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snarpAnd I know I shouldn't be thinking about these things, and I know that it's totally self-destructive, and I know that Kubo Tite, if he has thought about them at all, has probably only basically thought, "Eh! Whatever! THIS NEXT GUY'S BANKAI SHALL BE A HAT
THE HAT IS ON FIRE"
But I just - why do people die in Soul Society? I mean, they're all dead already. Do they, like... double-die? What are the mechanics of this? Is it explained?
You can die of old age in Soul Society, right? Does that idea make any kind of sense at all? What if you already died of old age once in the first place, and that is why you're dead? (That sentence is totally unacceptable and I refuse to rewrite it.) Does this stuff just recurse? You can be disabled in Soul Society, and you obviously take certain physical traits over with you - so if you died of one of those really persistent cancers that manifest themselves over and over, do you just pop into Soul Society briefly to die in the same way a second time a few months later?
How did all the Shinigami who spent their angsty childhoods in Soul Society die in the first place? The Yuichi story suggests that they must have died as small children. Does that mean that every single one of them has further childhood angst which we just haven't yet had the leisure to investigate?
Is everybody in Soul Society Japanese? (except maybe Kaname? I can't remember whether this was obvious in his backstory.) Is this like in the Inspector Chen series, where there are separate afterlifes for every culture? And if so - Hueco Mundo? Why?
(I'm re-naming Hueco Mundo NetherHell, by the way. I'm in charge of these things, so I'll be expecting the internet to call it NetherHell from now on. I will accept no excuses.)
Who built all the streets and the sewer system and stuff? In Soul Society, I mean, I'm still on that. (Though I'm also confused by Hueco Mundo, I recall it behaving more like a noodly nightmare realm without rules, whereas we're supposed to buy that the shit that goes down in Soul Society makes some vague kind of sense.) The houses can obviously break, and stuff, and Kuukaku has built several new ones - where did she get the materials? Is there a Soul Society logging industry? A Soul Society Park Service for them to quarrel with? Are the lumberjacks union? Do they pay their dues on time?
(...does Soul Society have currency? It must have currency. Oh, Rukia gets paid for bounties, so it has currency. Where's the mint located? Do you have to be a Shinigami to work at the mint? That must not be a popular job.)
It's not like the Shinigami are all that interested in like, civic works or governance, or anything, so why is there this neatly-laid-out city with a sewer system? Does the Shinigami judicial system apply to non-Shinigami? Do portions of the non-Shinigami areas of Soul Society ever form small sovereign nations with taxes and police forces and building codes?
Maybe each sovereign nation has its own mint. And the Shinigami have one, too.
...that would make sense.
...
I can't concentrate on your goddamn fight scenes while I'm thinking about this stuff, Kubo Tite! I am of a nervous disposition! I require historical context and reasonable economic models, or I have to go wash the teapot and make sure my shoes are pointing in the same direction again! I refuse to re-read any of Hueco Mundo if you don't clear it up!
THE HAT IS ON FIRE"
But I just - why do people die in Soul Society? I mean, they're all dead already. Do they, like... double-die? What are the mechanics of this? Is it explained?
You can die of old age in Soul Society, right? Does that idea make any kind of sense at all? What if you already died of old age once in the first place, and that is why you're dead? (That sentence is totally unacceptable and I refuse to rewrite it.) Does this stuff just recurse? You can be disabled in Soul Society, and you obviously take certain physical traits over with you - so if you died of one of those really persistent cancers that manifest themselves over and over, do you just pop into Soul Society briefly to die in the same way a second time a few months later?
How did all the Shinigami who spent their angsty childhoods in Soul Society die in the first place? The Yuichi story suggests that they must have died as small children. Does that mean that every single one of them has further childhood angst which we just haven't yet had the leisure to investigate?
Is everybody in Soul Society Japanese? (except maybe Kaname? I can't remember whether this was obvious in his backstory.) Is this like in the Inspector Chen series, where there are separate afterlifes for every culture? And if so - Hueco Mundo? Why?
(I'm re-naming Hueco Mundo NetherHell, by the way. I'm in charge of these things, so I'll be expecting the internet to call it NetherHell from now on. I will accept no excuses.)
Who built all the streets and the sewer system and stuff? In Soul Society, I mean, I'm still on that. (Though I'm also confused by Hueco Mundo, I recall it behaving more like a noodly nightmare realm without rules, whereas we're supposed to buy that the shit that goes down in Soul Society makes some vague kind of sense.) The houses can obviously break, and stuff, and Kuukaku has built several new ones - where did she get the materials? Is there a Soul Society logging industry? A Soul Society Park Service for them to quarrel with? Are the lumberjacks union? Do they pay their dues on time?
(...does Soul Society have currency? It must have currency. Oh, Rukia gets paid for bounties, so it has currency. Where's the mint located? Do you have to be a Shinigami to work at the mint? That must not be a popular job.)
It's not like the Shinigami are all that interested in like, civic works or governance, or anything, so why is there this neatly-laid-out city with a sewer system? Does the Shinigami judicial system apply to non-Shinigami? Do portions of the non-Shinigami areas of Soul Society ever form small sovereign nations with taxes and police forces and building codes?
Maybe each sovereign nation has its own mint. And the Shinigami have one, too.
...that would make sense.
...
I can't concentrate on your goddamn fight scenes while I'm thinking about this stuff, Kubo Tite! I am of a nervous disposition! I require historical context and reasonable economic models, or I have to go wash the teapot and make sure my shoes are pointing in the same direction again! I refuse to re-read any of Hueco Mundo if you don't clear it up!
