NOT BE, BUT BE

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CAST

CHAPTERS

MANGA ActionBLEACH

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  rickyPinna

  100/100
  Ulquiorra's idea of emptiness, while suppressing his ideas about happiness with thoughts of nihilism.

  This chapter speaks of two separate concepts : Void/emptiness and Nihilism.

  Nihilism-states that life is without objective meaning, significance, purpose or intrinsic value (including ethics and morality). It further states that concrete objects and physical constructs do not exist in the physical world. It may also be seen as a form of skepticism in which accepted knowledge is deemed untrue.

  Void-It is essentially the manifestation of 'nothingness' or 'emptiness'. In Buddhism, Void/Emptiness is represented by a 'central dot' or a 'focal point' as shown in

  This chapter opens with a view of the crescent moon of Hueco Mundo, as seen through an 'inverted/upside-down cross', from Ulquiorra's perspective

  Ulquiorra was a Vasto Lorde who had a white form, while the Hollows (other Vasto Lordes, perhaps??) around him were black and the only things that Ulquiorra could perceive through his eyes were their black shapes and their teeth, eating each other.

  The only thing that was functional in Ulquiorra's case, were just his eyes. His eyes look strangely forlorn as he looked at the black hollows all around him. He referred to them as 'comrades', perhaps he sought for a companion among them. Noticing how different he was from the others, he left them. Then he started wandering around the empty desert, all alone.

  It was then that he started contemplating that what he felt was 'void' or 'emptiness'. Immediately, afterwards he says 'The things reflected in my eyes have no meaning. The things that could not be reflected in my eyes do not exist'. This is, essentially a nihilistic argument. Ulquiorra repeats this again, as if trying to convince himself that he was nihilistic, when, in reality, what he truly felt, was nothingness.

  For him, nothingness=happiness. His idea of happiness was also found in his nihilistic views. Although, emptiness and nihilism are similar, there are several differences between them. That is why, he repeatedly speaks of that particular line, as if trying to cloak his emptiness with nihilism.

  Ulquiorra came across one of those barren quartz-like trees in the desert and was fascinated by how it stood on the desert, all alone and white, just like him, coming into contact with no one. To Ulquiorra, that tree was the closest he felt to kinship, so he embraced the 'void' that the tree represented. He found peace and tranquility by being tangled by its roots and sinking his body into it.

  This chapter was more like a poem than a story, philosophically portraying Ulquiorra's idea of emptiness, while suppressing his ideas about happiness with thoughts of nihilism.

  Also, it was rather symbolic that Ulquiorra, who used to be a 'white' Hollow, fought Ichigo, who had within him, a 'black' Hollow.

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