The first time the names "Soul King Palace" and "Soul King" appeared in BLEACH was in the Arrancar Arc. Aizen Sousuke killed the Soul King and tried to rule Soul Society himself, but the name was not mentioned. In the "Thousand-Year Blood War Arc", the Soul King Palace finally appears and becomes the stage for the battle. This time, I would like to introduce a little bit about what the Soul King Palace is like.
What is the Soul King Palace anyway?
It is a space located far above Soul Society where the "Soul King" exists. Even the captains of the Gotei 13 are not allowed to enter the palace, and they must either go with the Zero Squad or get their permission. To enter the palace, they need the "King's Key", which is their bone that was transformed by the Soul King when they were selected for the Zero Squad. Therefore, they cannot enter the palace without borrowing the power of the Zero Squad.
How do they travel between the Soul King's Palace and Soul Society?
The vehicle used by the Zero Squad to travel is called the "Tenzushi-koshi" and looks like a large pillar. The easiest way to describe it is that it falls from the Soul King's Palace to Soul Society. However, since the Tenzushi-koshi does not have the ability to return to the palace on its own, it must be launched by Kukaku to return to the palace.
What is the Soul King's Palace?
The first place you arrive at the Reiou Palace is the entrance to the main hall called "Reiou Palace Omotesando". If you go further in, you will find the cocoon-shaped main hall "Reiou Palace Daidairi", where the Reiou lives. There are five tray-like structures floating around it, and there is a castle called "Zero-ban Riden" where each member of the Zero Squad is given a place, and each one has a town formed. The Reiou Palace is home to the Reiou Palace, the Zero Squad, and the residents.
How do you move around inside the Reiou Palace?
All movement within the space is done by flying. What actually happens is that there is a round pedestal platform, and while standing on it, you hit a switch with a hammer and are sent flying off the pedestal.
What kind of being is the Soul King?
The Soul King is said to be the pinnacle of all Shinigami. The royal family is even higher than the 46 Chambers, the highest judicial body that governs Soul Society, and the Soul King is at the top of them. Very few people have actually met him, and most people, except for the Zero Squad, only know of his existence.
What protects the Soul King?
Just as the Gotei 13 protects the Seireitei, the Royal Special Forces, Zero Squad, protects the Soul King's palace, that is, the Soul King. In addition, the "Seirei Wall," a wall that falls from above when someone without a pass tries to enter the Seireitei, usually protects the Soul King's palace where the Soul King resides.
What is the Zero Squad, the royal special forces that protect the Soul King?
They are the guardians of the Soul King Palace and the Soul King, but they are made up of only five captains and do not have any soldiers. However, the combined strength of these five is said to be greater than the entire strength of the Gotei 13. All five also have some kind of nickname.
What are the conditions for joining the Zero Squad?
Each of the five captains has created something in Soul Society and has been recognized by the Soul King as "the history of Soul Society itself." I would like to introduce these five captains from now on.
Kirinji Tenjiro
The first officer of the Zero Squad is the Eastern God General, also known as "Sentoki." With a pompadour hairstyle, a pipe in his mouth, and a haori coat, he has a thug-like appearance that is a mix of various eras. However, contrary to his appearance, he is surprisingly caring and thoughtful. He is also fast, so he can get behind Soi Fon without her noticing that he has moved, and he was once called "Thunderbolt Tenjiro."
Guardian of Kirinden
There are two hot springs, red and white, "Hone Hell" and "Blood Pond Hell". In Hone Hell, the damaged spiritual pressure is squeezed out along with the blood, and then the body is replenished with hot water by entering Blood Pond Hell. By repeating this process many times, the rotten spiritual pressure and blood in the body are replaced with hot water, and even seriously injured people who could not be treated in Soul Society can be completely cured. The hot water is so strong that if you are not wearing a protective yukata woven with super spiritual thread, you will over-recover and will rot and burst. He is also a recovery specialist who taught Unohana Retsu the healing Kidō technique, Kaido.
What are Sen'yūki's abilities?
His Zanpakutō is called Kinpika, and is shaped like a hot water stirrer, with the word Kirinji written in hiragana on the sheath. It's a shame that there isn't much description of his Zanpakutō's abilities, so they're unclear. He pours the water from the White Bone Hell on his opponents, destroying their bodies with "over-recovery".
Hikifune Kirio
The second officer of the Zero Squad is the Southern General, also known as the "Kokuou". 110 years before the "Thousand-Year Blood War" arc began, the female captain of the 12th Squad, Sarugaki Hiyori, adores him like a mother. Kirio Hikifune created the "temporary soul" and the technology to "incorporate it into the body", that is the concept of "Gitama". He created "Gitamamaru" using a part of that concept. His achievements were recognized by the Spirit King, and he joined the Zero Squad.
Guardian of Gatonden
Gatonden is a restaurant where you can eat meals infused with the essence of the righteous soul in the palace of food. The essence of the righteous soul is to take in a completely different spiritual pressure from your own and raise the hierarchy of your own power. When Kiryu Hikifune cooks, he uses up all of his spiritual pressure, so he becomes extremely thin every time he finishes cooking. His body can't handle that, so he tries to gain as much weight as possible under normal circumstances. When he loses a lot of weight, he turns into a beautiful woman with big breasts.
The ability of the Grain King!
Hikifune Kiryu's technique, "Cage of Life", creates a tree cage called a birthbed to trap the opponent. The cage is created by using his own spiritual pressure, and has the property of absorbing spiritual particles, so it will not break even if you attack the same place repeatedly, and even if you aim for a gap, the branches will instantly grow to defend. Even if you try to pierce it, it will not be able to penetrate because it grows faster. It absorbs all attacks with spiritual particles, and Hikifune says, "This Tree of Life will not let such a delicious thing escape."
Nimaiya Ouetsu
The third officer of the Zero Squad is the Western God General, also known as "Toushin". He has headphones around his neck and looks like a DJ, and speaks like a rapper, calling people with the honorific "Chan" on his name. However, when he gets serious, his tone suddenly changes. His usual light-hearted tone may be deliberately intended to hide his true intentions.
Guardian of the Phoenix Hall
The Phoenix Hall is a dilapidated hut on the edge of a cliff, which is the annex of the Zero Squad. He didn't like it, so he built a luxurious fake Phoenix Hall called the Galaxy Phoenix Hall. Nimaiya Oetsu was the first person to create a Zanpakuto, and has made all of the Asauchi since the founding of Soul Society. An Asauchi is an unnamed Zanpakuto that is officially bestowed upon all 6,000-plus members of the Gotei 13 upon joining. Shinigami train with their Asauchi to transfer the essence of their soul into the Asauchi and create their own Zanpakuto. The Asauchi is the strongest Zanpakuto and can become anything.
The abilities of the Sword God are!
The Zanpakuto is a "Sayafushi", and according to Ouetsu, the Sayafushi is a failure. It is too sharp and the blade is too smooth, the blade does not chip and not a single drop of blood gets on the blade, and it is impossible to create a sheath to store it in, so it is stored in a special liquid. In the end, it does not function as a sword, so it could not be handed over to the Seireitei, and in that sense it is a failure. However, Ouetsu says that its extraordinary sharpness is "One swing, one kill Sa".
Shutara Senjumaru
The fourth officer of the Zero Squad is the Northern God General, also known as "Oorigami." He is the most mysterious captain among the five members of the Zero Squad. He is characterized by a large hair ornament with a crescent moon motif and six prosthetic arms on his back. In the original work, his gender was unknown, but it is speculated that he is a woman based on his appearance and the voice actor in the anime. He can create the best Shinigami-made Shinigami armor, and he made one for each of Ichigo and the others who came to the Soul King Palace for treatment.
Former Technology Development Bureau Member!?
When Shūtara Senjūmaru brought Ichigo's broken Zanpakuto, which was stored in the Technology Development Bureau, he said to Kurotsuchi Mayuri, "The lock is much looser than when I was here." Was Shūtara Senjūmaru a member of the Technology Development Bureau? It was Urahara Kisuke who established the Bureau, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri was its vice-director at the time. Shūtara Senjūmaru also seems to have met Yhwach, so perhaps they met a thousand years ago... I'm very curious about the relationship between Shūtara Senjūmaru, Urahara Kisuke, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
What are the abilities of Oori-no-kami?
Shutara Senjumaru's abilities are not well-described in the original work, and are a mystery. The only technique he used was to instantly remake the enemy's clothes with a roll of cloth he made himself, then skewer them with a large tailoring needle and defeat them.
Hyousube Ichibei
The leader of the Zero Squad, he is also known as "Manako Osho". He has a large rosary around his neck, a beard, and a Daruma-like appearance. Even when Ichigo calls him "bald old man," he doesn't get angry and responds calmly, he is a very generous person.
Name given by the Soul King
Hyousube Ichibei is the first person to give names to all the phenomena in Soul Society. Hyosube Ichibei was also the one who gave the names "Zanpakuto", "Shikai", and "Bankai". And when the shallow sword forged by Ouetsu was handed over to the Shinigami, he knew all of its names. This comes from the name given to him by the Soul King, who gave him the name "Manako Osho", which is written as "calling your true name" and became "Shinmei Kosho". It was also Hyosube Ichibei who told Abarai Renji the true name of Jabimaru's Bankai.
What are the abilities of Shinmei Kosho!
His Zanpakuto is a large brush-shaped sword called "Ichimonji," which can halve the name and abilities of anyone he touches with the tip of the brush even before it is released. After being released, the tip of the brush turns into a thick blade, and he can take control of all the "black" in Soul Society and turn it into his own power. He then scatters ink around him, and anyone who is covered in the ink loses their name and is unable to activate their power.
Summary
We have introduced the "Reioukyu", an important setting in the "Thousand-Year Blood War Arc". However, since this is the place where important parts of the story unfold, we tried to avoid going too deep into it this time. We hope that everyone will watch the broadcast carefully, and we hope that it will spark even a little interest. Thank you for reading to the end.
