Other than watching it, I enjoy looking for extra information about my favorite anime. Here is some, and more will be coming. Feel free to comment or post your trivia ^__^
Shinigami has been portrayed from many different angle in various anime.
In Bleach, shinigami serve as a conductor, sending the souls of ordinary ghosts, called "Pluses," to Soul Society, and purifying the souls of bad ghosts, called "Hollows," then sending it to Soul Society as well. They are dressed in black, traditional-looking Japanese clothing and their tool of the trade is a zanpakutÃ�� (æ�¬éÂ��) (translated as 'Soul Slayer')which looks similar to a katana. In addition to a knowledge of swordsmanship, they are also usually acquainted with a form of demon arts. Shinigami themselves were human souls that have separated from the body.
How about the other anime/manga?
* Death Note (manga)
Each shinigami possesses a book called Death Note � a notebook with blank pages that can be used to kill a person simply by writing that person's name on it. Shinigami can have wings and a monster-like appearance. Sort of an on the spot killer... :P
* Full Moon o Sagashite (manga and anime)
The Shinigami of this series ensure that a person dies at moment they are fated to die by interfering with circumstances and events that would cause an early death; they then act as a conductor
Where does shinigami comes from?
One theory states that this rakugo is based off of an Italian opera Crispino e la Comare which was in turn based off of Der Gevatter Tod, a German fairy tale recorded by the Grimm brothers. Perhaps the first use of the term "shinigami" in Japanese.
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merged: 01-09-2006 ~ 10:29pm
Here are other trivias of Bleach Anime:
With the permission of Kubo Taitou, Bleach has been made into musical show with the title of: Rock Musical Bleach during last August 17 - 28 2005. The musical features chapter 56-98 of the manga and all of the major shinigamis in Bleach takes part on it.
Here is the cast:
Ichigo Kurosaki - Isaka Tatsuya
Kuchiki Rukia - Sato Miki
Chad - Yoshida Naofumi
Urahara - Itou Yousuke
Orihime - Yoshii Rei
Hitsugaya Toushirou - Nagayama Takashi
Ichimaru Gin - Tsuchiya Yuuichi
Kuchiki Byakuya - Hayashi Shuji
Hinamori Momo - Saito Kumiko
Abarai Renji - Moriyama Eiji
Aizen - Okuchi Kengo
Ishida Uryuu - Kitamura Eiki