Bleach, a manga series by Tite Kubo, recently had gotten its own niche inside my head. A few weeks ago, I was just being bored trying to find a show or movie that would accompany my dinner. I resorted on a few previously completed titles such as Youtube's Miki Ramen Fighter (for its awesome violence entertainment) and Death Note (for some thrilling brain-twisting chess games). However, sometimes after I finished both series, I attempted to watch something new inspired from the Death God character (Shinigami) in Death Note series, an anime series, Bleach. In just a few episodes from the current episode 328, I was totally hooked to it, awed by the characters, philosophy and concepts.
Well, I have to say that there wasn’t anything THAT special in Bleach. It was still a typical anime with a sword-wielding protagonist involved in some special world with special power and special people. The protagonist will get stronger in no time, beating the enemies and more enemies and even more enemies. But, I have to say that besides the entertainment value that I got (some of the scenes were just hilarious), I was particularly intrigued by the philosophy behind it. Some were kind of typical and common sense, but when I really reflect them on myself, it really taught me something.
An example was the philosophy about power. Everybody knows having a power is good. In Civilization series, having a mass of army grants you in a better diplomatic standing. In RPG, having a huge strength makes you experience less game overs. In Bleach, being able to attain Bankai makes one in a better chance to win. However, a line in Bleach anime by Ginrei Kuchicki towards his adopted son, Kouga Kuchiki, who is a fine Shinigami fighting for peace and justice, strucked me – “Kouga, you are a fine warrior. You fought and defended the peace well and your power are growing fast. Having an immense power and confidence is good, but~ do you have the heart to wield it?”
In the end, Kouga was set up by third parties and sent into exiles, where he started to lose his sanity and start to turn against his ex-comrades. His instincts constantly encouraged him to seek more and more battles so that he would grow stronger as time passed by. His thirst for power was no longer unquenchable that he was controlled by the power itself. His power started to dominate him and calamity happened.
Reflecting this into our daily lives, I find a perfect, sensible lesson here. For me, I consider knowledge as an attribute to power. The more I seek the knowledge, the more I can feel the knowledge try to dominate me. From all those seeking, arrogance and disappointment towards others started to build-up as side products; because I take pride and satisfaction in what I am doing. Looking at others doing others that doesn’t benefit the society as a whole (such as criminals, lazy peoples and others) could put me in a deep frustration, questioning the Nature, “Why do we need them? Why don’t they think about the others? Why can’t we unite as a Human Race? Why can’t we come together and achieve greater heights together? I am working hard seeking knowledge for the better future of humanity and these guys just spending their lives spending resources on ‘unnecessary stuffs’ i.e. smoking, narcotics, excessive food etc”. Thus, the seed of arrogance and disappointment towards these low-life started to build-up and one day – it may consume me. But, of course, constantly supressing them have been one of my intrapersonal tasks nowadays. I suppose these are what those anime claim as “a strong heart to wield a strong power.”
In short, I find some valuable lesson in watching Bleach and I hope to see and learn more in the future.
peace
vixklen
P.S. My favourite character in Bleach is Urahara Kisuke (because he is cool and he is a SCIENTIST)
P.S.S. I think I just sounded like Kira in Death Note. “Do you think killing a criminal is doing justice to the world?”
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