Essential Insights
- The miraculous intervention of Mimihagi, the Right Arm of the Soul King, significantly improved Ukitake’s dire lung condition.
- Ukitake made the ultimate sacrifice of his borrowed life to restore stability to the Soul Society, a destiny he was meant to fulfill since the start of the story arc.
- Even with his severe illness, Ukitake’s exceptional skills as a Shinigami and understanding of Mimihagi’s true essence highlight his selflessness.
In the third episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, titled “The Dark Arm,”13th Squad Captain Jūshirō Ukitake discloses the reasons behind his chronic sickness and explains how his critical lung condition was mitigated through the divine assistance of Mimihagi, a deity revered in Sakahone, located in the 76th District of the Rukongai.
With Yhwach posing a grave threat to the entire realm by aiming to eliminate the Soul King, Ukitake initiates a ritual to return the life he borrowed from Mimihagi, who is revealed to be the Right Arm of the Soul King. This article uncovers Ukitake’s backstory and the profound nature of his sacrifice.
A Youth Largely Affected by Illness
Ukitake’s Childhood Crisis
“Lord Mimihagi, Lord Mimihagi. Heal our child, and consume the illness ravaging his body.
Lord Mimihagi, Lord Mimihagi. The celestial hand from above… grant us your divine strength…”
Hailing from a lower-tier noble family in the Soul Society, Ukitake experienced a life of hardship with his parents, struggling against a debilitating, unnamed disease that ravaged his lungs. By the young age of three, Ukitake was clinging to life, leaving his parents desperate for a cure. In a moment of hope, they took him to the statue of Mimihagi, praying fervently for the deity to alleviate his suffering. Although Mimihagi’s aid allowed Ukitake to grow up in relative health and later become a Shinigami, he was never truly free from his ailment, often coughing up blood—a reminder of the borrowed time he was granted. During this divine possession, Ukitake encountered visions of a enigmatic humanoid figure adorned in a robe resembling that of spiritual clerics, also known as a jōe. This shadowy entity enveloped Ukitake, transforming him into a dark reflection of itself.
Even after Mimihagi’s life-saving intervention, Ukitake’s health continued to be scrutinized. Following Kaien Shiba’s death, the Central 46 expressed concerns regarding Ukitake’s reluctance to appoint a new lieutenant. Nonetheless, it became evident that Ukitake possessed remarkable Shinigami abilities, potentially rivaling his close friend, Shunsui Kyōraku. Mimihagi’s role in Ukitake’s life underscores its dominion over the concept of Stillness, symbolizing the capacity to halt progression, such as halting Ukitake’s illness. The deity bestows gifts on those who offer it something other than an eye, as it already possesses one, assimilating the offering into itself—an experience Ukitake vividly recalls in his vision of Mimihagi within primordial waters. In the latest episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, Ukitake embraces this divine possession, offering himself to become the new Right Arm of the Soul King, thereby restoring balance to the unstable realms.
Did Ukitake Anticipate His Fate?
The Ritual’s Origins in the Arc’s Beginning
In the third episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, a brief, anime-exclusive exchange occurs between Ukitake and Unohana shortly after Yamamoto’s death, where he expresses a hopeful sentiment about seeing her again soon. This exchange can be interpreted as a foreshadowing of their eventual demise during the final arc, as both characters are later depicted as having been banished to Hell in the No Breaths From Hell one-shot due to the overwhelming levels of reishi they possessed, making safe reincarnation impossible and necessitating a unique Soul Burial.
Ukitake’s appearances during this arc are few and far between, often confined to a cryptic hut that we now recognize as a statue of Mimihagi. Conversations between Ukitake and Kyōraku in their youth reveal their knowledge of Mimihagi, and speculation surrounding it being a severed arm of the Soul King suggest Ukitake’s long-standing awareness of his condition. He intuitively understood Mimihagi’s true identity, and his actions indicate that he was prepared to eventually relinquish the life that had been gifted to him for the greater good of the Soul Society. This revelation about Ukitake’s fate is among the most poignant and motivating developments in the concluding arc of BLEACH.
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