Yuenū

Yuenū (故縫う (越女); Chinese for "Moon Lady", Japanese for "Sewn Reason")

Zanpakutō
Sōmeiai (聡明愛, literally love of wisdom; idiomatically "Philosophy") is the name of Yuenū's zanpakutō. It resides in a constant state of activation, making its powers always accessible.


 * Shikai Special Abilities: When humans die, they lose all memories, all remembrance, all experiences from their earthly life. The souls they become can turn out to have completely different or even opposite views on their new world. The segregated essence of the being becomes a being on its own, in turn restarting the circle of oblivion and reincarnation. Sōmeiai was the product of every forgotten notable idea, every worldview, every philosophical question ever posed and forgotten. And even though they may be written down and taught again in the Human World, the very core of their substance was always subject to float away into nothingness. Instead, the combination of these thoughts and pure spiritual energy was enough to materialize the immaterial. Sōmeiai converts these world-shaking problems into actual world-shaking problems, that is, in a manner in which they can directly bring down their contradictors. No matter what culture, what point of view, what kind of person stood behind the idea, the idea itself becomes integrated into Sōmeiai. The blade itself expresses the pain and the hopelessness of answering the unanswerable. And even though comfort can be found within the questioning itself, on the inside all thinkers are pained by their inimitable inability.
 * Shōshū Yumechō (庄周梦蝶, Zhuangzi dreamed he was a butterfly); Zhuangzi once dreamed he was a butterfly. It was a wonderful dream. In fact, it was so wonderful Zhuangzi didn't once remember or remind himself of the fact that he was actually a human being who was just dreaming to be such an amazing creature. When the dream ended, Zhuangzi was no longer if he was truly a human being or merely another entity dreaming to be one. Shōshū Yumechō recreates this uncertainty, this unanswerable question through the form of illusions. It intertwines the physical with the metaphysical world, allowing the wielder to create illusions wherever and however he wills it, even out of actually existing objects. The opponent who has to face the technique no longer has closure about what part of his surroundings isn't a mere mirage. Shōshū Yumechō's influence is so strong it can instill pain, alter the flow of time and imitate actual attacks and their aftermaths. Of course, the elaborate the illusion becomes, the more likely the victim will recognize its true nature, instantly dispelling its form. For this to happen, however, there cannot even be a silver of doubt left within the sufferer's thoughts.
 * Kamishinde (神死んで, God is dead); Nietzsche's famous statement doesn't refer to the death of an actual god - instead, it says that when people refuse to believe in a God from a certain religion, they pull away without refilling the void left behind by the sudden absence of morals and values of that religion. When this process continues to build up, humans will no longer believe in any kind of cosmic or physical order and eventually reject the notion of objectivity and moral laws, which will lead to nihilism. In Kamishinde this line of thought is mirrored, kicking in automatically whenever one of the opponent's strategies or attacks don't go exactly as planned. It recreates the emotional doubt and disbelief as a tangible effect, lessening the general power of the person in question every other time something goes awry. Due the very nature of the technique, the effect is exponential, as every time the attack power decreases the expectations naturally aren't met. Eventually, the victim will reach a state of "nihilism", rejecting all of their capabilities and losing all attack power. This is not a permanent technique, and their "belief" - in other words, spiritual power - will return gradually once they are no longer under Sōmeiai's sway.
 * Sonzaiwashinai (存在はしない, being is, not-being isn't); Parmenides of Elea stats that there are two "paths"; that of being and not-being. In reality, there can only be being, for not-being isn't, and by its own nature doesn't and cannot exist. As such, all objects exist, without past or future because they will never attain a state of non-existence and as such they will never change. Every so-called change of form we perceive with our senses is merely an illusion, for an object will always reside in a state of "being", and can never change, never perish. Sonzaiwashinai adapts this concept. Because change of form and mass is merely an illusion, as the object still is a "being" within the greater "being", this ability allows the user to change the properties of any reishi-based construct at whim. She can make matter change between its distinct phases, or even change its molecular composition entirely, converting water into diamond, smoke into solid rock and innocent flowers into dangerous plasma.
 * Jūmujun (十矛盾, ten paradoxes); Not Yet Revealed

Behind the Scenes
Yuenu's name and outline derives from Yuenü, the woman who laid the foundation for Chinese martial arts through her exposition on the art of the sword.

The philosophical statements used in the zanpakutō are my personal interpretations. Of course you could debate about them, that's why it's philosophy. Enjoy, don't hate.