Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Symbolism and Mythology in Bleach

Bleach Week – Symbolism and Mythology in Bleach
Written by: ClayDragon



Like many manga series, Bleach draws heavily on religious and cultural symbolism that is common knowledge in Japan. In fact, it even won the Shougakukan Award, which is given to manga series that highlight Japanese values and culture (some other notable winners include InuYasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic). However, the downside is that foreign readers who aren’t clued up on Japanese folklore can completely miss the references (at best), or see them as confusing or out-of-place (at worst). As such, I figured it’s time to write an article in order to enlighten people.

WARNING: Spoiler alert (as usual).

Do I even really need to say this any more?


To start off, it’s probably easiest to look at the concept of a Soul Reaper, and then move on from there. The basis for Soul Reapers is what’s called a Shinigami, or Death God (the closest approximation for this in Western culture is the Grim Reaper). In mythology, Shinigami typically invite humans towards death and, depending on who you listen to, either kill people themselves or guide them towards the afterlife. As a fun side-note, the King of the Underworld in Japanese religion is known as the Yama. And who is the ‘king’ of the Soul Society? Old Man Yama.

Left: A Yama. Right: Old Man Yama. Don't get them mixed up.

Moving on to the concept of Zanpakuto, it’s a little different, as most descriptions of Shinigami don’t really talk about them having weapons. Instead, it seems as though the Zanpakuto references swords made by the two legendary Japanese swordsmiths, Gorou Masamune and Sengo Muramasa (in fact, there’s even a filler Zanpakuto named after the latter).

...I have to say, when I imagined an insane, bloodthirsty Zanpakuto, this was not what came to mind.

Apparently, Muramasa was so insanely ill-tempered that people thought his swords were similarly insane, and stories tell of Muramasa swords that were impossible to sheath without first drawing blood, and some even apparently compelled their owners to commit suicide (again, another parallel to the Bleach Muramasa). However, Bleach’s sentient swords aren’t crazy or bloodthirsty. Mostly.

Their wielders, on the other hand...

So that’s the Soul Reapers and Zanpakuto, but what about the Soul Society itself? Well, both the Soul Society and the backstory of Saijin Komamura are a reference to the religion of Buddhism. Buddhists believe that living creatures go through a continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, and every time this happens the creature is reincarnated into a different body in one of six realms. The first realm is the Human Realm (obviously, this is represented in Bleach by the World of the Living). There’s also the Preta Realm, whose inhabitants are invisible to most people and it sometimes overlaps with the Human Realm. As such, it’s somewhat obvious that this Realm partly inspired the creation of the Soul Society. However, the denizens of the Preta Realm are said to have been bad people in life, and as they’re driven by an intense hunger, the Preta Realm and its inhabitants could also be the basis for Hueco Mundo and Hollows.

Naruto's Six Paths of Pain are also named after the six Realms.
From left: Naraka, Animal, Deva, Asura, Human, and Preta Paths.

Next is the Naraka Realm, which (in both real life and Bleach) is essentially Hell. The Asura Realm is said to be the home of Demigods, who are a mixture of malevolent beings and well-meaning beings, so it’s possible that the Soul Society is based off of a mixture of the Asura and Preta Realms. The Deva Realm is apparently home to incredibly powerful spirits and deities, so this Realm would seem to have inspired the Spirit King’s Palace – the home of Squad Zero. Finally – and this is where Komamura comes into it – there’s the Animal Realm. It seems that Komamura’s clan were reincarnated into the Animal Realm, and from there managed to move into the Soul Society.

 How they managed to get into the Soul Society is a different question altogether.

It would appear that Hollows were inspired by an odd mixture of the inhabitants of the Preta Realm and the Mexican holiday known as Day of the Dead (and no, that’s not the same as the George Romero film). Whilst their concept may have come from Buddhism, their design – or more specifically, the idea of Hollows having masks – came from the masks people wear when celebrating the Day of the Dead. Also, Mexican and Spanish-inspired names are used, both for Hollows (although it’s mostly used for Arrancars) and their techniques.

Ulquiorra's Cero Oscuras being a prime example.

Going from one group of enemies to another, it’s very obvious that the Vandenreich are heavily inspired by German soldiers during the Third Reich (i.e. Nazis). Not only do some of their members have German-sounding names, like Jugram Haschwalth, but the main attack force is called the Sternritter (German for ‘Star Knights’), they have a subset group called the Jagdarmee (German for ‘Hunting Army’), and their name is even German for ‘Invisible Empire’.

The typical uniform of a Vandenreich soldier. Doesn't it just scream 'Third Reich'?

As if the parallels weren’t obvious enough already, their leader utilised a plan called Auswählen (German for Selection), which involved him killing off every mixed-blood (or ‘impure’) Quincy just for existing, and used them to boost his own strength. I know for a fact I don’t need to remind you what real-life event that represents. Furthermore, the comparisons even extend to their appearance. Every member of the Sternritter wears a heavy trenchcoat with the Vandenreich logo emblazoned on it, and some members (most obviously Bazz-B) wear an armband with a symbol on it that could very easily be replaced with a Swastika.

Whoa there, Bazz-B. You're getting a little too close to the mark.

Interestingly, the Vandenreich leader, Yhwach, doesn’t just embody traits of Adolf Hitler, but he is also inspired by the Tetragrammaton. This is one of the names of the God of Israel used in the Hebrew Bible, which is commonly transliterated into the letters YHWH. Some other transliterations are YHVH, JHVH, and JHWH, which all correspond to different translations of Yhwach’s name. His roots in the Hebrew Bible (which is a collection of Jewish texts) are surprising, and more than a little ironic, considering his other inspiration.

If you want another comparison to Hitler, they both have facial hair (though Yhwach's is better by miles).

Beyond that though, Yhwach is also somewhat of an evil counterpart to Jesus himself. Both were babies born under strange circumstances, both have the ability to perform ‘miracles’ and heal the wounded, and both were revered as Gods. This even extends to Yhwach’s followers – two of the main symbols of the Vandenreich are crosses and light, both of which are also associated with Jesus. Going even further, the Quincies’ Vollständig usually gives the user wings and a halo of light, giving them a superficial resemblance to angels. The final comparison is that Yhwach gives out his power by having his followers drink his blood from a cup. If that isn’t symbolic, I don’t know what that is.

How on Earth does he of all people have the protection of the light of the Lord?

Finally, something which annoyed a lot of Bleach fans recently is actually another reference to Japanese mythology – that is, the fact that Ichigo is a Shinigami/Quincy hybrid. To be more accurate, Ichigo is a fusion of four ‘souls’ – Human, Soul Reaper, Hollow and Quincy, and whilst this was seen as annoying and over-the-top by some fans, it actually refers to the Japanese concept of mitama, which means the soul of a dead person. There are different definitions of the word, but most definitions agree that a ‘spirit’ consists of several ‘souls’, with each soul being somewhat independent of the others.

Ichigo's rude, harmonious, happy and wondrous souls. It must get awfully crowded in Ichigo's spirit.

The most developed theory is the ichirei shikon, which theorises that a human’s spirit is made up of four souls. See where this is going? The four souls are the rude soul (Hollow), the harmonious soul (Human), the happy soul (Soul Reaper), and the wondrous soul (Quincy). According to the theory, each of the souls has its own personality and function, and they all exist harmoniously. For example, the rude soul is rough and violent, and the harmonious soul is considered a complete opposite to the rude soul, in the same way that humans are the opposite of Hollows. The wondrous soul is said to be able to cause transformations and cure illnesses, both of which are things that Quincies (and especially Yhwach) excel at, and so the happy soul must represent the Soul Reaper aspect of Ichigo’s spirit.

The final result of Ichigo's souls working in unison.

There are more aspects of symbolism and real-life mythology in Bleach, but I’ve covered the main points (besides, this article is getting long enough as it is). It’s easy to deride certain plot elements of Bleach as being pointless or overly complicated, but with a bit of research you can see that they may actually represent something after all.

Take that, ignorance!

And finally, the name of the series was originally meant to be called Black, due to the colour of the Soul Reaper’s uniforms, but Tite Kubo felt that the title was too generic, so he changed it to White in order to suggest black as a complimentary colour. Finally, he settled on Bleach, due to the way the word evokes the impression of the colour white and isn’t too obvious.

They don't have the same ring to them, do they?


Thanks for reading!


ClayDragon:
ClayDragon is currently studying Physics at university, and is constantly bewildered by it. The main method of contacting him is his Gmail account at kyleroulston1993@gmail.com. The alternative is his Skype account at kyleroulston1993, but he doesn’t use it that much. When not playing games or reading, he can be found with his head in his hands whilst trying in vain to understand quantum physics. Dawn of the Second Day: 96 Hours Remain...

10 comments:

  1. Mr. ClayDragon, I found your article on symbolism & mythology in Bleach very detailed and well thought-out. However, I just wanted to add in one more interesting connection with the Vandenreich in Bleach, and real-life history and mythology, that you might have missed out. To elaborate - in Chapter 490 page 1, Yhwach issues an order to the Sternritter, "to prepare at once and gather at the Sun Gate." (See the page link) http://mangasee.com/manga/?series=Bleach&chapter=490&index=1&page=1

    The "Sun Gate/Gate of the Sun" is a real-life structure, and part of the greater, ancient Tiwanaku complex in Bolivia. (See page link) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gate_of_the_Sun The connection which Kubo may have made with in relation to the Nazis, and thus to the Vandenreich as a whole; is that Tiwanaku was once seen by the Nazis to be a lost city that was built in the past, by ancestors of the 'Nordic Master Race', due to the theory of a Nazi archaeologist, Edmund Kiss. (See page link) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Kiss

    In 1928, Kiss had come up with this theory, and in 1938, Himmler sent him to Bolivia on an archaeological expedition in order to prove it. Thus, it was assumed by those such as Kiss, White supremacists, and racial anthropologists in the 1920s and 1930s, that Tiwanaku was clear evidence for the existence of White Europeans within South America in ancient times.

    To conclude my post, it is possible that Kubo may have known of Nazi Germany's connection with Tiwanaku and the Sun Gate of Bolivia, historically and as part of the Nazis' occult, racial theories and beliefs; and so put in a small reference to them in the first page of Chapter 490 of Bleach.

    To learn more about this, see and click on the four links that I have just posted at the end.

    1). http://theappendix.net/issues/2013/4/andean-atlantis-race-science-and-the-nazi-occult-in-bolivia
    2). http://archive.archaeology.org/blog/the-fantasy-world-of-tiwanaku/
    3). http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=h_KdAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36&dq=edmund+kiss+tiwanaku&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Kv27U4fjNM_n7Abi_IGoCQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
    4). http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sgp5IbfVdXYC&pg=PA183&dq=edmund+kiss+tiwanaku&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Kv27U4fjNM_n7Abi_IGoCQ&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

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    1. Wow. You've obviously put a fair bit of research into this; I'm impressed!

      I didn't know that actually, but it does seem somewhat likely given the other Nazi symbolism involved with the Vandenreich. Hopefully we'll find out more about the Gate of the Sun at some point in Bleach so we can see if it is indeed a reference to the real-life Sun Gate.

      That was really interesting, thanks for pointing it out!

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  2. Cool post. Didn't know all of that before.

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  3. The spirit consisting of four souls was a really interesting concept. Very well researched and thought out, nicely done.

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    1. Thanks, I had fun writing it. It was interesting finding out about other belief systems and Japanese mythology.

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  4. Aw, man, I always show up sooooo late to these things...oh well, here's my input anyway:

    Yhwach being "evil Jesus" is viable, but some of that is just him being closer to the original idea of the Messiah. The reason most Jews didn't become Christians is because their traditions said that the Messiah would not be a spiritual leader preaching peace & enlightenment, but a military leader who would come to destroy their oppressors. Say like a war of vengeance against a certain genocide.

    He also acts like Yahweh more generally, having designated a group of followers as his chosen people, a nation he protects as long as they agree to serve him--but having no real regard for any individual member.

    I often wonder how much of this was intentional.

    I would also say there's some amount of Soviet influence in the Wandenreich. Yhwach looks Russian to me, & Quilge's practice of shooting his own soldiers who tried to retreat is something Stalin mandated.

    Moving away from the Quincies, I'm sure the Royal Guard have more specific references, but what I find interesting are the mythological motifs. The notion that if you dismember a deity (like the Soul King), the parts will become other deities, of culture heroes that jumpstart civilization by creating things like clothes or writing, & of language having the power to literally speak things into being among the divine are all common mythological motifs, & also things we see in the concept of the Royal Guard.

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    1. Thanks for you knowlegle and research =)

      About intentionality, I can see all of that be the case. Evil jesus isn´t exactly the terminology i would use, but yes True Messiah of Jews. All you mentionated describe very well what Jews wanted and still want today. Ywach is just realization of that desires. I also go more further and say that quincy are in reality one of lost tribes of Israel. All their beliefs and culture are the same. /mindblown

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    2. Thanks, mythology is something of a hobby of mine.

      I think of the Quincies as having grown out of a forgotten semi-Christian cult that still retained a lot of Jewish influences, about 1200 years ago, since that's when Yhwach was said to be born. If the lost tribes exist in Bleach's world, it could be that they later incorporated Christian traditions for some unknown reason. I hadn't thought of that, or for that matter heard of the lost tribes before you mentioned it.

      I say this because, while I think a lot of elements are more similar to Judaism, the Quincies do seem to have some Christian motifs. Mainly the recurring cross motif & the form of most of the Vollstandigs. I'm not really sure about the 5 pointed star.

      I wouldn't generally describe Yhwach as "Evil Jesus" either, but I think there are some elements of that. Like the warped, communion-style ritual he uses to create the Sternritter.

      The only reason I say I'm not sure how much of this is intentional is because I could easily see Kubo just wanting to write a military autocrat who styled himself after the Jewish god & the other similarities to the Old Testament coincidentally happened. It's hard to say without knowing how much Kubo knows about western religion.

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