Byakuya Kuchiki - Tumblr Posts
The evolution of Byakuya and Rukia's sibling relationship
The evolution of Byakuya and Rukia's sibling relationship
The evolution of Byakuya and Rukia's sibling relationship
The evolution of Byakuya and Rukia's sibling relationship
It has been 14 hours since I found out that, according to Kubo, Byakuya calls Renji by his given name "because Rukia does" and I am obsessed with this information.
This is both the best and worst possible answer to this question. I feel like if you asked Byakuya, this is exactly the reason he would give. However, if Rukia were present, she would lose her damn mind. While I do think Rukia's assertion that Byakuya didn't look at her even once in 40 years is hyperbole, over that time I can imagine Renji's name coming up in conversation once, maybe twice tops.
Like, two weeks before she goes on her fateful mission to the Living World, B's been shortlisting Vice-Captain candidates, and over dinner, real casual:
B: Rukia. You know your friend?
Rukia: My who now?
B: That friend of yours who shouts too much. The boorishly tall one. With the red hair. Is he in Squad Eleven now?
Rukia (wracking her brain frantically for people Byakuya would consider 'her friend'): You mean Renji?
B: Yes, him.
Rukia: What about him?
B: Is he in Squad Eleven? The Sixth Seat?
Rukia: ...maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The next day, Byakuya's office, Renji shows up for his job interview.
B: You must be Renji.
Renji: uhhhhhhhh sure why not?
It has been 14 hours since I found out that, according to Kubo, Byakuya calls Renji by his given name "because Rukia does" and I am obsessed with this information.
This is both the best and worst possible answer to this question. I feel like if you asked Byakuya, this is exactly the reason he would give. However, if Rukia were present, she would lose her damn mind. While I do think Rukia's assertion that Byakuya didn't look at her even once in 40 years is hyperbole, over that time I can imagine Renji's name coming up in conversation once, maybe twice tops.
Like, two weeks before she goes on her fateful mission to the Living World, B's been shortlisting Vice-Captain candidates, and over dinner, real casual:
B: Rukia. You know your friend?
Rukia: My who now?
B: That friend of yours who shouts too much. The boorishly tall one. With the red hair. Is he in Squad Eleven now?
Rukia (wracking her brain frantically for people Byakuya would consider 'her friend'): You mean Renji?
B: Yes, him.
Rukia: What about him?
B: Is he in Squad Eleven? The Sixth Seat?
Rukia: ...maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The next day, Byakuya's office, Renji shows up for his job interview.
B: You must be Renji.
Renji: uhhhhhhhh sure why not?
It has been 14 hours since I found out that, according to Kubo, Byakuya calls Renji by his given name "because Rukia does" and I am obsessed with this information.
This is both the best and worst possible answer to this question. I feel like if you asked Byakuya, this is exactly the reason he would give. However, if Rukia were present, she would lose her damn mind. While I do think Rukia's assertion that Byakuya didn't look at her even once in 40 years is hyperbole, over that time I can imagine Renji's name coming up in conversation once, maybe twice tops.
Like, two weeks before she goes on her fateful mission to the Living World, B's been shortlisting Vice-Captain candidates, and over dinner, real casual:
B: Rukia. You know your friend?
Rukia: My who now?
B: That friend of yours who shouts too much. The boorishly tall one. With the red hair. Is he in Squad Eleven now?
Rukia (wracking her brain frantically for people Byakuya would consider 'her friend'): You mean Renji?
B: Yes, him.
Rukia: What about him?
B: Is he in Squad Eleven? The Sixth Seat?
Rukia: ...maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The next day, Byakuya's office, Renji shows up for his job interview.
B: You must be Renji.
Renji: uhhhhhhhh sure why not?
It has been 14 hours since I found out that, according to Kubo, Byakuya calls Renji by his given name "because Rukia does" and I am obsessed with this information.
This is both the best and worst possible answer to this question. I feel like if you asked Byakuya, this is exactly the reason he would give. However, if Rukia were present, she would lose her damn mind. While I do think Rukia's assertion that Byakuya didn't look at her even once in 40 years is hyperbole, over that time I can imagine Renji's name coming up in conversation once, maybe twice tops.
Like, two weeks before she goes on her fateful mission to the Living World, B's been shortlisting Vice-Captain candidates, and over dinner, real casual:
B: Rukia. You know your friend?
Rukia: My who now?
B: That friend of yours who shouts too much. The boorishly tall one. With the red hair. Is he in Squad Eleven now?
Rukia (wracking her brain frantically for people Byakuya would consider 'her friend'): You mean Renji?
B: Yes, him.
Rukia: What about him?
B: Is he in Squad Eleven? The Sixth Seat?
Rukia: ...maybe? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The next day, Byakuya's office, Renji shows up for his job interview.
B: You must be Renji.
Renji: uhhhhhhhh sure why not?
Byakuya and his ducklings
Byakuya and his ducklings
man was byakuya relieved when rukia and renji’s chosen partners were each other
Oooh, I really like the idea that Byakuya keeps her shrine in a place that his other (perhaps less kind or actively hostile) family members cannot touch!
Looking back at it, to me (situated as the audience), it makes no difference whether Byakuya is contemplating his next steps while at Squad Six or his home. I wonder if Kubo was trying to consolidate ideas/time/space/etc., or hadn't really thought much about it beyond, "Cool, let's use the Squad Six exterior I drew once," or if there is some additional layer of meaning that I, a pea-brain, am missing.
Alternatively, I suppose Byakuya could have two shrines with Hisana, one at home and one at the Squad since I'm guessing he spends more time at the Squad than at home. Maybe he'd want the option to pop in and chat or take comfort while working.
Or alternatively, alternatively! Maybe she was a former member of Squad Six? I don't think we get anything, storywise, specifying what she was doing with her life after the abandonment but before marrying Byakuya. She could've been... well... like anything, I guess.
Byakuya’s Private Thoughts!
You know… I had forgotten the altar was at the Sixth. I had thought that Byakuya was at his private residence during this scene. (I assume Kuchiki Manor is near the Sixth, but maybe it’s not.) As it turns out, I was wrong. Judging by the establishing shot and the usage of “Captain Kuchiki,” it seems pretty clear that Byakuya keeps a family shrine at the squad, which is certainly a choice.
Another thing that I had forgotten is just how large and spartan this room is. I assume the minimalism was an artistic decision on Kubo’s part to reflect Byakuya’s internal feelings similar to how big and empty the room that Renji barges into during the Rukia adoption scene appears to be–basically a white space with floorboards and little else, which seems to be done to emphasize Renji’s internal confusion–and then, once the Kuchiki squad leaves, some of the details of the room comes into focus until Renji puts on his performance for Rukia and it ebbs again into action lines and white space. Or, maybe this room isn’t particularly well-furnished for obvious reasons, i.e., Byakuya might not want random Squad Six officers lounging or horsing around near his family’s altar, assuming this room is accessible to the general squad members.
Either way, art is abstraction, and I think we are supposed to get a sense of feeling absorbed into this desolate space with a singular focal point because our POV character is feeling similarly desolate and absorbed by “private thoughts,” at the moment.
How far away is the Soukyoku from Squad Six if Byakuya needs to get a move on five hours prior to the execution? Perhaps Yamamoto wants the senior leadership accounted for well in advance given the humans running amok. Or, maybe Byakuya is planning on running some errands on the way a la, “My sister’s execution may be on the to-do list today but it ain’t my whole day.” Who can say?
Beyond the odd “snap to it” given the stated timing, we finally see what is holding Byakuya’s attention, and it’s a picture of a woman who could be Rukia’s doppelganger. We know it’s not a picture of Rukia since Byakuya helpfully provides the woman’s name, Hisana. (Although, I wouldn’t have put it past Byakuya to already have placed Rukia’s picture on the family altar prior to her execution as it would have been very efficient, even if incredibly morbid.)
In a previous entry, I wondered when Kubo might have baked the dead wife trope into the narrative as a way of humanizing Byakuya. Officially, it does not appear to have been an actual 11th-hour decision since we have a ways to go before the confession scene between Byakuya and Rukia. At this point, I don’t think we, the audience, know for certain that Hisana is Byakuya’s late wife nor do we know her connection to Rukia even if it seems sort of obvious that they’re related. Although, Kaien and Ichigo are supposed to look a lot alike as well (at least to Byakuya), and we’re left thinking they aren’t (due to Byakuya’s explicit denial of relatedness) until we receive confirmation much later on that they’re indeed related.
This brings me to the issue of doppelgangers in this arc. We have two of them, one for Ichigo and one for Rukia. And, each of the doppelgangers carries great significance to one of the Kuchiki siblings. I would argue both of the Kuchiki siblings had romantic feelings toward their respective doppelgangers with Byakuya’s romantic attachment being far more apparent since he married Hisana. Rukia’s attraction to Kaien, however, is left ambiguous. I suppose one could read Rukia’s reflections on Kaien as purely platonic. Personally, I flop back and forth depending on my mood.
Assuming that Rukia had a crush on her squad’s lieutenant, her interest was unrequited. Unrequited love could be another similarity between the siblings, depending on how you choose to read the confession scene. Personally, I don’t think the text strongly supports that for Byakuya, as outlined in mind-numbing detail elsewhere. I think this may be an instance where the similarities draw attention to the differences being explored between the siblings’ relationships to their respective doppelgangers.
First, I don’t think Rukia makes much out of the physical similarities between Ichigo and Kaien. Byakuya, however, does. This leads me to think that the issue of lookalikes is more of a Byakuya issue. Which makes sense. He has been dealing with his late wife’s doppelganger for decades at this point. My guess is that, on top of the lie and the cognitive burden of having to maintain that lie, Byakuya avoids looking at Rukia because it’s painful for a host of reasons, some of which were already touched. However, the perceived similarity–that Rukia may be allowing her emotions for Kaien to cloud her feelings for Ichigo because Ichigo reminds her of Kaien–allowed Byakuya to try to project connect with Rukia and her pain regarding Ichigo during the arrest scene. (Meaning that Byakuya likely feels this pull with respect to Rukia because she looks like his dead loved one.)
Second, Rukia’s relationship with Kaien appears to have been very different from Byakuya’s relationship with Hisana. The most notable difference is that Kaien and Rukia were not romantically involved, and Kaien’s direct relationship to Rukia was that of her boss, meaning that he held significant power over her in that relationship. Now, Kaien appears to have been a mostly good boss, and he used his position to make Rukia feel welcome and give her a sense of normalcy. In Byakuya’s relationship with Hisana, the power dynamic clearly favors Byakuya, given his institutional power as a Kuchiki along with any power conferred to him as a member of the Gotei 13, assuming he was an officer during their courtship and marriage. However, Byakuya being Hisana’s spouse puts them on better footing as equals–albeit not perfect footing–than Rukia’s relationship with Kaien granted her.
Third, Rukia had a direct hand in Kaien’s death so, while she loves him (romantically, platonically, or both… take your pick), her primary emotions when reflecting on him are that of guilt, shame, and a sense of being pathetic. This deep shame leaves her feeling deserving of her fate as penance for the wrong that she believes she has done. Byakuya, however, doesn’t appear to have this same guilt over the loss of Hisana. His wife died of ... something?... for which he was not responsible. To the extent that Byakuya feels guilt, it’s because he is unable to fully honor the promise that he made to his wife on her deathbed due to the dumbass oath he took at his parents’ graves that no one asked for, by the way. In this case, Byakuya’s guilt is more of the conflicted variety–i.e., his heart urges him to follow the promise he made to his wife while his oath to his parents prevents him due to how he is supposed to resolve these competing obligations in favor of his parents–while Rukia’s guilt is more of the shame variety.
To add to that point, as we see in this scene, Byakuya appears to be consulting his wife (or perhaps apologizing/pleading his case/staring meaningfully into her picture for answers or internal fortitude), and I think the audience is supposed to get the impression that he is conflicted at this moment (these are private thoughts, after all!). In contrast, I don’t think Rukia would feel entitled to look to Kaien for guidance at a Kaien altar (or as Ukitake does with the Kaien that lives inside his heart) as I think her shame would prevent her from taking even that small amount of comfort at this point in her character arc.
All of this wild gesturing to say: I think the similarities between the Kuchiki siblings and their respective doppelgangers are there; they’re just more superficially there (e.g., Byakuya and Rukia both loved and lost in their own ways and, also in their own ways, those losses continue to haunt them in this arc). Perhaps less superficially, or at least more obviously, rendered are the cautionary parallels that we can draw between the doppelgangers (Kaien and Hisana) and Generation Xerox (Ichigo and Rukia), which are: (i) the perils of recklessly “following your heart” for Ichigo/Kaien; and (ii) the perils of forever “being consumed by guilt and shame” for Rukia/Hisana.
TL;DR: I’m glad Kubo leaned into the gothic doppelgangers angle, giving both main characters in this arc their own lookalikes and leveling both Kuchiki siblings with the doppelgangers’ deaths in their own fun and unique ways!
Kuchiki Manor
just a little happy house in byakuya's head
"in the forty years since the kuchiki family took me in… not once has he… even looked at me"
