While theBleachmanga has been over with for nearly a decade now, creator Tite Kubo continues to answer questions from fans, and sometimes these answers are extremely revealing. Kubo’s latest answer, however, has revealed why aBleachsequel or continuation is a must, as the series' world just got a lot more mysterious.
Tite Kubo regularly answers questions from fans on his “Klub Outside” platform, offering tidbits of information that didn’t make it into the manga’s main series and clarifying some of the things that did. These answers are then translated by dedicated fans for the rest of the fanbase to enjoy. While most questions are simple and largely irrelevant facts about characters, occasionally a really compelling question gets through, prompting widespread debate and discussion throughout the fandom.That was the case with Kubo’s latest answer, in which he said thatQuincies go to their own afterlife when they die.
The Quincy Afterlife Radically Shakes Up Bleach’s Cosmology
The Introduction of a New Afterlife Changes Everything
Prior to Kubo’s answer, most fans had assumed that Quincy, like other humans, went to the Soul Society when they died. While that situation does raise some questions (such as what happens to a Quincy who dies in the Soul Society, like during their attack), it more or less made sense with what was known ofthe structure ofBleach’s afterlife. Kubo’s reveal that Quincy have their own afterlife raises a lot of questions, as much was made about the structure of the world ofBleach, factoring heavily into Yhwach’s motivations for conquering reality.
InBleach, there are three realms of relatively equal size: the world of the living, the Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo, the world of Hollows. These realms werecreated by the Soul King’s dismemberment, establishing the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. There’s also Hell, a realm independent of the three interconnected worlds, which has always existed, and to which particularly evil souls are condemned for their actions in life. Kubo’s answer suggests that yet another realm, one for deceased Quincy, must exist, but has never before been mentioned in the manga.
There are a few other possibilities; some fans, for example, believed that every Quincy’s soul returns to Yhwach when they die, so Quincies effectively have no afterlife. Kubo’s statement would seemingly contradict that, but is just vague enough that Yhwach might be considered “another place.” The other option is that all Quincy are immediately sent to Hell for the crime of being Quincy, which seems wildly unfair at best, and has some disturbing implications at worst.
The Quincy Afterlife Makes Perfect Fodder for a Continuation
Bleach Has Explored All Other Spirit Realms But Hell
Over its run,Bleachthoroughly explored both the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, and a non-canonical movie even tackled Hell.Kubo’s anniversary one-shot forBleach, “No Breathes From Hell,“obviously dealt with Hell as well, and many fans believe it to be the launching point for a new “Hell arc” which will explore the series' final spirit realm in detail, whenever Kubo feels up to continuing the story. The idea of yet another spirit realm, one for Quincy and Quincy alone, is certainly an interesting idea, and one that could easily support another arc, or be tied closely to the Hell arc.
Some fans have speculated that the Quincy afterlife may be, like the Quincy themselves, based on more Western ideas of the afterlife, perhaps emulating a Christian-style “Heaven” of white clouds and pearly gates. That would make it a natural counterpart to Hell, although it has the unintentional implication that the Soul Society itself is more of a Purgatory than a proper afterlife. The idea of a Quincy heaven does carry with it its own disturbing implications, though: Uryu, for example, won’t get to enjoy an afterlife with his friends. It also raises a lot of questions about someone like Ichigo, who is both Quincy and not.
Dealing with a Quincy afterlife might also be difficult directly following on from the Thousand-Year Blood War, as presumably many slain enemies are now there, potentially including Yhwach himself. The Quincy afterlife would no doubt be extremely hostile to Soul Reaper intrusion, as most of them were likely killed by Soul Reapers in the Quincy genocide. That risks retreading familiar ground, so perhaps a different approach to the Quincy afterlife would be warranted. Regardless of how it’s approached, the idea of a Quincy afterlife, and another unknown spirit realm, is the ideal material with whichBleachcould be revived.
