Soul Society
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In the anime and manga series Bleach, the afterlife is known as Soul Society (尸魂界)*, also called the spirit world (in a Bleach-related context) and The Soul Society in the official English dub. It is meant to correspond to heaven or nirvana in human belief systems.
According to Rukia Kuchiki, nine out of ten times Soul Society is better than the living world and you never need to worry about hunger. However, as displayed in the series, the concept of the afterlife is anything but sublime. Soul Society consists of two portions, the cities where most people live, called Rukongai; and the walled castle where the spirit world nobility and the shinigami live, known as Seireitei (lit. Court of Pure Souls).
It should be noted that even within Soul Society, no one is immortal. People grow old, albeit at a slower pace, and might be able to die of old age. They can also be killed in battle. A soul that dies in Soul Society is reincarnated on earth as a new human.
* - Soul Society, despite being written using kanji in the manga, is pronounced "Soul Society", and has no Japanese pronunciation.
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[edit] Accessing Soul Society
Shinigami come and leave Soul Society by unlocking the senkaimon (穿界門, lit. world penetration gate) using a Hell Butterfly (地獄蝶 jigokuchō). Pluses, on the other hand, enter Soul Society through the ritual of Soul Burial (魂葬 konsō).
Intruders can also pass through the senkaimon by adding a reishihenkanki, which converts matter into spirit particles. However, they must first pass through dangai (断界, lit. prohibiting world), the bordering dimension between the human world and Soul Society. This is much more dangerous to do, as souls that cannot pass through before the gate to Soul Society closes are trapped there forever.
Finally, hollows can also directly rip a hole to Soul Society from Hueco Mundo, or in the case of arrancar, use garganta.
[edit] Government
Soul Society is ruled by a royal family, which is protected by a royal guard. Farther down, Central 46 Chambers serves as a supreme judiciary and legislative that is second only to the royal family. The shinigami enforce order in Soul Society as a sort of executive and military branch. All of the above, except the royal family and guard, reside in the Seireitei (see below).
The king and the royal family reside in a separate dimension in the very core of Soul Society, which can only be opened with a key, fittingly named the Royal Key (王鍵 ōken).[1] The king's practical role is unknown. The king seems to have no interest in politics and leaves the Central 46 Chambers to such affairs. According to Rangiku Matsumoto, no shinigami in the Gotei 13 has ever seen the king.
[edit] Rukongai
Rukongai (流魂街 lit. wandering soul city) is divided into 320 districts (80 in North Rukongai, 80 in West Rukongai, etc.), each numbered in descending order on how far they are from the center; this results in the higher-numerated (and farther) districts decaying into slums. Thus, while District 1 is peaceful and lawful (and in many cases resembles the antiseptic lifestyle of early-Edo era Kyoto), District 80 is a hardscrabble, violent, crime-infested area that more depicts Heian era Kyoto. There is no indication that the shinigami or any other agencies patrol the streets of rukongai, and as a result, the citizenry are mainly responsible for their day-to-day welfare.
So far, only four names of Rukongai districts are known:
- 1 - Junrinan (潤林安), part of West Rukongai
- Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Momo Hinamori, and Jidanbō, the West Gate Keeper, came from here. When Ichigo comes to Soul Society, the spirit of Yūichi Shibata, the boy who inhabited Chad's cockatiel, also comes to reside here. According to Sōsuke Aizen, West Rukongai is also the "headquarters" of Kisuke Urahara.
- 78 - Inuzuri, the South Alley of Flowing Spirits
- Both Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai grew up here.
- 79 - Kusajishi (草鹿), the North Alley of Loitering Spirits
- Yachiru Kusajishi was found here by Kenpachi Zaraki.
- 80 - Zaraki (更木), the North Alley of Loitering Spirits
- Kenpachi Zaraki came from here.
[edit] Seireitei
Seireitei (瀞霊廷, lit. court of pure souls) is in the center of Soul Society, a circular shirō with four main entrances, each guarded by a Gate Guardian. The walls are made of deathstone, a material known to sap all spiritual and psychic energy when one portion is faced in a particular direction, similar to magnetic lodestones.
The majority of the residents of Seireitei, nobility and shinigami alike, do not interact with the citizens of Rukongai. However, residents of Rukongai are allowed to apply for the shinigami academy, which is often the only escape from the poorest conditions of Rukongai, such as Renji and Rukia. Some Seireitei residents, such as shinigami Yoruichi Shihouin and the Shiba clan, do maintain residences outside the castle.
[edit] References
- ^ Bleach manga; chapter 223, pages 6-7.
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| Races: Shinigami | Quincy | Hollow | Vizard | Bount |
| Characters: Characters | Hollows | Bounts |
| Places: Soul Society | Urahara Shōten | Hueco Mundo | Karakura Town |
| Combat: Zanpakutō | Demon arts |
| Media: Media and materials | Manga chapters | Anime episodes | Movie | Video games | Musical |
