Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-7136323-20130414003028/@comment-5398287-20130414010444

1. Yes, they are dead. They are souls who have gained special powers through training. As for Senna, she is 1. not even a real being in the first place and 2. not canon in the slightest.

2. Yes, Shinigami can "die". In their case, death just means their soul is sent back to the Human World: however, the effects of this on them are the same as that of death on a Human.

3. Kubo has never really explained Shinigami aging, but a rough ballpark estimate of their age based on appearance would be:

10 Human years = 1 Shinigami year

This means 10 years to a Shinigami is equivalent to 1 year for a Human, at least in terms of aging, so they outwardly age about 90& slower than a Human does. Therefore, every 10 years, they outwardly age about 1 year.

4-1 This has not yet been explained. A popular theory is that Ichigo subconsciously used his Quincy powers to generate a weapon that has all the properties of a Zanpakuto, including the spirit within and a Bankai, but is not a true Zanpakuto because an Asauchi was not involved in its creation. Until Kubo officially states the reason behind this, that's the best I can give you.

4-2. Okay, here's the thing.


 * 1. Isshin has stated if captains did not actively control their power, they would all be walknig around with Zanpakuto the size of skyscrapers, thus why Byakuya's is normal size. In this case, size does NOT matter, as it is not an indicator of spiritual power.


 * 2. It is unfair to compare any Zanpakuto to Ichigo's because both of his swords are oversized for a reason. His first one was oversized because he could not actively control his power, tying back into my first point. His second and current one is oversized because it is constantly in its Shikai, which is a giant khyber knife. Therefore, it is in a permanent size and shape which Ichigo cannot change.

That's why.

5. Here you go.

6. Someone already did.