User blog comment:Monkey.D.Me/DFs BACK from DEAD !!!/@comment-4493594-20120129153552/@comment-4493594-20120129160032

Well, duh, because he got a "second life". The DF will only re-spawn once that is over. But it makes you wonder about how long his DF ability was able to "pause". Remember: His soul spent one year to look for his body. Technically he was "dead" during that time.

My theory is that the DF ability is connected to the state of the DF consumer's soul. Once the soul enters the afterlife (heaven/hell/whatever), the DF re-spawns. Brook's soul returned from yomi right after it was send there and spent a year in the "living" world. Thus, Brook was not entirely "dead" and the DF didn't re-spawn.