Why is Captain Ukitake always sick?

[kamo113]

He has had an unidentified lung disease since childhood- it is what made his hair turn white.

[freshseth83]

If that's the case, I guess Hitsugaya has it also? I never read that bit about his hair being white because of his illness.

[ILikeSleeping]

Imagine if one of the Sternritter used Scravelei on him and absorbed him. Wonder if they'd get his illness?

Sternritter: I will absorb you and use your powers to slaughter your beloved comrades!

Ukitake: Jokes on you, I have Tuberculosis (or whatever he has).

Sternritter: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!

------------------Moments later-------------------

Buckbeard: What's the matter? You are looking a bit pale, didn't you read the data?

Sternritter:...

[0Xellos]

ILikeSleeping: Yeah, and Ukitake's bankai must be shooting snot at the enemies and coughing at a distance

[DarkBankai]

interesting posts- but-
SS is the land of spirits. the captains and everyone else there are already dead.
As such I find it strange that any of them could get sick... but I guess its not that huge of a stretch since they also eat.

Perhaps what he is suffering from is not an actual sickness but something that he encountered while in SS or Hueco mundo or wherever that he has yet to fully recover from. possible things I came up with,:
1: science experiment gone horribly wrong,

2r he could be undergoing a form of reiatsu dialasis to remove a contaminant or impurity that he was infected with during a previous fight that we have not seen. -- This would be not to large of a stretch, since he seems to get better from time to time, Perhaps he has a remnant of something that is actively poisoning his spirit. could be an old wound. and every so often the research and development dept filters his blood, leaving him woozy and ill for a couple days but then hes fine again.

3erhaps our traits from life are carried over into SS. so If we suffered from allergies or asthma then we would also have that in SS. perhaps its inherent to our spirit and not just a physical symptom because well in SS theres not really bodies right?

just some thoughts.

[BrunoGF]

Just because SS is the "land of the spirits" doesn't mean that everyone is always healthy and immortal. Everyone there has their own spiritual bodies which can get old (slower than in the human world, as seen with Yamamoto), sick (Ukitake), they need to eat, they need to sleep. Damn, spiritual bodies even have their own soul (Hakushi).

Maybe there's no special reason for him to being sick, just to give Shiba more time "on screen".

[shahdan]

I myself have never grasped his illness. They can create artificial souls but they can't cure his illness? Seems strange to me.

[0Xellos]

Actually, Kon and his buddies were modified souls, they just took normal ones and enhanced them. At least souls can't be created in Bleach.

There being an incurable disease it understandable. Take a look at our world - modern science can do a damn lot of things, even manipulating genetic stuff, but there are still incurable diseases (there are just medicines that make them slow down sufficiently), and there's a lot to be discovered.

[shahdan]

Actually, Kon and his buddies were modified souls, they just took normal ones and enhanced them. At least souls can't be created in Bleach.

There being an incurable disease it understandable. Take a look at our world - modern science can do a damn lot of things, even manipulating genetic stuff, but there are still incurable diseases (there are just medicines that make them slow down sufficiently), and there's a lot to be discovered.

yes, I am aware of that. It is still modification of an ethereal form with no physical traits. I call it an immense feat. If they can do this, then finding a cure for a disease seems a much lesser feat.

[g0dzax]

Well,it could also be because of his own power.Just like Ichigo lost his powers in FGT (yeah...lost...) and just like Yama-jii was slowly burning SS when he activated Bankai,maybe when Ukitake releases his Bankai it affects him,I dunno how but his disease would come from his very own power,and that would explain why there's no healing it.

[Bajan4eva1]

Well,it could also be because of his own power.Just like Ichigo lost his powers in FGT (yeah...lost...) and just like Yama-jii was slowly burning SS when he activated Bankai,maybe when Ukitake releases his Bankai it affects him,I dunno how but his disease would come from his very own power,and that would explain why there's no healing it.

Nice...not a bad idea. His own power would cause his illness. A double edged sword so to say.

[shahdan]

Well,it could also be because of his own power.Just like Ichigo lost his powers in FGT (yeah...lost...) and just like Yama-jii was slowly burning SS when he activated Bankai,maybe when Ukitake releases his Bankai it affects him,I dunno how but his disease would come from his very own power,and that would explain why there's no healing it.

That is an interesting theory. But I would love the manga to elaborate on it a bit. It seems silly that his sickness is an unknown factor when it plays a major part in his over all demeanour.

[Saint Markus]

sick or not, Ukitake was able to hold his own against Stark in his "release state". I think, Kubo will reveal more about Ukitake's illness in another "Pendulum Arc" or something similar to it.