Why do shinigami bleed?


This is a question really about how the spiritual body is "comprised" How and
why do shinigami bleed, have internal organs etc, it is shown they do not need
food, so why a digestive tract at all.

All things in soul society is made of reishi, are we to believe reishi is the
equivalent of "atoms" or "particles". "Spirit particles" is commonly used to
describe energy that a quincy uses... so the main question is... In cannon,
has it been explained why shinigami have a body that is still basically
human...




I believe you've answered your own question - it's not _really_ blood that's
draining from a shinigami, it's the reishi of that person draining away, thus
weakening their soul. Ichigo and co (and the viewers) only _perceive_ it as
blood because that's something our minds can actually grasp and understand. In
more extreme cases, such as Ulquiorra, when critically injured, the person may
simply disintegrate directly into particles before one's eyes, due to a sudden
uncontrolled collapse of spiritual energy. Nell's wound results in rapid and
ongoing "bloodloss" (reishi-loss) in her adult form, forcing her to 'reduce'
her 'mass' back to a smaller size, that of a child.




I believe you've answered your own question - it's not _really_ blood that's
draining from a shinigami, it's the reishi of that person draining away, thus
weakening their soul. Ichigo and co (and the viewers) only _perceive_ it as
blood because that's something our minds can actually grasp and understand. In
more extreme cases, such as Ulquiorra, when critically injured, the person may
simply disintegrate directly into particles before one's eyes, due to a sudden
uncontrolled collapse of spiritual energy. Nell's wound results in rapid and
ongoing "bloodloss" (reishi-loss) in her adult form, forcing her to 'reduce'
her 'mass' back to a smaller size, that of a child.

