Summary
In the third episode ofBLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, titled, “The Dark Arm”, 13th Squad Captain Jūshirō Ukitake reveals exactly why he’s been so ill his entire life, and how his life-threatening lung condition was partly abated by the divine intervention of Mimihagi, a local deity worshiped in Sakahone, the 76th District of the Rukongai.
With Yhwach threatening the very structure of the realms by wanting to kill the Soul King, Ukitake sets into motion a ritual that will return the life he borrowed from Mimihagi, whose true identity is that of the Right Arm of the Soul King himself. Here’s the rundown on Ukitake’s backstory, and the selflessness of his sacrifice.
A Young Life Claimed By Illness
Ukitake Nearly Died As a Toddler
“Lord Mimihagi, Lord Mimihagi. Kill the illness eating away our child, and devour his organs.
Lord Mimihagi, Lord Mimihagi. The divine hand from the heavens… please bless us with your power…”
Despite being part of a lower class aristocratic house in the Soul Society, Ukitake lived in poverty with his parents, and his quality of life had been terribly hampered by the unnamed condition that wore away at his lungs. By the time he was three years old, a young Ukitake was already on death’s door, and his parents at their wit’s end. No doctors could cure what ailed their son, so in desperation, they brought him before a statue of Mimihagi, and prayed to the deity that it could take away his lungs, which enabled him to grow up a relatively healthy boy and become a Shinigami. However, Mimihagi’s intervention didn’t mean he was cured, as he still coughed up blood from time to time, a sign of the time he borrowed from the deity. During the possession, a young Ukitake sees visions of a mysterious humanoid being with a head the shape of a fist draped with a tunic that is reminiscent of spiritual garb worn by Shinto and Buddhist priests,otherwise known as ajōe. A dark shadow emanates from the entity, entering Ukitake’s body and takes it over from within, turning him into a shadowy mirror of itself.
Despite the fact that Mimihagi saved his life, there have been several times when Ukitake’s physical condition was called into question, and shortly after the death of Kaien Shiba, the Central 46 voiced their concern at Ukitake’s refusal to replace his lieutenant. Despite his unfortunate health situation, Ukitake has shown on occasion that he is an immensely talented Shinigami who could have been on par with his best friend, Shunsui Kyoraku. Mimihagi’s intervention in Ukitake’s illness is an expression of its authority over the concept of Stillness; or stagnation, meaning it has the ability to inhibit all change or development, like the progression of an illness in Ukitake’s case. It grants gifts to whoever gives it something other than an eye because it already has one, and it consumes the offered part by becoming one with it, hence Ukitake’s vision ofMimihagi in the primordial waters. In episode 3 ofBLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, Ukitake invokes the divine possession and offers up his body to become the new Right Arm of the Soul King, which would then stabilize the realms' lurch towards each other.
Did Ukitake Always Know His Fate?
He Set the Ritual Into Motion at the Beginning of the Arc
During the events of the third episode ofBLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood WarPart 3, we also see a brief, anime-only interaction between Ukitake and Unohana shortly after the death of Yamamoto, in which he tells her that he will see her again soon, which can be understood as a nod towards the fact that they both lose their lives during the final arc and are revealed to have been cast down to Hell during theNo Breaths From Hellone-shot due to the fact that souls with immense levels of reishi cannot be safely returned to the cycle of reincarnation and must therefore be sent to Hell via a special Soul Burial.
We barely see Ukitake during this arc, and when we do, he’s holed up in a mysterious-looking hut, which we now understand to be a statue of Mimihagi. Given the fact that Ukitake and Kyōraku have a conversation in their youth about Mimihagi, and the rumours that it was actually a severed arm of the Soul King. Ukitake was always aware of his condition, and because he was a host of Mimihagi, he also knew intuitively about its true nature. Based on his actions, it’s clear that he knew that he would one day have to give up the life given to him for the sake of Soul Society, and the truth behind his situation is one of the most gut-wrenching, yet inspiring developments of the final arc ofBLEACH.
