The Hogyoku is just one of so many interesting lore bits hidden away in Bleach - so what do you think a Hogyoku actually IS? With a will of their own, what do they want? Let me know!
I have a question that i hope u can answer. The power of gerard its supposed to turn the impossible possible so the only way he can die is if Yhwach takes is power right?
i don't see how it could be the heart of the soul king, since that is in Gerard, and in the novel CFYOW it is said that what is taken from the souls of the soul reapers that are exposed to the hogyoku are soul king fragments, with a nail being in Rangiku. Personally i believe the hogyoku is not more no less than an amalgamation of all the soul king fragments that were found in the souls it exposed to. but here is another crazy idea. Maybe the hogyoku is the Will of the soul king, his wish of becoming whole again, that would be a small explanation as to why the hogyoku simply absorbs all the soul king fragments it comes across, and it would also be tied to it's ability of making the desires/wills of the people around them, or it's master come to life. That being said, we still don't know for sure the complete process of creating the hogyoku. When a soul is exposed to hogyoku, is the soul consumed completely, or only a part of it, or just the soul fragment is taken away from it? Since Rangiku is still alive after being exposed to it, i would assume that at the very list those that posses a fragment of the soul king inside them, can survive. But when we think about this problem, it brings up some questions about how in the world Urahara made it. We already knew he has kind of a shaky moral compass, but this kind of puts it in serious question. Did he do the same thing Aizen did, or maybe he exposed the hogyoku mainly to hollow's. Either way, i think it is a very dark part of Urahara's past.
God like power, a will all it's own, both Aizen and urahara manage to make (or perhaps summon 🤔) one fairly independent of of each other. I'm thinking that perhaps they really are parts of the Soul King's body
I always believed that Aizens defeat was because of Kyoka Suigetsu. Maybe the loneliness that Ichigo felt was not that of Aizens but of his Zanpakuto. Maybe Kyoka Suigetsu was discontent with what Aizen was becoming and after being defeated by Mugetsu the Hogyoku granted Kyoka Suigetsus desire. We know that Zanpakuto have their own hearts. We see it in the fight with Ichigo vs Kenpachi Oldman Zangetsu comments to Ichigo "Can you hear the cries of his sword" And also in Tensa Zangetsu vs Ichigo when Tensa tell Ichigo "The things you want to protect are not the things I want to protect" Maybe Kyoka wanted to protect Aizen. Because Aizen was becoming not Aizen. Aizen said he would never become a hollow or something along those lines yet he now has a hole on his chest. And now how Aizen was behaving and everything was just not Aizen. I believe the Hogyoku granted Kyoka Suigetsus desire.
Maybe the hogyoku fullfilled his wish by making him as similar to the soul king as possible, who is the most divine thing in bleach. It gave him godlike powers just to bind him to his chair as the soul king is trapped in his crystal.
Yeah, I think it's something bad-natured like that. Either the chair thing or it left him in a state where he would be even more lonely, while being unable to die. I really get the sense that these things are not positive beings lol, especially considering they're made from a piece of the "betrayed" SK and a bunch of murdered souls
Aizen started all this partially because he disagreed with the whole Soul King un-limbed vegetable thing, plus the chair has nothing to do with the hogyouku. He may have symbolically ended up that way from a narrative perspective but not from an in-universe reason.
I once found the idea is that the Hogyoku, being something that granted wishes, resonated closer with the idea for Aizen to find his equal. While he pursued the SK as he was unmatched, Ichigo appears and manages to evolve in his abilities to such a point that, in his battle, Aizen had finally found his equal. The Hogyoku resonating with Aizen's wish for an equal then proceded to de-power him, which is how the kido Uharahara had planted in him had activated
If you go to episode 17 of the anime, there is a scene where Ichigo asks Urahara “Can I become stronger in 10 days?” And Urahara responds “Certainly! That is if you wish to save Rukia from the bottom of your heart.” I think this scene is evidence enough that Urahara knew the full extent of the Hogyoku’s power. The theory being that since his Hogyoku was still inside Rukia, it helped strengthen ichigo quickly during the 10 day training.
I mean the Hogyoku is basically "The Philosopher's Stone" the powers are very similar and description wise it fits. Unlike Aizen, Urahara wanted to use it to replace the Soul King as the linchpin, that is, after realizing that the Hogyoku also had it's own Will he probably changed his mind although his reasoning for it is ambiguous, How Urahara created his is unknown but even on it's own it already had the ability to break down the barriers and grant desires of the user as Urahara used it to simply slow down the effects of Hollowfication, and Chad and Orihime were turned into fullbrings even before merging with Aizen's Hogyoku , as shown when the hogyoku changes something when it grants the users wish it cannot simply take the effect of the wish back, which is why Aizen is considered immortal, he basically wished for this kind of existence so he was granted this whether or not it recognizes Aizen as it's current master is irrelevant the hogyoku has already changed him, same goes to Chad and Orihime they were already given the power to achieve their desires even if the hogyoku were to somehow be destroyed the power given to them will not fade. The SK himself is basically near Human sized Hogyoku if a Hogyoku that size was strong enough to cause Aizen to continuously evolve and become immortal then imagine having a human sized version that has a physical body and sentient mind, every part of his body can be considered wish granting, his Almighty also has this kind of power, his heart, legs, other internal organs, arms, even his hair and nails can grant people unimaginable power, that would give them the opportunity to achieve what they desire. The Philosopher's stone itself was suppose to house the "Will" of the universe/GOD which is why in Alchemy it is the highest and greatest accomplishment one can achieve and it is the ultimate goal; basically it's to "Contain & control the power of GOD" in a single stone or gem, changing the universe and by extension all forms of reality not by thought, nor simply by words, but with the power of Will.
Orihime and Chad were Fullbringers from before the start of the Series due to their parents having run ins with Hollows and surviving while pregnant with them respectively. It just wasn’t until Ichigo’s Reiatsu Awakening that their abilities finally started to manifest in time to train for the Soul Society Arc.
@@Mizikame really? I thought it only awakened because they were in close proximity to Rukia and even if the Hogyoku was sealed within her it was still strong enough to at least grant other people's wishes, wasn't it also Aizen that made it a point that Chad and Orihime gained their abilities and awakened them due to the hogyoku being in close proximity with them and their desire to help Ichigo was because of that? Then again I'm still in my theory that Ichigo himself is also a human sized Hogyoku and here's my thought process Ichigo is suppose to be a hybrid similar to the SK and even SK surprisingly acknowledged and was happy to have seen someone like Ichigo and if Ichigo is considered to be the 1st Soul King Candidate if Yhwach ever bites the dust then that means Ichigo himself has a latent ability similar to that of SK's ability, as it was the almighty that separated and is currently still being used to stabilise the world; even Aizen was ranked below Ichigo so maybe instead of the Hogyoku Urahara sealed in Rukia, it was in actuality Ichigo who granted them their abilities. I don't really remember Chad and Orihime's parents being stated to have come in close proximity to a Hollow and survived, and some fullbrings are born because the Soul King's organs like nails, hair, skin and etc. were somehow implanted inside their souls when they were born.
@Sex'' Allatus Angelus iirc even Ginjo in CFYOW comments on the fact that Hogyoku did to Orihime and Chad a similar thing to what Soul King fragments normaly do to make a fullbringer.
@Sex'' Allatus Angelus Well the nail was absorbed by a already created but incomplete Hogyoku (intersting thing is Aizen said that Hogyoku had a special reaction to part of Rangikus soul and from that he concluded that it was a part of the Soul King so they are inherently connected) but yes Hogyoku seems to be in nature related to soul king and his pieces as Tokinada commented that Urahara wanted to use his Hogyoku to replace the soul king (Urahara does deny this or to be more exact denies that he created Ururu and Jinta to be dolls that he would use the Hogyoku on to create a replacement for the soul king)
The hogyoku being connected to the soul king actually kinda makes sense, if you think about it, the only 2 people who made it, knew about the truth about the soul king Truly fascinating
@@eveningsky851 soul king part was base of it. But I think in the end it become something else, even more powerful, while mixing with other souls and such. So if yuha can't absorb it, aizen survived. It is confirms aizen > soul king
@@ClockworkGearhead some people after birth have parts of SK in them (so called nail or shard). Matsumoto was such person, so Aizen extracted it and used to create his hyogioku (this is why Gin hated Aizen). But i think in the end, Aizens and Uraharas hyogioku merged and created perfect one, which Aizen used in the end.
From what I can remember, Aizen wanted Ichigo to become more and more powerful specifically to challenge him and force him to evolve past every limit placed on him. It's specifically why he never showed Ichigo his shikai. I believe that he was gaining everything he wished for after so many years of meticulous planning to make ichigo strong but at the end of the fight, he was so obsessed with countering Ichigo's power that after Ichigo used mugetsu, Aizen would've gotten even stronger afterwards if it wasn't for Ichigo losing all of his power in the process. The obsession with Ichigo and wanting to be equal and then potentially greater tricked himself into losing all of his power as to become almost equal with a powerless Ichigo.
I always assume the Hogyoku is an artificial Soul King Heart. If you think about it, it quite similar to "The Miracle" wherein it can grant thoughts, desire, and feeling. Similar to Aizen's explanation of what the Hogyoku could do
Yeah, we see some Sternritters with absolutely busted reality warping abilities. Compared to Juha's blessings, what the Hogyoku did for Chad and Orihime was not that impressive but it feels very similar.
My theory is that the actual black orbs we see are literally clusters of Reiō's cells grown in a test tube using his nails as the DNA sample and cultivated using pieces of souls from the Rukongai. They're basically clumps of cloned Reiō flesh.
It's the ultimate macguffin of the series, the source of absolute power and yet a mystery. Both Aizen and Kisuke wish to use it to change the flow of things but only Urahara knows the sinister and potentially devastating implications of having such power whereas Aizen just goes for it no scruples needed. Far from being a power source it shows the radically different views they have despite being similar.
Itdoesnt count as a macguffin, as it fails the ‘rock’ test. If you replace it with a rock, does the story change?(assume the people who want it still do). Since yes, the story changes, as aizen now doesn’t go Uber-aizen, it’s not a macguffin, but a plot-device.
I think Aizen used Shinigami souls to make his Hogyoku whereas Kisuke used hollow souls. Since Aizen combined them, it allowed for the barrier to be broken between the two. Aizen had experimented with hollowfication even before then.
@@MashuSlyferiux If Aizen only fed his shinigami souls, it makes sense that he could give hollows shinigami powers. However Tousen certainly didn't have hollow powers prior to them being outed as traitors.
We learn in CFYOW that an SK piece was used to create the Hogyoku. The other place where we see essentially objects developing their own wills is the pieces of the Soul King. IIRC, in a Klub Outside, Kubo explains how Aizen's speech to Ukitake while he was rising up--"no one has stood at the top--not me, not you"-- was referring to how Ukitake has a connection to Mimihagi. The wills of the parts of the Soul King seem to be something that can even be subjugated as Yhwach had multiple of those parts working for him, while Mimihagi was on the side of the shinigami, something Yhwach found odd. However, while this was odd to Yhwach, I think why is more important. I think that considering Mimihagi was really the only SK piece that completely denied the will of the Soul King, the others have wills more adjacent to the Soul King, but can still be subjugated and transformed, especially if the wills are aligned. It isn't truly explained how these wills are developed in the first place, among many other unexplained things, but I could imagine the Hogyoku is the bridge to that gap, along with the background of how Yhwach came into existence. Yhwach is supposedly the "son" of the Soul King. Take that as you will. What we do know is that he started off as something without any consciousness or anything but could give wishes to others. People would do what they can with this wish, live fulfilling lives, and increase the very power of that wish than what they had before, thus acting as an investment that Yhwach gets to recoup once they die and their powers go back to him. I think that it's the offering of wishes and souls that gives power to the parts of the Soul King, and perhaps even the Soul King himself originally. He emerged as if to answer the wishes of people born into this world of turmoil and chaos to kill hollows. I think that it was important that the hogyoku granted wishes along the way before it could become useful to Aizen. It needed to be used in order to evolve. Eventually, the will of the hogyoku I think was to create another Soul King. It accepted Aizen's wishes because his goal was to kill the Soul King and then rule over, which is likely the will the Soul King had developed over all these years of being subjugated. And now that I mention the Soul King himself being subjugated, his subjugation is what holds the worlds of bleach together. Soul King is kept in an encasing that is very reminiscent of the encasing the Hogyoku are in. Thus, putting that together, the Hogyoku could very well be a mini-Soul King with the main desire to become whole. It'll grant the desires of others not because it's benevolent but because it can take back the loan later on death like Yhwach. Aizen's form which looks much like the Soul King fits into that exactly. It was likely trying to create a Soul King appearance. And the reason it rejected Aizen was probably because it saw Aizen could never reach the same power that Ichigo has and truly expect to have a different fate than the original Soul King in the first place. And then he got sealed and can't move his limbs or anything in a fate almost identical to the Soul King ironically enough.
24:40 This really plays back on the King and the Horse analogy of White. In that moment of desperation, the roles were switch, and that ultimately led to the hougyuku rejecting Aizen. Poetic
Hogyoku might be something that resembles primordial existence and Soul King before realms were separated. At that time the concepts of life and death were interwoven, making Aizen immortal. It could also explain why it could break the barrier of shinigami and hollow. And we know both Aizen and Urahara had seen Soul King at some point, and both of them made Hogyoku. Coincidence? I don't think so. My guess would be that both of them tried to recreate the essence of Soul King, or whatever made him Soul King.
I always felt the Hogyoku was Kubo's version of the Philosopher's Stone, reinforced by the scientific backgrounds of both Aizen and Urahara. But one thing I never understood was how the Hogyoku had the ability to fulfill desires yet Aizen only used it for power-ups? Also it was able to break through boundaries between species yet Aizen never explored Quincy abilities?
It did. It gave Chad and Orihime power ups. They just weren't exposed long enough to get those boosts. Also the Fragor ability that his evil form uses when fighting Ichigo is very similar to a Quincy attack
"yet Aizen never explored Quincy abilities?" Aizens "final fusion" had quincy abilities . Fragor is a reishi bullet made out of compressed Reishi and not Aizens reiatsu as reveled in Unmaksed
@@mra3076 Quincys are a strange thing as they are descendents of the soul king in a sense and they are created when Yhwach (the "son" of the soul king) sheares his blood he gives them powers but at the same time makes their soul indebted to him it is possible that Hogyoku was not able to emulate that and gave Aizen the Quincy abilities by making him some kind of primordial being as it is hinted in unmasked where Aziens last fusion is said to "not be related to hollows or shinigami" or he couldn't give quincy powers to hollows as they are poison to each other and also couldn't give quincy powers to shinigami because Quincy and shinigami are said to completely oppose each other
Remember, part of the Soul King makes up the Hogyoku and through the 1000 year blood war arc every part of the Soul King had some sentient being associated with it. Hence, the Soul King power was the driving force of this device. Aizen never had anyone as an equal, he was born with too much ability and could defeat anyone he came in contact until Ichigo’s final form. At last he could face someone who could defeat him and the Hogyoku made it happen. Aizen didn’t look down at Ichigo afterwards, he had at long last found someone on equal or higher terms.
Makes you wonder why he "created" Ichigo in the first place. He wouldn't really need to exist in order for Aizen to take over the royal palace, so perhaps he wanted an equal all along.
Given that Yama absolutely could've defeated him until he transcended were it not for the illusion ability, someone remind me why Ichigo didn't get affected by it?
I feel like, based on the information we got about it in the most recent light novel, it seems like an attempt to recreate the power of the Heart of the Soul King- Gerard Valkyrie. His Schrift was M- the Miracle, able to bring about the desires in the hearts of those around him which sounds a lot like Aizens explanation of the Hogyoku during the Fake Karakura Town battle.
One potential point missed is that you said hundreds of shinigami souls fed to it, and I would definitely say the bulk of its power has to be that soul king piece. Otherwise it sounds VERY unimpressive compared to, hollows devouring thousands of people's souls, or more, or the sokyoku 30+million soul feat, or even the 140+ normal shinigami to destroy that one dimension. Oh Kubo, the inconsistency!
Yeah.. you have captains not being allowed to use their full power in the living world etc too. Some untrained rukongai citizens and fodder shinigami souls shouldn't be able to make something like that. I think it's something like growing artificial tissue in a lab. You need a piece of the original, along with something to stimulate the growth and such. Perhaps Urahara calls it a "substance" because it's made of the blood of the SK, which would explain the similarity to Gerard's powers
I think it isn't power from the soul king piece but potential. As with hollows just clumping together souls does nothing but give a lot of raw strength. But the soul king apparently has the ability to reshape reality as he saw fit. Being able to shape souls and the primal chaos of creation.
ehhh, in fact you are talking about the aizens hogyoku wich was a failure because was only made of regular souls. I believe you are the inconsistent...
One partial theory I have is that the Hogyoku felt Aizen needed more than just power to grow, Aizen needed to grow as a person so it made it lose so he would reflect and come back stronger later.
Orihime and Chad gaining powers equal to their “Potential” interests me a lot. Was Chad at his max potential by the end of the series? His fullbring is based through the pride he has in his skin, or at least that’s how I’m aware of it, so could he have gone full clad like Ichigo, or did he unintentionally limit himself?
@@braylonhendrix1573 if you release a video but keep it unlisted, then a few days later set it to public, itll change the upload date to when you set it public, he does this for his patrons
The Hogyoku is a great example of how Kubo loves to play with horror elements but doesn't usually bring them into direct focus. Horror movies can start to fall flat after the monster reveal because you no longer have to imagine something terrifying because it's clearly just some guy in a suit. For the majority of its story, the Hogyoku is a small marble you can project anything upon and it grows more frightening the more you know; but it's still 'just a marble'. The closest we get to that monster reveal is when it peels Aizen's face open, but even then, it's still only a manifestation of Aizen's desires (etc) being twisted by the Hogyoku's influence.
It’s basically the philosophers’ stone or stone of the philosopher from Greek and Biblical writings which was also portrayed in others like Full Metal which it shares a pretty close resemblance to in its creation and function. I do wish it was explored more in-depth especially with it being it’s own entity.
It's similar but yet difference. Hogyoku was more like a guide for you as long as you have what it take or strength to do it. It have infinite potential depend per person. Meanwhile, Philosophy's stone fulfil their wish with its power as long as Philosophy's stone able to grant it.
I like to think of the discovery of a hogyoku was like when the two scientists separately invented the fahrenheit and celsius temperature systems. Like Mindedness with different goals that needs the same type of tool. Kisuke and Aizen had similar needs for a tool but widely different plans on the use of that tool.
I always thought that aizen's zanpakuto breaking was it fusing with him and that the hogyoku was trying to give aizen a rival(ichigo) but when ichigo used mugestu and lost his powers he started losing his as well and that the hogyoku is still with him . In other words aizen is now in one of those only I can kill you villain/hero relationships which is the only reason he fought Juha Bach
In one of the light novels, a character confirms that aizen still has his hogyoku and even contemplates stealing it from him. He figures it would be impossible to separate them at this point so he doesn’t even bother trying. Idk where he got the idea that aizen no longer has the hogyoku
@@jah_alexander I think at first he thought Hogyoku abandoned him but Ichigo was right, it was probably Aizen's deep wish to become weaker because of his loneliness of standing on the top.
@@aizeniversary756which is also quite BS since he literally got stronger in TYBW Arc lol, the answer is simple really, Aizen got extremely damaged by FGT and needed some time to recover from it, leaving him vulnerable to be sealed by Urahara, simple enough explanation that doesn't need mental gymnastics.
I assume it's made by condensing thousands of souls. As we know, souls can give power to people. Fullbring is a power obtained by controlling an object's soul. Sternritters obtained their Schrift by getting Yhwach's soul. To me, it just makes the most sense.
I've always wanted to see this explained, it's always been a mistery for me of what hogyoku trully is, and i love the fact we could potentially still learn more about it in the future. Kubo has done a great job on exposing this object of absolute power yet keeping it mysterious and intriguing. Keep it up with the quality content, we all appreciate it!
I think it made Ichigo and his friends reach their full potential like Ywach did with the quincy (but on a lesser scale). It also influenced Ichigo and his friends to unlock their potential because the soul king was stated to be combination of fullbring, shinigami, quincy and human.
There is one thing that you are missing from these theories, you just talk about Aizen's method for creating it, but I very much doubt Urahara resorted to "shaving" hundreds of shinigami and rukongai residents to make his own... So there may be a correct way to do it and what Aizen did was probably trying to take a shortcut, which is why it was never really completed.
@@gonzalodelgado9573 No but the theory to fit Urahara way of doing his research. I don't see him being like Azien or the captain of the 12th in the way he does his experiments
Initially I thought it was the Ouken(kings key), but over time I realized that it was a way to become a successor to the Soul King. It required the flesh and blood of the Soul King, and it allowed one to evolve into the same kind of hybrid being that the Soul King was/is. It destroys the separations between different types of being until one can become a primordial being (like Mew is in pokemon). My current assumptions may be wrong and I did post this before watching the video, but I like my current interpretation
Ok after watching, I think I remember Aizen mentioning that Urahara’s hogyoku was “incomplete” and was fundamentally unable to evolve for this “incompleteness.” I have always suspected that of the two hogyoku only Aizen’s had a fragment of the Soul King within it, but Urahara’s hogyoku was a better crafted vessel. As if the Miracle, yeah, that is the “third” hogyoku shown in the series. Both Aizen and Kisuke only started making hogyoku after seeing the Soul King. Kisuke’s research into mod-souls was his route towards surpassing the limitations of Soul Reapers while Aizen’s route was breaking down the barriers on existing souls. Mayuri expanded upon Kisuke’s research and created Nemu, an artificially “divine” soul… so the sort of research required to make a “replacement” soul for the Soul King was probably part of the research Aizen berated Urahara for dropping when it was so close to completion
I too used to believe that Royal Key was the Hogyoku. It just made sense, Aizen was seen feeding souls to his Hogyoku and the Royal Key can be used by sacrificing many strong souls.
Maybe the Hogyoku and the Royal Key aren't exactly the same thing, but they still could be related. I'm curious how the Royal Guard discovered the other method to create the Ouken (Royal Key). Did they actual went through sacrificing so many people, if so who did they sacrifice?
@@DroppedMyController some of the bleach filler (yet semicanon) movies like the Diamond Dust Rebellion had Royal relics with higher dimensional capabilities, so perhaps the Hogyoku and Ouken are more related than just requiring souls be sacrificed. The Royal Relic in DDR did evolve the big bad into someone with powers over time AND forcefully evolve a pair of Arancar, giving them a second release of sorts... And the Ouken turned out to be a special bone structure, not unlike the evolutions Aizen and DDR's bad guy went through. It seems reasonable to assume that the Hogyoku was performing the same kind of ritual as some Royal Relics would have performed to give Squad Zero their Ouken, it was just a forgery of said Royal Keys
The hogyoku turned aizen into his ideal form of the Ubermensch and created it’s own adversary in the form of ichigo surpassed that power in the end. Aizen: “God is dead.” You should do a analysis video on aizen’s character. 40:18 The hogyoku sounds like it could theoretically be the soul king’s will. Maybe? It is the physical form of the will to power. Hmm, I wonder what would happen if kazui touched or was in the presence of the hogyoku?
I just want to put it out there that this thumbnail might be your best ever, the only one that rivals it is the Soul King one where he rests above the text, which represents his role as the one above everything. The Hogyoku floating in the air gives off the same sort of feeling of divine power, which as I said for the Soul King, it was fitting for such a powerful object. Little thing I want to add at the end, mabye it's the symmetry of the thumbnails where it looks satisfying? I'm unsure but the colors and placement are very aesthetically pleasing to look at and that really sold me to want to watch the video. That and the interesting topic to be discussed in it.
I think it makes sense for Aizen to drool over Urahara's Hogyoku. I'd certainly have that sense of awe everytime I held such an artifact. Also, the Vizards are mentioned by Isshin as being renegade Soul Reapers who expiramented with Hollowfication, but that was contradicted by the Turn Back the Pendulum arc where Urahara is blamed for betraying them and doing it by force. So I think Shinji and the others, after Urahara saved them, returned to Soul Society at some point to try and clear Urahara's name and maybe reveal Aizen's treason. But they were chased away and vilified once Soul Society saw their new hybrid powers. This would not only explain why Aizen knows about them, why Hiyori and others are still do bitter towards SS, and Isshin's comment would make a lot more sense.
Well Isshin’s statement isn’t necessarily wrong the Vizards are renegade Soul Reapers since they are no longer a part of the soul society. The rest is likely what Aizen told the soul society to explain what happened, then when they learned Aizen was a traitor they figured out what really happened, but Isshin wasn’t around for that so he only knew the lie everyone was told
@@TheJjcczz except we're shown the trial and know exactly what Central 46 thought and felt. Any lie Aizen told them had already been given by that point. "Were you conducting your Hollowfication experiment? Were you testing the results of your abominable research on the Captain of Fifth Company and seven other Captain-Class Soul Reapers? ... Captain Kisuke Urahara of the Twelfth Company...for conducting treasonous research and decieving and causing bodily harm to a comrad, all spirtual powers will be removed from you and you will be banished to the world of the living! Additionally, Captain of Fifth Company and the other seven you expiramented on...will be disposed of as hollows!"
@@corruptangel6793 Yeah and the reason Central 46 wanted them executed was because the soul society isn’t allowed to produce any bad elements, they have to appear perfect. That’s why they have a secret prison for soul reapers they consider dangerous. In order to preserve this after Kisuke and the Vizards fled they would have had to come up with a cover story to tell everyone. In this case that rogue soul reapers were experimenting with Holofication After all we’re talking about 5 Captains here, if their squads found out that they were forcibly experimented on and that they were now to be executed. There’s no way people wouldn’t object to that decision, not to mention the damage it would do to their image once it got outside the Seireitei. By making the Vizards the bad guys no one will want to talk about them because of the stigma it would bring This explains Isshin’s comment, and why the Vizards are still pissed. Because none of it mattered to Central 46, wether it was Kisuke or Aizen who turned them into Vizards, wether they wanted it or not, Central 46 didn’t care they wanted them dead, and we saw what happened to Rukia when her execution was “ordered”
8:28 we know Aizen made his Hogyoku from Shinigami souls/souls with shinigami potential, perhaps Urahara made his from hollow souls, since both we're "incomplete" and only got completed when Aizen merged his with Urahara's. This would explain why Aizen's attempts at hollowfying shinigami were failures and Urahara could stabilize the Visored, and later Aizen making Arrancar that aren't unstable because the Hogyoku is complete at that point.
Eventually the world of Bleach would turn back to the way it was before it was separated into three worlds. It is impossible for the gotei 13 and zero division to protect it forever. Eventually someone or something will destroy Yuha’s corpse and the zero division. But then another soul king would probably spawn later and this all will happen again forever.
I've always considered the hogyoku to be the soul king's will, his mind so to speak. It took two to become whole, representing the two halves of the brain.
@@gangstagummybear3432 I dont think so,I think the Hogyouku helped Ichigo to power up in the 10 days time when he wanted to rescue Rukia.. And Ichigo is basically a walking Hogyouku who can potentially become nearly as strong as PSK..
Thank you for these videos. Your channel got me back into the manga/anime. Tbh I was one of the ppl that would call out bleach when it was at its final moments of the last arc. It was the bad media that made me feel like that. It wasn't until I came across your channel and the recent bleach hell chapter plus the return of the show that I learned to appreciate bleach. I'm so glad I rediscovered bleach. And I appreciate any bleach content I can find.
What if the Hogyoku, over time, actually gave Aizen his enormous power out of his shear will to overcome the Soul King? What I mean is, was Aizen super weak as a shinigami and gained power over time and then when powerful enough became captain, all before the subjugation of the Hogyoku.
I always believed that Aizens defeat was because of Kyoka Suigetsu. Maybe the loneliness that Ichigo felt was not that of Aizens but of his Zanpakuto. Maybe Kyoka Suigetsu was discontent with what Aizen was becoming and after being defeated by Mugetsu the Hogyoku granted Kyoka Suigetsus desire. We know that Zanpakuto have their own hearts. We see it in the fight with Ichigo vs Kenpachi Oldman Zangetsu comments to Ichigo "Can you hear the cries of his sword" And also in Tensa Zangetsu vs Ichigo when Tensa tell Ichigo "The things you want to protect are not the things I want to protect" Maybe Kyoka wanted to protect Aizen. Because Aizen was becoming not Aizen. Aizen said he would never become a hollow or something along those lines yet he now has a hole on his chest. And now how Aizen was behaving and everything was just not Aizen. I believe the Hogyoku granted Kyoka Suigetsus desire.
His hollow side i believe had something to do with that, he was completely apathetic but it seems deep down he felt lonely in his pursuit of power, it would be crazy if he just wanted a friend as strong as him someone like ichigo.
This is actually one of the more potent displays of disappointment I have from the series. I grew up with this show from the time it first aired on Adult swim Saturdays. Now that Bleach is finished, it has a piece of my heart and I truly wish kubo had fully explained things completely the way he envisioned them.
I've finished the Bleach manga all the way through, but I'll admit I was one of people who wrote it off towards the end. But these videos have made me appreciate the series more. Mainly due to the fact that you can genuinely feel this guy's passion for the series but he isn't afraid to point out its flaws when needed. Good work!
Omg, Mr. Tommo! There are so many things I assumed I knew well that this video evinced, presumption after presumption, I knew nothing about. I had no idea the Hogyoku's actual ability was manifesting inner desires, and even more shocking, that Rukia lost all of her abilities instead of some of them because Hogyoku was actually responding to this desire. Very interesting. Damnit, Kubo! Just when I thought I got the relative gist of things, it turns out you already pulled a fast one on me.
In my opinion I think the hogyoku was the actual seeds of the soul king. As you stated it seems as if the hogyoku was some sort of natural conclusion that possibly could have been found before. This could explain why Aizen began to take on the appearance of the soul king.This could also be and explanation has to how Ichibe was gonna turn Ichigo into the new soul king, by implanting a squad zero made hogyoku.However if not checked by the user the will of the hogyoku would take on this homoculus in the flask situation where desire overtake logical steps and natural methodology for a quick result. This oversight could explains why Aizen loses.this would also explain why it further forced Aizen to evolve and increase Aizen power even in captivate because it meet a stronger being in Ichigo and countiues searching for power in a infinite loop.But this is a theory a manga theory!‼️
I myself belive that Hogyoku never abandoned Aizen otherwise why would he still be immortal in TYBW, why would he be fused with his Zanapkuto like he said he was (he was able to grow kyoka out of his hand and put people in hypnosis when they just looked at him this isn't just "makeing up with your zanpakuto") and getting stronger while sealed in muken, this along with it being stated in 13 blades iirc that they can't seperate Hogyoku from Aizen and Ichigos own hypothesis about what happened to Aizen, even Aizens talk with Azashiro where it was confirmed that Aizens heart was disturbed during his fight with Ichigo all of this is too much for me to belive that Hogyoku abandoned Aizen.
2 things I want to point out: 1) It kind of makes sense that Aizen actually had 2 Hogyokus all along the story, it explains why Aizen kept regenerating after someone stealed the Hogyoku from him (I mean we could accept the implication "Gin was not considered the true master so even if he stealed the Hogyoku it just kept recreating his only possessor" but idk I feel like if that was the case Aizen would have regenerated right from the Hogyoku in Gin's hand, rather than far from them, I think he had already fused with one and that's the one that he used to regenerate and then took the other back from Gin although this creates even MORE plot holes like why Aizen said to have fed his Hogyoku with Urahara's if instead he used it to fuse it with himself exactly like with his own XD Maybe another lie from Aizen side? But there was really no reason to lie nobody was listening at that point except Gin who was just about to die so.... yeah XD) and it also explains how did he Hollowificated the Vizards without having an Hogyoku on its own, they have never explicitly said that's the reason but it's really the only realistically possible conclusion we can reach with the elements we have now 2) The Hogyoku never abandoned Aizen, Ichigo and Urahara's speech is meant to make the reader understand this, Aizen wanted to feel defeat and that's why he didn't evolve further and rather he has just lost. Yes, he wanted to "be alone no more" but since he was too full of himself to accept this thing directly, he just subconsciously ordered the Hogyoku to remove his powers so that will end up making him less alone (and of course it failed in that sense but still realized what Aizen was unconsciously aiming for). More points to support this theory are the fact that in TYBW arc is stronger than ever before and I would never ever accept that's the case without the Hogyoku, how can he surpass not 1, not 2, not even 3 but 4 Hogyoku power ups without the Hogyoku himself just by sitting in a chair for 3 years like cmon bruh it would push Bleach sense down into oblivion, he has now a better control over the Hogyoku and that's why he can choose to use or not his sword, he can choose to appear in his normal body state even tho his reiatsu is even higher than the monstrous Hollow-like Aizen and he probably accepted his fate as he changed his mind during the Muken even tho he could easily break free from the prison but he just does not want to, maybe we will see something else about this specifically in the Hell arc? Who knows, but as far as we know currently I think it's much more believable that he is still fused with the Hogyoku rather than being separated from him and, in fact, probably even in a deeper state of (you can't even see the break down sphere in his body at this point, Hogyoku and Aizen just became one thing exactly like Ichigo and Getsuga did in Mugetsu but in this case is an eternal binding, the real final stadium that makes them a brand new, unique being). For all these reasons I'm totally convinced the Hogyoku is still within Aizen body and it wouldn't even barely make any sense if that's not the case. Pretty sure they even say it in CFYOW? Not 100% though And yeah that's pretty much it sorry for the wall of text but I just have wondered about the odd and interesting relationship between the Hogyoku and its one true master for so long and really wanted to spit it all out XD
I confess, I wrote a Bleach fanfic where the Hogyoku was just a vessel for some Lovecraftian intelligence from outside the Bleach universe. I guess I wasn't the only one to get that impression.
Watching this video made me realize that hogyoku's ability is very similar to Yhwach's ability to grant powers and even people's wills since when he was a baby he could heal people who touched him, perhaps the original creation of hogyoku in Urahara's mind was to create something that could rival the power of Yhwach as there may be some signs that the concept of hogyoku was something already existing in the bleach universe, so urahara created something similar to the power of yhwach. Maybe a crazy idea in my head but it might make sense.
I wonder if there was an original hogyoku that the soul king used to separate the world. I could see it being made in the beginning when souls and humans were being killed by hollows, they fused together and became the hogyoku. Their wish was to be free of the hollows and as such gave the soul king his power to do so. Being called the “breakdown sphere” it isn’t too far fetched that it could break down the world into separate parts if wished by someone as powerful as the soul king. It’d be cool if the hell chapters become serialized and expand on what the original world was like and how it went down. Though the mystery is a juicy aspect of that!
First, the retcon of Aizen 'creating his own' hougyoku way later in the arc right around the time of his defeat is still, to me, a massive oversight by TK. All story, Aizen acknowledged Urahara as its creator. So going by evidence of the whole story, Urahara is STILL the true creator. It makes perfect sense because Urahara as a scientist far exceeds everyone else and has always had glimpses behind the curtain. Everything he creates is either thru secret research he does or thru exposure to the royal realm (hot springs in his training grounds anyone?). Second, it's frustrating that no one ever states in the story HOW this device is made. It's never stated whether souls are combined to create it, or any specific materials, how long. Urahara never explains it and neither does Aizen. Aizen merely states he feeds souls to the one in his possession. So the hougyoku is still a mystery. And not being able to destroy it, would love to know more about how Urahara attempted to do it. Or had Aizen ever attempted it himself? So much story still left just around this topic.
Nice video. Also you forgot to mention how hogiyoku made Aizen immortal. When gin tried to kill Aizen, Aizen's desire to live was so great that it manifested that desire by making him immortal... This is symbolised by that butterfly like form because butterfly represents immortality.
I think that was fairly good conjecture. Like you said it’s really hard to say what exactly it is with how it’s used and convoluted within the story, but I think the comparison to the miracle is pretty good. It does just seem like an artificial man made version of that, possibly even surpassing that power in a way, since it can seemingly effect anything and not just the person using it
I think if aizen had been fused with it for longer and actually truly understood it’s will he would have been unbeatable and had no need to keep transforming. Clearly he’s still one of the most powerful beings maybe even more powerful now somehow…It just came down to where he was in the best position to act with byakuya, kenpachi, retsu, and Mayuri trapped in hueco mundo….he just didn’t really think anyone would be problem and they wouldnt have if it wasn’t for him destroying the dangai cleaner
I personally think that Hog never abandoned Aizen in that final conversation with Ichigo and Urahara. The reason for that is because Aizen doesn't need his Zanpakuto in TYBW and use his Shikai while he's bound to his chair, while his Reiatsu is being restrained to the nth level. To be able to affect Yhwach himself without showing him his Zanpakuto (the method to actually put people under its affect) is evidence that Aizen fused with his Zanpakuto and Hogyoku, so he's his Zanpakuto himself.
It struck me when you was speak on how the hogyoku was in the driver's seat, it made me remember a conversation Ichigo had with white where white spoke on the king and horse. These 2 interaction seem to have more meaning like Kubo was foreshadowing the later events with aizen and when aizen and kisuke are talking before he was sealed. Great video my guy
Should work that way yes, it has a name and so it’s name and power can be changed, but it is hidden in aizen so he’d have to cleave aizen open to expose it first
@@ksmikari1045 Ichigo successfully stopped Aizen and the hogyoku was sealed by Urahara so there was no need for the zero division to destroy it. The central 46 imprisoned Aizen because they want to make him suffer.
@@GODOFAWSOMENESS1 The hogyoku was not sealed it was aizen who was sealed and that because he wanted to be sealed so the hogyoku allowed it, the hogyoku is said to be indestructible and it host soul king fragment (nail) so there no way for ichibei to stop it other wise aizen would be dead. If you can stop the hogyoku you can stop aizen, guess they can't do that since both are still around. Aizen was so confident he would be able to reach the heavens with the hogyoku which he would need to beat ichibei so if the hogyoku was so weak to be stopped by ichibei he would have done it already in the manga.
@@CE77777 CFYOW confirmed that Ichibeis power doesn't work on soul king pieces and things that absorbed Soul King pieces can resist/negate his powers like Ikomikidomoe did with when he broke Ichibeis bankai curse by absorbing Soul Kings fragments and Hogyoku has at least one Soul King pieces absorbed (the nail) so the ink would just not work.
After watching your video, it made me think. (It's a kind of long comment , so bare with). The Hogyoku is a soul king (an artificial one), and the soul king is a form of Hogyoku. Both are extremely powerful, but no real explanation is given to what's the limit of their power. The 0 division is not in the soul palace to necesseraily defend the soul king, but to be around, and impose the will and desire of the shinigami. It's mentioned in one of the chapters, that the soul king is a sort of linch pin between worlds. I think, it might be, but only because the shinigami want it to be. What shinigami in general want (which is explained at one point), and the reason why the Quincy in their eye are evil or unnatural is balance. Shinigami want balance between the worlds, an equal flow of humans, souls and hollow, in the meantime Quincy destroy souls thus unnatural and evil in their eye. In the first war between the shinigami and the quincy, yes, the shinigami won, but in a twisted way, the soul king gave the power to Yhwach to create his own realm, and exist without disturbing the natural order (which is what the shinigami want). And this is what the shinigami want around him, balance. I did like what you said that the hogyoku is like a menos, that's possibly how the soul king also works, as his body parts that are removed have their own will. He can also be just an amalgamation of souls, and he is subdued by the shinigami, in the meantime, his body parts are not subdued, and the stronger souls in them can take over the rest, just like an adhuchas. The 0 division is more like exile for the ones who help keep the order by pushing the shinigami further, but if they would be active, they themselves could be a danger to the status quo. Sorry if this didn't make any sense :D
I feel like it's a sort of Bleach's version of the wish granting genie, but more twisted. It helps grant your deepest desires, but not in the way you wanted, maybe closer to whatever Hogyoku's version of the fullfillment of your deepest desire is.
Whatever the Hogyoku is and it's true highest potential is, it can challege the position and power of the Soul King itself and even Yhwach. It was able to survive Mugetsu Ichigo's destructive attack without harm and Aizen believe it could allow him to gain the power to defeat the powers who protect the Soul King. It is like a nigh all wishing SCP-682 artifact that gets stronger over time according to the extent of wish and user to who it is granting to.
I thought that the hogyoku was made. by combining countless shinigami, hollow, human and quincy souls. If that's the case. Then ichigo is almost a living talking hogyoku.
Ichigo, I believe, was the hogyoku's master & he didn't even know it. This idea is why it depowered Aizen during the last battle. The hogyoku is an entity that resonates w/ desire/will. Aizen is already pretty op, he has never really had to truly fight b/c his innate abilities are well above those around him. Therefore, his willpower is low. Ichigo on the other hand, trying to protect his friends & Soul Society, willpower is almost limit-breaking. Yes, the hogyoku helps Aizen b/c he actually possesses it, but Aizen has never been the hogyoku's master.
Bro Hogyoku recognize Aizen as its master. That's why it still with Aizen and keep boosting his power and Reiatsu eventhough he just sit on the chair doing nothing. When he saw Mugetsu and don't feel any SP from it Aizen starting to panic and his heart or his deep desire was waver as that point. Ichigo never become Hogyoku's master otherwise it would leave Aizen and go to Ichigon since now it have a will on its own just like when Gin stole Hogyoku from Aizen.
@@aizeniversary756 correct, this point was covered when I stated "b/c Aizen possessed the hogyoku, it continued to imbue him w/ powers". I do believe that. Still, he was not its master. The hogyoku may not even have one, but if it did, being an entity that responds to willpower, it would align w/ Ichigo. It probably secretly aided Ichigo & his friends.
Aizen seems rehabilitated. It was so shocking when Aizen killed those innocent people. Never mind the fact that Mayuri was going around using suicide bombers and was about to murder Ikkaku. Aizen is a saint compared to that guy.
Idk why so many ppl hated on it, it's practically if not exactly the philosophers stone. The only difference is it can reach out, like with Chad and orihime. I do wish they covered it more.
I do wholeheartedly believe that the Hogyoku is something that occurs within the world of BLEACH to either make a being more Soul King like or to actually create the conditions for a new Soul King to be born. Through what means I don't know.
24:49 Probably the first time in a while that I've felt that this form is creepy, since this might be an emerging visual representation of the hogyoku. Aizen's face is pushed to the sides, while that evil looking one emerges as he talks about how it can't tolerate him losing. It might have an evil nature because Aizen was the one to "raise" it, but perhaps it's just plain malevolent. As for the end of the Ichigo fight, the hogyoku might have taken his form away while keeping him immortal and powerful enough to be isolated from everyone else as a way to spite him for feeling like he wanted to be normal etc. After all, it had its own will, and I assume all it has ever known is to aid him with his plan, but then his loss stirs this feeling and he wants to be normal on some level? It's probably pissed at him lol
Just got a hogyoku tattoo yesterday too!! I like to think the hogyoku is a bit like the hive mind idea, the most base emotion and parts of the souls used to make it scream out and do whatever it takes to survive, and those that resonate with that survival instinct at certain times become enabled to evolve to survive
The Hogyoku is basically a miniature Soul King. It's not as strong as the actual Soul King but it get's the job done nonetheless. What both Urahara and Aizen tried to do was create a mini God they could control, no idea what that would take but probably some messed up stuff
I feel like the 2-halves of the hogyoku mirror the left and right hand of the soul king, in a way... Urahara's hogyoku was able to stop the progression of hollowification of the vizard, through the power of stillness of his hogyoku while Aizen's was able to "progress" or evolve by breaking down the barriers - but at the cost of the survival/sustainability of the host body. Aizen's combined hogyoku hollows him to continue evolving, while also acquiring perpetual immortality from the side of stillness. It's funny that Aizen thinks the Soul King to be such an abomination, yet it seems his whole wish was to become something just like it - truly transcendent.
Younger Kisuke: I was just bored one day and thought, "what if I tried to make an actual, physical plot mcguffin? What would it do? And bam. I made one. Took a while because it was just a project for poop breaks." Aizen: Same. Younger Kisuke: Eh? (gets betrayed).
So I just found this channel not too long ago, and I'm also studying Japanese. So this video peaked my interest as to what Japanese kanji were used to describe the hougyoku, and whether that would possibly bring some insight as to what exactly it does do. To see if Aizen was right about it simply giving the owner what they wanted, or if it was just a way of destroying the boundaries between hollow and soul reaper, possibly being something which simply destroys all boundaries, not just those between soul reapers and hollows. So, I looked into it and found this, the Hougyoku in Japanese is a compound of two kanji 崩 (usually pronounced くず、or ホウ, kuzu or hou) and most of its meanings are fairly similar. To collapse, crumble, break down, destroy, demolish, etc. The pronunciation of ほう, Hou, being used in words like: 崩壊(Houkai) meaning collapse, crumbling, breaking down, etc, and 崩落(Houraku) meaning collapse, break, or crash. The second kanji in this compound is 玉 (pronounced たま、-だま、or ギョク. Tama, -dama, or gyoku) and its meanings are mostly along the lines of round, or spherical objects. Most imprortant being its "Gyoku" pronunciation meaning precious stone, not its only meaning but seems to be the most likely interpretation given this context (unless of course you believe the hougyoku is an egg meant to go on sushi). So after looking into the kanji used to describe the Hougyoku as an item within Bleach, I do actually believe Aizen was wrong in his assuption about what it does. I don't believe it gives people what they want and can reasonably achieve. I do think it simply destroyes the barriers that people have between them and the power they can achieve, hence why he evolved so many times and why Orihime and Chad recieved powers from being around it. Because they probably had some sort of barrier between them and what they could do, the Hougyoku simply broke down the barries.
I really enjoy watching your videos. I like the depth of discussion you go into with your analyses of the scenarios, battles, and even the psychology of the characters in the Bleach universe. I like anime, but I am not on the level of some diehard anime fans. That said, I happened to catch a couple episodes of Bleach when it was on Adult Swim back in the day. I really liked it, but never went out if my way to seek it out until I got a smartphone. But yeah, your content and discussions are awesome, my friend. Informative and enjoyable to watch.
Aizen was working on the hogyoku first and the Kisuke started working on his hogyoku after. The difference is Kisuke perfected it or completed his hogyoku before Aizen. Also Aizen says that he was nearing Shinji and the visord's location, so it would make sense that over the course of 20 years he discovered their location. And with Shinji's fight with Grimmjow, Aizen could see Shinji's hollowfication mask. Also I do think Aizen was just admiring the Hogyoku when he stole it from Rukia. These aren't inconsistencies, these are just details that are hard to grab. And I love this about Kubo, that he gives you the hints, but you have to find the direction.
But didn’t aizen state the both hogyoku were incomplete and what about the gigai lie, why aizen lie about kisukes exile but then again why would he tell them why kisuke was truly exiled because if that were the case kisukes and the vizards charges would be lifted and aizen didn’t want that because he probably needed the vizards to train ichigo. I think I’m over thinking it.
I think, there's a big question of just how much of what he says (in-universe) is true. We have no idea of how much of what he says is lies (to himself or others) or how much he just got wrong, whether from perspective or lack of knowledge. I personally take Urhara's comment about himself not being able to control it as a possible hint that it can't be controlled: For example whether because people always have a lot of different, even contradictory, desires (it was described as detecting the "desires", plural, of those around it not described as "the desire", singular, after all) and the hogyoku tries to grant them all thier desires or becuase of the hogyoku requiring/costing to much to grant desires. There was that part about it being limited to the abilities of those whose desires it was granting so maybe it had some kind of cost to using it to its full ability and that would mean a limit to what/how a desire is manifested, for example manipulating his own zanpakuto's illusions against himself to achieve him being played into a long plan to manifest what he really desires instead of just transforming his desire directly. We aren't given any idea at all of how consciouse or intelligent the hogyoku is, it could be as intelligent as him, it could be limited in intelligence based on the one it is granting desires of, we aren't given any idea of it's personality either, it could even be like a Gillion in terms of its mind due to all those shinigami & etc. that Aizen used in making his. or going off of that: if its own consciousness was able to manifest its own desires and/or choose how/what/which desires it manifests. Or it could be that like a zanpakuto, he needed to go through a more in-depth bonding presses with the hogyoku to truly be its master and it was as a result trying to still grant everyone around its desires, including his and his enemies (Ichigo g etc.). One more thing: He was only depowered by the hogyoku after Ichigo himself lost his due to his final getsuga (which could be the theory of him seeking an equal, and after that equal didn't meet his desires he was brought to be that potential persons equal instead). It could be that part of his depowering is similar to how ichigo somehow lost all his powers, but his quincy powers also disappeared despite not being a part of his shinigami/hollow powers, and even actively suppressing his shinigami/hollow powers. If it had been part of his final getsuga, and thus be lost with his shinigami/hollow powers, he should've discovered his quincy half (ignoring plot hole type of possibilities of course). Or lost those quincy abilities permanently due to them not getting supplemented by the shinigami only powers from the sword Rukia used (it did have only shinigami power used in it after all). And so: Of course it's possible that instead of losing his powers ichigo just spent all his potential and exhausted his spirit energy until he was given a supplement for it in the Fullbringer arc (as s mentioned). Which would explain him having seemingly no powers at the start of the story except seeing ghosts, in that he would have had to use Rukia's powers as a kind of equivalent to a fire starter kit to ingite his spiritual abilities. (Also possible that his quincy half just suppressed itself to protect him etc., Like how it took nearly the whole series to find out about said quincy half). If its that Ichigo lost all his powers due to overdraft of himself, maybe the hogyoku did the same to Aizen and needed to take back the power (but not enhanced spiritual pressure, seemingly) to manifest new desires. For example: if instead of his zanpakuto being lost, if after experiencing Ichigo's fused state with zangetsu in the final getsuga, Aizen wanted to do the same to his own zanpakuto, then it disappearing only to show up again suddenly later in a different arc makes sense, after all Aizen only became depowered after trying to use bankai. What with bankai being something like the completely unsealed state of a zanpakuto / true form of a zanpakuto.
I totally agree. Why do us the readers take what aizen was saying as gospel? This man lies who knows if what he was saying was even true. Maybe he THOUGHT the hogyoku acted a certain way in reality it was the exact opposite. How would he know? He doesnt even have a relationship with his own soul (kyoka suigetsu)how could he possibly understand something as complicated and complex as the hogyoku?
I think the reason why two minds created separatly the same thinf with the same name comes down to their version of "theoretical physics". The Hogyko was part of theoretical spritual science long before they started with creating it for real. This way the name was already set but not how work to create such a thing. And i think Aizen used the "part" of the Soul King he got from Matsumoto as his basis. This should include a combination of all races and fused shinigami souls into it so it will be compatible with his current existence. The Hogyoku then added hollow into after reach his limit as a shinigami and just doesn't wanted to realise that that gets hollowficated because he despises hollows as lower beings.
The Hogyoku is just one of so many interesting lore bits hidden away in Bleach - so what do you think a Hogyoku actually IS? With a will of their own, what do they want? Let me know!
I have a question that i hope u can answer. The power of gerard its supposed to turn the impossible possible so the only way he can die is if Yhwach takes is power right?
@Gabriel Damasceno Meurer yeah and many people say that yamamoto would kill him too butni doubt that.
i don't see how it could be the heart of the soul king, since that is in Gerard, and in the novel CFYOW it is said that what is taken from the souls of the soul reapers that are exposed to the hogyoku are soul king fragments, with a nail being in Rangiku. Personally i believe the hogyoku is not more no less than an amalgamation of all the soul king fragments that were found in the souls it exposed to. but here is another crazy idea. Maybe the hogyoku is the Will of the soul king, his wish of becoming whole again, that would be a small explanation as to why the hogyoku simply absorbs all the soul king fragments it comes across, and it would also be tied to it's ability of making the desires/wills of the people around them, or it's master come to life. That being said, we still don't know for sure the complete process of creating the hogyoku. When a soul is exposed to hogyoku, is the soul consumed completely, or only a part of it, or just the soul fragment is taken away from it? Since Rangiku is still alive after being exposed to it, i would assume that at the very list those that posses a fragment of the soul king inside them, can survive. But when we think about this problem, it brings up some questions about how in the world Urahara made it. We already knew he has kind of a shaky moral compass, but this kind of puts it in serious question. Did he do the same thing Aizen did, or maybe he exposed the hogyoku mainly to hollow's. Either way, i think it is a very dark part of Urahara's past.
God like power, a will all it's own, both Aizen and urahara manage to make (or perhaps summon 🤔) one fairly independent of of each other. I'm thinking that perhaps they really are parts of the Soul King's body
I always believed that Aizens defeat was because of Kyoka Suigetsu.
Maybe the loneliness that Ichigo felt was not that of Aizens but of his Zanpakuto. Maybe Kyoka Suigetsu was discontent with what Aizen was becoming and after being defeated by Mugetsu the Hogyoku granted Kyoka Suigetsus desire.
We know that Zanpakuto have their own hearts.
We see it in the fight with Ichigo vs Kenpachi
Oldman Zangetsu comments to Ichigo "Can you hear the cries of his sword"
And also in Tensa Zangetsu vs Ichigo when Tensa tell Ichigo "The things you want to protect are not the things I want to protect"
Maybe Kyoka wanted to protect Aizen. Because Aizen was becoming not Aizen. Aizen said he would never become a hollow or something along those lines yet he now has a hole on his chest. And now how Aizen was behaving and everything was just not Aizen.
I believe the Hogyoku granted Kyoka Suigetsus desire.
Maybe the hogyoku fullfilled his wish by making him as similar to the soul king as possible, who is the most divine thing in bleach. It gave him godlike powers just to bind him to his chair as the soul king is trapped in his crystal.
Yeah, I think it's something bad-natured like that. Either the chair thing or it left him in a state where he would be even more lonely, while being unable to die. I really get the sense that these things are not positive beings lol, especially considering they're made from a piece of the "betrayed" SK and a bunch of murdered souls
Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case. Some of the writing in Bleach really does go in depth like that with overarching themes.
Aizen started all this partially because he disagreed with the whole Soul King un-limbed vegetable thing, plus the chair has nothing to do with the hogyouku. He may have symbolically ended up that way from a narrative perspective but not from an in-universe reason.
I once found the idea is that the Hogyoku, being something that granted wishes, resonated closer with the idea for Aizen to find his equal. While he pursued the SK as he was unmatched, Ichigo appears and manages to evolve in his abilities to such a point that, in his battle, Aizen had finally found his equal. The Hogyoku resonating with Aizen's wish for an equal then proceded to de-power him, which is how the kido Uharahara had planted in him had activated
Ahhhh like the wish dragons from destiny
They're obviously the balls of the Soul King
You mean ball. Because there is only one of it
Bro lost the his otherball like denji
@@dragonizerx6462 nah ichigo is his other part of his balls
that is so fuckin dumb and i love it
Best comment on this channel
If you go to episode 17 of the anime, there is a scene where Ichigo asks Urahara “Can I become stronger in 10 days?” And Urahara responds “Certainly! That is if you wish to save Rukia from the bottom of your heart.” I think this scene is evidence enough that Urahara knew the full extent of the Hogyoku’s power. The theory being that since his Hogyoku was still inside Rukia, it helped strengthen ichigo quickly during the 10 day training.
Nah
@@whydidyoutubeaddthis yah
Rukia with the Hogyoku wasn't nearby, so..
Rukai was in soul society 💀💀 besides ichigo was just goated like that
Oh shitttt. Cool theory
I mean the Hogyoku is basically "The Philosopher's Stone" the powers are very similar and description wise it fits.
Unlike Aizen, Urahara wanted to use it to replace the Soul King as the linchpin, that is, after realizing that the Hogyoku also had it's own Will he probably changed his mind although his reasoning for it is ambiguous, How Urahara created his is unknown but even on it's own it already had the ability to break down the barriers and grant desires of the user as Urahara used it to simply slow down the effects of Hollowfication, and Chad and Orihime were turned into fullbrings even before merging with Aizen's Hogyoku , as shown when the hogyoku changes something when it grants the users wish it cannot simply take the effect of the wish back, which is why Aizen is considered immortal, he basically wished for this kind of existence so he was granted this whether or not it recognizes Aizen as it's current master is irrelevant the hogyoku has already changed him, same goes to Chad and Orihime they were already given the power to achieve their desires even if the hogyoku were to somehow be destroyed the power given to them will not fade.
The SK himself is basically near Human sized Hogyoku if a Hogyoku that size was strong enough to cause Aizen to continuously evolve and become immortal then imagine having a human sized version that has a physical body and sentient mind, every part of his body can be considered wish granting, his Almighty also has this kind of power, his heart, legs, other internal organs, arms, even his hair and nails can grant people unimaginable power, that would give them the opportunity to achieve what they desire.
The Philosopher's stone itself was suppose to house the "Will" of the universe/GOD which is why in Alchemy it is the highest and greatest accomplishment one can achieve and it is the ultimate goal; basically it's to "Contain & control the power of GOD" in a single stone or gem, changing the universe and by extension all forms of reality not by thought, nor simply by words, but with the power of Will.
I mean, Aizen technically merged with the hogyoku, so technically it was an aizen sized hogyoku.
Orihime and Chad were Fullbringers from before the start of the Series due to their parents having run ins with Hollows and surviving while pregnant with them respectively. It just wasn’t until Ichigo’s Reiatsu Awakening that their abilities finally started to manifest in time to train for the Soul Society Arc.
@@Mizikame really? I thought it only awakened because they were in close proximity to Rukia and even if the Hogyoku was sealed within her it was still strong enough to at least grant other people's wishes, wasn't it also Aizen that made it a point that Chad and Orihime gained their abilities and awakened them due to the hogyoku being in close proximity with them and their desire to help Ichigo was because of that?
Then again I'm still in my theory that Ichigo himself is also a human sized Hogyoku and here's my thought process Ichigo is suppose to be a hybrid similar to the SK and even SK surprisingly acknowledged and was happy to have seen someone like Ichigo and if Ichigo is considered to be the 1st Soul King Candidate if Yhwach ever bites the dust then that means Ichigo himself has a latent ability similar to that of SK's ability, as it was the almighty that separated and is currently still being used to stabilise the world; even Aizen was ranked below Ichigo so maybe instead of the Hogyoku Urahara sealed in Rukia, it was in actuality Ichigo who granted them their abilities. I don't really remember Chad and Orihime's parents being stated to have come in close proximity to a Hollow and survived, and some fullbrings are born because the Soul King's organs like nails, hair, skin and etc. were somehow implanted inside their souls when they were born.
@Sex'' Allatus Angelus iirc even Ginjo in CFYOW comments on the fact that Hogyoku did to Orihime and Chad a similar thing to what Soul King fragments normaly do to make a fullbringer.
@Sex'' Allatus Angelus Well the nail was absorbed by a already created but incomplete Hogyoku (intersting thing is Aizen said that Hogyoku had a special reaction to part of Rangikus soul and from that he concluded that it was a part of the Soul King so they are inherently connected) but yes Hogyoku seems to be in nature related to soul king and his pieces as Tokinada commented that Urahara wanted to use his Hogyoku to replace the soul king (Urahara does deny this or to be more exact denies that he created Ururu and Jinta to be dolls that he would use the Hogyoku on to create a replacement for the soul king)
I see the Hogyoku as a "magical lamp" without a genie. It indeed has a will of its own, kinda, and its own ways and devices to create CHAOS, it seems.
So the middle finger from the monkey's paw with a sense of humor cause it's bored and wants to see the hairless money's dance?
Hmm. I like your explanation, citizen . . . .
It sounds like a final fantasy crystal of you word it like that. Even adding words like Chaos into it makes it more so FF
I'd argue that it's a genie without a lamp (in the case of Aizen, Aizen).
@@righteouszzy ???????
The hogyoku being connected to the soul king actually kinda makes sense, if you think about it, the only 2 people who made it, knew about the truth about the soul king
Truly fascinating
BOOM!
IT MAKES SENSE!!!!!!
I'm late but have this question... If it was connected to Soul King then why Yuha couldn't absorb it?
@@eveningsky851 soul king part was base of it. But I think in the end it become something else, even more powerful, while mixing with other souls and such. So if yuha can't absorb it, aizen survived. It is confirms aizen > soul king
I assume it was a piece of the SK that Kisuke used his bankai on, until he recombined it to the point it became a tool.
@@ClockworkGearhead some people after birth have parts of SK in them (so called nail or shard). Matsumoto was such person, so Aizen extracted it and used to create his hyogioku (this is why Gin hated Aizen). But i think in the end, Aizens and Uraharas hyogioku merged and created perfect one, which Aizen used in the end.
From what I can remember, Aizen wanted Ichigo to become more and more powerful specifically to challenge him and force him to evolve past every limit placed on him. It's specifically why he never showed Ichigo his shikai. I believe that he was gaining everything he wished for after so many years of meticulous planning to make ichigo strong but at the end of the fight, he was so obsessed with countering Ichigo's power that after Ichigo used mugetsu, Aizen would've gotten even stronger afterwards if it wasn't for Ichigo losing all of his power in the process. The obsession with Ichigo and wanting to be equal and then potentially greater tricked himself into losing all of his power as to become almost equal with a powerless Ichigo.
I always assume the Hogyoku is an artificial Soul King Heart. If you think about it, it quite similar to "The Miracle" wherein it can grant thoughts, desire, and feeling. Similar to Aizen's explanation of what the Hogyoku could do
Would give credence to why Matsumoto was targeted too. I like this.
Yeah, we see some Sternritters with absolutely busted reality warping abilities. Compared to Juha's blessings, what the Hogyoku did for Chad and Orihime was not that impressive but it feels very similar.
My theory is that the actual black orbs we see are literally clusters of Reiō's cells grown in a test tube using his nails as the DNA sample and cultivated using pieces of souls from the Rukongai. They're basically clumps of cloned Reiō flesh.
Hogyoku, the Soul King's Will
@@TheAnomaly00 That might be the best theory I’ve ever heard about it
Dude, the hogyoku was ridiculously overpowered. It was like Aizen just found a bunch of cheat codes.
😂😂The Hogyoku is a cheat code
Aizen upon creating his Hogyoku: "Get ready Soul Society, you're about to experiance the power of a pissed off nerd with admin privileges!"
Can you stop posting comments on this videos? Pathetic bleach hater
@@lolsnez7542 Dude, criticism isn't hate.
Aizen made what we all like to call a pro gamer move
It's the ultimate macguffin of the series, the source of absolute power and yet a mystery. Both Aizen and Kisuke wish to use it to change the flow of things but only Urahara knows the sinister and potentially devastating implications of having such power whereas Aizen just goes for it no scruples needed. Far from being a power source it shows the radically different views they have despite being similar.
Itdoesnt count as a macguffin, as it fails the ‘rock’ test.
If you replace it with a rock, does the story change?(assume the people who want it still do).
Since yes, the story changes, as aizen now doesn’t go Uber-aizen, it’s not a macguffin, but a plot-device.
@@samakiraroyjanssen6326 no
@@samakiraroyjanssen6326 but ck ok no j
It transcends the restraining concept of the macguffin!
Fbmm
I think Aizen used Shinigami souls to make his Hogyoku whereas Kisuke used hollow souls. Since Aizen combined them, it allowed for the barrier to be broken between the two. Aizen had experimented with hollowfication even before then.
But Urahara used his own Hogyoku to break the barrier between the two so it's not needed to have both
@@MashuSlyferiux I thought he just stabilized the Vizards with it? He never made arrancar or gave shinigami hollow powers.
@@demon2441 yeah sorry I meant to say Aizen, not Urahara
@@MashuSlyferiux If Aizen only fed his shinigami souls, it makes sense that he could give hollows shinigami powers. However Tousen certainly didn't have hollow powers prior to them being outed as traitors.
@@demon2441 No the Hogyoku Aizen used also gave Shinigamis Hollow powers
We learn in CFYOW that an SK piece was used to create the Hogyoku. The other place where we see essentially objects developing their own wills is the pieces of the Soul King.
IIRC, in a Klub Outside, Kubo explains how Aizen's speech to Ukitake while he was rising up--"no one has stood at the top--not me, not you"-- was referring to how Ukitake has a connection to Mimihagi.
The wills of the parts of the Soul King seem to be something that can even be subjugated as Yhwach had multiple of those parts working for him, while Mimihagi was on the side of the shinigami, something Yhwach found odd. However, while this was odd to Yhwach, I think why is more important. I think that considering Mimihagi was really the only SK piece that completely denied the will of the Soul King, the others have wills more adjacent to the Soul King, but can still be subjugated and transformed, especially if the wills are aligned.
It isn't truly explained how these wills are developed in the first place, among many other unexplained things, but I could imagine the Hogyoku is the bridge to that gap, along with the background of how Yhwach came into existence.
Yhwach is supposedly the "son" of the Soul King. Take that as you will. What we do know is that he started off as something without any consciousness or anything but could give wishes to others. People would do what they can with this wish, live fulfilling lives, and increase the very power of that wish than what they had before, thus acting as an investment that Yhwach gets to recoup once they die and their powers go back to him.
I think that it's the offering of wishes and souls that gives power to the parts of the Soul King, and perhaps even the Soul King himself originally. He emerged as if to answer the wishes of people born into this world of turmoil and chaos to kill hollows.
I think that it was important that the hogyoku granted wishes along the way before it could become useful to Aizen. It needed to be used in order to evolve. Eventually, the will of the hogyoku I think was to create another Soul King. It accepted Aizen's wishes because his goal was to kill the Soul King and then rule over, which is likely the will the Soul King had developed over all these years of being subjugated.
And now that I mention the Soul King himself being subjugated, his subjugation is what holds the worlds of bleach together. Soul King is kept in an encasing that is very reminiscent of the encasing the Hogyoku are in.
Thus, putting that together, the Hogyoku could very well be a mini-Soul King with the main desire to become whole. It'll grant the desires of others not because it's benevolent but because it can take back the loan later on death like Yhwach. Aizen's form which looks much like the Soul King fits into that exactly. It was likely trying to create a Soul King appearance.
And the reason it rejected Aizen was probably because it saw Aizen could never reach the same power that Ichigo has and truly expect to have a different fate than the original Soul King in the first place. And then he got sealed and can't move his limbs or anything in a fate almost identical to the Soul King ironically enough.
@KingCaeLIVE Can another Hogyouku be made again,then how..?
@@Based4045 Yes it can be made with sk nail and it will grow infinitely and becoming a orb which transcends everything
24:40
This really plays back on the King and the Horse analogy of White.
In that moment of desperation, the roles were switch, and that ultimately led to the hougyuku rejecting Aizen.
Poetic
Hogyoku might be something that resembles primordial existence and Soul King before realms were separated. At that time the concepts of life and death were interwoven, making Aizen immortal. It could also explain why it could break the barrier of shinigami and hollow.
And we know both Aizen and Urahara had seen Soul King at some point, and both of them made Hogyoku. Coincidence? I don't think so. My guess would be that both of them tried to recreate the essence of Soul King, or whatever made him Soul King.
its basically the lost technology then
I always felt the Hogyoku was Kubo's version of the Philosopher's Stone, reinforced by the scientific backgrounds of both Aizen and Urahara.
But one thing I never understood was how the Hogyoku had the ability to fulfill desires yet Aizen only used it for power-ups? Also it was able to break through boundaries between species yet Aizen never explored Quincy abilities?
It did. It gave Chad and Orihime power ups. They just weren't exposed long enough to get those boosts. Also the Fragor ability that his evil form uses when fighting Ichigo is very similar to a Quincy attack
"yet Aizen never explored Quincy abilities?"
Aizens "final fusion" had quincy abilities . Fragor is a reishi bullet made out of compressed Reishi and not Aizens reiatsu as reveled in Unmaksed
Agree with both of the commentors but what I mean is why did he never distribute these abilities to any of his followers?
@@mra3076 Quincys are a strange thing as they are descendents of the soul king in a sense and they are created when Yhwach (the "son" of the soul king) sheares his blood he gives them powers but at the same time makes their soul indebted to him it is possible that Hogyoku was not able to emulate that and gave Aizen the Quincy abilities by making him some kind of primordial being as it is hinted in unmasked where Aziens last fusion is said to "not be related to hollows or shinigami" or he couldn't give quincy powers to hollows as they are poison to each other and also couldn't give quincy powers to shinigami because Quincy and shinigami are said to completely oppose each other
@@jankieek8218 It is possible to make Hollows Quincy. Ywach does it in the TYBW.
Remember, part of the Soul King makes up the Hogyoku and through the 1000 year blood war arc every part of the Soul King had some sentient being associated with it. Hence, the Soul King power was the driving force of this device.
Aizen never had anyone as an equal, he was born with too much ability and could defeat anyone he came in contact until Ichigo’s final form. At last he could face someone who could defeat him and the Hogyoku made it happen. Aizen didn’t look down at Ichigo afterwards, he had at long last found someone on equal or higher terms.
Makes you wonder why he "created" Ichigo in the first place. He wouldn't really need to exist in order for Aizen to take over the royal palace, so perhaps he wanted an equal all along.
Given that Yama absolutely could've defeated him until he transcended were it not for the illusion ability, someone remind me why Ichigo didn't get affected by it?
@@LucidStrike Because you need to see its release to fall under its effects, Ichigo never witnessed Aizen release his Zanpakto.
@@rhysgarland9295
Isn't that kind of a little too convenient...? 😕
@@Error0101 it's what was explained in the manga.....I would say it's a decent limitation to such a broken ability.
This video is what was needed all this time
ua-cam.com/video/QR03GMXodaU/v-deo.html
I feel like, based on the information we got about it in the most recent light novel, it seems like an attempt to recreate the power of the Heart of the Soul King- Gerard Valkyrie. His Schrift was M- the Miracle, able to bring about the desires in the hearts of those around him which sounds a lot like Aizens explanation of the Hogyoku during the Fake Karakura Town battle.
One potential point missed is that you said hundreds of shinigami souls fed to it, and I would definitely say the bulk of its power has to be that soul king piece. Otherwise it sounds VERY unimpressive compared to, hollows devouring thousands of people's souls, or more, or the sokyoku 30+million soul feat, or even the 140+ normal shinigami to destroy that one dimension. Oh Kubo, the inconsistency!
Yeah.. you have captains not being allowed to use their full power in the living world etc too. Some untrained rukongai citizens and fodder shinigami souls shouldn't be able to make something like that. I think it's something like growing artificial tissue in a lab. You need a piece of the original, along with something to stimulate the growth and such. Perhaps Urahara calls it a "substance" because it's made of the blood of the SK, which would explain the similarity to Gerard's powers
I think it isn't power from the soul king piece but potential. As with hollows just clumping together souls does nothing but give a lot of raw strength. But the soul king apparently has the ability to reshape reality as he saw fit. Being able to shape souls and the primal chaos of creation.
ehhh, in fact you are talking about the aizens hogyoku wich was a failure because was only made of regular souls. I believe you are the inconsistent...
One partial theory I have is that the Hogyoku felt Aizen needed more than just power to grow, Aizen needed to grow as a person so it made it lose so he would reflect and come back stronger later.
Nah, it's obviously just Urahara's seal activating during Aizen's moment of vulnerability, simple.
Orihime and Chad gaining powers equal to their “Potential” interests me a lot. Was Chad at his max potential by the end of the series? His fullbring is based through the pride he has in his skin, or at least that’s how I’m aware of it, so could he have gone full clad like Ichigo, or did he unintentionally limit himself?
How was this 13 hours ago 💀
@@braylonhendrix1573 Patreon early access
@@braylonhendrix1573 if you release a video but keep it unlisted, then a few days later set it to public, itll change the upload date to when you set it public, he does this for his patrons
This too is Malsumis
His full potential is beating up normal humans as a boxer
The Hogyoku is a great example of how Kubo loves to play with horror elements but doesn't usually bring them into direct focus. Horror movies can start to fall flat after the monster reveal because you no longer have to imagine something terrifying because it's clearly just some guy in a suit. For the majority of its story, the Hogyoku is a small marble you can project anything upon and it grows more frightening the more you know; but it's still 'just a marble'. The closest we get to that monster reveal is when it peels Aizen's face open, but even then, it's still only a manifestation of Aizen's desires (etc) being twisted by the Hogyoku's influence.
It’s basically the philosophers’ stone or stone of the philosopher from Greek and Biblical writings which was also portrayed in others like Full Metal which it shares a pretty close resemblance to in its creation and function. I do wish it was explored more in-depth especially with it being it’s own entity.
It's similar but yet difference. Hogyoku was more like a guide for you as long as you have what it take or strength to do it. It have infinite potential depend per person. Meanwhile, Philosophy's stone fulfil their wish with its power as long as Philosophy's stone able to grant it.
I like to think of the discovery of a hogyoku was like when the two scientists separately invented the fahrenheit and celsius temperature systems. Like Mindedness with different goals that needs the same type of tool. Kisuke and Aizen had similar needs for a tool but widely different plans on the use of that tool.
I always thought that aizen's zanpakuto breaking was it fusing with him and that the hogyoku was trying to give aizen a rival(ichigo) but when ichigo used mugestu and lost his powers he started losing his as well and that the hogyoku is still with him . In other words aizen is now in one of those only I can kill you villain/hero relationships which is the only reason he fought Juha Bach
In one of the light novels, a character confirms that aizen still has his hogyoku and even contemplates stealing it from him. He figures it would be impossible to separate them at this point so he doesn’t even bother trying. Idk where he got the idea that aizen no longer has the hogyoku
@@jah_alexander I think at first he thought Hogyoku abandoned him but Ichigo was right, it was probably Aizen's deep wish to become weaker because of his loneliness of standing on the top.
@@aizeniversary756which is also quite BS since he literally got stronger in TYBW Arc lol, the answer is simple really, Aizen got extremely damaged by FGT and needed some time to recover from it, leaving him vulnerable to be sealed by Urahara, simple enough explanation that doesn't need mental gymnastics.
I assume it's made by condensing thousands of souls. As we know, souls can give power to people. Fullbring is a power obtained by controlling an object's soul. Sternritters obtained their Schrift by getting Yhwach's soul. To me, it just makes the most sense.
But then how does it manifest wills, there are hollows devouring 1k-10k souls even millions for some hollows. But they aren't that op
@totiodfanzsai6079 Idk Bleach's science is pretty bs. Mayuri and Urahara can do literally anything.
@@tennishsubmarine311 well, that's true....still i believe the hogyoku is way more than some combo of souls
I've always wanted to see this explained, it's always been a mistery for me of what hogyoku trully is, and i love the fact we could potentially still learn more about it in the future.
Kubo has done a great job on exposing this object of absolute power yet keeping it mysterious and intriguing. Keep it up with the quality content, we all appreciate it!
I think it made Ichigo and his friends reach their full potential like Ywach did with the quincy (but on a lesser scale). It also influenced Ichigo and his friends to unlock their potential because the soul king was stated to be combination of fullbring, shinigami, quincy and human.
@@oghaze9318 Ichigo is nowhere near his full potential..
There is one thing that you are missing from these theories, you just talk about Aizen's method for creating it, but I very much doubt Urahara resorted to "shaving" hundreds of shinigami and rukongai residents to make his own... So there may be a correct way to do it and what Aizen did was probably trying to take a shortcut, which is why it was never really completed.
Yes, we never get to know how Urahara did..
One theory I read about was that Urahara used blanks, the weird souls from the first Bleach movie.
@@Amoschp524 is "Memories of Nobody" even cannon tho?
@@gonzalodelgado9573 No but the theory to fit Urahara way of doing his research. I don't see him being like Azien or the captain of the 12th in the way he does his experiments
@@Amoschp524 too bad we don't have a proper explanation of how did Urahara made his Hogyoku :( It's legit intriguing
Initially I thought it was the Ouken(kings key), but over time I realized that it was a way to become a successor to the Soul King. It required the flesh and blood of the Soul King, and it allowed one to evolve into the same kind of hybrid being that the Soul King was/is. It destroys the separations between different types of being until one can become a primordial being (like Mew is in pokemon).
My current assumptions may be wrong and I did post this before watching the video, but I like my current interpretation
Ok after watching, I think I remember Aizen mentioning that Urahara’s hogyoku was “incomplete” and was fundamentally unable to evolve for this “incompleteness.” I have always suspected that of the two hogyoku only Aizen’s had a fragment of the Soul King within it, but Urahara’s hogyoku was a better crafted vessel. As if the Miracle, yeah, that is the “third” hogyoku shown in the series. Both Aizen and Kisuke only started making hogyoku after seeing the Soul King. Kisuke’s research into mod-souls was his route towards surpassing the limitations of Soul Reapers while Aizen’s route was breaking down the barriers on existing souls. Mayuri expanded upon Kisuke’s research and created Nemu, an artificially “divine” soul… so the sort of research required to make a “replacement” soul for the Soul King was probably part of the research Aizen berated Urahara for dropping when it was so close to completion
I too used to believe that Royal Key was the Hogyoku. It just made sense, Aizen was seen feeding souls to his Hogyoku and the Royal Key can be used by sacrificing many strong souls.
Maybe the Hogyoku and the Royal Key aren't exactly the same thing, but they still could be related. I'm curious how the Royal Guard discovered the other method to create the Ouken (Royal Key). Did they actual went through sacrificing so many people, if so who did they sacrifice?
@@DroppedMyController some of the bleach filler (yet semicanon) movies like the Diamond Dust Rebellion had Royal relics with higher dimensional capabilities, so perhaps the Hogyoku and Ouken are more related than just requiring souls be sacrificed. The Royal Relic in DDR did evolve the big bad into someone with powers over time AND forcefully evolve a pair of Arancar, giving them a second release of sorts...
And the Ouken turned out to be a special bone structure, not unlike the evolutions Aizen and DDR's bad guy went through. It seems reasonable to assume that the Hogyoku was performing the same kind of ritual as some Royal Relics would have performed to give Squad Zero their Ouken, it was just a forgery of said Royal Keys
The hogyoku turned aizen into his ideal form of the Ubermensch and created it’s own adversary in the form of ichigo surpassed that power in the end.
Aizen: “God is dead.”
You should do a analysis video on aizen’s character.
40:18 The hogyoku sounds like it could theoretically be the soul king’s will. Maybe?
It is the physical form of the will to power.
Hmm, I wonder what would happen if kazui touched or was in the presence of the hogyoku?
I just want to put it out there that this thumbnail might be your best ever, the only one that rivals it is the Soul King one where he rests above the text, which represents his role as the one above everything. The Hogyoku floating in the air gives off the same sort of feeling of divine power, which as I said for the Soul King, it was fitting for such a powerful object. Little thing I want to add at the end, mabye it's the symmetry of the thumbnails where it looks satisfying? I'm unsure but the colors and placement are very aesthetically pleasing to look at and that really sold me to want to watch the video. That and the interesting topic to be discussed in it.
I think it makes sense for Aizen to drool over Urahara's Hogyoku. I'd certainly have that sense of awe everytime I held such an artifact.
Also, the Vizards are mentioned by Isshin as being renegade Soul Reapers who expiramented with Hollowfication, but that was contradicted by the Turn Back the Pendulum arc where Urahara is blamed for betraying them and doing it by force. So I think Shinji and the others, after Urahara saved them, returned to Soul Society at some point to try and clear Urahara's name and maybe reveal Aizen's treason. But they were chased away and vilified once Soul Society saw their new hybrid powers. This would not only explain why Aizen knows about them, why Hiyori and others are still do bitter towards SS, and Isshin's comment would make a lot more sense.
That makes sense
Well Isshin’s statement isn’t necessarily wrong the Vizards are renegade Soul Reapers since they are no longer a part of the soul society. The rest is likely what Aizen told the soul society to explain what happened, then when they learned Aizen was a traitor they figured out what really happened, but Isshin wasn’t around for that so he only knew the lie everyone was told
@@TheJjcczz except we're shown the trial and know exactly what Central 46 thought and felt. Any lie Aizen told them had already been given by that point.
"Were you conducting your Hollowfication experiment? Were you testing the results of your abominable research on the Captain of Fifth Company and seven other Captain-Class Soul Reapers?
...
Captain Kisuke Urahara of the Twelfth Company...for conducting treasonous research and decieving and causing bodily harm to a comrad, all spirtual powers will be removed from you and you will be banished to the world of the living! Additionally, Captain of Fifth Company and the other seven you expiramented on...will be disposed of as hollows!"
@@corruptangel6793 Yeah and the reason Central 46 wanted them executed was because the soul society isn’t allowed to produce any bad elements, they have to appear perfect. That’s why they have a secret prison for soul reapers they consider dangerous. In order to preserve this after Kisuke and the Vizards fled they would have had to come up with a cover story to tell everyone. In this case that rogue soul reapers were experimenting with Holofication
After all we’re talking about 5 Captains here, if their squads found out that they were forcibly experimented on and that they were now to be executed. There’s no way people wouldn’t object to that decision, not to mention the damage it would do to their image once it got outside the Seireitei. By making the Vizards the bad guys no one will want to talk about them because of the stigma it would bring
This explains Isshin’s comment, and why the Vizards are still pissed. Because none of it mattered to Central 46, wether it was Kisuke or Aizen who turned them into Vizards, wether they wanted it or not, Central 46 didn’t care they wanted them dead, and we saw what happened to Rukia when her execution was “ordered”
@@TheJjcczz he was mostly wrong but he didn’t lie. He believed the story which means he told what he thought was the truth.
8:28 we know Aizen made his Hogyoku from Shinigami souls/souls with shinigami potential, perhaps Urahara made his from hollow souls, since both we're "incomplete" and only got completed when Aizen merged his with Urahara's. This would explain why Aizen's attempts at hollowfying shinigami were failures and Urahara could stabilize the Visored, and later Aizen making Arrancar that aren't unstable because the Hogyoku is complete at that point.
Eventually the world of Bleach would turn back to the way it was before it was separated into three worlds. It is impossible for the gotei 13 and zero division to protect it forever. Eventually someone or something will destroy Yuha’s corpse and the zero division. But then another soul king would probably spawn later and this all will happen again forever.
I've always considered the hogyoku to be the soul king's will, his mind so to speak. It took two to become whole, representing the two halves of the brain.
It yields to ichigo and powers up Aizen with the purpose of creating beings capable of killing Juha Bach. This theory makes the most sense to me.
Yeah, it definitely "powered up" aka guided him to his real self
@@gangstagummybear3432 I dont think so,I think the Hogyouku helped Ichigo to power up in the 10 days time when he wanted to rescue Rukia..
And Ichigo is basically a walking Hogyouku who can potentially become nearly as strong as PSK..
@@Based4045 Yes, potential, that is what the Hogyokou guides you to, if you dont have any potential, the Hogyokou wont do anything for you.
Thank you for these videos. Your channel got me back into the manga/anime. Tbh I was one of the ppl that would call out bleach when it was at its final moments of the last arc.
It was the bad media that made me feel like that.
It wasn't until I came across your channel and the recent bleach hell chapter plus the return of the show that I learned to appreciate bleach. I'm so glad I rediscovered bleach. And I appreciate any bleach content I can find.
What if the Hogyoku, over time, actually gave Aizen his enormous power out of his shear will to overcome the Soul King? What I mean is, was Aizen super weak as a shinigami and gained power over time and then when powerful enough became captain, all before the subjugation of the Hogyoku.
Ahh thank you for this video, it’s the only thing left in Bleach that I could never fully wrap my head around.
I always believed that Aizens defeat was because of Kyoka Suigetsu.
Maybe the loneliness that Ichigo felt was not that of Aizens but of his Zanpakuto. Maybe Kyoka Suigetsu was discontent with what Aizen was becoming and after being defeated by Mugetsu the Hogyoku granted Kyoka Suigetsus desire.
We know that Zanpakuto have their own hearts.
We see it in the fight with Ichigo vs Kenpachi
Oldman Zangetsu comments to Ichigo "Can you hear the cries of his sword"
And also in Tensa Zangetsu vs Ichigo when Tensa tell Ichigo "The things you want to protect are not the things I want to protect"
Maybe Kyoka wanted to protect Aizen. Because Aizen was becoming not Aizen. Aizen said he would never become a hollow or something along those lines yet he now has a hole on his chest. And now how Aizen was behaving and everything was just not Aizen.
I believe the Hogyoku granted Kyoka Suigetsus desire.
His hollow side i believe had something to do with that, he was completely apathetic but it seems deep down he felt lonely in his pursuit of power, it would be crazy if he just wanted a friend as strong as him someone like ichigo.
Thank you MrTommo2304 for making this video. I kept asking you in comments everytime to make a video about it 😄
This is actually one of the more potent displays of disappointment I have from the series. I grew up with this show from the time it first aired on Adult swim Saturdays. Now that Bleach is finished, it has a piece of my heart and I truly wish kubo had fully explained things completely the way he envisioned them.
I've finished the Bleach manga all the way through, but I'll admit I was one of people who wrote it off towards the end. But these videos have made me appreciate the series more. Mainly due to the fact that you can genuinely feel this guy's passion for the series but he isn't afraid to point out its flaws when needed.
Good work!
So did Isshin see Kyoka Suigetsus shikai? I always assumed no bc of how that fight went
Omg, Mr. Tommo! There are so many things I assumed I knew well that this video evinced, presumption after presumption, I knew nothing about. I had no idea the Hogyoku's actual ability was manifesting inner desires, and even more shocking, that Rukia lost all of her abilities instead of some of them because Hogyoku was actually responding to this desire. Very interesting. Damnit, Kubo! Just when I thought I got the relative gist of things, it turns out you already pulled a fast one on me.
In my opinion I think the hogyoku was the actual seeds of the soul king. As you stated it seems as if the hogyoku was some sort of natural conclusion that possibly could have been found before. This could explain why Aizen began to take on the appearance of the soul king.This could also be and explanation has to how Ichibe was gonna turn Ichigo into the new soul king, by implanting a squad zero made hogyoku.However if not checked by the user the will of the hogyoku would take on this homoculus in the flask situation where desire overtake logical steps and natural methodology for a quick result. This oversight could explains why Aizen loses.this would also explain why it further forced Aizen to evolve and increase Aizen power even in captivate because it meet a stronger being in Ichigo and countiues searching for power in a infinite loop.But this is a theory a manga theory!‼️
I myself belive that Hogyoku never abandoned Aizen otherwise why would he still be immortal in TYBW, why would he be fused with his Zanapkuto like he said he was (he was able to grow kyoka out of his hand and put people in hypnosis when they just looked at him this isn't just "makeing up with your zanpakuto") and getting stronger while sealed in muken, this along with it being stated in 13 blades iirc that they can't seperate Hogyoku from Aizen and Ichigos own hypothesis about what happened to Aizen, even Aizens talk with Azashiro where it was confirmed that Aizens heart was disturbed during his fight with Ichigo all of this is too much for me to belive that Hogyoku abandoned Aizen.
2 things I want to point out:
1) It kind of makes sense that Aizen actually had 2 Hogyokus all along the story, it explains why Aizen kept regenerating after someone stealed the Hogyoku from him (I mean we could accept the implication "Gin was not considered the true master so even if he stealed the Hogyoku it just kept recreating his only possessor" but idk I feel like if that was the case Aizen would have regenerated right from the Hogyoku in Gin's hand, rather than far from them, I think he had already fused with one and that's the one that he used to regenerate and then took the other back from Gin although this creates even MORE plot holes like why Aizen said to have fed his Hogyoku with Urahara's if instead he used it to fuse it with himself exactly like with his own XD Maybe another lie from Aizen side? But there was really no reason to lie nobody was listening at that point except Gin who was just about to die so.... yeah XD) and it also explains how did he Hollowificated the Vizards without having an Hogyoku on its own, they have never explicitly said that's the reason but it's really the only realistically possible conclusion we can reach with the elements we have now
2) The Hogyoku never abandoned Aizen, Ichigo and Urahara's speech is meant to make the reader understand this, Aizen wanted to feel defeat and that's why he didn't evolve further and rather he has just lost. Yes, he wanted to "be alone no more" but since he was too full of himself to accept this thing directly, he just subconsciously ordered the Hogyoku to remove his powers so that will end up making him less alone (and of course it failed in that sense but still realized what Aizen was unconsciously aiming for). More points to support this theory are the fact that in TYBW arc is stronger than ever before and I would never ever accept that's the case without the Hogyoku, how can he surpass not 1, not 2, not even 3 but 4 Hogyoku power ups without the Hogyoku himself just by sitting in a chair for 3 years like cmon bruh it would push Bleach sense down into oblivion, he has now a better control over the Hogyoku and that's why he can choose to use or not his sword, he can choose to appear in his normal body state even tho his reiatsu is even higher than the monstrous Hollow-like Aizen and he probably accepted his fate as he changed his mind during the Muken even tho he could easily break free from the prison but he just does not want to, maybe we will see something else about this specifically in the Hell arc? Who knows, but as far as we know currently I think it's much more believable that he is still fused with the Hogyoku rather than being separated from him and, in fact, probably even in a deeper state of (you can't even see the break down sphere in his body at this point, Hogyoku and Aizen just became one thing exactly like Ichigo and Getsuga did in Mugetsu but in this case is an eternal binding, the real final stadium that makes them a brand new, unique being). For all these reasons I'm totally convinced the Hogyoku is still within Aizen body and it wouldn't even barely make any sense if that's not the case. Pretty sure they even say it in CFYOW? Not 100% though
And yeah that's pretty much it sorry for the wall of text but I just have wondered about the odd and interesting relationship between the Hogyoku and its one true master for so long and really wanted to spit it all out XD
I confess, I wrote a Bleach fanfic where the Hogyoku was just a vessel for some Lovecraftian intelligence from outside the Bleach universe. I guess I wasn't the only one to get that impression.
The video that I had been waiting for. Thanks!
This remains my all time favourite feature of Bleach. Such an intelligent way of writing rather than just another gimmick/trope/macguffin
Watching this video made me realize that hogyoku's ability is very similar to Yhwach's ability to grant powers and even people's wills since when he was a baby he could heal people who touched him, perhaps the original creation of hogyoku in Urahara's mind was to create something that could rival the power of Yhwach as there may be some signs that the concept of hogyoku was something already existing in the bleach universe, so urahara created something similar to the power of yhwach. Maybe a crazy idea in my head but it might make sense.
I wonder if there was an original hogyoku that the soul king used to separate the world. I could see it being made in the beginning when souls and humans were being killed by hollows, they fused together and became the hogyoku. Their wish was to be free of the hollows and as such gave the soul king his power to do so. Being called the “breakdown sphere” it isn’t too far fetched that it could break down the world into separate parts if wished by someone as powerful as the soul king. It’d be cool if the hell chapters become serialized and expand on what the original world was like and how it went down. Though the mystery is a juicy aspect of that!
The soul king was the original hogyoku.
Hogyoku is Soul King's balls.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
First, the retcon of Aizen 'creating his own' hougyoku way later in the arc right around the time of his defeat is still, to me, a massive oversight by TK. All story, Aizen acknowledged Urahara as its creator. So going by evidence of the whole story, Urahara is STILL the true creator. It makes perfect sense because Urahara as a scientist far exceeds everyone else and has always had glimpses behind the curtain. Everything he creates is either thru secret research he does or thru exposure to the royal realm (hot springs in his training grounds anyone?).
Second, it's frustrating that no one ever states in the story HOW this device is made. It's never stated whether souls are combined to create it, or any specific materials, how long. Urahara never explains it and neither does Aizen. Aizen merely states he feeds souls to the one in his possession. So the hougyoku is still a mystery. And not being able to destroy it, would love to know more about how Urahara attempted to do it. Or had Aizen ever attempted it himself? So much story still left just around this topic.
One thing hogyoku has infinite evolution ahich transcends enemy
YES needed this one Tommo! Thank you 🙏
Nice video. Also you forgot to mention how hogiyoku made Aizen immortal.
When gin tried to kill Aizen, Aizen's desire to live was so great that it manifested that desire by making him immortal... This is symbolised by that butterfly like form because butterfly represents immortality.
man brother i love your content no one els use commentary like you (besides NHC hamer which i would love to see collaboration between you two).
I think that was fairly good conjecture. Like you said it’s really hard to say what exactly it is with how it’s used and convoluted within the story, but I think the comparison to the miracle is pretty good. It does just seem like an artificial man made version of that, possibly even surpassing that power in a way, since it can seemingly effect anything and not just the person using it
I think if aizen had been fused with it for longer and actually truly understood it’s will he would have been unbeatable and had no need to keep transforming. Clearly he’s still one of the most powerful beings maybe even more powerful now somehow…It just came down to where he was in the best position to act with byakuya, kenpachi, retsu, and Mayuri trapped in hueco mundo….he just didn’t really think anyone would be problem and they wouldnt have if it wasn’t for him destroying the dangai cleaner
I personally think that Hog never abandoned Aizen in that final conversation with Ichigo and Urahara.
The reason for that is because Aizen doesn't need his Zanpakuto in TYBW and use his Shikai while he's bound to his chair, while his Reiatsu is being restrained to the nth level. To be able to affect Yhwach himself without showing him his Zanpakuto (the method to actually put people under its affect) is evidence that Aizen fused with his Zanpakuto and Hogyoku, so he's his Zanpakuto himself.
16:35 I disagree I believe she lost all her power because of ichigo being a quincy and absorbing her power?
It struck me when you was speak on how the hogyoku was in the driver's seat, it made me remember a conversation Ichigo had with white where white spoke on the king and horse. These 2 interaction seem to have more meaning like Kubo was foreshadowing the later events with aizen and when aizen and kisuke are talking before he was sealed. Great video my guy
The Hogyoku is a perfect little narrative device that, by design, can be whatever the fuck Kubo wants it to be at any moment
Aizen has soo much depth he deserves own series
Could Ichbei destroy it by using his ink to make it lose it’s power?
No Ichibei can not, other wise aizen would not be alive in the manga and imprisoned, he also would not have tried to invade and try to become god.
Should work that way yes, it has a name and so it’s name and power can be changed, but it is hidden in aizen so he’d have to cleave aizen open to expose it first
@@ksmikari1045 Ichigo successfully stopped Aizen and the hogyoku was sealed by Urahara so there was no need for the zero division to destroy it. The central 46 imprisoned Aizen because they want to make him suffer.
@@GODOFAWSOMENESS1 The hogyoku was not sealed it was aizen who was sealed and that because he wanted to be sealed so the hogyoku allowed it, the hogyoku is said to be indestructible and it host soul king fragment (nail) so there no way for ichibei to stop it other wise aizen would be dead. If you can stop the hogyoku you can stop aizen, guess they can't do that since both are still around. Aizen was so confident he would be able to reach the heavens with the hogyoku which he would need to beat ichibei so if the hogyoku was so weak to be stopped by ichibei he would have done it already in the manga.
@@CE77777 CFYOW confirmed that Ichibeis power doesn't work on soul king pieces and things that absorbed Soul King pieces can resist/negate his powers like Ikomikidomoe did with when he broke Ichibeis bankai curse by absorbing Soul Kings fragments and Hogyoku has at least one Soul King pieces absorbed (the nail) so the ink would just not work.
Omg 😳 you really surpassed your storytelling abilities with this video 🥺 got me emotioned ☺️☺️ ty for your work!
It's one of the soul kings balls
This got me 😂
After watching your video, it made me think. (It's a kind of long comment , so bare with).
The Hogyoku is a soul king (an artificial one), and the soul king is a form of Hogyoku.
Both are extremely powerful, but no real explanation is given to what's the limit of their power.
The 0 division is not in the soul palace to necesseraily defend the soul king, but to be around, and impose the will and desire of the shinigami.
It's mentioned in one of the chapters, that the soul king is a sort of linch pin between worlds.
I think, it might be, but only because the shinigami want it to be.
What shinigami in general want (which is explained at one point), and the reason why the Quincy in their eye are evil or unnatural is balance.
Shinigami want balance between the worlds, an equal flow of humans, souls and hollow, in the meantime Quincy destroy souls thus unnatural and evil in their eye.
In the first war between the shinigami and the quincy, yes, the shinigami won, but in a twisted way, the soul king gave the power to Yhwach to create his own realm, and exist without disturbing the natural order (which is what the shinigami want).
And this is what the shinigami want around him, balance. I did like what you said that the hogyoku is like a menos, that's possibly how the soul king also works, as his body parts that are removed have their own will.
He can also be just an amalgamation of souls, and he is subdued by the shinigami, in the meantime, his body parts are not subdued, and the stronger souls in them can take over the rest, just like an adhuchas.
The 0 division is more like exile for the ones who help keep the order by pushing the shinigami further, but if they would be active, they themselves could be a danger to the status quo.
Sorry if this didn't make any sense :D
I feel like it's a sort of Bleach's version of the wish granting genie, but more twisted. It helps grant your deepest desires, but not in the way you wanted, maybe closer to whatever Hogyoku's version of the fullfillment of your deepest desire is.
Whatever the Hogyoku is and it's true highest potential is, it can challege the position and power of the Soul King itself and even Yhwach.
It was able to survive Mugetsu Ichigo's destructive attack without harm and Aizen believe it could allow him to gain the power to defeat the powers who protect the Soul King.
It is like a nigh all wishing SCP-682 artifact that gets stronger over time according to the extent of wish and user to who it is granting to.
I thought that the hogyoku was made. by combining countless shinigami, hollow, human and quincy souls. If that's the case. Then ichigo is almost a living talking hogyoku.
really thorough video.
Ichigo, I believe, was the hogyoku's master & he didn't even know it. This idea is why it depowered Aizen during the last battle. The hogyoku is an entity that resonates w/ desire/will.
Aizen is already pretty op, he has never really had to truly fight b/c his innate abilities are well above those around him. Therefore, his willpower is low. Ichigo on the other hand, trying to protect his friends & Soul Society, willpower is almost limit-breaking. Yes, the hogyoku helps Aizen b/c he actually possesses it, but Aizen has never been the hogyoku's master.
Bro Hogyoku recognize Aizen as its master. That's why it still with Aizen and keep boosting his power and Reiatsu eventhough he just sit on the chair doing nothing. When he saw Mugetsu and don't feel any SP from it Aizen starting to panic and his heart or his deep desire was waver as that point. Ichigo never become Hogyoku's master otherwise it would leave Aizen and go to Ichigon since now it have a will on its own just like when Gin stole Hogyoku from Aizen.
@@aizeniversary756 correct, this point was covered when I stated "b/c Aizen possessed the hogyoku, it continued to imbue him w/ powers". I do believe that. Still, he was not its master. The hogyoku may not even have one, but if it did, being an entity that responds to willpower, it would align w/ Ichigo. It probably secretly aided Ichigo & his friends.
The true mastermind never reveals everything all at once. Kisuke has that aspect mastered. Only ever revealing what he has to in any one moment.
Aizen seems rehabilitated.
It was so shocking when Aizen killed those innocent people. Never mind the fact that Mayuri was going around using suicide bombers and was about to murder Ikkaku. Aizen is a saint compared to that guy.
Idk why so many ppl hated on it, it's practically if not exactly the philosophers stone. The only difference is it can reach out, like with Chad and orihime.
I do wish they covered it more.
Logical and reasonable Bleach fans : "An artificial reio's soul"
Aizen haters : "Plot armour"
Ichibei fanboys : "Something with a name, therefore overrated."
Facts
Your theory and Tekkings theory are so different and I love that. Bleach presents so many cool mysteries and leaves so many things to think about
I do wholeheartedly believe that the Hogyoku is something that occurs within the world of BLEACH to either make a being more Soul King like or to actually create the conditions for a new Soul King to be born.
Through what means I don't know.
24:49 Probably the first time in a while that I've felt that this form is creepy, since this might be an emerging visual representation of the hogyoku. Aizen's face is pushed to the sides, while that evil looking one emerges as he talks about how it can't tolerate him losing. It might have an evil nature because Aizen was the one to "raise" it, but perhaps it's just plain malevolent. As for the end of the Ichigo fight, the hogyoku might have taken his form away while keeping him immortal and powerful enough to be isolated from everyone else as a way to spite him for feeling like he wanted to be normal etc. After all, it had its own will, and I assume all it has ever known is to aid him with his plan, but then his loss stirs this feeling and he wants to be normal on some level? It's probably pissed at him lol
Just got a hogyoku tattoo yesterday too!! I like to think the hogyoku is a bit like the hive mind idea, the most base emotion and parts of the souls used to make it scream out and do whatever it takes to survive, and those that resonate with that survival instinct at certain times become enabled to evolve to survive
It feels like (merch) MrTommo is trailblazing the Bleach topics atm !
Keep it up !
Your explanation and storytelling is so amazing, I really mean it. I wish you were one of my school teachers.. Lol
The Hogyoku is basically a miniature Soul King. It's not as strong as the actual Soul King but it get's the job done nonetheless. What both Urahara and Aizen tried to do was create a mini God they could control, no idea what that would take but probably some messed up stuff
U are a awesome UA-camr. It's like watching a TV show and saying " I can't wait to see what he's going to talk about next"
I've been waiting for this. Great video man
I feel like the 2-halves of the hogyoku mirror the left and right hand of the soul king, in a way...
Urahara's hogyoku was able to stop the progression of hollowification of the vizard, through the power of stillness of his hogyoku while Aizen's was able to "progress" or evolve by breaking down the barriers - but at the cost of the survival/sustainability of the host body.
Aizen's combined hogyoku hollows him to continue evolving, while also acquiring perpetual immortality from the side of stillness.
It's funny that Aizen thinks the Soul King to be such an abomination, yet it seems his whole wish was to become something just like it - truly transcendent.
Also, one of his last forms has the two eyes on his wings...
The Hōgyoku never abandoned Aizen at all, he still has it.
Younger Kisuke: I was just bored one day and thought, "what if I tried to make an actual, physical plot mcguffin? What would it do? And bam. I made one. Took a while because it was just a project for poop breaks."
Aizen: Same.
Younger Kisuke: Eh? (gets betrayed).
Yes! I've been waiting for a video explaining this item lol
So I just found this channel not too long ago, and I'm also studying Japanese. So this video peaked my interest as to what Japanese kanji were used to describe the hougyoku, and whether that would possibly bring some insight as to what exactly it does do. To see if Aizen was right about it simply giving the owner what they wanted, or if it was just a way of destroying the boundaries between hollow and soul reaper, possibly being something which simply destroys all boundaries, not just those between soul reapers and hollows.
So, I looked into it and found this, the Hougyoku in Japanese is a compound of two kanji 崩 (usually pronounced くず、or ホウ, kuzu or hou) and most of its meanings are fairly similar. To collapse, crumble, break down, destroy, demolish, etc. The pronunciation of ほう, Hou, being used in words like: 崩壊(Houkai) meaning collapse, crumbling, breaking down, etc, and 崩落(Houraku) meaning collapse, break, or crash.
The second kanji in this compound is 玉 (pronounced たま、-だま、or ギョク. Tama, -dama, or gyoku) and its meanings are mostly along the lines of round, or spherical objects. Most imprortant being its "Gyoku" pronunciation meaning precious stone, not its only meaning but seems to be the most likely interpretation given this context (unless of course you believe the hougyoku is an egg meant to go on sushi).
So after looking into the kanji used to describe the Hougyoku as an item within Bleach, I do actually believe Aizen was wrong in his assuption about what it does. I don't believe it gives people what they want and can reasonably achieve. I do think it simply destroyes the barriers that people have between them and the power they can achieve, hence why he evolved so many times and why Orihime and Chad recieved powers from being around it. Because they probably had some sort of barrier between them and what they could do, the Hougyoku simply broke down the barries.
I really enjoy watching your videos. I like the depth of discussion you go into with your analyses of the scenarios, battles, and even the psychology of the characters in the Bleach universe. I like anime, but I am not on the level of some diehard anime fans. That said, I happened to catch a couple episodes of Bleach when it was on Adult Swim back in the day. I really liked it, but never went out if my way to seek it out until I got a smartphone. But yeah, your content and discussions are awesome, my friend. Informative and enjoyable to watch.
There are better ones
Aizen was working on the hogyoku first and the Kisuke started working on his hogyoku after. The difference is Kisuke perfected it or completed his hogyoku before Aizen.
Also Aizen says that he was nearing Shinji and the visord's location, so it would make sense that over the course of 20 years he discovered their location. And with Shinji's fight with Grimmjow, Aizen could see Shinji's hollowfication mask. Also I do think Aizen was just admiring the Hogyoku when he stole it from Rukia. These aren't inconsistencies, these are just details that are hard to grab. And I love this about Kubo, that he gives you the hints, but you have to find the direction.
But didn’t aizen state the both hogyoku were incomplete and what about the gigai lie, why aizen lie about kisukes exile but then again why would he tell them why kisuke was truly exiled because if that were the case kisukes and the vizards charges would be lifted and aizen didn’t want that because he probably needed the vizards to train ichigo. I think I’m over thinking it.
As always, amazing analysis, these videos are the best in the bleach community
I think, there's a big question of just how much of what he says (in-universe) is true. We have no idea of how much of what he says is lies (to himself or others) or how much he just got wrong, whether from perspective or lack of knowledge.
I personally take Urhara's comment about himself not being able to control it as a possible hint that it can't be controlled:
For example whether because people always have a lot of different, even contradictory, desires (it was described as detecting the "desires", plural, of those around it not described as "the desire", singular, after all) and the hogyoku tries to grant them all thier desires
or becuase of the hogyoku requiring/costing to much to grant desires.
There was that part about it being limited to the abilities of those whose desires it was granting so maybe it had some kind of cost to using it to its full ability and that would mean a limit to what/how a desire is manifested, for example manipulating his own zanpakuto's illusions against himself to achieve him being played into a long plan to manifest what he really desires instead of just transforming his desire directly.
We aren't given any idea at all of how consciouse or intelligent the hogyoku is, it could be as intelligent as him, it could be limited in intelligence based on the one it is granting desires of, we aren't given any idea of it's personality either, it could even be like a Gillion in terms of its mind due to all those shinigami & etc. that Aizen used in making his.
or going off of that: if its own consciousness was able to manifest its own desires and/or choose how/what/which desires it manifests.
Or it could be that like a zanpakuto, he needed to go through a more in-depth bonding presses with the hogyoku to truly be its master and it was as a result trying to still grant everyone around its desires, including his and his enemies (Ichigo g etc.).
One more thing:
He was only depowered by the hogyoku after Ichigo himself lost his due to his final getsuga (which could be the theory of him seeking an equal, and after that equal didn't meet his desires he was brought to be that potential persons equal instead).
It could be that part of his depowering is similar to how ichigo somehow lost all his powers, but his quincy powers also disappeared despite not being a part of his shinigami/hollow powers, and even actively suppressing his shinigami/hollow powers.
If it had been part of his final getsuga, and thus be lost with his shinigami/hollow powers, he should've discovered his quincy half (ignoring plot hole type of possibilities of course).
Or lost those quincy abilities permanently due to them not getting supplemented by the shinigami only powers from the sword Rukia used (it did have only shinigami power used in it after all).
And so: Of course it's possible that instead of losing his powers ichigo just spent all his potential and exhausted his spirit energy until he was given a supplement for it in the Fullbringer arc (as s mentioned).
Which would explain him having seemingly no powers at the start of the story except seeing ghosts, in that he would have had to use Rukia's powers as a kind of equivalent to a fire starter kit to ingite his spiritual abilities.
(Also possible that his quincy half just suppressed itself to protect him etc., Like how it took nearly the whole series to find out about said quincy half).
If its that Ichigo lost all his powers due to overdraft of himself, maybe the hogyoku did the same to Aizen and needed to take back the power (but not enhanced spiritual pressure, seemingly) to manifest new desires.
For example: if instead of his zanpakuto being lost, if after experiencing Ichigo's fused state with zangetsu in the final getsuga, Aizen wanted to do the same to his own zanpakuto, then it disappearing only to show up again suddenly later in a different arc makes sense, after all Aizen only became depowered after trying to use bankai.
What with bankai being something like the completely unsealed state of a zanpakuto / true form of a zanpakuto.
I totally agree. Why do us the readers take what aizen was saying as gospel? This man lies who knows if what he was saying was even true. Maybe he THOUGHT the hogyoku acted a certain way in reality it was the exact opposite. How would he know? He doesnt even have a relationship with his own soul (kyoka suigetsu)how could he possibly understand something as complicated and complex as the hogyoku?
I think the reason why two minds created separatly the same thinf with the same name comes down to their version of "theoretical physics".
The Hogyko was part of theoretical spritual science long before they started with creating it for real. This way the name was already set but not how work to create such a thing.
And i think Aizen used the "part" of the Soul King he got from Matsumoto as his basis. This should include a combination of all races and fused shinigami souls into it so it will be compatible with his current existence. The Hogyoku then added hollow into after reach his limit as a shinigami and just doesn't wanted to realise that that gets hollowficated because he despises hollows as lower beings.
Watching your old videos gives me my fix during these core breaks.
Sick video bro, keep it up.
I’ve always thought of the Hogyoku as Bleach version of the Philosopher stones in Full Metal Alchemist