Reaper of Peace Version, Description

Key Takeaways

• The moral character of the Reapers has been questioned through their distorted views on peace and misguided protection.
• A universe and peace built on innocent sacrifice prevents change or progress.
• A method of killing Shinigami justified through maintaining balance and hidden motives.

Already from the Reaper Chapter bleach The narrative questioned the actual moral leanings of the series' central race, the Shinigami. Introduced as balancers who maintain the cycle of life and death to maintain the current cosmic order featuring three distinct realms of existence, the Shinigami are considered by many to be the “good guys” as their goals are always stated as follows: It is a being that is considered. Defense of peace.

However, as Ichigo's journey progresses, we see many ugly aspects not only of the Shinigami, but also of the Shinigami's organizational structure, worldview, and history. bleach The entire universe. What is the Reaper's view of peace, and why is it so distorted?

“Balancer”

Understanding the origin of the main role of the Shinigami

When the Shinigami is introduced through the fateful meeting between Ichigo and Rukia in the beginning, bleach, She tells Ichigo and the audience bleach Cosmology and the reincarnation cycle of the soul. She explains that there are several realms. It is where souls (also known as “pluses”) incarnate and live human lives, and the afterlife (also known as Soul Society). This further explains the unreliability of the Pluses' travels, as Rukia is preyed upon by monstrous evil spirits called Hollows, named for tell-tale cavities found somewhere in the body that are “physical” manifestations of the deep void. The emptiness of the soul left behind after falling into despair and losing your mind.

The role of the Shinigami is to safely guide the souls of the dead to the afterlife and purify the void so that fallen souls can rejoin the cycle of reincarnation. In this way, balance is maintained because the number of souls entering the human world matches the number of souls re-entering the afterlife after having just lived a human life or been purified as a Hollow.

Sorry, but you won't be able to defeat Yhwach. But don't worry… that's what peace is all about. Right, Lee Hwahe?

The only time this is not true is when he commits heinous acts in human life, as seen in Shrieker, a powerful and intelligent hollow who fondly remembers his life as a serial killer and even enjoyed mentally torturing Yuichi Shibata's son, Yuichi Shibata. This is the case of Harlow, who was a criminal. His last victim after his accidental death at the hands of a child. Maintaining the cycle of life and death in this way is how the Shinigami earned their nickname “Balancer” in the distant past, and interrupting this important mission or disturbing the balance will cause the realms to collide with each other, resulting in the end of the universe. First of all, it turns out that what makes the current structure possible is the enigmatic “ruler” of the realm, a mysterious being called the Soul King, a being who serves as the “core” of the current order.

original sin

How to maintain the three worlds

In the beginning, the universe was a gaping maw where life and death were not separated and chaos reigned. A mysterious entity called Adnyeus, consisting of Shinigami, Hollow, Quincy and Fullbringer, created a realm called the Human World or the Living World. Hueco Mundo and Soul Society, inhabited by Hollows; Afterlife. From the primordial waters, Adnius created a realm and separated the concepts of life and death, giving rise to the cycle of life and death that we are introduced to at the beginning. bleach. at You can't be afraid of your own world In the novel, it is revealed that the Soul King created a realm to act as a lid over Hell. As a result of his creation, Adnius became known as the King of Souls and is understood to possess foresight and omniscience, meaning that he was able to see what the five (now four ancestors) ancestors were. ) The great nobles of Soul Society were plotting to do something to him.

A key pin was needed due to the way the universe was reverting back to its initial, fused and chaotic original state. Shihōin, Shiba, Kuchiki, Tsunayashiro, and the ancestors of the as-yet-unnamed Fifth House hatched a diabolical plan to attack and dismember the Soul King, using his torso as the linchpin that holds the universe together in its current state. . his left and right arms; His heart, which governs the concepts of progress and tranquility respectively, became sentient, his left arm became the Quincy known as Pernida Parnkgjas, and his heart became Gerard Valkyrie. The right arm became a local deity worshiped in Rukongai as Mimihagi.

The Reaper's Protection of False Peace

The winner rewrites history

The ugly truth behind the universe the Reapers protect is that the very world they claim to protect and represent, and the very concept of peace, is built on vicious murder and the eternal sacrifice of innocent people. The sacrifice is permanent because removing the Soul King's arm of stillness and progress means removing his ability to change his circumstances. A being with a similar composition to the Soul King. To protect this universe and the order their ancestors “created,” the Reapers became the “Balancers,” and in the process decided that the Quincy's presence should not be allowed due to the threat they posed to the balance. The Reaper justified total genocide. This also involved the desecration of corpses and the creation of synthetic/transformed souls (who were then discarded without regard for sentience) for war purposes, due to concerns about the ethics of their creation and use.

Protecting the Reaper's interests is a constant theme throughout. bleachDespite initially trying to kill Ichigo and his friends, the Shinigami felt comfortable relying on them to clean up their mess and protect the current order. The replacement Shinigami badge is another example of the Shinigami's twisted sense of justice, giving the badge under the pretext of being a sign of trust in Ichigo, but in reality it was a surveillance device. The darkest thing the Shinigami is currently doing is the training Ichigo received. Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Part 2This supposedly made him stronger to take on Yhwach, but Ichibē Hyōsube, who literally asked Ichigo to stop Yhwach, sent him away with the knowledge that they could not win. Training is what Soul Society has created an alternative keystone for: The Soul King dies forever. Ichibē Hyōsube plans to sacrifice Ichigo Kurosaki and make him the new Soul King, and Captain Shunsui Kyōraku knows it.