You Don't Understand the Soul King 

Kenpachi likely has the Soul Kings balls. Explains his will and to keep fighting against escalating odds. Soul King testosterone!

Wasn't Gremmy kept in a basement for most of his life because he was too dangerous? If so, I find it ironic that Yhwack did exactly to a piece of his dad that the Soul Reapers did to his body.

The fate of the Spirit King perfectly encapsulates what happens to those who try to do good in the Bleach universe. He tried to protect humans and then started to mingle and emphasize with them, the ancestors except the Shiba certainly became paranoid of this and decided to mutilate/seal him as part of their plans while then initiating a deadly coverup. Same thing nearly happened to Ichigo, it didn't matter that he is a savior who protects and does the morally right thing.

The fact the shiba😮 clan was a family of empathy explains why ichigo accepted both his shingami and Quincy side and why he’s so powerful

There is something that gives strength to what you said that the Soul King saw Ichigo and he desire for him to be born. When Ichigo arrives on the Soul King palace to train, it's mention that the Soul King is happy to have Ichigo here... I found that most interesting, especially after everything we see regarding the Soul King, but if all that is left of him is spirit, the Kokoro, it would make sense that at feeling who he has been waiting for, he is happy.

The soul king is partly based on a Shinto legend in which Ameterasu, the sun goddess, sends her grandson and 5 lesser gods to rule the earth in her place. Bleach is a story about how those 5 gods betrayed their leader and took the throne for themselves. It is possible that the other gods exist in the "Astral realm" which may be as invisible to souls as souls are to the living. Reio and the others were sent here by incarnation, meaning they had to be born in flesh to live here.

There is a interesting idea that because the Soul King was so powerful, he himself grew apathetic and disillusioned with life itself. Going with the theme of Bleach that being Perfect, leads into stagnation. So, Reio, who could see and do anything, would rather see what others would want to create. Which is why he allowed the original sin to happen.

Yhwach is to the Soul King what Old man Zangetsu is to ichigo. An independent manifestation and personification of his Quincy powers. That’s why all Quincy get absorbed into Yhwach’s soul when they die.

I wonder, if Ichibei would have asked him that in the worst case scenario if Ichigo would be willing to become the Soul king. If he said it would be either him or Aizen, what would Ichigo have answered? Without having to kill him and seal him in a crystal just genuinely ask. Let's imagine that Ichibei and Kyoraku would have bowed down their heads to humblely ask Ichigo. I mean this is why Shunsui gave his friends the soul tickets in the first place.

6 hour long ichigo/bleach analysis now a 1 hour long soul king analysis. We are here to have a meal.

48:58 is such a perfect encapsulation of the entire story as far as the idea of cycles, free will, and the winners being the ones to write history. Ywach's death alone makes the existence of the soul king 100x more interesting. The fact that someone as powerful and determined as Ywach, who rejected the current world order and despised the shinigami for the reio's existence, was not only forced to absorb the soul king's power but to also replace it as the new linchpin (without free will). It REALLY makes you look at Ichibei with a lot more distrust. He heavily implies (if not outright states) that the Reio likely accepted it's fate as a limbless linchpin because he "didn't resist" EVEN though he was seemingly all powerful and all seeing. Thus, events transpire as they do likely because the Reio saw it and "willed it." But clearly, we see someone (albeit probably less powerful) like Ywach being forced to become the Reio because he did have a weakness/blind spot/whatever you want to call it. So clearly it's not IMPOSSIBLE for a god-like being to be subjugated/defeated against their will. Especially given the nature of cycles in the bleach universe and how long ago it was. It really really makes you wonder the circumstances of the Reio initially coming to be. It also raises the possibility of this Reio (before Ywach) not necessarily having been the first one to exist. But obviously, Ichibei would probably not disclose that because the implications would be absolutely insane. Anyway, this was such an excellent video!!

After watching the latest ep and this, I'm questioning myself why is this making me tear up, lol. The relationship between the Soul King and Yhwach was a tragedy, and both of what happened to them was indeed tragic

When I first experienced Bleach, I never expected the SK to be this fascinating yet horrifying concept. It really spins the entire Bleach Universe on its head and creates so much speculation and meaning. It’s not something that I think will ever be spelled out because it doesn’t need to be. Also one point to be made but the anime which Kubo supervises confirms Yhwach is a biological son. In one of the opening scenes you see conception and an unknowing being as his mother holding him before he grows. Overall, really insightful video! I have a ton to think about now with these concepts especially with Cour 2 reaching the end. Mimihagi especially…

Just wanted to say I appreciate all your videos so much. I have a lot of time to listen to things since I’m a landscaper. I have binged nearly all of your videos this week. And I love how well spoken and understood all of what you talk about is. Thanks for all your work

This was an amazing video man! Great job breaking down such a massive amount of content while providing beautiful interpretations of the themes and greater concepts of the series. Kubo would be proud no doubt

To me one of the things that strike me about the Soul King is how his story mirrors aspects to the story of Christ, this is pushed even harder by the imagery and liniage of the quincy. God's allows himself to be sacrificed for the sake of the world after being betrayed by one close to him. Ichibei to me is the Judas in Reyos story and the betrayal of the royal families His crucifixion.

lovely video as always. one thing that struck me whilst watching it was the persistent emphasis on the "abstract" over the "structures" being reflected in reio and gremmy (feeding stardust's nasty agenda w this but issa necessary sacrifice). reio a guy who has seen everything, his experiences would necessarily be recorded in his brain na? but gremmy being a locked up child with no stimulus is a focal point in his loss, cuz it shackled his imagination. reios experiences more so pervade the entire universe. can't be held within the brain. it also adds to my idea that the almighty is a separate entity, not inherent to either reio nor yhwach nor ichigo, cuz the past/present/future experienced by reio is still emblematized by the almighty, despite the actual storage unit being taken out of him. thanks for putting shit into perspective my bro, this is gonna be sumn to come back to again and again because of its subject matter and how central it is. and as such u have done a brilliant job of conveying it

I just love that this there's this huge influx of bleach content because now whether you think it's good or bad it's receiving the attention it deserves

Bro you work too hard😂😂

Honestly Kubo greatest issue with his manga is he’s overly vague and under-explained about key important things and often over explains stuff that doesn’t matter. That being said, I honestly get the feeling that had he been in better health at the time we would have got a more detailed backstory for the Soul King in the main work. Not that I think Kubo should have ever really explained the Soul King. But with how over-explained the rest of his universe is I assume he would have if he’d had more time.

I think that a lot of people don't understand bleach in general and act like "CuH BlEAcH iS oNly hYPed for ITs ARTwOrk THaT's aLL huhuhuhuhu ! KUBO IN GenERAL is A baD Writer HUHUH BLEACh is THE woRST Of THE bIG Iii HUHUHUHUH" edit: (some people got triggered by my comment how funny)

This is one of the most beautiful and well thought out explanations of bleach I have ever seen. Started watching Bleach while at University. I could never put into words or understand what made that show so good thematically but your explanation of the Soul King and the story puts alot of things into perspective. I LOVED IT!

I think Jugram might have a piece of the soul king within him because yhwach is able to pass the almighty to him when he is resting.

I think the Soul King didn’t want his son to end up like him.

I love videos like this because it shows that there is more to bleach and its character's and story the revolves around them with deep hidden meanings that kubo as a writer dosent shove these things down are throat but allows us to figure these things out our selves so it's funny when i see people say there's nothing to bleach but cool fights and good soundtrack no there's more to it that i feel like people don't try to understand and don't want to give it credit because its bleach which is sad.

Thanks for your efforts!

“You don’t understand the soul king” Honestly just say “you don’t understand bleach”, since there are so many people who call bleach trash since they don’t understand this master piece. Once you piece everything together after watching the epic battles it’s truly such a master piece! On and episode 25 and 26 were legendary.

Beautifully crafted video amazing work!

Definitely ironic Yhwach became what he despised most. Also, if Reio really got cut down and his remaining power absorbed, is his corpse just somewhere in the Royal Palace? It'd be great to see more entities empowered from the remnants of the Soul King like an army empowered by each of his hairs or an entity with one of his eyes...

I truly think this is the video that made me understand Uha Bach more than i ever have and I appreciate you.

Such a great analysis. Amazing

What a great video this was so informative i really appreciate your hard work bro

Your videos are always amazing bro.

Just found out about your channel, I'm baffled that your videos aren't more popular, I love it keep it up! Especially the bleach videos.

Ichigo actually says if fate is a millstone then we are the grist. The grist is basically the corn and flour and shit that the millstone grinds down. So he is saying fate grinds people down. then he says if he can't protect people from the wheel (the millstone i.e. fate) then he wants enough strength and a sword to shatter fate. The soul king is kinda like azathoth in the sense that if hes disturbed all of reality ends as we know it. Thus it can be said that the soul king is the fate of the bleach universe itself. Anyway ichigo does use yhwach's sword to kill the reio but i don't think thats him shattering fate because he gets absorbed by yhwach who becomes the new reio. The blade to shatter fate is zangetsu. Theres more in there like how the sword used to kill yhwach is the one ichigo wielded when ichigo thought the old man was his shinigami powers when he was actually yhwach so its kinda like he got taken out by himself. and there is the independent but related theme of courage. It's complicated how they intersect though and i don't want to think more now. On that note my theory is that the fourth pupil is the ability to literally be linked to the future. With 2 pupils yhwach can see the future and with 3 he can change the future. But the future he is changing is only the future that exists because of the soul king with 4 pupils in the first place. Or i'm wrong and the 3rd pupil allows yhwach to see into the past. One to look at the future, one to look at the present and one to look at the past.

Another major cycle that trumps even the cycle of life and death can be the cycle of change. In the old world, it was stagnant, and when the first Menos rose up, the Soul King was created, and so to was the cycle of life and death. When these two sides went to war, represented by the Quincy and Shinigami, death won to prevent taking steps backward. But when the old order of death was stagnating, newer and more powerful threats arose to shake it to its foundations. Aizen killed the old governing body, Ywach took the old Head Captain off the board with the old linchpin. When Shunsui became Head Captain, he started making changes that people hated, but in the face of everything, we're changes that were needed. And finally, the most important aspect of the world, Ichigo Kurosaki. Ichigo seems like an accident created by Aizen, but for all we know the same thing could have been said for the Soul King. Ichigo keeps on throwing a wrench in everything he is involved in. Through him other characters rise to new heights, old rules are tossed out. To me, if the Soul King is the linchpin of life and death, Ichigo is the Linchpin of change.

very awesome video i got into bleach because of these lore videos and i love the way you explain stuff

He’s gonna make a comeback if the story ever picks up.

This is one of the best Soul King videos I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. It's great how you delve into the basics and the leadup to everything instead of immediately jumping into CFYOW, and your explanation of every event and the interconnections of all of them. Simply amazing

Amazing and well done video

This explaination went ballls deeeep. Good stuff.

Good job on the breakdown 👏

my god it's rare that I ever watch a 50 minute video so I just wanted to say nice video :D I love your effort into providing visuals for whatever you are saying at the moment seriously thanks for the great video PS Bleach is amazing!~

This is the kind of Bleach analysis videos i searched for for years

I think it ironic the world that yhwach wanted to create. Like he wanted a world of imbalance and chaos but acts as if bec it was the original way reality works it was the best way. But we have it established that hollows being destroyed screws the balance of the world both in its primordial state and and in its current structure. He Unironically wants imbalance. And since hollows exist because they have to exist not through actual corruption but just by nature of possibility.., yhwach wouldve created a world that would collapse in on itself. Or rather recreated a world where it’s necessary to transform it into the structure we have today or existence would cease.

To me the Reiō is the most complicated character in bleach. And to make a video about him explaining his character is very difficult. You did a amazing job 😄

Hooo boy this is a good channel. Nice stuff, mate!

Been enjoying your bleach content a lot, hope to see more brother

I thought that Yhwach, Aizen and Ichigo are also parts of the Reyo, but not of his body. They are parts of his soul/emotions. Yhwach is His depression, regret, apathy, etc. Aizen is His pride, noble rage, feeling of superioty, desire for justice, etc. Ichigo is His empathy, desire to protect the world/weak/loved one, etc.

The Demon's Souls/Soulsborne music throughout this video was definitely befitting of the topic at hand. Absolutely loved it.

The best video about the soul king so far. Edit: I a way i think your vision of the bleach world and your vision of the souls king role can explain why every singular allmighty god in fiction (Like the presence in DC for example) d'ont acte and create an "imperfect world" after all, a perfect world, endless and without life and death is not worth living because there is nothing to improve, no reason to live in. And a world like this is not a paradise but a real hell, no wonder why hollow come to being, a life without goal, without the possibility to die and rest, only emptyness rest and i think that the way hollow came to being in the first place.

Damn I'm HELLA early, I wasn't even subscribed yet (Which is strange cause I watched several of your hour+ long videos and it popped up randomly. Well, at least it gave me another reason to sub! Lookin forward to this!

this video was beautiful

It's interesting that mostly every villain of bleach is a revolutionary trying to undone the injustice while the heroes are the oppressive force who wants to maintain status quo. Though mostly anime shounen protagonist want to maintain status quo

The only character that can put the begining and an end to concepts The begining of life, the end of life, the begining of death, the end of death, the begining of hope, the end of hope, the begining of dispair, the end of dispair Pretty much with his power to solo his own verse it become the new hope to some, yet once it settle it become the biggest threat, and the begining of despair to some The end of begining, and the begining of an end

gremmy as the soul king's brain i would love to be true too. in chapter 656 askin says among the schutzstaffel specifically, perinda & gerard were the only schutzstaffel who had powers prior to yhwach and were not granted schrifts by yhwach. their existing powers were just named to reflect appropriate letters. at the end of chapter 14 of can't fear your own world volume 2, it is stated specifically that yhwach did grant the v - visionary schrift to gremmy. so maybe there is room for doubt but i think this makes it seem like gremmy likely isn't the soul king's brain after all, which would be a missed opportunity.

Maybe Askin is the kidney of the soul king. It is the organ that keeps most toxins in check. Orihime may have the liver- inmense regenerative ability and the liver in greek myths represents the heart

Bro that was beautiful

This sounds a lot like Egyptian mythology around Osiris. In Egyptian myth, Osiris was the ruler of heaven. His rival and brother, Set, the god of evil and chaos, killed him and scattered his body into twenty pieces. Isis, Osiris' wife and the goddess of magic, brought those pieces back together. Using her magic, she was able to raise him from death long enough for them to defeat Set and for her and him to conceive a child together. That child was Horus, and he is the one that every Pharoah is said to be a reincarnation of. While Horus rules as the king in Egypt in the land of the living, Osiris rules over the afterlife, surrounded by several gods. Isis (magic), Anubis (death, mummification), Maat (justice and balance), Amut (the soul devourer), and Thoth (the scribe). Osiris' job as ruler of the afterlife is to help keep the balance of souls entering the Duat, judging those that will move on and those that will be devoured by Amut. Hmmm. Those gods may have some reflection in the royal guards. The first obvious one that comes to mind is Ichibei and Thoth. Thoth created writing, and thus names, and is very heavily associated with magic. Given that Isis is the goddess of magic and healed Osiris in the first place, I could see her connection to Kirinji or perhaps with Hikifune. Not sure which. Mummification is a kind of sealing or binding, so perhaps there is a connection between Anubis and Nimaiya, since it is his invention, the zanpakuto, that seals the shinigami's powers into a blade form. He also has what I would probably say is the ultimate sword, so sharp it can't be sheathed. Sounds like the ultimate soul slayer. A perfect weapon for the god of death and mummification. I was thinking Senjumaru could be tied to Maat due to her ability to basically weave fate, allowing her to rule over the balance of the world. All speculative, of course, but I find the idea interesting.

I like how throughout the video you had scenes from Elden Ring, because the Story of Elden Ring and the Story of Bleach are kinda similar. At the same time they are also kinda two sides of the same coin. Elden Ring was primordially Chaotic and was rampant with life and death. Then the Golden order who serve the Elden Beast came and removed death from the world and put it in the Death Rune and brought 'order' to the lands in-between. But the world began to stagnate and people who should've died still lived and walked as undead creatures. So the groups that oppose the Golden Order and/or outer Gods like the Frenzied Flame wish to bring death back on the system to restore it to its primordial state. Meanwhile Bleach is the kind of opposite to where the primordial world used to be one world and there was essentially no death in the cycle of souls. But the Shikigami who didnt want to see the world stagnate mutilated the Soul King, separated the world and brought death into the cycle of souls. Now the Qunices with Bach reject death and want to restore the world to it's deathless state in primordial times. Its a really interesting dichotomy that the two worlds share. Im not surprised both came out of Japan. Probably says alot on their ideology on life.

I love such deep dives into Bleach lore! Awesome video, I thoroughly enjoyed it🎉

Bro, this video was impeccable. It was actually so good. I was drawing while listening to it. It felt like reading these significant Bleach chapters again but this time with a whole new outlook. Especially with the recontextualizations of the Fullbringers. Very well done, well written, well researched, and thoroughly backed up. I enjoyed this video. With the most latest episodes of Bleach I suspect you will probably be cornered by this topic again and have alot to say. As for who do I think the remaining parts of the Soul King are.... Assuming that The Soul King's um...."man junk" was cut off, during the mutilation, and like the fingernails, made its way down to the "world", it is likely possible that while the nails entered the souls of people, the um...."fluids" from the "man junk" made its way into a woman, without her knowing. This probably covering the immaculate conception as well as making the mother of Yhwach a "Fullbringer??" who gave birth to the child formed of the genetic material/blueprint of the Soul King. So Yhwach is probably not a piece of the Soul King as much as he is his human embodiment or continuation of his life by reproduction. This probably explains why like the nails, Yhwach has the ability to embed parts of himself in the souls of others, but unlike his father, and more like a fullbringer, he pulls on the souls of those people whenever he desires. Yhwach is a fullbringer, but i think a better term would be: Yhwach is the "Fullest Bringer", but only for souls he has put himself into, similar to Book of The End. The Reishi manipulation as well being the Soul King's ability which he shares basic with every person who becomes a Quincy and passes on their own genetic material as was done to create Yhwach, they are naturally containing pieces of his soul on birth (or at least, the links to those pieces and through those links, YH commands them). This explains how the baby that was born was almost even a stillbirth. Not moving, not seeing, not speaking, nothing, almost alive but not quite dead. As for the manifestation of missing things from the people the baby shared to, I think the baby shared parts of his soul but ALSO manifested what they deeply desired to become whole, almost like a natural Hogyoku. Yhwach is so interesting because similar to how you say the world called for the SK's existence, it is almost as if part of the SK or the world called for the existence of Yhwach. It would be interesting, if Aizen came across the legend of the baby YH long long long ago and through that, he learned more of the nature of the SK. This is probably why he knew YH on sight in Muken. I think Tsukishima probably has the part of the Soul King that governs fate, with the way he is able to invade the past of anything. I think he is even able to invade the future as well. Uryu is likely also a Fullbringer and a Quincy as he is one of TWO Gemischt Quincies to survive Auswahlen (the other one being Ichigo). I imagine, the only thing YH couldn't pull on was a piece of the SK that he has no dominion over. Uryu's power however, is oddly not representative of being a Fullbringer. It is likely that his power is similar to Ginjo's Cross of Scaffold, or even Ichigo's Erosion/Implosion (Chapter Name but ill call it this since H.O.S is named after chapter too) and is just power. Uryu is still Odd. It seems like Uryu's Fullbring power would be the thing that makes his soul unpullable. An immutable object that cannot be moved without the object moving itself. This is probably why YH deemed Uryu his successor. He probably saw that Uryu, unlike YH cannot succumb to Auswahlen, so as a result, when he passes on his genetic material, he will ensure the Quincies live on even should YH be defeated. Making him the new "Father of The Quincy". This might be why Uryu was not dealt with by Tsukishima, but was instead dealt with by a mortal blow from Cross of Scaffold's base sword. His soul wasn't pulled on. This might also explain why Uryu survived hollow damage in Hueco Mundo without doing a Masaki. Something is preserving Uryu's soul from soul-death, soul dissolution. Something perpetuates the nature of it. His power is likely subtle and maybe this manifests in Antithesis as well. Reflecting any damage that would end his soul back to the place it came from. (Damage that would end his soul specifically. Ichigo's Vasto Lorde is a greater existence than him but also a quincy so it probably didnt infect him, but he was still dealt massive blows.) Aizen has long been theorised to be a Soul King related character. If with the Hogyoku naturally submitting to his will, we assume Aizen is a Fullbringer on top of being a Shinigami, then I think I want to assume he is one of the legs, or maybe like a nerve ending that escaped. Kyoka Suigetsu is probably a small representation of one of the SK powers being the creation of dimensions/reality. Aizen doesn't create anything, but him and Kyoka Suigetsu have the power to manipulate the perception of reality of the people they display their power to. I cant imagine who has the Soul King's legs, but I assume that it would be someone of immense power. We also know there is a Beast Realm and that the worlds in Bleach closely resemble the six Bhuddist worlds so it is possible that some are there. There is also Soul Society West Branch and everything in Burn The Witch. It is highly possible that parts of the Soul King made their way into the Dragons. I believe there are great dragons and they are numbered, so possibly that power may have gone into animals. Kazui....Kazui is a problem. Assuming some parts of the SK reincarnate or hide in a weirdo dimension before going into a soul, Kazui likely has one of the biggest parts. Possibly the part that governs creation. Orihime's power Reject's Reality or rather, it returns reality to a form it once had by rejecting a current reality, almost like the mimihagi stops reality so I would like to assume she has a leg. Orihime's power also does not create but is likely just a piece of The Almighty in picking a past that exists and returning that object to it and setting it on another path to the desired future. Likely why Aizen noticed her and specifically said her power "intrudes" or "encroaches" on the God's realm. Why her power is rejection? Probably in the same way that if you deny something, you can make it untrue. It took Book of The End and Souten Kesshun to "fix" Tensa Zangetsu. Book of The End likely did some shiesty Fullbringer pull stuff and Orihime, rejected the reality that gave rise to the sword breaking, sent it back to the point in time before it broke, and moved it to the reality that lead to the future where the sword exists. So Book of The End manipulated the past, where as Orihime manipulated the object and moved it to a different fate. Kazui, like Yhwach isn't an actual Fullbringer but might be the 2nd occurence of the "Fullest Bringer" assuming that YH is the first. He is again descended from a "Fullbringer" in Orihime, and a "spiritual natural recreation of the SK but possibly representing more blueprint for potential", being Ichigo. As a result, Kazui easily befriends spirits of all kinds. He doesn't quite impart his soul that we know of, but it is as if all things gravitate toward him unknowingly. Hell opens for him, he becomes a Shinigami at will, YH's power remnant almost seeks refuge inside him. Kazui is a big fat problem. And I imagine Ichibei is going to be in the mood for some Kazui BBQ. Man, this video has reinspired me. I love Bleach ride or die, but now im even more so in love with it.

Exactly why Bleach Anime to me, is the GOAT. Well put together. Thank you for this.

good video dude 👍

I think that Lille Barro is host to the voice of the Soul King (to be clear, I think that YHVH gave him a schrift as well, but he has a lot of thematic connections to bein the voice of god)

Tfw Bleach lore sounds more and more like Dark Souls the deeper you look into it...

Damn, did not realize the extent to which Yh’s plan was stopped when the Mimihagi intervened. Changed every future.

ichigo having the chain of fate of the soul king makes to much sense. his bankai even reference it. his hollow form in his mask training using something similar to encroachment mouths to attack kensai. i would guess that ginjo might have the soul sleep.

Wowww amazing video🤯 u worded everything so well mad respect. Im not religious but ive always had an idea of what god would be like if they were real, and the soul king is exactly what i imagined 🧐

This is the best video to explain Soul King, really well done 👏🏻

I was literally about to propose ichigo having the chain of fait do to his extensive back and forth with his shinigami/ soul reaper powers and the awakening of his bankia with chains usually showing up in his bankai much of the series, especially in his final fight with aizen where the chain wraps up his arm

I find it amusing that the 5 original Shinigami thought they could surprise the Soul King. The only way they were going to get away with it is if he *let* them

Soul King is the epitome of: "Visit Japan, but don't stay there."

the arms of the soul king on first glance do seem to be that the left cause advancement, and the right cause stagnation, But i tend to think of them as the opposite, the left hand worked to change the world back in to what it once was, while the right wished to permit the advancement of the world, only intervening a few times, once with Ukitake, and the second to prevent the collapse of the soul king and thus force Yhwach to move forward and become the new soul king. Edit: like you said at 31:44 the hand fight for the opposite cause of what they represent Second edit: I feel like each iris of the almighty has a purpose, The second grants the ability to see the possible future, The third grants the ability to affect those possible future, and the fourth grants the ability to see destiny. I think that the soul king unlocked the forth pupil and despaired, to see that which could not be defied, and thus either gave himself up to the first soul reapers to be spilt apart, or he made the first soul reapers to split himself apart, his essence could not stay as it was without betraying it self, his soul longed to be courageous, and yet his eyes saw no possibility of him defying destiny. He saw no way in which he could remain as he was and in sense caused his destiny to become reality.

Finally!!! It wouldnt load an hour ago

Reioh Part Idea: Zaraki is the Teeth of the Soul King. The ferocity he can’t act on, so Zaraki Kenpachi does via his very person and moreso when he taps into his Bankai once.

The more I see breakdowns and analyses of Bleach that actually read into the poetic aspects of Kubo's grand canvas instead of only reacting to the surface , the more I am glad to be a Bleach fan. Bleach's subtly ingrained tenets of life, death, the soul and its will is not explicitly mentioned nor is it slapped together. It is expressed wholly through the life, existence, actions and personalities of the characters we get to know and love. I feel like this method of storytelling allows Kubo's intended messages to keep its potency and weight instead of dumping it on the reader and losing its value. Bleach has never been a surface level story. Hell, even the concepts of the soul, life and death are not surface level ideas, but ever-present things we as humans don't fully understand. I also feel that Kubo purposely doesn't give us the full story so we can come to our own conclusions and interpretations.

Would love a video about the potential connection between Ichigo and the SK

The story of bleach has a mix of a battle shonen story and a damn poem

10:44 I love how kubo uses the word Reio to describe the soul king because it literally means King in Portuguese. So when you say The Reio you are literally saying The King. I just thought that was cool.

I wish we can learn more about the soul king past like what person was he like and personality.

Honestly one of the best RU-vid videos I’ve ever watched. Good job bro

How could a being as Great as the Soul King, with the ability to see all possible futures be imprisoned and mutilated to such extent? Only if he ALLOWED it, of course. Whether through apathy or compassion and intent to create the world he foresaw, who can say?

Maybe the Soul King, when he allowed himself to be sliced and diced, was actually not aware of every detail of what might happen once he allows this to happen. He could have just known something important/interesting would happen. So a bunch of "automatic" safeguards were put into place that would attempt to reset the world if the Shinigami were making a mess of it. One of the automatic safeguards were the entire faction of Quincy, including Pernida and Gerrard (parts of the SK), as well as Mimihagi. Now where it gets interesting is that by being within Ukitake, Mimihagi got to experience Ukitake's nature and how he inspired the people around him. Which is also very similar to how Old Man Zangetsu within Ichigo experienced the world. I wouldn't be surprised that in this case, both Mimihagi and OMZ, who were essentially parts of the Soul King's "no-bullshit verification system" in this context, were swayed by their hosts and understood that this world that was created was good and reasonable actually, and not actually a huge mess. That's why Mimihagi went to protect the SK, and that's why Ichigo was able to kill Yhwach in the end, with OMZ even helping him.

“You don’t understand the Soul King.” I beg to differ.

"Slave knight" Gales theme eh? I see what you've done there

We need an smt style game about the primordial world. You get to the end of the game and get to choose which ideology to follow of the original 5 families.

A very interesting video

What are your thoughts on the reasoning behind OMZ’s name being blacked out when he first speaks to Ichigo? How did Ichibe accomplish this?

I think the soul king saw the future with his all might just like yhwach could see the infinite futures and change things in the presence. There's the panel of the soul king standing in a lake and plunged his "sword" or linchpin into the lake and creating the 3 different worlds and him being in the middle of them being the pin holing them all together. He saw the future and he understood what he had to do. Be sealed and mutilated and just waiting for everything to play out like he saw. But i could be looking into it to much but just wanted to add my own input have a lovely day everyone :)

Reverse London might have another being like the Soul King. I assume that because they never mentioned that place in the story (but we know it's connected) and it seems to be divided into some kind of North, South, East and West. So maybe there's a being even higher than the soul king connecting those 4 quadrants. Dang thinking about this makes me see how Tite Kubo it's a master on story building.

One thing i find a bit interesting is that only the SK and Ichigo seem to be unpredictable. Even Bach was predicted by Ukitake and Mimohagi. But even the 'wise' Ichibe and Almighty Bach cannot predict these two. Bach saw some of Ichigo but was still slain by him, Ichibe implies he didn’t think Ichigo would have the power to beat Bach. Meanwhile Ichibe still doesn’t know why the SK let himself be torn apart while Bach, again, didn't predict the Mimihagi. Ultimately by the end, Ichigo and the SK ate the only ones that truly seem to be able to just do as they please. I mean, who can make them? Yet they still are also, importantly, good protective figures.

Tite freaking rocks with his story!!

tryna join the reio hype train 2 years later 😭🕊️

Bleach is an underrated masterpiece

the Soul King hasn't died. He went to get the One Piece. Even tough he's dead. Yohohohoho

It's wild the argument of the antagonists in context actually paints THEM as the actual good guys when it comes to light that the foundation of the worlds as it is, is likely due to the implied unconsented saccrifice of another(at least initially), the bed rock of "necessary evil" . How can you not but be pessimistic about concepts like justice and rightousness much less uphold them when you're exposed to THIS as the holy cradle of all that represents what you stand for and exist through? I'd feel like a clown everyday. The current world, though more manageable and stable, is very much built on a lie, the means to justify the ends were none the short of hypocracy. Aizen being a lone sole could have possibly "shattered" a long time ago upon learning of this revelation and secluded himself solely to research. Ichigo implied through their various clashes, there was a loneliness in Aizen that could never be satiated, not knowing what the source was but it was relevant enough to leave an impact on the boy. Aizen could very well easily have stood for these things, but down the line lost all grip in justifying any of it, note really having to abide by any "ethics" conducting his research. This event dictated the path of a nihilist. The denotation of most of the Espada. Aswell as his outrage towards Kisuke, who simply accepts the status quote. Remember he wasnMt angry at Kisuke for losing to him, he was angry he didn't reach the same conclusion and take the same actions. So much of Auzen describes Ryo and the world's case to a T, like his kyokasuigetsu's call "shatter" and ability of perfect hypnosis. To a prodigy of absolute hyponitism, it wouldn't strike me as odd if he actually ever questioned whether he was under control. Which pray tell comes his pure joy when he's the pupeteer, when he sent soul society to disseray and played Central 46 when he dominates the will of the hogyoku. Every occassion he's the puppeteer is one more reassurance no one was controlling him.

Something about the soul king... Is creepy. Almost like hes jist chilling, and still "allowing" it . Perhaps he could stop anttime he wanted, and is aware of whats going on

16:43 I am super happy that I am not the only person who views Jūshirō and Mimihagi's bond similar to Marika/Radagon to the Elden Beast. One being a vassal for a Higher Being (Soul King/Greater Will). Instant like for that

We have confirmation that the 5 ancestors did rip out alot of organs from reyoh but what if was also just conceptual things they removed from him? They had ichibei around to help after all. With his piwer ovwr names its not out of possibility that he cut out conceptual things from reyoh like "soul kings love" Orihime i think has to have maybe the soul kings vocal chords. Let me explain. Her power is labelled as "rejecting divine phenomena" And what ways have we seen in stories where things like that happens? When a god like being decrees it with their voice. Orihime has almost always been shown using her power by speaking it first. Not only that it was her words, her voice that gave ulquiorra a heart before he died. Her voice essentially being the voice of the reyoh is what allows her to reject reality. Now of course because her own power comes from reyoh it makes more sense why the voice of god cant affect god itself