A treatise on Hollows and the attitude of Seireitei
The pictures and poem from Volume 43--the Kingdom of Hollows really wrenched my heart, and got me to thinking about things in this series. (You can see the pictures here.)
I feel so much for Starrk and Lillinette, and even Barrigan. And as I have many times before, I question Seireitei's actual motive and method. I know they're not as righteous as they say they are...but how blind are they, truly? How much do they really know about the other side, besides that these are beings they have been indoctrinated to despise and kill?
I think back to Zommari's words to Byakuya: "Shinigami slay us as if it were their birthright. They pass judgement on us as if led by providence. Under what grounds are you permitted to persecute us Hollows? Is it because we eat humans? Yes we eat humans but who gave you the right to protect them? You declare that we are evil and therefore kill us. You believe you offer justice but this nothing more than hubris."
Are not hollows like animals? I see it almost as like a wild cat with a bird or mouse, or a lion with a gazelle. It knows it needs food, and it knows what prey is. And so, it chases the prey. There's no premeditation or ill feeling, it's just instinct and the food chain and the way of life.
The souls still left on the earthly plain are almost like the sticks in a game of Pick-Up-Sticks, played by two people--Seireitei and Hueco Mundo. Each side is trying to get as many sticks as they can for their side. Though one side will ultimately come out with more sticks, it's never the same side, and there's always a balance.
But, it's the attitudes I don't get. The Shinigami always act like and seem to believe that the Hollow are this digusting, evil force that lies in wait at night, thinking only one thought: "I'm going to make souls suffer." And that they are the righteous force that comes from the heavens to cleanse these demons from the world.
And who is to say the soul would suffer more as part of a hollow, or as a hollow itself? What we've seen of Rukongai, especially through the eyes of people like Kuchiki Rukia, Abarai Renji, and Zaraki Kenpachi, Rukongai is a pit of suffering in itself. It's no afterlife paradise as some shinigami would wish the souls they are konso-ing to believe. This is why I always found it tongue-in-cheek when Rukia would tell a soul that Soul Society wasn't a scary place. She should know better than anyone that it definitely is, especially if you are in the lower rungs of Rukongai. It may not be the type of fright you'd think of being chased by a hollow, but in many other ways, I feel it's equally as scary.
But, I digress.
The hollows that come after human souls are again, of the intelligence of animals, with a few exceptions: Numb Chandelier, Grand Fisher, Acidwire, Shrieker and Metastacia. These hollows showed the cognizance to be able to plan and execute attacks against people living or dead, and seemed to derive pleasure from the fear and pain of the souls they attacked. They also seemed to be completely aware of the affect their presence and actions had on the souls they encountered, and were able to form complex thoughts far beyond the instinctual urge of 'hunger' and 'eat'.
Most of your hollows eating human souls are like Fishbone-D, who cannot form speech, and thoughts beyond the most basic survival instincts. They are not capable of the complex thought needed to possess a vendetta, as it seems like Seiretei thinks they do.
While I don't question the necessity of why Seireitei purifies them, I question why they hold such an ugly grudge and loathesome attitude, instead of just seeing it as their part in the balance. Why hate something that can't even understand on a conscious level the repercussions of what it's doing?
Kurosaki Isshin said he never hated hollows (and even never hated Grand Fisher, who was intelligent enough to know somewhat what he was doing when he killed Masaki), he was more angry at himself for not being able to save his wife. Hollows were instinctual.
And beyond the hollows that eat human souls--there are the stronger; the Menos. But, before Aizen came, how rare was it for a hollow of Menos class to come out of Hueco Mundo? According to canon, it was apparently quite an uncommon occurrence. These hollows did not subsist off of human souls, but rather the flesh of other hollows, and therefore did not have a necessity to come out to the living world. And they, because they could possess complex thought at least to a point (for example, Grimmjow and his group as Adujchas) they were more interested in keeping themselves at the level they had attained than bothering to go out and face shinigami or bother human souls. They had more pressing things to worry about--like losing themselves, reverting to a lower state, or being eaten by someone stronger. They had no mind for Seireitei.
I think what got to me the most was when the Captains came to Hueco Mundo. This was the Hollow's land, and they acted as though the hollow and arrancar were the outcasts and filth. A lot of this was due to Aizen, but the attitudes they had still rang true even beyond what Aizen had done. The attitude of arrogance and self-righteousness, and the condescending air they held toward the arrancar was just striking to me. You tell a man he's filth in his own house, and act like you own the land? There is something not right about this.
Also, the vizard. The disdain and disgust they hold for the hollows, and yet, they use their powers. Where in this, is there not hypocrisy? A good example are Rose and Love's attitudes toward Starrk. My question would be, if you feel this is a lower, evil creature--why use it's abilities? Does it make you any better?
The arrancar, with some exceptions, always seemed that they respected the shinigami in battle as well. You see this with arrancar asking their opponents their name, trying to engage them to get excited for the battle, or wanting them to go all out so the battle would be true and no-one would hold back. The arrancar would also sometimes give words of adulation and respect, after the shinigami got off a good hit, or even killed them.
But, again with some exceptions, the shinigami never seemed to reciprocate this. They seemed to find it foolish and find it beneath them to do anything of this nature with their opponent, and treated them as if they were a lower being and a nuisance. It's funny to me that the 'evil' people seem to have more respect for their opponents than the 'good guys' do. Isn't this a little backwards?
In the end, I really wonder where the line is for right and wrong?
It's these things that keep me attached to this series, and as much as I question his work, I know Kubo's damn good at what he does, if he can invoke this much emotion and deliberation over a fictional world.
/rant