Summary
The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, Episode 3, titled “The Dark Arm”, available onHuluandDisney+.
In the third episode ofBLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood WarPart 3 – The Conflict, 13th Squad Captain Jūshirо̄ Ukitake takes a central role as the series finally reveals the true reason for his frail composition and constant state of illness.Possessed by the Right Arm of the Soul King, which had been revered as Mimihagi, a local deity in the 76th District of the Rukongai, Ukitake was able to live a relatively normal life only moderately plagued by the lung illness that threatened to take his life at the age of three, and now, the Captain has prepared himself to return the life that had been borrowed to him to save the universe.
While his best friend valiantly sacrifices himself, Captain-Commander Shunsui Kyо̄raku also makes a tough decision: freeing Sо̄suke Aizen and enlisting his help to defeat the Quincies.
From the day I learned of the reason I had survived, I was always thinking of this day which would surely come. My life was saved from certain death. If I can offer it for the sake of the Gotei 13, I have no regrets.
Ukitake Gets Hands-On
The Captain’s Early Life and Divine Possession Are Explored
In trueThousand-Year Blood Warfashion, we get a look into the past of Captain Ukitake, who was born to a poor family in Sakahone, the 76th District of the Rukongai, with a chronic lung condition bringing him to the verge of death by age three. His parents desperately prayed to Mimihagi, a local deity that is actually the fallen Right Arm of the Soul King, who then took Ukitake’s lungs and resided in his body, saving the child’s life. What’s very interesting about the sequence is the backdrop or vision young Ukitake sees as Mimihagi prepares to take over his body, with the scene resembling the primordial waters that the Soul King was depicted in during Yhwach’s recollection ofthe creation of the realms. As we know, Ukitake was still plagued by the effects of his lung condition and was sickly as a result, but it gave him a new lease on life that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
He was able to grow up and eventually becomeone of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni’s first studentsat Shin’о̄ Academy, the institution where aspiring Shinigami are trained and eventually sorted into one of the squads of the Gotei 13, and, as we know, he becomes Captain of the 13th Squad despite the Central 46 having doubts about his abilities due to his illness. It is at Shin’о̄ that Ukitake befriends Kyо̄raku, who tells him about a belief that a certain local deity in one of the Rukongai is one of the severed body parts of the Soul King. The left arm governs progress, while Ukitake knew somehow that the right arm governs Stillness. Kyо̄raku arrives at the 12th Squad’s facility where Urahara and many Shinigami have gathered, where he completes the ritual he started during the first cours ofBLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War:the Kamikake (“Divine Possession”).
Pairing As a Motif
A Descent into Darkness
“There are two types of fights. Whenever we are in battle, we must be one of the two. The fight for life or…the fight for pride!
– Ukitake Jūshirо̄
One thing that becomes quite clear as the episode progresses is the emphasis on not just eyes, but the concept of duality. Ukitake and Kyо̄raku are both Captains famed for their dual-wield/twin Zanpakutо̄, which is an incredibly rare configuration to have even among the most powerful or talented Shinigami. This constant reflection of pairing begins when we’re taken into Ukitake’s young adult days, with Kyо̄raku introduced in a sparring match overseen by Unohana and Genryūsai. During Mimihagi’s possession of the young Ukitake, the single eye on the fist of the Right Arm of the Soul King is juxtaposed with one of Ukitake’s eyes, which are fixed on the oddity before him. However, after meeting Kyо̄raku, there is an emphasis placed on pairing: Ukitake’s failing lungs and encounter with Mimihagi; Ukitake and Kyо̄raku’s dual-wield; their friendship as two of Yamamoto’s first students; the conversation they have about Mimihagi and Kyо̄raku’s knowledge ofthe Left Arm of the Soul Kingas Shin’о̄ students; his two lieutenants (who are actually just the 3rd and 4th seats of the 13th Squad) and even the Central 46’s insistence that Ukitake find a new lieutenant to replace Kaien Shiba are all ways in which this episode has emphasized pairing.
Ukitake’s Zanpakutо̄ isSо̄gyо no Kotowari(“Truth of Pisces” or VIZ “Law of the Twin Fish”) is the embodiment of this emphasis on duality seen in this episode, and in theCan’t Fear Your Own Worldnovels by Ryohgo Narita, Kyoraku explains that Sо̄gyo no Kotowari’s duality is a direct result of the presence of Mimihagi in Ukitake’s soul, meaning that each instance of a dual Zanpakutо̄ inBLEACHis not a natural occurrence. The most significant instance of the duality motif in this episode is the fact that both Ukitake and Kyо̄raku have to engage in a battle with a dark, unpredictable force in order to protect that which they hold dear. While Ukitake goes up and returns the life he got from divinity, Kyо̄raku goes down to the Muken in order to bargain withnone other than Sо̄suke Aizen.
A Great Exploration of a Valiant Character’s Life
Ukitake’s Role is Given the Impact it Deserved
After Ukitake’s sacrifice is complete, a dark arm is seen bringing together the halves of the bifurcated Soul King, something that not even Yhwach saw coming with the powers of The Almighty. While Ukitake’s sacrifice steadies the trembling universe, Urahara believes it’s merely a stopgap that will only hold for as long as Ukitake holds onto his draining life. This episode was not nearly as action-packed, but its exploration of the lore through Ukitake’s life was done expertly, with the conversation he has about his resolution to perform the Kamikake with Unohana feels like a brief nod at their role in theNo Breaths From Hellone-shotset 12 years after theThousand-Year Blood Wararc. Part 3 truly begins now, and it has had a very good start in its first three weeks.'
