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Kensei Muguruma is a major character in the anime/manga series Bleach. Kensei Muguruma is a Soul Reaper who served as the 9th Division of the Gotei 13 until he was betrayed and turned into a Hollow by Captain Sōsuke Aizen. After being treated by Kisuke Urahara, he and other Soul Reapers who shared the same fate formed a group of exiles in the World of the Living called the Visored. After Aizen's eventual defeat, Muguruma was reinstated as the Captain of the 9th Division.
Muguruma is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in Japanese and by Dave Mallow (later Aaron LaPlante) in English. Sugita has also voiced Kiyomasa Katō in Samurai Warriors series, Gintoki Sakata in Gin Tama, Joseph Joestar in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency, Escanor in The Seven Deadly Sins, and Gyomei Himejima in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Mallow has also voiced Straizo in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Appearance[]
Kensei is a tall, muscular man with sharp features, short light-gray/silver hair and brown eyes. He has a tattoo of the number "69" on his chest; the "6" represents his last name, "Muguruma," which uses the kanji for "6" in it, while the "9" represents the 9th Division, which he currently leads. He wears a dark purple A-shirt with a white trim, in addition to green cargo pants, black combat boots, and a pair of orange fingerless gloves. He also has a series of piercings, with one on his left eyebrow and three on his left ear.
During his initial time as a captain, Kensei had longer front bangs, which hung over his face. He wore a sleeveless shihakushōthat was open on the front, exposing his chest and tattoo, and tied it with a rope belt. He also wore a sleeveless haori and a pair of fingerless black gloves that covered most of his forearms. Seventeen months after Aizen's defeat, he returns to wearing this look, albeit with a less open shihakushō, a new metallic belt and mussed up hair.
Personality[]
Kensei is a serious and decisive individual, though he is easily annoyed and is rather temperamental, often to a fault. He is greatly annoyed by immaturity, evident when Orihime infiltrates the Visored's hideout and jokingly asks where the bathroom is; Kensei is noticeably annoyed, only calming down when Lisa Yadōmaru and Love Aikawa remind him that it was only a joke. He is most frequently irritated by Mashiro's childish behavior, once noting that she has the uncanny ability to aggravate him even when she is asleep. His aggressive behavior is particularly noticeable in combat. At one point, he confesses that he is not mature enough to hold back, even against a child. Despite this, Kensei is at times a caring individual, though his attempts at being kind are often offset by his aggression, such as when he tries to cheer up a young, tearful Hisagi in a manner reminiscent of a military drill sergeant
History[]
Past[]
Approximately 110 years ago, Muguruma was the captain of the 9th Division with Mashiro serving as his lieutenant. One night Muguruma and a few of his squad including Mashiro were sent to investigate strange murders that had been occurring in Rukongai. He was then alerted by a Hollow attack, initiating a battle.
Muguruma released his shikai and attacks the hollow which completely obliterated the hollow. He noticed a small boy on the ground near him and tried to cheer the crying boy up. He asked the boy his name and the latter told him that he was Shuhei Hisagi whose family had apparently been killed by a giant hollow. Muguruma and his squad then discovered the clothing of the missing members, and the captain decided to camp out in order to further investigate.
Later that night while they're resting in the tent they heard a scream, which caused them to run out to assess the situation, to see all his men dead on the ground. Muguruma saw the killer who turned out to be Kaname Tōsen who had betrayed Muguruma's squad in order to follow Aizen. Sometime later, a team of various captains and lieutenants were sent to investigate the disappearance of Muguruma's squad. When they arrived they were attacked by two hollows. After battling the hollows for a while, they discovered the Hollows are actually Kensei and Mashiro.
With the arrival of Hachi of the Kido Corps, they managed to bind and hold Kensei and Mashiro. The investigation team gathered after the fight and chatted about the situation. It was at that moment Hiyori started coughing and became Hollowfied herself, and the squad were attacked by Aizen, Gin and Tōsen.
All the members of the investigation squad had been used as a guinea pig for Aizen. He had tested the Hogyoku on the captains and lieutenants. He planned to use the Hogyoku to become an almighty being. The rest of the team started to hollowfy and they passed out. After that Urahara and Tessai found them and bought them to his lab.
The next day Urahara, Tessai and all members of the 9th Division were apprehended by the Gotei 13. The members of the investigation ought to be executed, but before that could happen, Yoruichi got them out and bought them to an underground hidden lair. After that Urahara, Tessai, and the eight victims escaped to the real world, where they would find a way to undo the Hollowfication process.
Arrancar Arc[]
Once Ichigo Kurosaki arrives at the Vizards' base to learn and control his inner hollow, Muguruma makes his first appearance. He comments that Ichigo is too scared to learn to control his inner hollow and even going as far to reference his as a "punk" during Ichigo's fight with Shinji. Muguruma is next seen fighting Ichigo in his Hollow form, during the fight the former shows his shikai and fires a blast from it. The battle is long and Muguruma has to put a lot of effort in controlling Ichigo. During the fight he notes that Ichigo heals and hollowfies faster than expected. He switches out with Love Aikawa.
Fake Karakura Town Arc[]
Muguruma is then seen with the rest of the Vizard arriving at the fake Karakura Town, intercepting Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen's release from Yamamoto's fire prison. When Shinji asks his fellow Vizard if they have anyone in the Gotei 13 whom they want to speak to, Muguruma states that he doesn't care. All Vizards don their masks and battle the Gillians. In his battle against the Menos, Muguruma brings down scores of them in hand-to-hand combat. After killing the last Gillian, Mashiro complains that she wanted to take the last one, to which Muguruma tells her shut up as he is giving her a big one so she should quit complaining.
While Mashiro's attention is diverted, Wonderweiss awakens, prompting Muguruma to yell at her trying to catch her attention. She tells Kensei not to worry. She overestimates her abilities and underestimates that of her opponent. She states that she can keep her mask on for 15 hours and thus she can keep her mask on all night. Wonderweiss and Mashiro engage in battle but the Arrancar quickly gains the upper hand when her Hollow mask shatters and falls apart. Wonderweiss takes the opportunity to attack landing brutal punches to Mashiro's face, but before he can continue his hand is stopped by Muguruma, who has an unconscious Mashiro in his other arm.
Muguruma prepares for battle against Wonderweiss. He then throws Wonderweiss sending him flying. Muguruma sets down on a nearby building and lays Mashiro down, and she weakly asks if he was going to avenge her as she tries to smile. He looks down at her asks her what she is smiling at, noting she is stupid for ending up the way she is and how she could have avoided if she had listened to his warnings. He then takes his Shikai out of his pants pocket and states that he is going to give that annoying little kid a taste of his fists, not to avenge Mashiro, but instead because the brat got above himself. As Wonderweiss approaches him, Muguruma releases his Bankai and the two battle resulting in a huge explosion. He was presumably defeated, as Wonderweiss was later seen in his Resurrecion form and interfered in Yammato's battle with Aizen.
Lost Substitute Shinigami Arc[]
Seventeen months after Aizen's defeat, Muguruma was reinstated as the Captain of the 9th Division with Hisagi and Mashiro serving as his lieutenants. He greets Ichigo when he arrived and the latter was shocked to see Murugama as a Captain again but was silenced by him
Powers & Abilities[]
Master Swordsman: Despite the small size of his Shikai, Kensei can effectively use Tachikaze to inflict lethal strikes even in close quarters combat, proven when he holds off Ichigo Kurosaki's Bankai-wielding Hollowfied form.
Shunpo Expert: As a captain of the Gotei 13, Kensei is very proficient in Shunpo. During the battle in Fake Karakura Town, Kensei reached Mashiro in time to save her from Wonderweiss Margela. He appeared instantaneously beside Mask De Masculine when the latter was about to attack Shūhei Hisagi again.
Hakuda Master: Kensei prefers to utilize his hand-to-hand capabilities. At the same time, he can effectively used it in unison with his swordsmanship. During Ichigo's transformation into a Hollow, Kensei knocked him a good distance away with just an elbow strike. He dodged all of the Hollowfied Ichigo's attacks, despite the latter's use of Tensa Zangetsu, and managed to kick him. While fighting a large group of Gillians, Kensei destroyed several of them with his fists alone.
- Sandbag Beat (サンドバッグ・ビート, Sandobaggu Bīto): Kensei delivers multiple strikes in extremely rapid succession, causing aggravated damage to a target. The technique is powerful enough to not only shatter a Gillian's mask, but utterly destroy its body as well.
Great Spiritual Power: As a captain, Kensei possesses a large amount of Reiryoku. As a Visored, Kensei has a dual Reiatsu of part-Shinigami, part-Hollow.
Enhanced Durability: Kensei possesses considerable durability, getting up mostly unharmed after being thrown into a building and shrugging off a direct hit from an empowered Mask.
Highly Perceptive Combatant: Despite his short-tempered nature, Kensei is a highly perceptive fighter. He is knowledgeable of the abilities that Hollows possess, and knows how to counter them to gain the upper hand.
Enhanced Strength: Kensei possesses incredible physical strength, even before his Hollowfication. During his fight with Wonderweiss, Kensei blocked the Arrancar's powerful punch and hurled him a great distance with considerable force, achieving both feats with only a single hand. He stopped Mask De Masculine's kick with his foot from a position with no leverage.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Kensei Muguruma on the Bleach Wiki
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