Weaving Melodies

Friends, Amino-ans and countrymen lend me your ears, or in this case, your gaze and time ig, and for those who didn’t understand this references Mark Antony’s famous speech from Julius Caeser, Shakespeare.

Now I am sure most will have already clicked away after that cringe-worthy introduction, and to those who did not, welcome, to another blog by your truly Apt Sama. This time, taking part in the challenge #PlayListForYou, the objective of the challenge is quite simple, we are required to make a playlist for an anime character, and justify the same. So I decided to make a playlist for Shutara Senjumaru, from bleach, eveyone’s new favorite MILF- mommy I love forever, yes, Yes.

It was a known fact that, the zero squad of needed fixing, their performance in the manga was just pathetic, and Kubo did fix it in the anime, by making Senjumaru the star of the fight, anyone of the zero division could have wiped out the stern-ritters with their bankai, but it had to be Senjumaru, Kubo knows his audience well, the weaver mommy for the win! Initially I had thought that, Unohana, would say “Bankai” the best now here I am, totally lost over Senjumaru’s voice. Well that’s enough of simping for a now , and let’s carry on with the blog.

   🧵Table of contents🧵

                   🪡Character Selection

             🪡Genre Selection

🪡Reasons

             🪡Playlist building

🧵Character selection🧵

Now if you thought I chose Senjumaru, out of purely simping reasons then you are not entirely wrong, but I swear I have purer and more profound reasons as well. Ever since I saw the character first, there was this kind of mysterious enigma that she had that captivated me, especially when looked from the perspective of combat abilities.

Shutara Senjumaru is a Shinigami, a soul reaper, a death god, basically an arbitrator of death, but her abilities, are so festive and celebratory, fabric manipulation, she weaves exquisite kimonos full of floral patterns, this contrast captured me instantly, zanpaktou abilities are said to mirror ones soul, then what do her abilities possibly tell about her inner-self, to me it represents how Senjumaru, sees the cycle of life and death, as both being worth celebrating, birth of course being a happy occasion while death being seen as freedom, end or ing the baton the next generation, this idea becomes more pensive as the of the royal guard are immortal and bound to duty for all eternity.

Another interesting that I found out was, it can be interpreted, that Senjumaru, is inspired from the Youkai, Jorogumo (絡新婦) literally translating into woman spider, Senjumaru’s 6 prosthetic arms can be seen as 6 limbs of the arachnid. Jorogumo in Japanese folklore is often described as a beautiful woman who often employes fine artiste charms to trap young men in her charms, this somehow fits Senjumaru perfectly, as she also uses exquisite fabric to trap her victims to their death.

🧵Genre Selection🧵

Now this section, was particularly difficult and needed a lot of research on my part, since much isn’t revealed about Senjumaru in official bleach media. However after much painstaking research I came to conclude that the genre, Senjumaru would enjoy the most would be “Classical Japanese Music” or more specifically “Gagaku 雅楽” , now the direct translation from kanji would be something along the lines of elegant music, but in practice Gagaku is actually court or imperial music, sometimes being interpreted as orchestral music as well. Gagaku is one of Japan’s oldest and ancient forms of music, which is performed before the deities by the monks and before the imperial court.

Tbh now from here onwards, things get a bit murky, Japan has a lot of traditional forms of art and most of the instrument’s overlap, and sometimes theatre, poetry drama and musical overlap. Interestingly, the very old compositions on Gaguku excluded the use of shamisen and koto, some of the most famous instruments from Japan, and are mainly focused on biwa, shakuhachi drums and bells, although in the newer compositions these instruments also found a place in the court.

As I lacked any formal training in these arts and have solely relied on internet sources, in my playlist I have mostly included old pieces of compositions from Japan and interpreted “gaguku” in a broader sense, if I have gone horribly wrong(taken great care not to), then I apologize, its not my intention to offend anyone.

🧵Reasons for the choice🧵

Now that we have the character and the genre, before we directly dive into the playlist lets first talk about the reasons that inspired me to go down this route.

🧵Design, Demeanor and Personality.🧵

This was the foremost reason, Senjumaru’s design and seiyuus choice screams elegance and royalty. The color schemes employed in her design, the bright contrast between the deep black and bright white and gold of her hair pin and arms, all exudate an enigma. This immediately made me think that Senjumaru has an appreciation for the finer things in life.

Another reason I felt Senjumaru, would enjoy such a refined form of music would be her age, Senjumaru is old, at least a few thousand years, and her demeanor also has hints of elitism, for instance she addresses herself using the archaic pronouns of “Warawa 妾” now this is a feminine only pronoun used by someone at the higher hierarchical position. Her shoes, also follow the same idea, her thick soled shoes which she can use to step on me…….i mean the measly quincies, Senjumaru, wears the okobo a thick soled shoe, which is usually related to geisha or cultural ceremonies.

The final observation that irked me to believe that senjumaru would appreciate this art the most is, because of her bankai, there have been many speculations about it ever since it was revealed, and the common conclusion was that it somehow is related to fate. Senjumaru, can weave the fates of those trapped in her bankai, thus condemning their lives to a set line, even If someone survives the bankai, they are still sure to meet the end in a similar fashion. This almost projects Senjumaru as a seer or a witch who is aware of a higher fate, and people like that usually are deep and have philosophical ideas always playing out in their minds, and interestingly gagaku also heavily revolves around spiritualism, since monks were one of its foremost practitioners.

🧵Musical talents and fanfare.🧵

When Senjumaru first appears in the manga and the anime, along with the zero squad she can be seen providing fanfare and theatrics to the rather gala entry of the zero squad, although this isn’t received well, it truly was an intriguing sight. Senjumaru was effortlessly playing multiple instruments with her prosthetic arms and interestingly most of them were instruments commonly used in classical Japanese music or gagaku. This somehow makes a lot of sense, since Senjumaru, is one of the guardians and servants of the soul king, and gagaku is traditionally performed Infront of the king and his court. Senjumaru can be seen effortlessly playing the Biwa, a Shakuhachi, some tantrum like instrument which I guess are the kagura Suzu, and finally a trumpet(truly an out of place addition).

Senjumaru has an odd demeanor outside her elegance, while the other of the zero squad were busy catching up with the gotei and talking about past matters, Senjumaru had no one to connect to except Mayuri, who describes her as “disrespectful”, further down the story Senjumaru forces Renji and Rukia to strip down naked to take measurements of for their shihaksho, and when Renji refuses, she threatens to remove is family jewels (ouch), but I mean, I cant understand why Ranji would refuse, I would gladly strip, but just no stabbing, AHEM moving on, but these interactions show that Senjumaru, does lack a human connect and relies on music and her fabrics to express herself.

One of the more easily overlooked part about classical music of any form is usually the dress code, usually there are rules and norms about how the artists must present themselves during a performance. This heavily depends on Infront of whom are the artist performing, different levels of hierarchy usually have altogether separate dressing requirements, and guess who makes clothes in the bleach world, Shutara Senjumaru, it can easily be theorized that even if Senjumaru couldn’t be a stage performer, she can easily be related to the performers or the theatre as their prop and costume makes, I mean that’s literally her shikai.

🧵Cultural references of the Zero Squad.🧵

Okay although this is not some direct reference, but something that came to mind while I was doing research for the blog, you can say this is my tin foil hat theory. So if we observe closely each one of the zero squad references something in Japan’s present of past cultural history, firstly Ichibe, or the high priest of names, he is clearly based of the Japanese Shodo calligraphy art and its relation to Zen monastic culture, Kirio, the grain king seems to be alluring the polite and hospitable nature of the Japanese people, something for the island nation is known worldwide, tenjiro, the hot spring demon, if the hot spring reference isn’t clear already, his blade kinpika, has an ability that shines the light of the sun on its foes, and guess what, Japan is also called as the land of the rising sun. Nishimiyas, in my opinion is a direct reference to the Japanese pop culture revolution and Japan’s dominant soft power in the pop world-the cool Japan project(anime is also a brainchild of this revolution). Senjumaru on the other hand seems to reference Japan’s aristocratic legacy and traditional past. I don’t know if this has been officially verified or if its actually the case but it was just an interesting observation on my part.

Well now enough of this character analysis and lets actually dive into the playlist.

:musical_score: Now playing song Kokû 虚空 Empty sky :musical_score:

Empty sky

Koku is a Shakuhachi classic and is one of the oldest compositions on the instrument. There are many legends around who or how this composition came to be, one legend says that the founding monk of the Meianji Temple, in a mystical dream, heard this composition making it a near divine revelation, Kokû" is one of the three original shakuhachi pieces, along with "Mukaiji" and "Kyorei". It was composed by Kyochiku, the Zen priest who founded the Myoan temple in Kyoto, Japan in the 13th century. However it is generally agreed upon that the piece was composed around the 12th-13th century.

Composed entirely on the Shakuhachi, the piece is devoid of flashy beats and drowned in spirituality, when played perfectly the melody is said to remind the listener of the mist blocking the moon, it looked like the sound of the flute was coming from an empty sky. Philosophically meditating on this composition is said to enable the listener to understand or transcend, nothingness, emptiness, an emotion we cannot otherwise feel in the material and the materialistic human world.

This song fits perfectly well to Senjumaru’s role and demeanor and has good reason to be on her playlist, Senjumaru, lives way above the worlds in the royal palace, a realm above the other worlds, ever wondered what could lie beyond this realm and the soul king’s dominion, nothingness perhaps, not only does this composition covers the emotion of looking up at the skies, but also looking down onto them from the royal palace. What would Senjumaru make of all the frail life forms of the realms below, eagerly praying, believing in the power of the soul king and his promises, but when infact its all-empty words. what would anyone think, when they were to cast their gaze upon the soul king, a limbless lump of mass, a captive in his own palace, a being of enormous might but lacking direction and emotion, a truly hopeless sight in the skies if you ask me.

This thought becomes all the ghastlier when you are supposed to guard this being and secret for all eternity, to ensure that this reign of lie continues, Senjumaru is called the divine general of the north, one thing that immediately comes to mind upon hearing, north and sky is the northern star or the pole star a symbol of hope and direction, but in this case empty hope and direction.

In her castle kiriden, senjumaru surely must be listening to this composition again and again to, truly understand what lies beyond.

:musical_score: Now playing Kage Boshi 影法師 Silhouettes :musical_score:

Kageboshi

A soulful vocal and shamisen-based composition, by Ikuyama Kengyo (1814-1890), surely will find a place in the playlist of the divine general, Ikuyama was an extremely renowned composer of the era, who later received the title of Kengyo in 1844, also going by the pseudonym of Eifuku (a lot harder to track by this).

Through the silence of the

Cold, rainy night sounds the

Temple bell.

Warm and sleepy near the fire,

I seem to wake and espy my own image.

The oil-lamp throws a dim light,

My thoughts are listless.

Is my hair so dishevelled?

Am I grown so thin?

I know the reason, for if I cry

So will the silhouette.

I am past caring, locked in this

Dream, or is it fantasy?

Life has so many of them.

What are your feelings?

The silhouette has no answers

The lyrics of the composition follow thus, set in a cold atmosphere, a rainy nighty by a temple, the silence of the night is broken only by the sounds of the temple bell, as the gets cozy by the warmth of the temple lamp, in its dim light, his own shadow silhouette appears, appearing weak, listless and frail with unkept hair ,clearly aging and approaching death, but this doesn’t affect the singer, he is past worry, he wonders is this also an illusion or a fantasy of life, he asks the shadowy silhouette, but it answers him not.

Continuing with the theme of aloof introspection about the world, this composition, this seems most befitting, most of the squad zero , spend their time alone in their own castles and Senjumaru seems to be most aloof of them all, we get a glimpse of a her kiriden, a dimly lit place, almost just as described in the poem. A silhouette in this perspective can mean two things, her own shadow, or the outlines and the measurements Senjumaru takes of the other Shinigami. It can be safely assumed that Senjumaru, makes the shihakshous and the captains haori, and has collected various silhouettes over her many years of life, and as she weaves cloth, she asks them what do these illusions mean, what do they make of it, but the silhouettes don’t answer for one they can’t talk, and even if they did, they don’t know the true answer.

:musical_score: Now playing Zangetsu 残月 A morning moon :musical_score:

Zangetsu

Zangetsu, thought it was ichigos zanpaktou, not entirely correct, but continuing with the theme of self-introspection, I think this song composed by composed by Minezaki Koto around 1790, surely shall fit the taste of senjumaru. This song was composed as a memorial, a momento to mourn the death of one of his students.

Behind the beach pines

Hides the moon

The light of the moon,

Setting into the open sea,

Departed so soon

From this world of dreams,

Will awake to absolute truth,

And live in the bright

Lunarian palace

Forever.

Now a message from you

Is the misty vernal moon.

Only the months and days

Are sure to come round again.

This soulful and slow-paced piece composed entirely on the shamisen and the koto, set in the melancholic backdrop of death, deals with the cynical nature of time and truth. Set across the beaches of Japan, where the moonlight is blocked by the pines, dimly shinning on the seas, the singer notices that the moonlight is quick to fade, and as the light fades, the world wakes, wakes from its dreams and illusion and wake to a world of absolute truth, the truth that lives eternally in the celestial palace of the moon, but before the light fades in all, the moon has a sinister warning, that even though the world has woken up now, time shall repeat itself and the nature of the world is cyclical.

Although the previous paragraph dealt with the more literal discussion of the imageries in the composition, if one were to apply it to the bleach-verse, it fits perfectly, I am guessing that the “fading moonlight” references the zero squad while the moon, in the moon palace is the soul king, the relation between the moon and the moonlight and the zero squad and the soul king fits perfectly. The moon is a non-luminous, celestial body, it has no ability to emit light, while the moonlight is the light reflected from the sun, similarly, the soul king currently is a token head, he has no authority, while the entre power is vested with the zero squad, who use his name as a shield for their actions. Here “waking to the absolute truth……forever” these lines might refer to Aizen and Yhawch who want to free the world from this false light, the poem hints that their outcome is irrelevant since time is cyclical and it repeats itself. Which is scarily true, aizen ended up being sealed, while Yhawch was confounded to the same fate he tried to free his father from.

When seen this way, ig it makes sense as to why, ichigo who was the reason the world was saved, has a zanpaktou named “zangetsu”

:musical_score: Now playing Kaede No hana 楓の花 Acer Blossoms :musical_score:

Acer Blossoms

Well introspection and philosophical thinking are not the only thing senjumaru enjoy, she is ultimately a weaver and enjoys making kimonos, I can totally imagine her listening to this song as she weaves a new kimono by the fire place in her kiriden.

The remaining flowers at Arasiyama

mixed with pale green treetops

Blown by the winds through the pine trees

maple flowers are scattered

Young ayu fish are climbing over the dams

and swiftly diving in deep waters

There, the singing frogs' voices are clear

near the bank of the Oi river, so beautiful!

Distant upriver are cuckoos

crying subdued their first cries of the year

Let us go to see them on a boat

to Tonase where azalea flowers bloom on the rocks

The piece was composed by Matuzaka Syun’ei (154-1920) at the end of the late 19th century, describing the beauty of the springs of Kyoto the traditional capital of Japan. Now if you are wondering why this song might make it to her playlist, its because it serves as inspiration for kimono sewing, like not literally, but metaphorically. Kimonos are widely influenced by the natural sceneries, flora and fauna native the island nation, and this composition does exactly that.

The floral designs of kimonos are representation of the cycle of beauty, and how short-lived it is, just as a flower bloom and eventually wilts, so too shall our beauty away one day, but it also gives us a lesson that, just because it is temporary doesn’t mean that it must not be enjoyed. Beauty is short lived, and best enjoyed when it lasts. Wilting is a rather interesting concept, although yes it represents loss of something beautiful, but it also makes away for the flower to grow into a fruit, or make way for a new flower to bloom.

The symbolic beauty of flowers blooming and wilting perfectly describe how a Shinigami must ideally view death, not as tragic but as a prequel to new birth.

:musical_score: Now playing Song Aki no Shibare 秋の調 Melodies of Autumn. :musical_score:

Autumn melodies

A more recent, composition, but a Japanese classic nonetheless, Aki no shibare is a vocal Serenade composed by, Miyagi Michio in 1918. Miyagi Michio is a celebrated composer who is said to have revolutionised Japanese music, most of his compositions have some form of western influence, even this serenade, the vocal range does resemble the of a lyrical soprano.

the sigh of autumn

If I were a leaf floating on the river

I would drift to your dwelling.

The autumn night becomes darker.

If I were a cricket in the grass

I would sing by your window

Throughout the night.

In this serenade, a young woman expresses her love for man, using various imageries of autumn, the season is symbolically used for reaching maturity, or having crossed something over, the leaves that fall during this season, for time immemorial inspired poets to see new beginning in one’s own fall. Of course, this imagery is also captured in the kimonos worn during the season, bright red decorated with leaf patterns, all symbolizing growth, love ion and art.

One does, find it a bit the one who weaves kimonos of all colour and festivities is sitting alone up in a sky. Wearing black with nothing to celebrate, and the one who can weave all fate, is sitting fatelessly guarding a false lie, I am sure listening to these serenades of women expressing oneself, and ones love with the changing self provides some form of personal expression to senjumaru outside her weaving.

:musical_score: Now playing Rokudan no Shirabe 六段の調 “melody in 6 songs” :musical_score:

Six Melodies

The world-famous composition, based originally on Koto, but eventually being played on Shamisen, composed by Yatsuhashi Kengyo in 1685 during the edo period. The edo period in Japanese history is often attributed to peace, stability and great development in the field of arts and culture, and it was during this time that Shamisen and Koto were also incorporated into court chamber music. This composition is perhaps the most influential and most played pieces of that era.

Rokudan no Shibare, literally as the name, suggests is melodies written in 6 columns, the composition has 52 beats originally played on the koto alone, however, shamisen was also incorporated into the mix. The music is said to be reminiscent of Japan great cultural propensity that Japan experienced, under the Tokugawa period, after many years of internal strife.

This piece brings joy and peace to who ever listens to it, and that includes senjumaru, its as if in the blech verse this composition sings in praise of the Shinigami who have ushered in years of peace, until it was all shattered (quite interestingly the next era that followed were the Meiji restoration era and the 2 wars).

Well with that after a lot of research my playlist making ends, and here is the link for one of the most helpful sites outside Wikipedia “the international Shakuhachi society” its from these that I researched most of my information, do check it out if you got even slightest interested in Japanese music after this blog, there are various other wonderful pieces that deserve to be explored.

The international Shakuhachi Society

Well, ig by now one will have also understood, that my most favourite genre of music is also classical music, be it opera, Carnatic, or now gagaku, I enjoy it all, and naturally I had the most fun while making this blog, not only did I get to simp and stare all I want on Senjumaru, but I stumbled on a whole new treasure trove of melodies that I can now listen encore.

Until next time!