Board Thread:Fanon Canon/@comment-2089817-20151116044304/@comment-24384232-20151117035529

Well, given what we've seen from Unohana and Yamamoto, its clear that a spiritual world does exist. There were thousands of schools spanning across... who knows how big an area. But like I mentioned, Doubutsu Kato's existence does fit, and I'll explain a bit more on that. Komamura's great grandfather explained that the world was not in danger, that it was just different people who were going to take control over it. The way he says its, its like... a cycle or at least an event he has witnessed before. So we can sumrise that at some point there is a great upheveal, something that seemingly threatened the realm.

I do think you are right, but not in the sense that the Soul King has been replaced. Yhwach refers to him as father, and if thats the case, and given the timeline he's presumably the same thats been around for 2000+ years. I do however believe that he has been a target in the past, and that events may have endangered him to the point where the plan was put into place.

As for the state, look at the progression of japanese mythology. There was an early period where worship for animals spirits was more prominent, who were then referred to as the Ainu. They worshiped animals as gods, and if we translate that into an era you have Doubutsu Kato. An era where animal clans ruled and dominated the spiritual world. Then came Amaterasu and all of that changed, eventually those animal gods became mere spirits, youkai, demons and the like. She became the patron god of Japan and it was her descendents who pacified japan, who brought balance to a world in chaos.

Thus we have the mythological and spiritual rise of Ninigi, the future Soul King/Emperor of Japan and the eventual destruction of Doubutsu Kato, both inspired by the real world cultural change.