Kensei Muguruma

Kensei Muguruma (六車 拳西, Muguruma Kensei) is the captain of the 9th Division in the Gotei 13. He is also a Visored.

Background
Approximately 110 years ago, Kensei was the captain of the 9th Division, with Mashiro Kuna serving as his lieutenant. He attended the promotion ceremony of the 2nd Division's 3rd Seat Kisuke Urahara to 12th Division captain.

9 years later, Kensei, Mashiro, and his division’s 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th seats were sent to investigate the mysterious disappearances in the Rukongai. Mashiro constantly complained about the fact that they had to investigate something when they did not even know what to investigate, noting that a vanguard of 10 others had already been sent prior to their arrival. Her incessant whining irritated Kensei, to the point to which he needed his other subordinates to restrain him from attacking her. Kensei told her that she was not even asked to come along, and that she should just go home. She responds that she was his lieutenant, so she had to follow him, and then fell down to the ground and went into a temper tantrum, screaming about how hungry she was. However, Kensei decided to ignore her.

Soon after, Kensei was alerted by a nearby Hollow attack. Kensei and his men immediately proceeded to attack the large Hollow to protect the citizens of the Rukongai. Using his Shikai, he promptly destroyed the Hollow. After the battle, he noticed a crying boy on the ground nearby and attempted to cheer him up, though in a commanding and somewhat hostile way, before asking for his name.

Kensei then addressed Mashiro, who had been absent from the battle. During the battle, she had found 10 empty shihakushō close to where the Hollow had attacked them. Kensei pondered on what could have happened to the men that wore the shihakushō, noting that the clothing was arranged as though it was still being worn, and could not have been simply taken off. He then ordered his men to contact central command to request a researcher from the 12th Division, and to set up a camp for the night. Kensei resolved that if there were someone or something attacking the Shinigami, they would eventually go after the Seireitei and that whoever or whatever it may be must be stopped before then. When his 5th Seat, Kaname Tōsen, asked what he should do, Kensei told him to accompany him to search the area.

Later that night, while resting with his 3rd Seat, Heizō Kasaki, Kensei observed that Mashiro was sleeping soundly, much to his annoyance. Kensei stated that he could not fathom how she could sleep during such tension. When Kensei tried to fix her shirt so that her chest would not be exposed, in her sleep she called him a pervert; Kensei noted that she was even annoying when she was asleep. Suddenly, he and Kasaki heard a scream, and ran out of the tent to assess the situation. He saw all of his men lying on the ground except for his 6th Seat, Izaemon Tōdō, and immediately assumed that he was the one responsible. However, Tōdō fell to the ground as well, already dead. In response, Kensei ordered Kasaki to watch his back, and shouted for Mashiro to wake up, but before he could even react, Kasaki was killed as well. Kensei was then enveloped by a black sphere, and was impaled from behind. He then turned his head, and recognized his assailant.

Sometime later, a team of various captains and lieutenants were sent to investigate the disappearance of Kensei's squad. Kensei was revealed to be the Hollowfied creature trying to attack 12th Division lieutenant, Hiyori Sarugaki. Just when he was about to deal her a devastating blow his attack was deflected by the arrival of Shinji Hirako. Upon the arrival of Love Aikawa, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, and Lisa Yadōmaru a battle began. Love went to attack the Hollowfied Kensei, but was caught off guard by his speed as he easily appeared behind him. Kensei hit him with a powerful energized punch that produced a lot of smoke in its wake, which attracted the attention of Rose and Lisa, though when Kensei went for a second attack, Love blocked it with his sword. As the smoke cleared, Love had managed to withstand the attack despite a significant part of his garments being destroyed and him suffering some burns. Love calmly admitted that he was strong therefore it was obviously Kensei.

Lisa went to attack Kensei alongside Rose, but Rose was quickly taken out from behind by a Hollowfied Mashiro. While Kensei continued to fight Love, the Kidō Lieutenant Hachigen Ushōda of the Kidō Corps arrived and used "Bakudō #63. Sajō Sabaku" to restrain him as well. To Hachi's surprise, Kensei used the incredible strength of his new form to rip out of the ropes.

Kensei then proceeded to attack Lisa totally overwhelming her until he was attacked by Rose with a Kidō blast, stating that the Kensei he knew was not the sort of 'weakling' who would attack a woman. Before Kensei could go to attack Rose, Hachi stopped him by using "Bakudō #99. Kin". The investigation team gathered after the fight and talked about the situation. It was within that moment Hiyori started coughing and became Hollowfied herself. It was then that a darkness fell around the rescue squad and they were attacked by an unseen assailant.

The assailant was then found to be Tōsen, Kensei's 5th seat, who was acting under the orders of Sōsuke Aizen, who was the one behind the disappearances and Hollowfication experiments. Just as Aizen gave the order to kill the Hollowfied Shinigami, Captain Kisuke Urahara and Kidō Captain Tessai Tsukabishi showed up and saved them from destruction. Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Tōsen made their escape and Tessai used Forbidden Kidō to preserve and transport them to the 12th Division barracks. In his lab, Urahara tried to reverse the process using his created item, the "Hōgyoku". Unfortunately, it ended up as a failed process, not having the desired effect Urahara had expected.

The next day, Urahara and Tessai were arrested under the orders of the Central 46. The Hollowfied Shinigami were sentenced to execution as Hollows. But before any of their sentences could be executed, both were rescued by 2nd Division captain, Yoruichi Shihōin, who brought them to a secret underground area. In the secluded area, she had also brought Kensei and the other Hollowfied Shinigami, along with the prototype for the new Gigai that Urahara was working on. With that epiphany, Urahara resolved to make ten Reiatsu-blocking Gigai to aid him, Tessai, and the eight victims to escape to the Human World, where they would find a way to undo the Hollowfication process.

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. This is displayed when he tries to cheer up a young, tearful Hisagi, albeit in a manner reminiscent of a military drill sergeant.

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 shihakushō that 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.

Abilities
Master Swordsman: Despite its small size, Kensei is able to effectively use Tachikaze’s Shikai to inflict lethal strikes even in close quarters combat, as shown by his ability to hold off Ichigo's Hollowfied form while it was using its Bankai.

Hakuda Master: Kensei often prefers to utilize his hand-to-hand capabilities, despite his impressive swordsmanship skills. He has, however, shown himself able to effectively use both skills in unison.[55] During Ichigo's transformation into a Hollow, Kensei is able to knock him a good distance away with just an elbow strike.[56] He was then able to dodge all of Hollowfied Ichigo's attacks, despite the latter's use of Tensa Zangetsu, and manages to kick him. While fighting a large group of Gillian-class Menos, he destroys several of them with his fists alone.

Sandbag Beat (サンドバッグ・ビート, Sandobaggu Bīto):[59] A technique where Kensei delivers multiple strikes at an extremely fast rate, causing aggravated damage to a target. The technique is powerful enough to not only shatter a Menos Grande's mask, but utterly destroy its body as well.

Enhanced Strength: It is implied that he possesses great 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.

Highly Perceptive Combatant: Despite his short-tempered nature, Kensei is a very perceptive fighter. He is knowledgeable of the abilities that Hollows possess, and knows how to counter them to gain the upper hand.

Enhanced Durability: Kensei possesses considerable durability, getting up mostly unharmed after being thrown into a building[65] and shrugging off a direct hit from Mask.

Great Spiritual Power: Being a captain, Kensei possesses a great amount of spiritual power. As a Visored, Kensei has a dual spiritual pressure of part-Shinigami, part-Hollow.

Shunpo Expert: As a captain of the Gotei 13, Kensei is proficient in Shunpo. During the Fake Karakura Town battle, Kensei is able to reach Mashiro in time to save her from Wonderweiss. He appeared beside Mask without him noticing.

Tachikaze (断地風, Earth-Severing Wind): When sealed, it takes the form of a wakizashi, with an H-shaped tsuba, white weaving around its hilt, and a black sheath.

Shikai: Kensei's Shikai is triggered by the command Blow it Away (吹っ飛ばせ, futtobase; Viz "Blast Away"). When released, air currents swirl around Kensei, and then around Tachikaze. It then transforms into a combat knife with a bronze guard, light purple hilt-wrapping in the center of the hilt, a gray leather grip, and a small ring on the guard's blunt side. As a Shinigami, he wore it at his waist in its sealed form. As a Visored, he commonly keeps it in this released form and stores it in one of his pants pockets.

Shikai Special Ability: In this form, Kensei has demonstrated the ability to manipulate wind and energy. The manifestation of Tachikaze's power lies in its ability to cause the path of whatever it cuts to explode.

Air Blades: By slashing at the air, Kensei can release multiple blades of wind which cut enemies from a distance and then explode causing devastating damage. They appear to be extremely powerful, easily killing a giant Hollow by cutting it into pieces.(Unnamed)

Bakudantsuki (爆弾突き, "Bomb Thrust"):[59] Kensei charges Tachikaze, which begins to glow with spiritual energy, until it takes the shape of a glowing orb. He then fires it as an energy blast with extreme force. This blast is quite devastating, as it was able to blow off the arm of Ichigo's Hollow form, and in another case, the heads of Gillian-class Menos.[74] He later uses it to destroy a Menos Grande simply by using the ability while impaling the mask of the Hollow with the blade of Tachikaze. The effect is the same, completely blowing up the head of the Hollow.

Bankai: Tekken Tachikaze (鐡拳・断風, Iron Fist Severing Wind): When released, an explosion of wind erupts around Kensei, and when it disperses, Tachikaze transforms from a single combat knife into a pair of large knuckle blades that Kensei holds in each hand. Both blades have a curved silver edge, which tapers off to an outward point on either side. Segmented purple bands wrap around the entirety of his arms, much like armor, while a thicker purple band arches behind him, over his head, with its ends protruding from under his shoulders.

Bankai Special Ability: Tekken Tachikaze focuses all of its Shikai form's destructive power into its knuckle blades. As a result, Kensei's punches release immense explosive force on impact. This explosive power continues to assault his opponent endlessly as long as his fist remains in contact with his opponent. When using this ability, Kensei can change its knuckle blades change into brass knuckles, as well as spiked gauntlets.

Hollow Mask: His Hollow mask resembles a flat hockey face guard, with six slitted eye holes arranged in two columns. It has three extensions on either side which cover the sides and back of his head.

Power Augmentation: While wearing the mask, Kensei's Hollow powers supplement his Shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in strength, durability and speed.

Enhanced Strength: With his mask on, Kensei's strength is greatly enhanced, as he was able to easily smash a Menos' mask using only his fists.

Enhanced Speed: With his mask on, Kensei's speed increases greatly, as he is able to deliver a rapid barrage of punches to a Menos Grande, effectively killing it.

Hollowfied Form: When transformed into a Hollow, he is a large, muscular and bulky humanoid with armored hands and skeletal feet, with a number of thick cylindrical protrusions on his back and forearms. The cylinders on his back seem to make him hunch over.

Enhanced Strength: In terms of physical might, Kensei's Hollow form possessed vast strength, evident from his ability to effortlessly punch massive craters into the ground. He was able to break out of a level 63 Bakudō using brute strength alone, a feat that is supposed to be impossible.

Enhanced Speed: His speed was drastically increased, to the point of him being able to take his fellow captains by surprise when he attacked them.

Enhanced Durability: He was able to block a sword blow from Love in this form with only one arm.

Energized Punches: He is able to sheath his fists with spiritual energy, increasing the amount of damage that his punches inflict.

Arrangcar arc
Kensei is present when Ichigo Kurosaki arrives at the Visored's warehouse, planning to “use” them to help him control his inner Hollow. When Ichigo and Shinji begin to fight, Love mentions that the former is afraid, causing Mashiro to ask what he is scared of. In response, Kensei explains that Ichigo is afraid of his inner Hollow. He then notes that fighting in a bad situation without calling on one’s inner Hollow is a bad idea, calling Ichigo a punk for being so weak.

Shortly after, when Hiyori jumps into a fight with Ichigo, Kensei stands around, watching its progress. However, he is alerted when Ichigo's inner Hollow takes over and attacks Hiyori. When Ichigo's inner Hollow nearly chokes Hiyori to death, Kensei and the other Visored quickly restrain him before he can kill her.

While Ichigo is training on his own, the other Visored sit around. Kensei asks Lisa if she is on guard duty, and if she can make sure to watch Ichigo. Lisa tells him that she is keeping an eye on him, even though she is more concerned with reading her manga, and tells Kensei to leave her alone. Kensei simply states that he knows that she isn't paying attention because she is more concerned with reading her porn magazine.

Kensei later accompanies the other Visored down to their underground training area. While Lisa is fighting a Hollowfied Ichigo inside a barrier erected by Hachi, Kensei counts down the minutes till his turn, and then asks Hachi to open the barrier. As Lisa finishes up her time fighting against the Hollowfied Ichigo, before he can attack her, Kensei steps in and attacks him, telling Lisa that it is time for them to switch. When Ichigo gets up to attack again, Kensei takes out Tachikaze, already in Shikai, and introduces himself to Ichigo, telling him that he is going to kill him.

Kensei stabs Ichigo in the left shoulder, inflicting a large wound, but notices that it heals, realizing that it is High-Speed Regeneration. In anticipation of further attacks, Kensei uses Tachikaze's special ability, blasting Ichigo away, detaching his left arm from the rest of his body in the process. Kensei is surprised when a Hollow-like entity explodes out of the wound and proceeds to attack him, putting him on the defensive. Kensei uses another energy blast to destroy the creature, but a fully Hollowfied Ichigo emerges from the blast unharmed. Kensei tells him that his Hollowfication was faster than he expected.

When it is Love’s turn to fight the possessed Ichigo, Lisa asks the other Visored what the longest time any of them have ever taken to win their inner Hollow subjugation battles. Kensei answers that Hiyori took 69 minutes and 2 seconds and that Ichigo is up to 68 minutes and 44 seconds. Kensei watches on with the others as the Hollowfied Ichigo prepares to fire a Cero at Love. However, before the battle can go on further, Ichigo defeats his inner Hollow, causing his Hollow form to rupture. Kensei looks on as Ichigo regains control and passes out.

Later on, while Ichigo is training with Hiyori, Kensei times how long he can maintain his Hollow Mask. Mashiro asks why Ichigo has to do this; Kensei explains that he has to practice in order to maintain his Hollow mask for a longer period, telling her that she had to do it too. Mashiro replies that she didn't have to, irritating Kensei, though Shinji tells him that it is true. Since Mashiro could maintain her Hollow mask for 15 hours right from the start, she alone has never had to undergo the Hollow retention training. Kensei admits he had forgotten all about it. Mashiro starts to make fun of him, enraging him even more, prompting Hachi to calm him down.

When Hachi detects that someone has slipped into his barrier, Kensei and the other Visored are surprised. Orihime Inoue shows up, revealing herself as the culprit. All of them are shocked to see that a simple Human could perform such a feat. When Orihime makes a small joke, Kensei is irritated, causing Lisa to ask him not to kill her. Mashiro has a temper tantrum because Hachi is helping Orihime fix her powers, complaining that she is so annoying. This irritates Kensei yet again, but they are both calmed down by Rose, who states that it is very rare to come across others with powers similar to theirs and that he feels as though their family is growing.

Shortly after Orihime leaves, Kensei asks whom Orihime was, with Rose and Lisa making their guesses. Kensei is annoyed when Shinji reveals that he knows who she is. Kensei later cooks dinner and tells the other Visored that it's time to eat.

Kensei is later seen leaving the warehouse with the other Visored to fight in the upcoming conflict.

Fake Karakura Town arc
Kensei arrives at the Fake Karakura Town with the rest of the Visored, intercepting Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen's release from Yamamoto's fire prison. When Shinji asks his fellow Visored if they have anyone in the Gotei 13 that they would like to speak to, Kensei states that he doesn't care. When Shinji returns from his talk with Captain-Commander Yamamoto, the huge Hollow creature spews a large horde of Gillian-class Menos from its mouth. Kensei is among the Visored when they put on their masks to prepare for battle.

Kensei stands ready for battle as the other Visored draw their Zanpakutō and attack the Gillians. Kensei demonstrates his increased power when he uses a flurry of punches to smash a Gillian's mask, causing the Hollow to explode. When another Gillian attempts to attack him from behind, he stabs its mask with Tachikaze and uses its special ability to blow off its head.

Kensei brings down several more of the Gillians with his hand-to-hand combat skills. When he kills the last one, Mashiro complains that she had wanted to kill it. Kensei tells her to stop whining, saying that she can have the big one so that she would stop complaining.

While Mashiro is distracted, Wonderweiss recovers from his fight with her. Kensei yells at her, trying to warn her, but Mashiro responds that she is already aware before kicking Wonderweiss’ face, sending him flying blocks into various buildings. Kensei warns her that fighting an opponent of Wonderweiss’ level will quickly exhaust her, and that she should take off her mask before her time limit expires. However, Mashiro tells Kensei that he is dumb, reminding him that she can keep her mask on for 15 hours straight, and that she could keep it on all night. She continues her fight with Wonderweiss, but quickly loses the upper hand when her Hollow mask shatters.

Wonderweiss takes this opportunity to land several punches to her face, but before he can continue, Kensei stops his hand, having grabbed Mashiro. He apologizes to Wonderweiss for not being the sort of adult who goes easy on kids. He then throws him down into the buildings below. Kensei lands on a nearby building and lays down Mashiro, who weakly asks if he is going to avenge her as she smiles. He looks down at her and asks her what she is smiling at, noting that she is a dumb person for ending up the way she is, and that she could have avoided it if she had listened to his warnings.

He then takes Tachikaze’s Shikai out of his pants pocket and states that he is going to give Wonderweiss a taste of his fists, not to avenge Mashiro, but because the brat got above himself. As Wonderweiss approaches him, Kensei releases his Bankai and the two clash, causing a huge explosion.

Wonderweiss later intervenes in Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's fight with Sōsuke Aizen, having finished his battle with Kensei, leaving his fate unknown.

The Substitute Shinigami arc
At some point after Aizen's defeat, Kensei returns to Soul Society, where he regains his position as captain of the Ninth Division. He greets Ichigo on his way into the captains' meeting place, and Ichigo is surprised to see him as a captain. Kensei tells him to shut up and orders him to enter the room, telling the Substitute Shinigami he wasn't just there to chat.

Video Games
Kensei appears as a playable character in the Bleach: Heat the Soul series, particularly Bleach: Heat the Soul 4, 5, 6, and 7. In Bleach: Heat the Soul 6, Kensei can use an energy sphere as a tag-team attack for him and his lieutenant, Mashiro, in which he blasts the opponent with it while trying to stop Mashiro from annoying him. In Bleach: Heat the Soul 7, he utilizes his Bankai, Tekken Tachikaze, as one of his attacks, in which he uppercuts his opponent with one of his knuckle blades, and it creates an explosion upon impact.

Quotes

 * (To a young Shuhei Hisagi) "You're alive! You should be happy! So smile!"

◾(To Wonderweiss Margela) "Sorry, brat. I'm not mature enough to hold back just 'cause you're a kid!"

Trivia
◾During Ichigo's Hollow training, Tachikaze has a black hilt. Later in the Fake Karakura Town arc, the hilt is light gray and purple.

Voice Actors

 * Japanese: Tomokazu Sugita
 * English: Dave Mallow