made his promise to--so either he found his parents after his death and lived with them, unlikely as it seems to not happen that way often unless they die together, or he is a new soul that was born directly into Soul Society, for training or whatever, before going onto a live in the material world.
So how does all this relate to Nell? It does directly. Because, it would make logical sense, that if new souls can be created and then born into Soul Society, why couldn't the same thing happen in Hueco Mundo? They are reflections of one another, it seems, both having societies set up to rule the...dimension I guess is the best way to describe what their world seems to be. Both have soldiers, a ruling body and rules to govern their citizens, even going so far as to both having execution squads to send out to perform, well, executions. Also, both dimensions have a thick spiritual density atmosphere to sustain their occupants.
It seems that the only real difference between the regions are the type of souls that inhabit the region: plus, or whole, spirits in Souls Society, and hollows in Hueco Mundo. Both spirit types seem to originate from two places: one is the material world when humans die and the second is from within the region itself. So, if new souls can be created in Soul Society and born directly there, why could it not be the same for Hueco Mundo, especially now that many of the stronger Hollows are becoming Arrancars to become stronger. They are getting stronger, but they are getting stronger by becoming more like their enemy--the Shinigami that are created from Whole souls.
It also makes them more unstable, more susceptible to their new part--or at least that seems to be the case with Vizard. Does it work the other way? Do the Arrancar care more about things, are they closer to having a heart? Do they have an inner-Shinigami that gives them a conscious, that whispers in their ear at night that the random destruction is wrong, that it is even more wrong to consume other souls? Perhaps that is why the upper two classes of Menos Grande live so far into Hueco Mundo and only eat other Hollows, rarely living or newly-dead Whole souls, and prefer not to leave Hueco Mundo?
The whole thing with Aizen combining all the worlds--which is what I think the whole thing is with creating a new key to the King's dimension--it is the logical progression from attaining the Hougyoku (I'm pretty sure that is spelled wrong, but oh well, I'll fix it later--maybe Fixed it). I mean, if Aizen does manage to activate the Hougyoku and create a ton of perfect hybrids, and even does it to himself eventually, where would they live? Hueco Mundo--where the Hollows live and Shinigami are the enemy? Probably not a good idea, because they are now half-Shinigami, i.e. half enemy, and there is no guarantee that they wouldn't slaughter their former comrades now that they are no longer 'Hollow'.
Same goes for Soul Society--no partial-Hollow would be welcome or even allowed to exist the same space as the Hollow-hunters. Again, they would be too afraid that the hybrids would turn on them. And for practical purposes, invading and taking over Soul Society probably isn't something that even Aizen would consider doing. To me, Aizen seems the type of person to scheme and work behind the scene until everything is in his favor and only acting when he is absolutely certain that he will succeed in what he does. And I am pretty sure that no matter how he schemes, he will never be 100% sure that an invasion of Soul Society would succeed even when the Hougyoku is fully capable. Now, some may point out that the Arrancar have pretty much beat the hell out of the Shinigami in every encounter in the real world and they have--or at least ended in a draw--and they have 10 Espada plus three captain-level Shinigami and Soul Society has 10 captain-level Shinigami in Soul Society plus three captain-level Shinigami living in the material world, basically one-on-one ratio and the Arrancar have come out on top so far.
But, of course, those semi-victories have all been in the material world, not Soul Society or Hueco Mundo, where the level of spirit density is very low--making fighting in that atmosphere possible for only the extremely strong. Soul Society, on the other hand, has high spiritual density and is populated exclusively with Whole souls. There is no way for Aizen to determine how well the Arrancar could fight in Soul Society with any degree of accuracy without sending a Numeros to test it and any Arrancar he sent in would most likely not make it back because of the shear number of Shinigami present and to have a true test, he would have to send at least one Espada to see how they fare against the Captains.
But what would be even more troubling that losing a powerful Arrancar from his army would be where all that power would go. As long as it isn't a Quincy that slays the Arrancar, which inside Soul Society is very unlikely, all the souls of all the Hollows that made up that Numeros or Espada Arrancar would go directly to Souls Society--most of them at least, some may end up in hell. But losing one of your strongest soldiers with all their power going directly to the enemy is not a good bet. I am pretty sure this is exactly why Aizen only sent two for the first incursion, making sure they knew to retreat before coming close to being defeated, and why Grimmjaw's idea of trying to exterminate all with any spiritual energy was not an accepted course of action. Grimmjaw took 5 Numeros with him and they were all killed--that is 5 Menos Grande converted into Arrancars--and all those souls were purified and sent to Soul Society, which is a huge boost for Soul Society.
That makes me think of another thing: since Menos Grande are a combination of numerous Hollows, which soul is it that controls the new combined body? It is one particular soul or is the consciousness created by combining all the consciousnesses together? K, now I lost my train of thought--oh well, I'll post this then as it is.