User:Theoryguru

About me
Greetings! I am Theoryguru. As you have likely guessed already, my favorite Bleach character is Urahara Kisuke. I am fond of him because of his intellectual curiosity, self-deprecation and respect for others. For me, Urahara reflects a central theme in Japanese culture: balance. He balances modernity and tradition, science and folkways, and seriousness and humor. He is also a somewhat tragic character, having been framed by Aizen for crimes he did not commit. But he also seems to be the love interest of the insanely-hot, constantly-disrobing Shihoin Yoriuchi, which makes his banishment to the World of the Living likely more bearable.

What you may not know about me is that I am a student of social and political theory and a fan of Japanese film and anime, particularly the works of Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Miyazaki, just to name a few. Given that I am new here, I guess I am a sort of shinsetsu. I welcome your thoughts about Bleach's connection to Japanese culture and its relationship to the traditional/modern/postmodern cultural discourses out of which it emerges. Hit me up for a talk!

My favorite Bleach moments
Bleach has a number of indelible scenes that range from campy humor and fanboy catnip to cultural reflection and philosophical musing. I have to admit that I dig the catnip as well as the conjecture, but I only want to focus on the latter here. These mediations on Episodes 307-9 are my own take on what is excellent about the series and are, of course, open to some debate. But I hope, dear reader, you find them interesting.

I have read in several places that people were "completely caught off-guard" by Ichimaru's plotting and that there should have been more "foreshadowing" of his plans as well as more development of the backstory that explained them. I have to disagree with that take and will spend this time explaining why.
 * 1) The motivation of Ichimaru Gin

To the discerning reader/viewer, Ichimaru had a way of addressing Aizen that should give ample cause for consideration. While Aizen's enemies dispensed with honorifics and merely called him "Aizen," his supporters, namely the Arrancar and Tosen Kaname, referred to him as "Aizen-sama." Ichimaru, on the other hand, referred to Aizen as "Aizen-taichou" consistently. Note that Aizen did not become "Aizen-san" let alone "Aizen-sama" for Ichimaru. (The American English translation of the manga, however, sometimes translated the "Aizen-taichou" in the original Japanese to "Aizen-san," which is both incorrect and unfortunate. See especially Chapter 404, p. 14.) Instead, Ichimaru continued to call him "Captain Aizen," this despite the fact that 1) the two characters knew each other for over a century, 2) they were both captains at the time of their departure to Hecho Mundo and captains in the Gotei 13 typically do not call one another "taichou" and 3) they apparently were rejecting Gotei 13 by leaving in the manner they did. The fact that Ichimaru continued to call Aizen "Aizen-taichou" seems to reveal 1) a distance between the two and 2) a connection to Gotei 13 that Ichimaru has not relinquished. Here is red flag number one.

Another issue was the fact that, when leaving for Hecho Mundo, Ichimaru did two things that were incredibly out of character and were related to his relationship with Matsumoto Rangiku. Before he ascended, Ichimaru turned to Matsumoto, dropped his ever-present simper, and apologized to her. This is doubly confounding. Ichimaru's simper is as part of his character as his silver hair - it defines him. That he would drop it is a cue that something very important is happening. The fact that Ichimaru would issue anyone an apology - particularly one that appeared completely sincere - is very odd. The questions it should raise are 1) what is Ichimaru's relation to Matsumoto (who is not in his Division) and 2) why does he feel he has to apologize to her for his perceived treachery? Why does she merit this? This is the second red flag.

Ichimaru's reveal is both tragic in its unfolding and poetic in its brevity. His motivation is simple - he loves Matsumoto blindly and has vowed to destroy the one he knows has hurt her, no matter how long it takes. How can you not adore that?

Tips



Useful links

 * Help:Index - useful section that gives tips and examples on how to do just about everything on the Bleach Wiki.
 * Help Desk Forum - a place to ask for help from other members of the Bleach Wiki's community, especially for technical matters.
 * You can use your user page or the Bleach Wiki:Sandbox to test out edits.
 * Please read our policies, as they are for the benefit of all and will be enforced.
 * Manual of Style - guidelines for how your edits on the wiki should look and what is acceptable practice.
 * Spoiler Policy - basically, do not add content from a chapter/episode until it is released in English.
 * Image Policy - outlines rules for uploading and using images.
 * User Page Policy - outlines the rules for user pages and user talk pages.


 * Check out the Projects running to improve Bleach Wiki.
 * Check out Recent Changes to see what is happening right now on Bleach Wiki.