The structure of the kingdom, explained

Important takeaways

• The structure of the realms in BLEACH created by the Soul King separates the human world, Hueco Mundo, and Soul Society.
• Life and death were once the same, but the Soul King created order, causing the three worlds to exist.
• The Shinigami maintain balance in the universe by ensuring that no kingdom has more souls, facing a threat from the Quincies of the past.

At the very beginning of WHITENShinigami Rukia Kuchiki explains the basic structure of the series' cosmology, delves into the reason entities such as herself exist, and the balancing role that Shinigami play in maintaining the current shape of the universe. Not much later, during the Substitute Shinigami arc, the series introduces the Quincies and their near annihilation at the hands of the Shinigami.

In it The Millennium Blood War arc, we learn about how this structure, containing three main worlds, came to be and the heinous acts required to keep them that way. Here is a basic explanation of the structure of the kingdoms of WHITENwhich was created by the Soul King Adnyeus himself.

In the Beginning

The separation between life and death

In the beginning, the universe consisted simply of the primordial water, a chaotic environment where life and death were one and the same. At some point, an entity who came to be known as the Soul King, Adnyeus, used his power to create order from chaos, separating this primordial nature into three distinct realms where different types of souls could reside, also creating the cycle of life and death as we know it the. The three worlds he created were the human world (or world of the living); Hueco Mundo, where the lost souls known as Hollows reside, and the afterlife known as Soul Society. In the spaces between the realms is an empty plane called Dangai, otherwise known as the Precipice World. It is a corridor-like dimension that connects the human world and soul society, and is separated from space and time, forming part of the larger void that exists between the realms called the Garganta (derived from the Spanish word for “throat”, but written with ateji which can be read as “black hole”).

Reishi in Garganta is very unstable and generally does not form permanent structures as it would with Soul Society or Hueco Mundo; However, it is possible to create a pocket of space called a Valley of Screams. These are spaces derived from Dangai that vary in size and consist of souls that have been cast out of the cycle of reincarnation. Interestingly, in the original story, there is no mention of how Hell, which was introduced in the very first arc, is connected to this tripartition of the realms; however, in Ryohgo Narita's Cannot fear your own world novels, it is revealed that part of the reason Adnyeus created the world of the living was so that it could act as a lid covering Hell – meaning that Hell definitely predates the creation of the Realms. In it No breaths from hell once we learn that hell and the three worlds have a relationship, as the amount of reiatsu in hell must balance out with that of all three worlds combined, or else the lid can be taken off by hell's denizens – as we learn that the deceased captains at Gotei 13 included

Unique attributes for each realm

The differences found in each BLEACH realm

• The human world/The world of the living

As you might expect, the human world or world of the living is the realm where souls, also known as Pluss, incarnate. They live human lives and when that life ends, the soul is led back to Soul Society, where it awaits another cycle of incarnation. If a soul fails to return to Soul Society, it runs the risk of corruption, either by being attacked by Hollows, which are formerly human souls that have succumbed to despair and become monstrosities characterized by the void in their souls denoted by a holes somewhere on their bodies; or by giving in to despair and other negative emotions themselves. The human world is, of course, where Karakura lies; a place with an eerie frequency of supernatural occurrences because of its location Jūreichia region characterized by having the greatest concentration of spiritual beings.

The corridor that connects the human world to Hueco Mundo, and Hueco Mundo to Soul Society and forms part of the void known as the Garganta. This part is a separate dimension where time flows differently, and once every seven days, a non-spiritual being known as Kōtotsu; otherwise known as the Cleaner, passes through the corridor to eliminate foreign material, preventing the possibility of the space being used as a base of operations for any spiritual entity or enemy of Soul Society. Anything caught in Kōtotsu's path is trapped in the void by the powerful flow of a high-density current flowing in Dangai and in Kōtotsu itself. The danger it poses is so great that certain measures are taken to avoid crossing the Dangai when Kōtotsu is present; however, Sōsuke Aizen managed to destroy it and emerge unscathed.

Hollows exist on a plane called Hueco Mundo, a realm that exists between the human world and soul society, and is characterized by endless night and white sand that stretches far in all directions. There is almost nothing in Hueco Mundo, but it consists of concentrated reishi. As with powerful souls in Soul Society, stronger Hollows are not satiated by this reishi in the atmosphere, and must therefore fill the void by feeding on other souls, whether Hollows or Pluses. Hueco Mundo is connected to the human world by the Dangai, but the Hollows, especially the more powerful ones, and the Arrancar, use the Garganta to travel between realms. Interestingly, “Hueco Mundo”, like all other concepts related to Hollows, comes from Spanish words; however, it is written with kanji for “hollow” or “hole” and one for “zone” or “sphere”, continuing the theme of emptiness that Hollows are associated with.

Afterlife in WHITENwhere spiritual beings such as Shinigami and ordinary human souls reside, not to mention the dismembered Soul King, who was attacked by the ancestors of the five (now four) great Shinigami noble houses and turned into the key of the three realms. It is because of the mutilation of the soul king that the realms retain their current form, and should the soul king be removed; as if he was there BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3episode 2, then the worlds will quickly merge and return the universe to its original state of chaos.

It is to maintain the current structure of the realms that the Shinigami act as “balancers”, ensuring that no realm has more souls than the other, purifying the Hollows and ensuring that they too can return to the cycle. Due to the fact that Quincies extinguish Hollows' souls, their existence posed a threat to the fabric of the universe, which is how the Shinigami justified previous clashes against the Quincies, and their subsequent near-extinction.

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 is available on Hulu and Disney+.

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  Based on Tite Kubo's Battle Shonen manga, Bleach revolves around Ichigo, a high school student who is drawn into the world of the Soul Reapers. The original anime ended in 2012, but it was revived in 2022.

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  Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War