In Japanese culture the word shinigami is used for everything that is the personification of death. Now the term has evolved, the word is used to refer to characters in the fantastic Japanese dramas (such as Bleach). It is used more broadly to mean any god of death.
The Shinigami of Bleach
In the Bleach shinigami are souls having a human form, mostly with a black kimono maintained by a white belt. Only in theory, no human is able to see, apart from those who have an important spiritual energy. Their role is to maintain the balance between the Soul Society which is a spiritual world for the souls called “pure” and the planet earth as we know it. To do this they purify the pure souls who wander the earth by sending them to Soul Society by using the technique of Konsoh, which is to give a blow with the bottom of the guard zanpakutô (literally translated: slicer souls) on the front of the soul, which has the effect of a kanji to show and send the soul without feeling any pain in the soul society. The second part of this role is to cleanse the evil spirits known as Hollows by cutting the head with the zanpakutô that their soul is purified and can go to soul society.
Their training
Etant un métier dangereux, toutes les âmes ne peuvent être shinigamis, il faut donc suivre une formation. However, we must have enough spiritual energy to attempt the entrance examination. The souls who will then successful training course of six years full of exams, those who succeed will be able to integrate a division of Gotei 13. Only a few exceptions, the gifted students have the privilege of integrating a division in less than six years, as members of noble families are exempted from examination and can directly integrate a division.
What differentiates the wandering souls in Rukongai Shinigami and people in the Seireitei is that the gods of death feel hunger unlike souls. All people who suffer hunger have enough spiritual energy to enter the Academy Spiritual inside the Seireitei if they want to become a shinigami.
Role
As already stated, the role of shinigami is to keep a balance in the human world. They have two important tasks all related to this goal. The first job is to send souls wandering in the city streets, waiting patiently for something to happen to the Soul Society. For this, the souls must be hit on the forehead by the kanji inscribed on the edge of each Zanpakutô. The kanji that is when the soul is “Beyond”.
Appearance
What differentiates the wandering souls in Rukongai Shinigami and people in the Seireitei is that the gods of death feel hunger unlike souls. All people who suffer hunger have enough spiritual energy to enter the Academy Spiritual inside the Seireitei if they want to become a shinigami. Future Shinigami then follow courses that will form on the bases and the different arts as Kido. On average it takes six years for that kind of shinigami shinigami acadéLes are the same size as humans. Normal as are the souls of people from the world of humans who died and who have “flown” to the society of souls. Note that the strength of shinigami is much more important than humans and it is very difficult to know their age by focusing on their physical appearance. However, if one relies on a few factors, including age given by Rukia (150 years) and the physical appearance of this character (15 years), we may believe that the shinigami live ten times longer than humans . Attention, this information is only supposition.mie and be willing to include one of the thirteen divisions.
Weapons
Each shinigami has a weapon with the name of Zanpakutô, meaning literally “slicer of souls.” The Zanpakutô has the appearance of a katana. The size of Zanpakutô shows the power of the possessor of the weapon. The zanpakutôs are all different, there may be as small or large and all have a type specific to them. There may be dispersed to the other in hypnosis, like ice, fire, etc..
“Let all the waves are my shield, that all the blows of thunder are my sword”
Finally, there is a third and final stage: The Bankai. This is the total liberation of the zanpakutô and the full force of the shinigami. To acquire this precious stage it is necessary to materialize the soul of zanpakutô in the real world and to overcome in order to submit to the will of the shinigami. If this step is successful, we must also training a dozen years to control the best Bankai. The goal of the possession of the Bank is one of the main criteria to enter the headquarters of any division. It is also necessary to formulate an incantation to activate Bankai. Note that the only ones to have been no need for training of ten years to master Bankai are Kurosaki Ichigo and Kisuke Urahara, who followed a special high-risk to achieve the ultimate form.
Ranks
In one division there are different ranks, first it is headed by a captain who bears more than usual shinigami held, a white jacket in the back with the figure of the division which he belongs is, of course the most powerful shinigami of Soul Society. Then came the vice-captains who have a cuff on his left arm to show their rank. Although powerful, they are significantly lower than the captains. Thereafter, there are other shinigami of the division in descending order of power, we can compare them to non-commissioned officers. More about Bleach? find it here on Anime Chat.