Arisawa Tatsuki FC: Exist and Honour

[Saiyan5ninetail]

Arisawa Tatsuki FC

http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/200H/i/2010/157/3/b/Tatsuki_Poster_by_sweepeezee.jpg

Owner: Saiyan5nine-tails

This fanclub has been set up in dedication to Arisawa Tatsuki.

Seiyu/Voice Actor: Junko Noda (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)

Birthday: July 17

Height: 155 cm

Weight: 41 kg

Blood Type: A

Eye Colour: BLUE (in the manga; the anime changed her eye colour to Brown)

Character Song: Mou Aoi Tori Wa Tobanai

Occupation: High School Student, Dojo Instructor

MEMBERS:


Saiyan5ninetail (Owner)
Sariniste
tightropebanjo

[Sariniste]

joinage please!

[Saiyan5ninetail]

Welcome to the FC, Sariniste. What do you like about Tatsuki?

[Sariniste]

Thanks! I love her tomboy nature, her intelligence, and her protectiveness of her friends. I love that she is a karate champion! She's the sort of person I would love to have as a friend.

[Saiyan5ninetail]

Journal from DeviantArt:

Kubo gave us an interesting gateway to Ichigo's past. By that, I mean that he revealed Masaki to be a Quincy.

Because of that, I cannot get the feeling that Tatsuki is going to become important later on out of my body. Tatsuki is the only one among the Nakama who personally knew Masaki, and saw first-hand what her death had on Ichigo and his family. I feel certain that Tatsuki will somehow get involved in current events as a result, because I would hate it if she is not involved in any way now that Masaki has been brought back into the picture.

Tatsuki has been developing spiritual power since the beginning of the series. While she has not manifested any spiritual ability yet, Fullbring or otherwise, I do not think that Kubo would just have her built up for this long without eventually giving meaning to it. Her spiritual power has noticeably grown stronger as the series progressed. Her soul was being crushed just by being in Yammy's presence after surviving Gonzui, but she is able to maintain consciousness one month later when confronted by Aizen after his two evolutions, and even his Third Evolution.

Another thing about her encountering Aizen in Deicide is her reaction to Aizen: fear and despair, the same as Ichigo when he sensed Aizen's reiatsu when he evolved into his Chrysalis and Second Form. Yes, it seemed like Keigo and Kanonji could sense Aizen's power, and Aizen's explanation later one would explain the "why"...but I do not know. Aizen "lowering his level and allowing [Humans] to interfere" does make sense, but that does not explain how the amount of reiatsu he was releasing destroying the bodies of Humans and object that came within reach of his body. If he did lower his reiatsu so they could sense, they should not have been in danger of dying just by being near him.

Aizen's words about them "withstanding his spiritual power/maintaining your identity" might be more of a reference to the effect his spirit energy has one them, even if they cannot sense it. He said it himself: they can't sense his power, but they cannot withstand it. In the case of spiritually aware Humans, they can't sense his reiatsu because he is a dimension above what they can sense, but they still feel the weight of his reiatsu trying to extinguish them.

Pure speculation? Probably, but she is the one that Kubo had comment on not being able to sense Ichigo's reiatsu after he came out of the Dangai, the same as Aizen, who was now a true Transcendental Being at this point.

I remember Kubo talking about his "4 Levels of Secrets" in the post-script of "Spirits Are Forever With You", and he said that his 4th Level Secrets require you to read through the entire manga, make connections between certain events pertaining to a character or concept, and make a guess based on the conclusion you have reached. Perhaps that is the secret behind Tatsuki's character development, if it turns out to be true.

[Saiyan5ninetail]

TATSUKI A SHINIGAMI?

In the Artbook that Kubo published, All Colour but the Black, there was a drawing of a Shinigami Tatsuki complete with a Zanpakuto. At Kubo's JumpBang interview, he said this:

"Usually characters and their Zanpakuto are created together or characters are created due to Zanpakuto. I have never created a Zanpakuto and it's owner individually and combined them together. Once I see the finished result I see a sword that reflects the owner's personality and spirit".

With Kubo having said that, now take a look at this picture of Tatsuki he drew in the "All Colour But the Black" artbook:

http://images.wikia.com/bleach/en/images/9/96/Shinigami_Tatsuki.jpg


This picture of Tatsuki as a Shinigami was found alongside drawings of Ichigo (and Kon), where it sticks out like a sore thumb.

With what Kubo said about creating Zanpakuto and Shinigami together, it might mean Kubo did not just draw Tatsuki as a Shinigami and have her wielding a Zanpakuto just as a concept art, or just because. If he drew Tatsuki as a Shinigami, then that means that Zanpakuto is not just for show, but a true reflection of her personality and spirit. Which also means that Kubo might actually intend to make her into a Shinigami sometime in the future, or he already has, but has yet to officially revealed it.

[tightropebanjo]

Oh my. I wanted to make this post short and quick, but that did not happen...

Quick version: I think there's good reasons to believe that Tatsuki has transcendental reiatsu, and there may be a good reason as to why she hasn't been able to use this power.



Another thing about her encountering Aizen in Deicide is her reaction to Aizen: fear and despair, the same as Ichigo when he sensed Aizen's reiatsu when he evolved into his Chrysalis and Second Form. Yes, it seemed like Keigo and Kanonji could sense Aizen's power, and Aizen's explanation later one would explain the "why"...but I do not know. Aizen "lowering his level and allowing [Humans] to interfere" does make sense, but that does not explain how the amount of reiatsu he was releasing destroying the bodies of Humans and object that came within reach of his body. If he did lower his reiatsu so they could sense, they should not have been in danger of dying just by being near him.


I don't think that general "fear and despair" is the reason we should believe she may have some sort of transcendental reiatsu. Isshin didn't become convinced that Ichigo was on the same level as a transcendental Aizen because he was afraid, be became convinced because Ichigo was adamant about how beating Aizen was "impossible." Similarly, Tatsuki spends almost the entire Deicide arc telling people how useless it is to try and fight Aizen. Most notably, she tells Don Kanoji (Viz translation) "There's nothing you can do" (emphasis mine). Cnet128's translation is a bit more pronounced "There's really nothing at all that you can do here" (emphasis mine again). When we compare this to how she acted against Numb Chandelier, and also the fact that every single one of her friends tried attacking Aizen (hence, were not as aware of the danger as Tatsuki) is somewhat compelling to me.

In addition, the scene where Tatsuki says she can feel Aizen's power may be a bit iffy from a textual perspective, given what Aizen says later about reducing his, but there's some interesting subtext that I interpret as Tatsuki, in particular, is sensing things the others don't/can't.

Right after the title page of chapter 417:
the third panel shows Tatsuki and the rest reacting to Ichigo's sudden arrival
panel 4 then focuses on Tatsuki's eyes (my interpretation: Tatsuki in particular is surprised, that is because she can't feel Ichigo's power)
A couple pages later Tatsuki asks, "Is that Ichigo?." My interpretation here is that Tatsuki is surprised that she can't feel Ichigo's power and so can't be sure she's not just seeing things. However, it seems that Keigo does not think it's unusual and instead says, "I think so [...] why's his hair so long? Maybe that's it." Note that Keigo is focusing on Ichigo's physical looks. It doesn't seem that Keigo is concerned at all about not feeling Ichigo's power.
Another couple of pages later we again have a close-up of Tatsuki (and only Tatsuki) before she talks about how she can feel Aizen's power but not Ichigo's.

The strange thing about Tatsuki talking about this is that immediately after she gets done talking about how she can't feel Ichigo's power, Aizen starts talking about how he can't feel Ichigo's power! The only way that Tatsuki's observations aren't made redundant by Aizen's observations is if Kubo was trying to convey information about Tatsuki or her perspective. The only extra information that her observation was provided was that she can feel Aizen's power.
Ok, so actually it could just be that Kubo wanted to show that no one can feel Ichigo's power; it wasn't just Aizen having that problem. It's a valid explanation, but it doesn't convince me. If Kubo wanted to show that, why didn't he show that Ichigo's other friends couldn't sense his power either?

It seems, also, that she's the only one because she's the only one that communicated any concern about not feeling Ichigo's power. Kubo even went so far as to show the Keigo was not concerned about it, given that he identified Ichigo purely from Ichigo's physical appearance.


Of course the problem with this, as with all "Tatsuki has hidden awesomeness" theories is why hasn't she displayed any of her supposed awesomeness yet? I think I may finally have at least a taste of an explanation. There's still a lot of supposition, but there is at least some evidence for it.
It has to do with the fact that Isshin's and Ryuuken's goals were not to make their kids as powerful as possible. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. It seems now that it's possible that Ichigo could have trained as a Quincy (not to mention his sisters). It took machinations from Aizen before Ichigo got any real power. Ishida had to get training from his Grandfather because his father refused. Then, Opie said something that really bothered me, strongly implying that Ishida should be much more powerful than we know. Did Ryuuken seal Ishida's powers somehow?

It appears that Isshin and Ryuuken were actively trying to keep their children as powerless as possible, and perhaps not just their children but other people close to them. I'll be interested to see if the current arc gives any additional evidence for this.

Now, if we allow the Tatsuki is a Shiba theory (which it looks like I'll have to rewrite sometime :\ ), it would make sense for Isshin to want to protect her as well, seeing as how he's the clan head. It makes sense that he'd protect her the same way that he protects his children: by keeping them relatively powerless. It would also explain why Tatsuki lives close by. If we don't allow the Tatsuki is a Shiba theory, I don't have a clue why any of what I've said in this entire post could make any sense in the context of the rest of the story.

[Saiyan5ninetail]

I suppose that I should add tightropebanjo to the member list.

It is true that there is a lot of supposition in regards to the theory about Tatsuki's dormant powers, but the evidence is still present not only in Deicide, but throughout the first part of the manga if you decide to look closely at Tatsuki's character. Remember what Kubo said in SAFWY's post-script about Zaraki's power level? I feel it is the same for Tatsuki: foreshadowing for her potential has been spaced out throughout the manga so that people would not ordinarily see it.

[Saiyan5ninetail]

Tatsuki's Shikai by comfycushion87 @ Deviant Art:

http://th09.deviantart.net/fs23/PRE/f/2007/362/2/5/Tatsuki__s_Shikai_by_comfycushion87.jpg

Images of Tatsuki with the Zanpakuto Kubo drew for are are surprisingly hard to find, especially when you consider many fan-arts of Tatsuki as a Shinigami are with her wearing the same uniform Yoruichi wore in Soul Society - is there something with Tatsuki's focus on martial arts that causes people to do that? This image really shows how Kubo's drawing of Tatsuki as a Shinigami raised some eyebrows in the fandom when it first released, and it is evident that interest has died down.

For whatever reason Kubo drew that picture, the mention in an interview that he always draws a Shinigami and their Zanpakuto together will never leave my head; I highly doubt he would just draw Tatsuki as a Shinigami with a Zanpakuto for the sake of it, or even to satisfy a fan's request.

[tightropebanjo]

That picture of Tatsuki as a shinigami is actually in Bleach Character Book: Souls. It's on a page with some other small pictures. The text from that page (from Viz) might be of interest:

"Kubo's personally signed art boards Revealed!! Introducing rare art boards! All are illustrated and signed, and were draw for the Jump Festa Anime Tour or given as gifts to readers! The drawings, including the one of Tatsuki wearing a Soul Reaper Uniform, can only be seem here!"

I like how they singled Tatsuki's out, as if they knew it would generate interest. It seems like Kubo is always teasing us when it comes to Tatsuki. I think we went over a lot of this before the old forum was destroyed. For me, the highlights include me thinking that Tatsuki, the "Dragon" was going to get powers and beat Numb Chandelier, not Orihime, the "Princess". It's like he knew it was an inversion. There was this plot thread in the Karakura town part of the Arrancar arc where she was gaining the realization of who Ichigo had become which only really resulted in a single (very well executed and emotional) scene as Ichigo was leaving. Then there's the whole "she can sense Aizen's power" thing, and, of course, this shinigami picture. He's very adept at the tease and I feel that if there's no payoff I'm still going to like Tatsuki as a character and feel she enriches Bleach, but I'm also going to feel somewhat disappointed.



I feel like I'm probably setting my expectations too high, but I'm hoping for some Tatsuki goodness for this next flashback. It was the Memories in the Rain arc that really cemented Tatsuki as a strong, caring character. It also showed that she's known Ichigo for longer than anyone outside of his family and she was able to talk about his mother and how her life and death affected him. I feel like it would only be right for her character to have some weight in the the story about his mother's death. Though, I think at this point I'd be happy if she was seen or mentioned at all (and would be surprised and disappointed if she wasn't).

[tightropebanjo]

Well... it looks like I set my expectations too high. I thought there was going to be another flashback, but it was all just exposition. Oh well.


I was lurking about and saw Saiyan5ninetail say that he hopes that Yourichi is training Tatsuki. That got me thinking about chapter 518. Apparently, Ganju and the Fullbringers are helping with some sort of training. Now I can't imagine that it's anyone associated with the Court of Pure Souls, King's Realm, Hueco Mundo, or the Vanderreich. So that basically leaves Rukongai and the World of the Living.

The only people we really know about in Rukongai are Shibata and Ganju's minions. On the other hand in the World of the Living there are plenty of people, like Tatsuki, who we know and have spiritual power but last we heard couldn't use it effectively in battle and so could use some training...

So basically what I'm trying to say is that at some point Kuukaku will show up with Ganju, the Fullbringers and at least one of:
1. a bunch of people no one cares about, or
2. Shibata, the cockatiel boy, or
3. Tatsuki! Plus Keigo, Don Kanoji and the rest.

I don't think you need to be a mind-reader to know which one I'm rooting for :cool:. I don't know if I'm biased or not, but it seems the most plausible, too.

[Saiyan5ninetail]

We both had our expectations too high.

It is true that there is training going on at the Shiba residence, and there is still a question as to whom it is for. It could be Tatsuki or others from the Human World, but that will take quite a lot of explaining.