Bleach Zanpaku-to Guide

An Explanation of Terms:
Zanpaku-to, Shikai, Bankai Almost as important to the story of Bleach as Ichigo, Rukia, Aizen and the other characters are the swords that they carry; their zanpaku-to. Unlike other series' super-special attacks and weapons, the blades of Bleach are characters in and of themselves, with quirks and personalities of their own.

A zanpaku-to is the direct reflection of the power of its wielder, a shinigami's spiritual pressure given physical form. While they mostly look like any other katana an old-time samurai might carry around, zanpaku-to are far from normal. The foremost difference is the ability of zanpaku-to to harm shinigami. Since shinigami are really a kind of ghost, normal blades and weapons can't touch them. In fact, "zanpaku-to" literally means "soul cutting sword."

The other major point that separates them from plain ol' swords is a zanpaku-to's ability to transform. Each blade has up to three distinct forms which its wielder can acces according to their strength and skill. The first, and one that doesn't take any effort to attain, is the blade's normal form. With a few exceptions, a zanpaku-to's normal form is indistinguishable from that of a plain katana.

The second form is called "Shikai", or "first release". The key to Shikai is learning the zanpaku-to's name. Discovering it is not the easiest thing in the world; some Shinigami never do manage it. But for those that do, they gain a whole new level of power. Easily triggered by an incantation unique to each sword, a shikai zanpaku-to changes immensely, often becoming a weapon far removed from a sword. Also, shikai zanpaku-to usually have special powers a shinigami can use, such as poisons, illusions or power blasts.

"Bankai", the third form, means "all release". Only shinigami at the Captain's rank, or highly powerful Vice-Captains can acquire bankai. Increasing the zanpaku-to's power by as much as a factor of ten, it takes many decades of intense training to learn bankai (or three days of cheating courtesy of Urahara and Yoruichi. ^^) Triggering a zanpaku-to's bankai needs only a one-word incantation: Bankai.

Bankai zanpaku-to get additions to their names, indicating it is New and Special, and it changes even more drastically, usually (presently with only 1 exception) becoming something far, far larger than the wielder.

As of the present (Chapter 183), 26 zanpaku-to have been introduced, and we've seen 7 Bankai. But there are still several Captains and Vice-Captains who haven't shown us what their zanpaku-to can do, and several of the blades we have seen have only given us teasers. So this list is not nearly finished yet.

Bleach Information about Vizard, Shinigami, Soul Society, Gotei 13

Meaning behind the name

The Vizards is a group of former Shinigami who obtained hollow powers. While the term vizard is spelled in the manga using kanji meaning secret army (kamen no gunzei), it is evident that the English visored (vaizādo). Some fans of translation manga and anime, these are referred to as "caps", an archaic word meaning mask.

This reference was termed because vizards draw out their hollow powers by wearing their hollow mask. With which they can extend their powers with that of a hollow. In order to keep their hollow from controlling them, each of the Vizards had to face their inner-hollow in a battle within themselves.

Kurosaki Ichigo with his Inner Hollow

Because the Vizard have obtained Hollow abilities and committed the ultimate taboo (after all, even Kisuke Urahara, a captain at the time, was exiled for trying to merge hollow and shinigami abilities) they are viewed as outlaws, rogues, and freaks by Soul Society.
Group image of the Vizards

Vizards Power and Abilities

As Vizards defeated their inner hollows by battling them in their minds, they acquire hollow powers which adds to their shinigami powers thus making them more powerful beyond any shinigami or hollows. The following are their added abilities once they become Vizards.

• Reiryoku Absorption: Hollow absorb spiritual Power (Reiryoku) from their surroundings, or ingest it from spiritual biengs, while shinigami produce their own natural spiritual Power, some of which is then wasted, or leaked out. By combining these two properties the Vizard can reabsorb the spiritual Power that they themselves give off, making their techniques much more efficient. They can also take it in from other sources, further boosting thier power.


• Cero: They also gain hollow abilities such as Cero blast which was shown by shinji


• Power Augmentation: Once their inner hollow have been defeated, vizard's shinigami powers are augmented by that of a hollow thus making them more powerful in combat.


• Increase in speed


• Increase in Spirit Power

• Increase in strength


• Increase in stamina

Kurosaki Ichigo in wearing his Hollow mask

Bleach Information, Characters, Bounto, Arrancar, Zanpakuto Guide

Introduction

Bleach follows the lives of Ichigo Kurosaki, who is a high school student with the ability to see ghosts, and a shinigami (Soul Reaper or, literally, "death god") named Rukia Kuchiki, who crosses paths with Ichigo while hunting an evil spirit known as a hollow. Rukia is wounded during the ensuing confrontation with the spirit and is left with no choice but to transfer her powers into Ichigo. Thus the adventures of Ichigo and Rukia begin. Together they search for hollows and perform soul burials on wayward souls, cleansing the spirits and sending them to Soul Society. The early parts of the story focus mainly on the characters and their pasts, rather than the actual occupation of the shinigami. As events unfold, the story begins to delve deeper into the world of these gods of death on the "other side" called Soul Society.

Main Characters

Kurosaki Ichigo

The primary protagonist of Bleach, orange-haired high school freshman Ichigo Kurosaki is forced to become a substitute shinigami after unwittingly absorbing all of Rukia's powers. His cynical nature at first makes him ill-disposed towards the duty, but with the passage of time he comes to accept and welcome it, recognizing that even if he is not able to save everyone, he can at least use his skills to protect those close to him. Later, when Ichigo loses his powers as a substitute, he chooses to risk death in an attempt to become a full-fledged shinigami.

Rukia Kuchiki

Rukia Kuchiki is a shinigami who was sent on a hollow extermination patrol in Ichigo Kurosaki's hometown. Though her physical appearance is that of a teenage girl, she is actually over a hundred years old. Rukia is forced to transfer her power to Ichigo and assume a temporary lifestyle as a regular human. She registers at the local high school and takes up residence in Ichigo's closet, while teaching him how to be a substitute shinigami in her place.

Orihime Inoue

Orihime Inoue is a long-time classmate of Ichigo, closely linked to him by mutual friend Tatsuki Arisawa. She is effectively an orphan, as she and her elder brother Sora ran away from their abusive home at a young age, and her brother later died. Though initially devoid of spiritual powers, she begins to develop spiritual awareness and later possesses some of the most powerful healing abilities in the Bleach universe, able to completely restore a body to its previous state regardless of how severely it is wounded.

Yasutora "Chad" Sado

Yasutora Sado, better known as Chad, is one of Ichigo's few friends at school. He is a half-Japanese, half-Mexican student who towers over his classmates. Despite his imposing appearance he is quite meek, and refuses to fight unless it is for the sake of another. He does not have any awareness of ghosts at first, but when he witnesses a group of children being attacked by a hollow he discovers a unique ability that turns his right arm into metal and lets him fight hollows.

Kisuke Urahara

A mysterious and cheery man, Kisuke Urahara runs the Urahara shop, a candy store that also sells supernatural items to shinigami. Despite his sanguine nature he is one of the most significant figures in the Bleach universe, bearing immense knowledge of the spiritual realms which he uses to mastermind the operations of the protagonists.

Uryu Ishida

Though on the surface nothing more than the solitary class genius, Uryū Ishida is actually a Quincy, descendant of a line of priest-like hollow-hunting archers. He bears a deep grudge against all shinigami, including Ichigo Kurosaki, but comes to view Ichigo differently over time, eventually becoming an ally and friendly rival.

Renji Abarai

Renji Abarai is an elite shinigami bearing the rank of 6th Division lieutenant, making him second in command of a sub-branch of the shinigami armed forces. Although first introduced as a deadly enemy, he has conflicting loyalties between his job and Rukia, with whom he grew up. A brash and driven man, he holds both a deep respect and animosity for his immediate superior, 6th Division captain Byakuya Kuchiki.