Some Shiba thoughts

[effervescible]

I was reading the Kaien entry in the awesome-ass translated profiles from Bleach Bootleg.

Special Notes: (Top secret!)
Back when the Shiba clan was still one of the five great noble families, Kaien found a wounded boar piglet in the mountains in Rukongai, and brought back Ganju's precious Bonnie-chan to be raised by the family. Bonnie-chan's ribbon is a gift from Kaien. To this day she still isn't as attached to Ganju because she loved Kaien so much. The Shiba family's guardsmen, Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko, were in charge of Kaien and Kuukaku's education when they were younger. After the Shiba clan's decline, only these two servants remained behind to continue working for the family.

What does this tell us? Besides, as Aino put it, Kaien being unable to do anything that is not woobie. It gives us a few timeline hints.

-I CAN'T WRITE THIS HOW I MEAN. Third edit: Kaien was alive and Ganju was a kid at some point before the fall of the Shibas, so while it didn't happen yesterday, it didn't happen like generations ago.
-ADFGKSAFDGKAG BONNIE-CHAN. I guess boars live a long while in Soul Society! This isn't really a timeline issue, I'm just too fucking crazy about it.
-There is likely a significant age difference between Kuukaku and Ganju, if Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko were not his teachers as well. We already knew there was one between Kaien and Ganju. Ha, maybe Ganju was a late-in-life baby.

I am intrigued that the fall of the Shiba is a relatively recent thing. I think the idea that Kaien's death caused it is bullshit, because why would that reflect on his whole family? He's a shinigami; death in battle is not an unexpected thing.

Some have speculated that the fall had to do with Isshin's departure from Soul Society. Timewise, this could be correct, but if it is, then it means his tenure in SS and Rukia's could have overlapped. Kaien was a noble when he brought Bonnie-chan to Ganju; Ganju was still a child when Kaien died. As weird as aging is in SS, who knows how old he really was, but it does give us more to think about. Curiouser and curiouser.

P.S. KAIEN AND BONNIE-CHAN. BONNIE-CHAN STILL PINES FOR KAIEN. OMG.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_debbiechan_/]

That little bit seriously made me ALKSDHFHJL. The bit about Bonnie-chan pining for Kaien has just been killing me since I read it. I pine for Kaien too. <3

Damn, Kubo is really playing up the WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SHIBAS story. Can't wait for the big reveal.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

I just re-typed my first bullet point cuz I sorta said the opposite of what I meant to--Kaien didn't necessarily die before they fell, but he was definitely alive before they did. The fact that this is mentioned at all just makes me think something is gonna come of it. ICHIGO IS SUCH A SHIBA.

I pine for Kaien too. Must write more fic.

[loveotter.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm making a too-obvious connection, but if Isshin was actually a Shiba, maybe his precipitous departure caused the fall of the clan?

[jaina.livejournal.com]

This is what I am wondering as well, but if that's so, why does Rukia not recognize him as a Shiba? People have gotten around this by putting it well pre-Rukia, but if it wasn't that long ago...

[loveotter.livejournal.com]

Couldn't it have happened before Rukia got to know the Shiba clan?

[jaina.livejournal.com]

That's less an issue to me than the fact that Isshin was probably a captain. I know some people have speculated that he was in the royal guard or something, but the cloak on his shoulder looked a HELL of a lot like a captain's haori, just torn and weathered, which I always assumed symbolized his long disuse of his powers.

[loveotter.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Mysterious.

[champloo4u.livejournal.com]

Or torn to ribbons by a certain someone's very pretty and flowery bankai release (after all, Cap'n Prittyhairs *did* say it was the second time he'd shown it to someone in his fight with Ichigo). Food for thought, anyway...

(O HAI I DROPPED IN UNINVITED FROM CL_B LOL HOW YA DOIN)

[starvinbohemian.livejournal.com]

Who doesn't still pine for Kaien? :(

As for the fall of the Shibas, I always thought that it was a voluntary fall. They were obviously bitter about Kaien and shinigami in general, so I just assumed it was a: "You cost us Kaien, so fuck you, Soul Society, we're moving to Rukongai!" Too simplistic? ;)

[brightredglow.livejournal.com]

P.S. KAIEN AND BONNIE-CHAN. BONNIE-CHAN STILL PINES FOR KAIEN. OMG.

Maybe that's why Rukia is all over Bonnie-chan in the New Years 2007 card. I kinda wondered what the connection was there and why Rukia appeared so brilliantly happy.

Makes me continue to believe that Kaien-angle did not end with Arroniro.

It does seem like the connection to the Shibas and the Kurosakis continue. Isshin doesn't resemble Kaien but Ganju does resemble Isshin. Kaien and Ichigo obviously look like each other. The anomaly is Kuukaku because it isn't Karin who looks like her, but Tatsuki.

[kumagoro-usagi.livejournal.com]

That is very insightful and I think so too. The whole link with Isshin and Urahara also interlinks quite beautifully with this mystery.

(OMG, maybe Tatsuki is Miyako!XDDD

Sorry I just dislike the reincarnation theory with a passion so poking fun is fun. Although...)