Bleach Volume 74 Poem
It’s
been 2 years since Bleach ended and now it’s 2018, and I really want to get back to it.
Other
people would ask me: “Why do you love this Manga [Bleach]?”
I
love this Manga because I love literature. To me, this form of literature is
rarely seen in history. I
want to take a look at a feature of BLEACH that doesn’t get enough
attention: the poems. Every
volume of the manga has a poem centered around the character featured on its
respective cover. A majority of these poems are very enlightening and one has
to wonder about Kubo’s intentions in inserting them into the manga. And I think his style of
storytelling/writing reflects his inclination towards poetry - perhaps one of
the reasons why a lot of people don't appreciate Bleach...?
Poems are something you
usually don’t see in a majority of manga series. Kubo, however, makes it an emphasis
to include a poem in every volume. Does he want his readers to be inspired and
see the world in a different light than what people would tell them otherwise? People write
poems for a variety of reasons: self-expression, creative expression, inspiration/motivation,
and emotional expression
I
really want to commend Kubo-sensei. One adage and it kept me thinking all
night. I love what he does with this volume
74 poem. At first, I didn’t understand it at all, but then I remembered
Ichigo’s poem in the first volume, and it had a connection to this. And then I
saw Rukia’s poem in the second volume. And I remembered Aizen’s speech
on “Courage”.
Before everything else
All the images
belong to Kubo Tite and JUMP Comic and I take no credit.
Let’s start from here.
I think the picture there is a play on
this panel:
That’s Ichigo becoming the
ultimate protector in his eyes - his mom
I think this panel is a foreshadowing on how Ichigo
really becoming a protector to everyone like how his mom, Masaki, protected him
when she was alive. Ichigo is just a common person with a tragic past and he’s
is not like every shonen character because he only wants to protect, not
because he tries to act as a hero. Just like what he said, “To protect everyone.”
Then next are the wordings.
Note: The 1st and last volume just start the same way
poem 74:
我等は姿無くとも
warera wa sugatanaku tomo
”Even if we are without form,
歩みは止めず
ayumi wa tomezu
we do not stop moving forward”
1st poem:
我らは 姿無きが故に
warera wa sugatanaki ga yue ni
warera wa sugatanaki ga yue ni
“We fear
それを畏れ
sore o osore
that which we cannot see.”
What is this “without
form” mean in poem 74? It is death and death is what cannot be seen by our eyes.
In reality, as well as at the start of the series, no one knew about the
afterlife, what happens after you die, whether you become a soul or just
disappear. As far as ordinary people are concerned - We die - we lose form,
become invisible – people will forget us. That is why we are so afraid of
dying. That is something worth being afraid of. At least this is what I
think Ichigo’s talking about in 1st poem. The second poem made me
think that he’s referring to death.
2nd poem:
人が希望を持ちえるのは
hito
ga kibou o mochieru no wa
“People can hold on to hope
死が目に見えぬものであるからだ
shi
ga me ni mienu mono de aru kara da
“because death is something that cannot
be seen with eyes”
Here’s the other translation from halcyonjazz:
“People can possess hope
because our eyes are unable to see death.”
So death has no form,
therefore we cannot see it. These volume 1 & 2 poems go hand in hand with
each other. The first poem is stating that we are afraid of something (“We
fear that which we cannot see.”), and the second is explaining what
exactly it is we are afraid of (it is “something
that cannot be seen with eyes or what our eyes are unable to see).
These lead us to chapter 686, the last chapter
Yhwach’s speech:
Yhwach is telling Ichigo that his defeat meant the continuation of death and the fear accompanying it, meaning that this formlessness is forever.
Then, we have Aizen’s speech on courage, in which he offers a rebuttal to Yhwach’s
vision of world. And it is also contained the explanation of the poem 74, tying
the 1st and the 2nd poems as well.
Here’s the fear of death, from Ichigo’s poem 1.
Here’s the hope that can people hold on to from
Rukia’s poem 2
And here’s the “we do not stop moving forward” from poem
74.
Aizen-san states that in creating such a world without fear of death would result in one which would be without hope. He remarks while people could go through life simple living, it does not compare to courageous individuals like Ichigo, who is willing to face death and cut through fate without fear.
___________________________________
P.S.
Oh, my God!
I’m crying... what a ton of tears I have when it comes to Bleach especially
when I always remember Ichigo’s rainy days, he’s memories in the rain. Yes,
it’s everything but the rain. (But I’d like to say “Thank you Aizen for
playing a respective role in the life of Ichigo’s parents, Isshin & Masaki.
Without you, Aizen, there would no Ichigo.”) Hence I had a theory that Aizen is Kubo's rendition in the manga.
The poem
conveys what Ichigo has learnt from Rukia, the one that get us through life.
That helps us keep on moving forward, even we are without form. Because she
thought him the courage, no matter how you view the bond these two have in a
manga, it is undeniable. She was the one who told him that despair cannot even hope to stop
him.
But let’s back on how the series started, Ichigo met Rukia.
They’re the one who started the series. Then fast forward to the Arrancar arc
when Aizen claimed what his doing, which he planned everything just how Ichigo
met Rukia and gained his Shinigami power through her. These two are the core of
this manga. I think that was the reason why Kubo put Ichigo and Rukia in the
last volume cover. Then Aizen gave that speech on courage as the explanation of
volume 74 poem itself, and the fact that the volume 1 & volume 74 had the
same title. Now I can see clearly the
logic. The two have such a strong bond. The two of them are what makes Bleach as
Bleach, they are made for each other but Kubo decided that romance is not for them. In spite how the ending turned out to be,
just look how their bond even extends to their children; Kazui Kurosaki (as little Ichigo) met Ichika Abarai (as little Rukia).
It doesn’t matter to me
what is the ending (because others are
saying it was rushed). Kubo was right. Time
goes on but this bond will never break. The bond we have, well, at least I
do, with this manga is unbreakable. In the end it doesn’t even matter, Bleach
is always Bleach for me.
NOTES:
But you probably wondering where did I get this “… we do not stop moving
forward” in Aizen speech.
So, here’s where I’m coming
from.
·
The imagery on Aizen
speech and on poem 74 is the same. Notice the phrase “marching forward in the face of death.” Does this phrase draw the
same imagery on poem 74? Yes, it is!
The figure speech here is paradox,
which expresses a seemingly self - contradictory.
Example:
“While it is true that people can continue
to press forward through the simple act of living.
versus
That is in no
way comparable to marching forward in the face of death, while doing
their damndest to keep it at bay. That is why… “
REFERENCES:
§ Kubo, Tite (2016). Bleach, Volume 74: The Death and the Strawberry. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-880774-4
§ Kubo, Tite (2013). Bleach, Volume 60: Everything but the Rain. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-870782-2
§ Kubo, Tite (2012). Bleach, Volume 54: Goodbye to Our Xcution. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-870386-2
§ Kubo, Tite (2008). Bleach, Volume 36: Turn Back The Pendulum. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08874603-6
§ Kubo, Tite (2004). Bleach, Volume 3: Memories in the Rain. Viz Media. ISBN 1-59116-443-5
§ Kubo, Tite (2004). Bleach, Volume 2: Goodbye Parakeet, Goodnite My Sista. Viz Media. ISBN 1-59116-442-7
§ Kubo, Tite (2004). Bleach, Volume 1: The Death and the Strawberry. Viz Media. ISBN 1-59116-441-9
