#these are intense copium ramblings for a dead man who never even showed us his bankai lol

[vraisetzen]

*inhales copium* and now, a bleach "no breaths from hell" analysis to soothe the soul

i've been rewatching bleach (both canon and filler eps) and rereading the TYBW arc, and nothing can convince me that the opening page to the NBFH one-shot isn't about ukitake.

two things stood out to me: the very sentimental language ("when i was younger"; "i adored the dear things"; "seeing that brought me great relief"), as well as the metaphor of the two fishes – one large, the other small, until one day the larger one passed away.

but then, with the larger fish's death, the smaller one grew bigger, and even "flourished". the narrator of the tale finds great relief at this – thank goodness, they say. the story then ends with a cryptic, "it was good that the larger one died".

while i might have to check with the japanese originals for the phrasing, i immediately clocked the two fishes as referring to ukitake, for his zanpakuto – sogyo no kotowari.

more than that, i think the story of the two fishes also parallel his life: a small child who coexisted with a larger, infinite being to stay alive on borrowed time. stagnating, in other words; the exact term used in the panel, similar in description to mimihagi's abilities, delaying ukitake's sickness and death.

and i think it wasn't – or won't be, depending on where this story is headed – until ukitake's sacrifice that he comes to grow bigger than he is, into his powers, and what he was meant to be. we see, for a brief time during his sacrifice, that he becomes the soul king himself; later on, we are told that ukitake's reiatsu far surpasses the sheer volume that the other captains can put together – these things indicate ukitake's transformation to come, as seen by the large zanpakuto that he wields in hell:

[i'm just gonna ignore the possible implications of the familiar language used here by syazelaporro: "ahh... you're early...", like this has happened before(?) elsewhere(?)]

but it is also worth noting that a large zanpakuto isn't necessarily a good thing – it could also mean that ukitake is having difficulty controlling his immense spiritual pressure now that he does not need to use it to sustain mimihagi and his life. which also only raises the question: just how much more reiatsu did he have when he was alive, and potentially now that he's the (likely) gatekeeper of hell?

and more than that, the epithet that ukitake is referred to – "kamikake", or "god-sworn"/"divine possession" – references no doubt his past life as a host for mimihagi. it is indeed curious that he would be referred to as such in the afterlife/hell, and i can only suppose that his title or duties are related somewhat to the sacrificial ritual, or even the soul king.

which, in the end, brings us back to the first panel – the death of the larger fish allowing the smaller fish to grow and flourish. when one considers the literary significances of fishes in world literature, particularly in christianity, which the TYBW is rooted heavily in, then the small fish could also be a symbol of resurrection and rebirth.

when kubo-sensei hopefully picks up this story, i look forward to seeing if ukitake does get to become the fighter that he could be without his illness, possible even transcending those barriers placed upon him when he was living.