Bleach Club

[Rasler]

Yeah. Skull-guy with funny hat is now in control of Urahara's old squad. I think it's squad 13, but I'm probably wrong.

He replaced Urahara as both squad leader and head researcher.

I think they kicked Urahara out for inventing strange things.
Kinda like Washu from Tenchi Muyo.

[Xeim]

The young girls's weapon is just a weapon (though its pretty awesome). She has an insane amount of power that you get to see in the arrancar arc.

Heh, you were close Rasler. Kurotsuchi Mayuri replaced Urahara Kisuke (written the Japanese style) as the captain of squad 12. 13 is headed by Ukitake, the white haired captain with TB.

Yes, Urahara was exiled for a particular invention of his that becomes important later on.

[Andromeda]

Washu like huh? I like the sound of that. Well I look forward to seeing that when it happens. Bleach is on tomorrow and going through Rukia and Renji's past from the looks of it. Probably will not be as exciting as the fight, but it should be interesting as long as it does not get dragged on too long. I'm really interested in seeing Zaraki and Ichigo fight, that should be a fun one to watch.


I finally got through reading all of the OoC material and I read through the two wiki pages in their entirity. And well, I ended up spoiling a few things for me because of it. But either way, I am working out a character for it. So I should have something up tonight, if not tomorrow. I am going to have to do a little research and work for some names, but I already got most of the background already worked out in my mind.

I take it from the way things look you are going to do a brief thing with the accident and then just skip 10 years into the future when we are in the academy. Do you have any reference material for the academy so I know what I am working with?

[abarai renji]

correct me if i'm wrong anyone, but doesn't the next ep. on AS, the one which shows renji's past show a little bit of the school they go to, or does it show that later on? If it does than you can use that as reference, but other than that i can't think of anything you could use.

[Andromeda]

Yeah, the episode tonight had a little about the academy. However, they did not really go into much detail about. At least I know how they dress, which is almost like Soul Reapers minus the top kimono or whatever its called. It seems like a normal school setting, I guess. Does not go into much about how they go about becoming Soul Reapers, but I figure that is just passing the academy and you are in.

They did say Rokungai once in the episode. So I guess even they are using that name once and a while. They go back and forth, but oh well. Not a lot to go on, but I guess it is better than nothing.

[Xeim]

They show a little about the Academy in the episodes pertaining to Renji and Rukia's past, as well as the ones pertaining to Hitsugaya's past.

As for reference material,

I've been unable to find any real articles on it, but I found a site that outlines the relationship between my favorite shinigami couple (who aren't together, *sniffle*) and they have an article on the time spent in the academy.

To get in, you have to take an entrance exam

The name of the academy appears to be Shin'ou Reijutsuin

You stay for six years (from Wiki)

you can join the protection squads before graduating, but you have to be invited

It looks like you have to learn your zanpuktou's name before you graduate.

All this was taken from a Drama CD. It's all I've been able to find thus far besides what is told in the anime itself. I'll look for more, but mostly when you search for the Academy all you find are RP's and clubs.

I'd like to find a bit more info myself, as we are going to be spending the first part of the RP there, and it'd be nice to follow the author's expectaions of it. But so far I don't think there's very much info on it.

--Snowy--

[Andromeda]

So which way are we going with on Zanpuktu? I have seen a number of different spellings in here and on the internet in general. Which spelling are you going to take for consistency sake?

So what seat was Rukia? I guess that she was on the sixth squad with Renji. However, Renji had more motivation to improve than Rukia. So I am figuring that is why he is the Lieutenant and not her. Because she seemed to more talented naturally than him, at least in manipulation of spirit energy. Which is why I guess she was brought into the noble family. But with such natural talent, you'd think she would be a lot stronger.

[Xeim]

The correct spelling is zanpukto with one of those symbols over the "o" that makes it a long "o" sound. However, since I have know idea how to put that in, I just type zanpukto. I know this is wrong, as if you can't put the long "o" sound in you're supposed to replace it with an "ou." So, if you can put the long o sound in, then do that, otherwise spell it "zanpuktou."

Rukia's actually an unranked member of the 13th division. there are some valid reasons for this that are revealed as the story progresses.

[Mr. Sandman]

Well, truth be told, Rukia was originally put in the 13th Division seated as an officer under by the command of Captain Ukitake. You'd think she would be alot more powerful and all, but since Ichigo "stole" her powers, she has become alot weaker.

Yeah, well you know Rukia's big brother Byakuya Kuchiki? Well, here's a spoiler about the history of the Kuchiki family. Spoiler:

Spoiler: Byakuya Kuchiki aside from his strict and difficult structure, beforehand, fell in love with a woman known as Hisana. Hisana was them sister of Rukia until she could not support her anymore and abandoned her somewhere in the Rukongai Districts. She regrets it. By marrying Hisana, Byakuya broke a rule. A rule, where a noble marries an ordinary outsider. With that in mind, Byakuya mad a promise to never break the laws again. This is how you see Byakuya now. Afterwards, Hisana shortly thereafter died due to an illness? Forgive me if I'm mistaken. Hisana's last wish was for Byakuya to find her long-lost sister Rukia. Of course, the other part of her will told Byakuya not to tell Rukia of what really happened in the pass. As Hisana died, Byakuya was heart-broken. He found Rukia and adopted her to the Noble Kuchiki family where she was trained in the academy and put into the 13th Division with her obbssession (excuse my spelling) of Kaien Shiba who resembled Ichigo. Stricken with the promise Byakuya made with his parents and his wife Hisana, Byakuya promises to make sure he never breaks the rules ever again.... Now we all see why Byakuya is the strict guy he is now.

As for the Zanpakuto... I spell it Z-a-n-p-a-k-u-t-o-h, even tohugh its incorrect. It's spelled Z-a-n-p-a-k-u-t-o just like in the Wikipedia and other referrence material found on websites and whatnot, but I just make my own word for it or spelling ot make it easier for me.. for some strange reason. Also, in the "o" of Zanpakuto, it has a stress in it. It has the "-" mark on top of the "o" giving it a stressed sound/ short sound whichever you prefer.

[Andromeda]

Yeah, but even with Ichigo stealing her powers there was a long time before she met him. She is like 300 years old or something. At least I thought I remembered hearing that. Though either way, she should have had some time to become stronger before meeting Ichigo.

I guess she just did not have a strong reason to grow like Renji did. But that is interesting that she is on the 13th squad. Guess that will be something to learn for when it comes up later in the show. Did she ever learn the name of her Zanpukto? I know she graduated immediately because she was invited. That probably did not help in her development missing out on that.

[Mr. Sandman]

Maybe she learned the name of her Zanpakuto but she never put it into action or maybe the authors of the Bleach wanted us to find out the name of Rukia's Zanpakuto in the later episodes seeing how powerful it was in the Japenese version.

Anyways, me theory is if Rukia knew her Zanpakuto in the early latter of Bleach, the show would not be so interesting. If that ever happened, there would be no Rescue Rukia arc and all of those climactic battles and interesting storyline like we have now, even on A.S.

The main story revolves around Ichigo and Rukia along with a few other people. I mean seriously, imagine Rukia already fighting with ther Zanpakuto's Shikai, Bleach would get insanely..... boring and not mysterious watsoever. It would not keep us in suspenese and the show would be pretty dead by now...

though it's just my theory.

[Evangel]

I know this is insanely off the current discussion but...

Over at gametrailers.com, they have quite a few music vidos of Bleach and a lot of other stuff. They contain massive spoilers, mostly of Byakua (SP?) vs. Ichigo. I just found this site out a while ago and seeing that this IS a Bleach club, well, you do th math. The videos are really well made and a few of the vidos match the music so...

(P.S. Rommy, if this isn't allowed PLEASE don't hate me. )

[Xeim]

Rukia's still got a ton of spiritual strength, but getting her shinigami powers stolen by Ichigo affected her menality, I suppose? She let the fact that her powers were gone go to her head. If she was a main character type, she would've tried her hardest to escape and get them back, but I guess the qualities that she lacks keeps Ichigo in the spotlight.

I'm sure she knew her zanpuktou's name. She's actually a very strong shinigami, but the forces mentioned in Holocaust's spoiler prevent us from seeing this. I think your above theory is probably true, or close to true Holocaust.

Also Jecht, I'd appreciate if you added that info as a side note next time, while talking a bit more about Rukia with us. Sounds like an interesting site though. I'll have to try it out sometime.

Anyway, it's been well over a month or two since I last did a ranking update, so I figured I'd be a good, responsible captain and finally do that.

It's going to be more detailed this time, so everyone knows where the're at.

First off, I'm keeping the tradition of including everyone, even the captains, except myself. Here's the top three posters:

Holocaust is still beating everyone with 67 posts
abarai renji has 48 posts
Oathkeeper13 and Andromeda tie for 3rd with 14 posts

Now, onto the individual division/squad ranks. Members rank in order from 3rd seat to 7th seat

My First Division
Rasler with 12 posts
Jenova33 with 9 posts
Asch with 6 posts
Marluxia with 4 posts
Rika with 2 posts

Diddy's 2nd Division
I'll put Diddy's post count in here because he wasn't in the top three
Captain Diddy with 10 posts
The rest of the members rank seats three to seven
Oathkeeper13 with 14 posts
Yuuki with 3 posts
Casanova [OCAU] with 3 posts
com1k with 2 posts
evilyuna with zero posts

Holocaust's Third Division
OmegaOwA with 11 posts
Sephiroth2234 with 3 posts
Shadowtheif with 2 posts
Final Fantasy freak with 2 posts
Blackdragon09 with zero posts

Abarai Renji's Fourth Division
Andromeda with 14 posts
Jecht with 3 posts

I still don't have any proper candidates for vice-captains, and I'm still not releasing the information on how to become one. I don't want people to start spamming. I hand count the posts and leave spammy ones out, but I still don't want spam in the club. Be motivated to post more people! There are some of you who've been in the club for a painfully long time but haven't even made it to 20 posts yet! Alright, see everyone in my next post....

--Snowy--

[Mr. Sandman]

Xeim I thought the posts were:

Holocaust: 70 posts (even due to my absence XD)
abarai renji: 51 posts (I see someone's catching up)
Oathkeeper13: 17 posts (We need more activity from members)

I feel so ashamed of my squad considering one of them isn't even active and another has only had 0 posts..... This is an embarrassment. Anyways, getting back into the Bleach discussion.
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I found it very interesting that the Shiba family was one of the noble families along with the Shihouin and Kuchiki families but fell because of a stupid incident that put the Shiba's from noble to low-class... I find that quite stupid.

[Xeim]

I don't know how you were counting, but I know I'm right. I don't count every single post. I only count ones I consider to contribute to discussion. I don't know why you would go back and double check my work, as we may have different meanings of 'productive posts.'

Please, don't be ashamed of your squad Prodigy. They all have lives too. Most of them are probably absent due to school and such.
-------

I've never heard anything about the Shiba family being high-ranking. Where'd you hear that? Was it in an episode that I totally missed the boat on?

[Mr. Sandman]

Oh, I see I thought you were just "counting" posts... Omg, duh!!! PRODUCTIVE Key Word... lmfao!!! Ah well, I thought you were talking about just posts... Oh and btw, I just count the posts where it says, who has posted... (wow I missed that one out lol)
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Hmmmm.... being ashamed, having lives? Good point. but then again... I got my life to worry about too... Gah, now I feel like writing a story to pass time as soon enough it will be June 15th and Naruto Ultimate Ninja: 2 comes out! mwahahahahahhaahah. So... many.... characters!!! It's driving me crazy. Well, some of our members are not even on (like everyday) and one more thing... I just want to be more activity. If no activity is contributed to this club or any others... it will all just die. It also feels kinda lonely here too.
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*closes eyes to make them look slitted, then has a great big grin on his face, amd finally dyes his hair white with a purple tint and puts on a cosplay costume of Gin which has the 3rd Division symbol embeded on the back*
*Afterwards, buys a wooden sword painted silver which can extend 10ft.*

There, now I'm Gin Ichimaru. All I have to do now is work on his accent.. heheh
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Oh yeah, go to the Wikipedia and look at Kaien Shiba's profile, ity will tell you about the noble families and such.

[Xeim]

Wow...I think I fell down a rabbit hole....

Erm..yeah...story...go you! heheh.

But, I know how you feel with the club activity and all. I don't want this to die either.

Update with the RP--I've finished the first post, and am just going to wait a couple days to allow the few members who haven't yet posted to post. Holocaust, you sent them PM's right? Any word from them? (Besides Marluxia)

I was wondering what everyone thinks of Kon? He's a right little weirdo, but he's kinda cute in a way. I have a little plushie of him. ^-^ You know, he's always looking at...ahem...mammary glands and such, but he does bring a certain aspect of humor to the show. He's even had a couple serious scenes where he's not thinking about "heavenly valleys."

I personally could stand him if his Japanese voice wasn't so jarring. His english voice is don by my favoirte voice actor, and I wish I got AS so I could hear it every once in a while. But, alas....

I love the scenes where Ishida dresses him up. I'm not quite sure if these have been in the english version yet, as I can't remember the order in which things happen at the moment. Someone tell me beofre I spoil something. *sheepish look*

[Mr. Sandman]

Oh, yeah I got plenty of word from Oathkeeper and Yuuki. Yuuki claims she has sent it over to you Xeim but if not, she's currently working on it so she could post everyhting without forgetting. As for Oathkeeper, he's working on it but won't have much time due to some finals (forgot where)
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Hmmmmm... Kon... I got one word to describe him: AbnoxiousStupidCrazyFunnyStuffedModSoulPervert! See, it's one word We always see Kon saying stuff like Nee-chan and then crying to Rukia while grabbing her leg which usually gets him a "pissed off" kick and then getting stepped on the head. It's funny. Oh yeah, Xeim, you saw Bleach 123 right?
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One word to describe it:
AwesomeKick-ArseInterestingHollowBloodyBrutalVizards
Again, all in one word I must say that the Vizards are awesome...

Spoiler: especially Yadomaru and Mugamura (or however you spell his last name). Dude, Lisa's kicks after Hollow Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou were nice and hilarious seeing as Hollow Ichigo was getting his face cracked. Also, did you not see Ichigo's near-hollow form!? Plain nice.

I'll put htis in a spoiler tag if anyone doesn't want to spoil themselves with JPN eps.
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Not sure about the Uryuu Kon thing as I've not seen them. The thing that was funny are those Shinigami Illustration picture books having to do with Hantaro, Yachiru, Kenpachi, and Kon. Plain Hysterical and Funny. I fell off my seat once watching the one with Yachiru and Kon, lol.

[Xeim]

Ok, yeah, Yuuki sent it to me, but it's not my job to post it in the OOC. It's hers. And, I gues that means we'll have to start without Oathkeeper. I don't really want to but...

Yeah, I've seen all of them. And that scene was pretty nice, I must agree. I'd like to see the outcome of the battle. It was getting kind of "tripy." I kinda felt like I was going insane.

Spoiler: Especially when Kariya popped out. I mean, was the Bount arc filler or not?!?!?!?!?

The shinigami picture book shorts with Kon and Hanatarou are still going on, aren't they? Some of them were pretty funny, like the one about Hana's zanpukto, but I personally like when they have stupid little random things like Renji asking Byayakuya where he gets his haircut.

Anyways, back to Kon. He's gotta learn to calm down a little. You don't have to be constantly moving...being lazy is nice. Yet, he's always off looking for large chested women. His character could be a whole lot better if it was ever expanded on. I see a lot of potential for him, but for now he's the annoying little stuffed pervert.

[Andromeda]

I feel a little embarrassed that I'm your newest member and already number 3. Very interesting though how you go about doing the ranking. I have to give you credit for setting up so that activity is rewarded. It might not seem like a lot for people, but I would imagine that there are some that enjoy being higher seat in their squad. Even if it is all on paper.

And I do not think you have to worry about the club dying. You have several strong and active members posting on a daily basis. And I will continue to post ever chance I get, which is pretty frequent. So I doubt that you will have much to worry about.

Closing up on the Rukia topic. It is pretty understandable from a story point of view that having Rukia really strong at the beginning would ruin a lot of things. Not to mention that all of the cool stuff that happens later would not as a cool. Seeing Renji pulling up his inital release, was a pretty cool moment. And a revealing detail into the depth of Soul Reapers.

However, from a logical or technical stand point, Rukia is undoubtly a strong Soul Reaper. She is just portraited to be very weak. She would have to be if she had been invited personally. There has be a reason there. And she had plenty of time to develop even more. I would have liked to see what her Zanpukto would look like and what abilities it would have.

I have not seen all of the episodes, so I do not know if we get more looks at Rukia the Soul Reaper. But I guess we have not even seen enough of her in action as a Soul Reaper to even make a guess as to what type of fighting style or powers her Zanpukto could have. Even speculation might be difficult. I don't know maybe you have a clearly image of her as a Soul Reaper with all of the extra episodes.

And Kon, well he is the token cute animal that a lot of anime have. Tenchi had Ryo-ohki, personal favorite, Peacekeeper had a pig, Excel I think had a cat, Trigun had a random cat, Eva had Pen Pen if you want to call him cute, Orphen had the Wolf Dog. The list goes on ^^; Cute animals is a common theme for anime.

Kon is okay, it is rather fun knowing that it is a real soul inside a stuff animal. It is a different spin on the cute animal thing. And getting dressed up was definitely shown, it was a funny moment. I don't know if there are more, maybe next week. They are completely ignore the story line and going back to Earth for an episode, at least that is what the preview looks like. So we'll get to see Kon again.

So what time period is Rukia and Renji from? Feudal Japan, or do they never say anything about the lives that they used to have when they were human and living?

[Xeim]

Don't feel embarrassed! It's nice to have such productive members. And thanks for the compliment. ^_^ Yeah, I guess your right about it not dying. It's just every club starter's worry--that their club's going to die.

They haven't said a word about what happened to the Soul Reapers pre-soul society. We don't even know how any of them died. I think it's safe to ay that there probably wasn't a lot of high-tech devices when they were alive, and some of them were probably from even earlier than feudal japan. Since they never talk about their lives, I'm not sure they even remember them. But, that'd be a little strange so I like to think they do.

But, well, Rukia says she's lived about 10 human lives. If you take the average human life as being somewhere close to 100, then Rukia's about 1,000 years old. So, if she and Renji was alive 1,000 years ago then it can be assumed that they were from feudal Japan. Thet're the only ones we have clues about.

However, if the author ever confirms what time period they're from and and decides it's not from fuedal japan and another point in japanese history, then it's quite a goof on his part.

[Mr. Sandman]

Hmmmm.. I don't think they've ever mentioned about Rukia or Renji from where they came from when they were living. Oh, I got it! Something just struck me.

Since all of the people in Seiretei are the souls of the dead, doesn't that make you wonder how they have died or even as much how old they are or like I've said before... HOW they died? For example, hmmmmm.... Renji. Seeing flashbacks from their past and seeing how they were so young and live in Rukongai... If he was that age the time he died, doesn't that make you think about their past?

I mean really, how did Renji die in the first place and when? I've been meaning to ask that myself lately, though I always forget. Another possible one is... Kenpachi Zaraki. A big man who is not afraid to be wounded or to fight. I'm thinking... he died maybe because he got into so many fights and got beaten literally to death. We see him as he is now in Seiretei. Same with all of the captains...

Also, if a Shinigami dies, wouldn't that make it impossible for them to be able to come back and have a third chance at life? Where are they sent? I am very curious about these occurences... It makes me wonder if they ever are going to explain how everything works. I can understand Ichigo's excuse since Rukia gave Ichigo her powers.

Man, this is one complicated, yet clever anime.

[Andromeda]

Yeah, except that ten human lives is very arbitary. Because it depends on who you ask and when you are referencing to for your average life span. Even today the typical life is abouty 70-80. But you go backwards, if Rukia is thinking from her point of view it could be 50 years best. Though going by the fact that she did say ten human lives, means that you can guess she is probably between 400-1000 years old. Which unfortunately is a seriously large gap of time. I say 400 min, because if she is thinking from her point of view, even 50 years could be a little high. Not to mention it is still an estimate that she is making.

But I guess it is easy enough to say that they are very old, much older than a human being. Though from the wiki that you provided. They said that it is not unheard of for souls to live for 2000 years before dying and becoming re-encarnated in the living world again. Judging from that, they would have to age, and of course at a highly decelerated rate. Like one human year equals twenty or more soul years. And Renji does not look like he is much more than in his 20s and Rukia even younger, but she is also very short. If we go off the model of 100 years life span and match it to a 2000 year soul life span. Renji would probably be in his 500s or getting close to it along with Rukia.

A lot of it is pure speculation and the visible aging process of souls is uncertain. At least to me. I know there is one old man, the guy that is at the head of the thirteen squads. Oh yeah, Rukia called them the Thirteen Court Guard Squads in the last episode, I am pretty sure. Or Court Protection Squads, I know it was Court something Squads. But they say a lot of different things.

[Mr. Sandman]

Well, good point, that is true though. I remember one episode where Rukia was boasting to Ichigo (while she still had her powers) that she is a Death God and she is about 10 x older than Ichigo which got me thinking...

Multiply Ichigo's age: 15 by Rukia's statement: 10 which would be 150 years old.. but that could just be her estimation. We can see that Renji looks as if he is in his 20's but, maybe he is the same or slightly older than Rukia, maybe for about 1-3 years. That C.C. (Captain Commander) of the 13 Protection Squads is none other than the Captain of the 1st Squad... Yamamoto Genryusai. I think they've said his name before in the English version.

Other than that, the whole aging process where they get reincarnated after about 2,000 years, it could be true but if I think about it... it mentioned something about the whole Bleach Storyline, that Seiretei was found by

Spoiler: Genryusai was about 100/200 maybe a thousand (can't remember) years in the past

... hmmmm.... Sorry, if what I said was considered a spoiler, I'll just wrap it in Spoil Tags. I can't really use Rukia's estimation about this because she was comparing herself to Ichigo.

But if I were to use it: the result would either be

Spoiler: 1,000/2,000 years or 10,000

years. It's claimed that Genryusai is the oldest but maybe he might be in his 2,000's though I'm not very sure. This has led me to think that the Head of the 13 Courts time will be up in the very near JPN future... seing that what you have said, Andromeda, that 2,000 years is their life span. If what my theory says is correct, then the authors of Bleach may just have that happen.

Though I seriously doubt it would be anytime soon or even in the 2008. Who knows, the only one who does know is the maker of Bleach himself.

[Andromeda]

Ah, yeah that is right. I remember that now, Rukia saying that she was ten times older than him. Which would indeed make her quite young. And more than likely be in her teens. If 150 years is to be accurate for her life. But that is still very questionable since we are going off a guess from Rukai who is judging by an unknown reference.

So if souls are re-encarnated. If Rukia was actually killed there in the execution block. They are killing the soul and destroying it utterly. Or just sending her back to be re-encarnated in the living world? I was under the impression it was death, soul permenately gone for good. Though I was also under the impression that souls did not die from aging in the Soul Society. But the wiki page says otherwise. Which does change a lot of things about my own perceptions of how things worked there.

I imagine that Rukia and Renji's deathes were probably during some war. Or raid on their village. Looking at it either way, Rukia and Renji are from at least the 1850s if not even earlier than that. Japan was becoming industrialized in the 1800s. If she was from then, there could have been a war or just disease. Both are probably likely. If it was even earlier than that, she probably was killed in a village or town that was attacked.

Though what about the giants? Gydonbo, or however the name is spelled. He was mass, far taller than Ichigo or anyone. He is definitely not human, but he is a soul like anyone else. Where does he come from, because people do not grow that big. Zaraki is almost too big himself, but still within the believable size.

[Mr. Sandman]

Hmmmmm... yeah, seriously... or maybe they died as babies too... *sigh* spoilers again:

Spoiler: Rukia was a baby when she was in Seiretei

That giant halberd thing used for executional purposes literally "burns" the soul away. This led me to believe that, if the soul was to be burned, wouldn't that mean they'll be in oblivion? Never again being able to be incarnated or re-incarnated?

To my perspective, I just tohught Renji died due to his red hair, maybe people just picked on him for that reason and maybe just beat him ot death, though I could be wrong... no scratch that, incorrect by standards. Oh yeah, here's another question that has been messing around in my head...

How are the people of Seiretei able ot marry one-another and then give birth to a "dead" child? Seriosuly, if that were possible, then the newborns would actually be born dead. Too many questions are just floating in my head about Bleach that doesn't make any sense. I may even think some of the information from these sources were made up along the way and even false or just misunderstood.

I already know I've been mislooking over facts and questions aobut Bleach that may have been answered or even mentioned as the show is just too interesting. You just want to take it in slowly rather than reading everything off the Wikipedia and committing everything by heart and false memory.

They really need to explain how the life of Soul Society and its systems work. I'm still not all that sure about how thew aging process works and about how do the people die. Also, about Jidanbo, maybe he was created or something, tohugh based on real-life fantasy, is still pretty much a show nonetheless. i mean, they did claim he was the Gatekeeper so he was artificially created or just have a large mass of spirit pressure that led ot his growth. Who knows.

[Andromeda]

I see, well being artifically created is a little more believeable than him being a giant human. Though I do remember that they said Jidanbo came from Rukon. So they made him and then dropped in the Rukon to grow up or something. It is still a little strange.

But yeah, it is definitely rather strange how one can have children in the soul society. All I can imagine is that you do not call the state that they are in a dead state. Dead would be no soul, if I guess if we want to be specific. They are alive, because all they are is a soul. So I guess if two souls get together they can make a new soul or something to that effect. They still take injures and feel pain like a living person. The main difference is they are a soul that is existing as a reflection of their past life. While the body is housing the soul.

At least that would be the view I see it from. It is definitely bizarre. The thought of two souls making children is a little wierd. I mean its human, but they are no longer with physical bodies anymore. So yeah, weird. Two different worlds, but living in a similar fashion. Except that Rukongai is really bad for the majority of people.

[Evangel]

If you think about it, on Earth, there are souls inside physical shells. In the Soul Society, there are physical manifestations of souls. Either or, they are in a physical form.

Back to the topic of Zaraki vs. Ichigo (Spoiler warning!):

Spoiler: If you pay close enough attention to their figt, when they charge up and release their spirit energy, you can distinctly see that Ichigo has a formation of a Hollow mask in his spirit energy and Zaraki has a formation of a skull. Foreshadowing?

[Xeim]

The thing is, Jindanbo's not the only character who's too big to be human. I'm not talking about Zarakai either, and I'm not quite sure if he's been introduced in the English version yet. Them being created is a pausable theory, or perhaps they were injected with some sort of "thing" developed by the Department that Urahara used to head to make them more powerful and formidable. Or maybe their Soul simply grew in size to house the amount of spirit power within them upon entering Soul Society. Without a body that has to be constantly maintained, the size of your "apperance" doesn't matter. Since you don't have to constantly maintain an internal environment, you don't have the hindrances that us living being do.

The other thing is, do they ever talk about people in Soul Society reproducing? I've never really heard of that. But, if I just totally missed the boat on something then I'd have to agree with Andromeda:

All I can imagine is that you do not call the state that they are in a dead state. Dead would be no soul, if I guess if we want to be specific. They are alive, because all they are is a soul. So I guess if two souls get together they can make a new soul or something to that effect. They still take injures and feel pain like a living person. The main difference is they are a soul that is existing as a reflection of their past life. While the body is housing the soul.

Though, it's still a rather strange process that's kind of...difficult to comprehend. I mean they don't...you know, I'm not going to go into it...

For the "where souls go when they die in soul society thing" I believe Wiki tells us that they are re-incarnated on earth. I think one of you were talking about that somewhere above this. It would be quite pausable that souls could be destroyed and not allowed another chance in the real world, like the theory of what that excutioner thing does. Another way your soul may be destroyed is if you're absorbed (or eaten) by a hollow (as a soul). Then, you'd just be there inside the hollow (ugh), and eventualy your soul would be, in a sense, digested. If a hollow invaded your body it can also be assumed that it destroys your soul in the process. Not a very happy thought...

[Andromeda]

It is definitely not a pleasant thought the idea of the hollow eating your soul. In whatever manner it is done it, it would not be a pleasant experience. But yeah, we were talking about the re-encarnation of souls. At least as I was reading on the reference material you provided that is what they say happens. Which is where it also says that Souls can have soul children, or whatever you want to call them.

Though if you consider the physical appearance that they have while as a soul being a complete mirror of themselves. Then that means that they would have the you who's that go along with being a human. The functionality of having a stomach and inners makes the need to use them for releasing waste a little pointless. But they still can consume food, so I guess it has to go somewhere. It seems that it is converted into spirit energy at the living body converts food into energy. The anatomy of the Soul remains a strange mystery seeing as there is a lot of strange occurances still.

If you are going on the theory that the physical projection of one's self is based on your spirit energy then Jidanbo would be quite small in comparsion to Ichigo. Ichigo's spirit energy is insanely high. Not to mention all of the other Soul Reapers. And even if you wanted to say that size is also relative to spirit energy versus your control or concentration on it. Then Ichigo would still be very big. Because he does not know the first thing about controlling it. He was pretty clueless for a while about spirit energy and manipulating it, even is still partially from what I have seen.

I can agree that is possible that it a projection from the soul. Though I do not really think that it would be based on your spirit energy. There are too many things that would go against that idea. Unless we just want to call exceptions to the rules. Apparently Ichigo is the exception in many rules in Bleach already, the Bankai is huge rule.