The Zanpakuto is an essential element of Bleach lore and is the chief weapon of all Shinigamis, but also several other groups. The Zanpakuto is a blade and a special tyran and has a very important role in the evolution of a Shinigami. While we normally know them by their name and specific abilities, the Zanpakuto have a whole history and ritual that is necessary for Shinigamis to transform their Zanpakuto into what they’re later. The process grows into a special entity called an Asauchi. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about them.
The Asauchi are Zanpakuto spirits who live in Oetsu Nimeyas Hooden. Nimaiya’s he invented them and he assigns them temporarily to about 6 000 pupils of the Shinigami academy who live with them and eat with them, so they can transform them into their final forms. The Asauchi people are very powerful and they can even pick the Shinigami themselves.
The rest of the article will explain everything you need to know about the Asauchi. This is an essential component of shaping a Zanpakuto. Find out the general details that can help you understand what the Asauchi are, but also all the relevant plot elements that are necessary to understand how the whole process was handled in-universe. If you don’t want to talk, you’ll be at risk.
Who’s the Asauchi in Bleach?
Before we actually enter the Asuachi part, we must understand each one of these Zanpakutos has a soul called a “Zorpakuto Spirit”. They are what have been called ‘Stainy’ for. Knowing them, their names, and their personalities is important to re-use them. The Zanpakuto Spirits manifested in a canon, according to one animation filler arc, but this was not uncommon for a canon manga.
The spirit of each Zanpakuto is in its original form and there was then an asauchi. They can be described as the wild rough draft of a Zanpakuto spirit, smelts by way of expression and in behavior. Of the 76,000 members of the Gotei, those who don’t know the name of their Zanpakuto have had a Xiasha in the form of a blade that has not been shaped into a specific form, it’s a blank blade, so to say.
When a Shinigami has transformed their Zanpakuto into their final form, he can unconsciously transfer his soul to the Asauchi, thereby transforming the Asauchi into a specific Zanpakuto Spirit and then transform the blade itself into a unique weapon for the Shinigami in question. So each Shinigami creates their individual Zanpakuto subconsciously.
The Assumi spirits change in a way that translates to becoming more or less distinct from their bearers in some respect. Zanpakuto is part of the wearer’s soul and has an equal personality, but its self-esteem is also on the other hand as well. When Shinigami is in meditation and concentrating, he may contact his Zanpakuto Spirit in his inner world as long as he knows her name.
All the spirits of the swords Zangetsu, Zabimaru, Hyorinmaru, Mera and the shadow of Kazeshini have already been shown so far, to be seen in the canon, is also believed to be the spirit of Kenpachis Nozarashi, namely that Yachiru is actually Nozarashi, but that hasn’t yet been definitively proved.
However, in a filler arc the Zanpakuto Spirits of many more swords were shown. If you don’t see the rage, it is a heated debate among fans, since all ghosts have human nature, and even the already known ghosts of Zabimaru and Hyorinmaru have been changed quite a bit in the “Autographous Tales” arc. No exact reason for the change is known as the time of writing. No one knows how much Kubo contributed to the designs of these Spirits (on the other hand, Kyorakus and Zanpakuto, who later released from the anime arc, were in the canon as well as he did by the anime characters in the manga).
The tenor of the following Zanpakuto have also appeared, Sode no Shirayuki (Rukia Kuchiki), Tobiume (Momo Hinamori), Katen Kyokotsu (Shunsui Kyoraku), Sogyo no Kotowari (Jushiro Ukitake), Suzumebachi (Soi Fon), Ashisogi Jizo (Mayuri Kurotsuchi), Hozukimaru (Yum Sword beasts are also in the Filler arc, and Zanpakuto-evils will lost their masters.
Only after extensive training and study, a Shinigami can hear their Zanpakuto’s voice. Since then, Shinigami could use Shikai.
How are the Asauchi built?
In Japan, the word “Asauchi” means Shallow Hit, and this is a reference to the fact that the Asauchi aren’t defined and they’re actually shells of a potential Zanpakuto. In that particular aspect, they usually are considered to be drastically weakened than the future Zanpakuto and considered to be very weak wepons. But, that isn’t true, as Asauchi can be considered the ultimate Zanpakuto, the person who wants to be the most effective sabbatical, by virtue of his owenrs skills and his personality.
The Asauchi concept will be invented in future. Hopefully, Oetsu Nimaiya, one of the no-two members, has invented the Asauchi. Since Nimaiya is responsible for the forging of all of the Zanpakuto, he created the Asauchi as a training phase so that Shinigami could complete a fully obtained Zanpakuto. The Asauchi have a very difficult process that is called to make the various Shinigami-Soleines more accessible and more effective, and to create an Asumi, a spiritual entity. It is interesting to note that Aizen attempted this method for the Hollow White, before the birth of Ichigos.
Does everyone in Shinigami have an Asauchi?
The Zanpakuto were invented by Oetsu Nimaiya, a feat which earned him a place in the Royal Guard. They were created as weapons for Soul Reapers, while they gave them the names Shikai and the Bankai, and the title Zanpakuto, as well as the term Zanpakuto, the name of them by Ichibe Hyosube. The Zanpakuto, which we knew was the most common weapon of every Shinigami, is as a weapon as the Arrancar’s, and used other weapons with very similar blades to that of a Zanpakuto. From that point of view, every Shinigami should have a Zanpakuto as its main wepaon, irrespective of how skilled they are and how talented they use their swords.
Like you said earlier, you’re aware that every Shinigami entering the Shinigami academy receives a sexy identity known as Asauchi. The forged form of a generic, shapeless sword is the indisposable form of a baptised, a frenzied identity. As Shinigami’s evolutionary history continues to spread, the Asauchi can hardly be seen to be a Zanpakuto. This process is traditional and although it may seem simple, it’s actually quite difficult. Because it is clearly apparent that not all Shinigami can transform their Asauchi into a Zanpakuto, thus making it impossible for them to make a Zanpakuto. It is common, but not present (we can’t think Icigos didn’t fail to defeat him and find a suitable Asauchi as an example of this one, for the first time he went training with Nimaiya due to the very different circumstances)
Since the Zanpakuto and the Shinigami are so connected, when the Shinigami dies, the Zanpakuto disappears with them. That is the general concept. If a Shinigami destroys a destroyed Zanpakuto, so long as it wasn’t destroyed while in Bankai, a non-released Zanpakuto and a Shikai can be repaired and reforged (or perhaps Niamiya can repair any Zanpakuto without an exact replica, but rather a completely new sword, that may not look like the original, depending upon the observance of Niamiyas Asauchi in his palace). This means that the relationship between a Zanpakuto and a Shinigami is quite close; therefore it is very difficult to control and to use another Shinigamis Zanpakuto as ones own (it isn’t impossible as in Kenpachis case as it’s to steal a Zanpakuto from a guy who killed, but that’s Kenpachi for you). Likewise, the Zanpakuto would reject it.
This is why the answer to this question is usually a “report-on”. “At the same time, all Shinigamis have an Asauchi. And the Asauchi later become a Zanpakuto. The Asia in that manner was actually the act of a non-Snasi of the Shinigami, and thus the Asiang was the norm in the trainig of a fully-fledged Shinigami. This is why the procedure is always important and well-established. As the natural way of not just obtaining, but also mastering Zanpakuto, it’s more often the point of the way that it’s the most basic of all the ghasanism. Since swords were possessed and possessed of self-control, the connection to the Shinigami must be important, why it’s impoprtant to understand the whole thing, and why we have put a lot of effort into explaining the whole aspect of the Asauchi and the Zanpakuto.
In the next section, I’ll discuss the exceptions to this rule, i.e. those three Shinigami that actally held the power of their Zanpakuto, although each of them at an earlier point in the plot.
Is there anything that you can have by a Zanpakuto without a Asssin?
That’s a very interesting question, and we have quite rare examples of Zanpakuto that don’t follow the usual Asauchi-to-Zanpakuto procedure. The first and best known example is, of course, Ichigo Kurosaki, in the beginning of the story, until Nimaiya loses the final form of Zangetsus. As soon as Jeigo obtained his powers from the Rukia, the original Zanpakuto was, in fact, not his own; it was a mix of his own spiritual powers and Rukias powers. This is the reason why his original Zangetsu didn’t have an Asauchi, nor did the later incarnation until Nimaiyas intervention. That is the reason why Iigo wasn’t able to defeat and find an Asauchi während the training with Nimaiya (along with Renji, who has no problem finding Zabimaru), as he knew exactly exactly how he had the powers. Once he found that out, he found an Asashi and retrieved a new Zanpakuto that had both sides of his personality.
Are Yachiru and Nozarashi the same in Bleach?
Another, lesser known example is the Shinken Hakkyoken, the Zanpakuto owned by Nanao Ise, now the co-Lieutenant of the 1st Division. Usually, the Ise clan members have the particular tradition in which their Zanpakuto is inherited from generation to generation and not acquired at regular intervals. Nanao Ise then left the Shinken Hakkyoken, which means that she could never be a single person to an asauchi who has a spiritual power to transform it into a Samenpoja. This, though, doesn’t mean that this Zanpakuto wasn’t Asauchi; it was, but the Ise clan used the first owners to convert Asauchi and never changed it, passing it back on to the next owner.
The third example, which we have for you is, of course, Kenpachi Zaraki, who is specific in such many ways, and why would it be an excuse? As far as I know, Kenpachi Zaraki has never entered the Shinigami Academy. But he managed to get his Asauchi into a Zanpakuto, but he did not find out the Zanpakuto name until a lot later in the story. Kenpachi Zaraki killed a guy somewhere in Rukon, and stole his Asuachi without knowing its name. In the meantime, in battle, Kenpachi could turn the Asauchi of another person into his own Zanpakuto, without having ever eneterd the Shinigami Academy, talking to them, or even training with him in any way. These are the only known examples where the usual procedure wasn’t used.