| “ | I will do away with them the moment they make a mistake. I will not allow any of these monsters near Karasumori. | „ |
| ~ Masamori Sumimura |
Masamori Sumimura is one of the main protagonists of the manga/anime series Kekkaishi. He is the eldest son of the Sumimura family and the older brother of Yoshimori Sumimura. While he excelled as a Kekkaishi, he was not the legitimate heir due to the mark appearing on Yoshimori instead of him. Eventually, he left home and joined the Shadow Organization, becoming the founder and leader of its Task Force, the Night Troops.
He is voiced by Atsushi Miyauchi in the Japanese version of the anime and Patrick Seitz in the English version.
Appearance[]
Although Masamori is 21 years old, he has the appearance of a man much older. He is tall and has short, black hair with a small crescent shape scar in the middle of his forehead. His eyes and eyebrows are very similar to Yoshimori's. Masamori is always seen wearing a Kekkaishi uniform while working, and prefers to wear a robe with an enlarged version of his Council of Twelve membership badge as an open challenge to those that might target him.
Personality[]
Masamori maintains a calm, confident attitude around his family, but he is tough on Yoshimori, partially because so much is expected of Yoshimori as the Legitimate Successor, but also because he wants Yoshimori to learn to use his great power more responsibly. Masamori also has a habit of taking on highly dangerous tasks alone, such as trying to flush out traitors within The Shadow Organization, in order to protect his family and subordinates, no matter the cost to himself.
Masamori is incredibly level-headed, being able to stay calm and keep his cool in almost any situation. Even when Atora gets taken hostage by Sakon, he still doesn't panic, merely buying enough time to free her from his grasp. He is also very pragmatic and rather manipulative, freely putting Yoshimori and Tokine in harm's way to test their strength. He can also be cruel at times: to scare Yomi into doing his bidding, he threatens to terminate Yoki.
He views his subordinates as family and takes any attack on them very personally. It gets to the point that he refuses to allow casualties even during a huge battle, something that Sakon scoffs at since he considers casualties to be inevitable in battle. Inwardly, Masamori is greatly concerned about both the state of The Shadow Organization and protecting Karasumori (along with his family), and is sometimes forced to temporarily choose loyalty to one over the other. These heavy burdens often keep him alert and nervous privately, and also take a toll in the form of weight loss.
Equipment[]
- Shakujō: Masamori typically carries a Shakujō while on duty. While primarily used to perform Tenketsu, it can also serve as a secondary weapon, a cutting tool, or a means of support when fatigued. However, it is fairly common for him to discard his Shakujō until it is needed.
- Shikigami Paper: Masamori carries several pieces of paper, marked with the Houin, to create Shikigami as needed.
Powers & Abilities[]
Hazama-Ryu Kekkaijutsu: Masamori is repeatedly shown to be a very advanced Kekkaishi. His Kekkai tend to be much stronger than Yoshimori's, and he is the first seen using Kekkai as a bridge in mid-air (though Shigemori later shows that he is familiar with this as well). Masamori can produce large numbers of Nenshi and Shikigami all at once, and has enough stamina to use multi-layer Kekkai repeatedly in battle. In addition, his Shikigami are adult-sized and more humanoid compared to Yoshimori's, which are usually very short and pudgy.
- Zekkai: Masamori can also produce an extremely powerful Zekkai, capable of destroying almost anything it comes in contact with and protecting him from all but the strongest attacks.
- Landlord: He also has the rare ability to spread out his power in the form of a vast, dark ocean, which allows his landlord, Kurohime, to swim through it, creating ripples that detect the locations of enemies.[6]This technique can be easily sensed by other Kekkaishi, and is even stifling to younger ones.
High Endurance: Masamori has notably high endurance. Though his Zekkai protects him from most attacks, he has still survived those strong enough to pierce it, even though they would normally be fatal blows without his Zekkai's protection.
High Spiritual Power: As with all Sumimura Kekkaishi, Masamori has a very large amount of spiritual power. He is able to use several techniques known to be especially draining in rapid succession without any visible strain. In addition, he is able to maintain his Zekkai for prolonged periods.
Summoning: Masamori has a talent for summoning and making contracts with spirits, particularly those of the departed. To date, he has at least two active contracts.
- Kurohime: Though Kurohime is Masamori's landlord (and therefore an aspect of his own power), he gained access to her through alternate means (Masamori was not allowed to attempt Musou training with Shimano).
- Kouya: Remade through the fur remnants of the original, Kouya somewhat reluctantly serves Masamori, in exchange for Masamori eventually breaking the seal that Tokimori Hazama placed on Kouya's mountain home. To symbolize their contract, there is a ring of x-shaped scars around Masamori's neck (Kouya is free to take Masamori's head if the promise is broken).
- Mudou: Supposedly a "good" version (or at least an earlier one, from before he began killing solely for power) of Mudou, remade from the hair of the original. At times he still displays the sinister, detached nature present in the original, but Masamori, while wary of him, still values his opinion at times.
Gallery[]
