Shiba Isshin?

Every time I see Isshin, I can't help but notice how much he seems like a Shiba. He's got black hair, large amounts of reiatsu, and a habit of injuring his loved ones for no apparent reason--his battles with Ichigo look a lot like Kuukaku's battles with Ganju. And to top it all off, two of his three children also exhibit Shiba traits: Ichigo looks and acts just like Kaien-dono, and Karin looks and acts just like Kuukaku. (I guess Yuzu takes after their mother...) We know that Isshin used to be a captain before he left to hide in the real world, and that the Shiba clan used to be one of the great noble houses but "fell." Coincidence? I wonder...

He doesn't have the Shiba eyelashes, though.

Edit, Jan. 01, 2010:

A couple more Isshin-Shiba connections.

1. The Shiba are all named after two things: birds, and the element they use in battle. Kaien means "ocean swallow," Kuukaku is "sky crane," and Ganju is "stone/cliff eagle." Isshin's name, "one heart," doesn't follow this pattern. However, it's likely that when he left for the real world, he changed his name. In this case, the name "one heart" goes perfectly with Kaien-dono's view on life.

2. Urahara was banished 100 years ago, but Isshin only lost his powers 20 years ago. Why, then, do they know each other? It's assumed that Isshin is in one of Urahara's special gigai to keep Soul Society from noticing him, so he probably contacted Urahara as soon as he fled to the real world. My guess is that Kuukaku, who was very familiar with Yoruichi and Urahara before they left, might have helped Isshin contact Urahara.

Kurosaki = kudamono!?

Soooo... Practically everyone who has ever heard of Bleach is aware that Ichigo's name means "strawberry" in Japanese, although the kanji used to spell it mean "one" and "protect." And I've known for quite a while now that Yuzu ("playing child" or "traveller") is an Asian citrus fruit, but I had never really thought about it. Not until one day, a couple of weeks ago.

On the day in question, I was flipping through the latest issue of Anime Insider (which is one of the best magazines I have ever read) when something caught my eye. It was a description of a popular drink in Japan... made of the Chinese citrus fruit "karin."

Question:

WHY DID ISSHIN NAME HIS CHILDREN AFTER FRUIT!!!???

Did Masaki go along with this, or was it all Isshin's idea? For that matter, why did they name their son Ichigo in the first place? Everyone is going to automatically assume that he's female! And what about Renji--his name is only one kana off from the Japanese word for orange. And Hinamori Momo? I mean, her sword is named Flying Plum for crying out loud! Does Kubo-sensei have a strange obsession with fruit or something? If Isshin and Masaki had other kids, what would their names have been? Suika? Ringo? Banana?

I personally think it's good they stopped there...

Hajimaru

Soooo... after much prompting from my annoying sister Renji, I have finally decided to create my own blog. Yay. But this shall not be just any blog! No, this blog shall be for one purpose, and one purpose only: to explore my psychotic obsession with Bleach.

In this blog, I will seek answers to some of my biggest questions about Bleach. Is Ulquiorra just blindly following Aizen, or does he have his own agenda? Where exactly did Isshin come from, and how did he meet Masaki? And why exactly is the entire 11th squad afraid of Unohana?

There WILL be spoilers. You have been warned.