Bleach: How Many Versions of Nemu Did Mayuri Kurotsuchi Create?

As far as Bleach characters go, Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s “daughter” Nemu is definitely among the most intriguing ones. Although she often seemed like an automaton, Nemu Kurotsuchi was a very deep and layered character whose story is still one of the best in the series. She was “built” by Mayuri to be his daughter, guinea pig, punching bag, bodyguard, and Lieutenant, and Nemu was truly all of that from start to finish, being incredibly loyal to her “father” but never actually losing sight of what is right and what is wrong. But there is a lot more to Nemu’s story, as she was actually the first successful experiment of her kind; in this article, you’re going to find out how many versions of Nemu Mayuri created in Bleach.

As of the time of writing, there have been eight iterations of Mayuri’s so-called Nemuri Project. The first six were either failures or lived for a short period of time, and Nemu Kurotsuchi, whose real name was Nanagō Nemuri, signifying that she was the seventh version, was the first successful one. After Nemu’s death, Mayuri created her sister, Hachigō Nemuri, the eighth iteration.

The remainder of this article will give you a detailed overview of Nemu Kurotsuchi’s origins in the Bleach series. You already know what happened and how it happened, so we are just going to bring you the details so you know the whole context. Be careful, though, as the article is going to contain a lot of spoilers, so if you don’t know all the details, be careful how you approach the text.

Mayuri’s Nemuri Project

Although it was a known fact from the very beginning, people did not really fully understand how Mayuri actually “created” Nemu. She was referred to as his “daughter,” but it was obvious from the start that biology played little role in her birth. It was later revealed that Nemu was actually just a successful experiment of Mayuri’s, an enhanced Artificial Soul with her own consciousness, but still very much dependent on Mayuri and his whim. Later in the story, it was explained that Nemu was created as part of Mayuri’s Nemuri Project, which aimed to create an artificial being (soul) using “Konpaku cells.”

Nemu is an artificial life form created by Mayuri Kurotsuchi, specifically a combination of a Gigai and Mayuri’s personal material samples. Therefore, he often refers to her as his daughter. Mayuri doesn’t seem to care much for her, although that changes with time. He also often hits and scolds her when she has not performed a task to his satisfaction. However, she remains very loyal to him and often worries about him. As her original name, Nanagō Nemuri (“Sleep No. 7”), suggests, Mayuri only managed to create an artificial Shinigami on his 7th attempt.

While the three original attempts failed miserably, the fourth subject had a brain, the fifth reached the embryonic stage, and the sixth lived at least two years before dying. Akon reports that Mayuri was extremely pleased when Nemu exceeded the expected lifespan of two years. Mayuri also stopped calling her Nemuri Nanagō and shortened her name to Nemu. He describes artificially created shinigami souls as the dream of all shinigami, but Akon suspects that this is mostly Mayuri’s personal dream and that he is embarrassed to tell Nemu his true feelings.

After Nemu’s death during the Quincy War, Mayuri went back to his experiments and created Hachigō Nemuri, Nemu’s little “sister” and his new “daughter,” who was later seen as still a child, assisting Mayuri in his Division. This is all that is known about the Nemuri Project. This was one of Mayuri’s life goals, and seeing Nemu grow up was like a dream come true for him. Although he treated Nemu as an object on many occasions, he still had some genuine feelings towards her, so he stopped calling her by her original number and gave her the name Nemu Kurotsuchi. Akon later explained that he was simply embarrassed to admit to her how he truly felt.

The Nemuri Project had only two successful outings

As we have said, there have been eight successful experiments as part of the Nemuri Project. Based on what we know about Nemu and Hachigō, each of them was named based on the order of creation and given the last name Nemuri, meaning that the form was like this: “NUMBERgō Nemuri.”

The first three experiments – probably named Ichigō Nemuri, Nigō Nemuri, and Sangō Nemuri – were a complete failure, and we know nothing about them save for that fact. The fourth experiment, probably named Yongō or Shigō Nemuri, managed to develop a brain, but she obviously did not develop her own consciousness. The fifth experiment, named probably Gogō Nemuri, managed to evolve into an embryo, but that was that, while the sixth one, probably Rokugō Nemuri, was the first one to actually live. The issue with her was that she died after two years, which is why Maruy considered her a failure as well.

Nanagō Nemuri, who would later be known as Nemu, was the first experiment to not only live but also live past the two years that had been the previous limit. Her first major appearance was while Mayuri was fighting Ishida in the Seireitei, saving Mayuri from dying, but also helping Ishida by giving him an antidote for Mayuri’s poison, and later when Mayuri is fighting against Szayelaporro Granz in Hueco Mundo, where her “death” was pivotal in Maruyi’s victory.

She did not play a major role later until the fight against Pernida, where she not only helped save Mayuri’s life but she also helped defeat the powerful Sternritter, although she did sacrifice herself along the way. And while Mayuri scolded her for dying and not being perfect, he was actually sad because of her death, which was a rare emotional moment for him. As Akon explained, Nemu was Mayuri’s masterpiece time, and watching her evolve was a very intimate moment for him, despite his oddball personality. Mayuri did love Nemu in his own twisted way, and while that did not justify his actions, it shows that she was important to him.

Now, after Yhwach’s downfall and Nemu’s death, Mayuri went back to his laboratory and created Nemu’s little sister and his second daughter, Hachigō Nemuri. She was a child when we first saw her, looking very much like a young Nemu, which makes a lot of sense. Now, we don’t know anything else about Hachigō; her age is unknown, as well as how Mayuri treats her and whether he plans on giving her a new name. We only saw her when Mayuri called her to follow him while he was looking for a potential secret research facility in the Seireitei. Obviously, she was, thus, his assistant, but nothing else is known about the relationship between them.

The story of the Nemuri project is, thus, like this. Like many of Mayuri’s experiments, this one is also mysterious. Tite Kubo never really bothered to explain many of the scientific processes in Soul Society, which is why we can only speculate as to how and why this project even started in the first place. Nemu was the first successful outing, which is why she plays such an important and pivotal role in the stories, not only from a scientific but also from a personal point of view, as far as Mayuri is concerned. Now, how his experiences with Nemu will influence his relationship with Hachigō is still unknown, but we hope that a future Hell arc of Bleach might provide us with that answer, as well as many other answers that have been left unanswered due to the series’ rushed and abrupt ending.