Kisuke Urahara

Un article de Vev.

Modèle:Infobox animanga character Modèle:Nihongo is a fictional character and major figure in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. He runs the Urahara Shop, which sells various shinigami items. The shop is maintained by Urahara himself as well as Ururu Tsumugiya, Jinta Hanakari, and Tessai Tsukabishi. He made it into the top ten most popular characters in every popularity poll taken, scoring 8th place and 3,676 votes in the latest one, trailing behind Yoruichi Shihouin by 68 votes.<ref>Bleach manga Character Poll; volume 24 tankōbon.</ref>

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Character outline

Kisuke Urahara always wears traditional Japanese wooden sandals and a bucket hat, which has earned him the nickname Modèle:Nihongo. He is generally a laid-back, jovial fellow, although he can be dead serious when the situation warrants it. Despite his carefree attitude, his speech is always polite, though it is sometimes sarcastic. He can also seem serious, but his tone doesn't seem so. Yoruichi Shihouin notes that he tends to go over the top with whatever he becomes passionate about. He once described himself as a "mere honest, handsome, perverted businessman." During the Bount arc of the anime, when Ganju Shiba calls Kisuke an "old man," Kisuke replies that he is the same age as Ganju's sister, Kūkaku Shiba.

Kisuke can usually be found near the scene of an important event, most of the time when it's a bit too late, but will rarely step in to intervene, preferring to be in control from outside. After the event is over (i.e. the battle between Ichigo Kurosaki and Renji Abarai), he kindly pops up and helps the side he deems fit. Thus far, it has tended to be the side of the protagonists. He often knows more than he reveals and tends to have some form of relationship with most of the story's characters. While he is a major driving force throughout much of the story, he is usually only the catalyst, making others to do the work for him. Despite his appearance, Kisuke is an extremely skilled fighter, using a combination of powerful attacks and cunning deceptions, and has been capable of toying with Yammy, an Espada-level arrancar, with nothing more than his shikai. He also likes building large underground training spaces in secret. He built the first one under the Sōkyoku hill in Soul Society with Yoruichi for their training,<ref>Bleach manga volume 15, chapter 130, page 09</ref> and created a second one under his shop in the mortal realm for a similar purpose.

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History

Image:Urahara.jpg

Urahara as the captain of the 12th Division.

Kisuke Urahara is a former captain of the 12th Division of the Gotei 13. He is also the founder and the first president of the Shinigami Research Institute. Mayuri Kurotsuchi succeeded him in both positions.

It is known that Kisuke used himself as a test subject to attain the bankai of his zanpakutō in three days, rather than the usual hundreds of years of combat experience. Yoruichi supervised him while he did the training. Kisuke also commented that Ichigo has more potential than himself if Ichigo did the same training. This is true as Ichigo had in fact taken half a day less than Kisuke to learn his bankai.

At some point (about 100 years before the main Bleach storyline), Kisuke was sentenced to exile by Soul Society for creating an untraceable gigai which caused the spiritual power of the shinigami inside it to deteriorate and transformed them into humans, as well as the Orb of Distortion.<ref name="Exile">Bleach manga; chapter 175, page 15.</ref> Yoruichi Shihouin helped him escape and, for reasons yet unknown, ran away with him as well. He also seems to be an acquaintance of Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo Kurosaki's father, and of Ryūken Ishida, Uryu Ishida's father.

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Inventions

Having founded the research institute in Soul Society, Kisuke has developed a number of unique items. The notable ones are below:

Gikongan (義魂丸) – More commonly known as Soul Candy, this item is an artificial soul in the form of a green ball of candy. When ingested, it forces the user's soul out of their body. The artificial soul then operates in a preprogrammed manner while inhabiting a body. Its name was changed to "Soul Candy" after its creation because the Shinigami Women Organization complained that the name gikongan wasn't cute enough.
Tenshintai (転神体, lit change [death] god body, Viz: "Divine Transfer Body") – This item is a vaguely human-shaped, man-sized doll used to forcibly materialize the spirit of a zanpakutō into the real world when stabbed by the zanpakutō. In doing so, the user can subjugate the spirit and attain the bankai of their zanpakutō. The materialization lasts for about one day, after which the spirit reverts back into the doll that spawned it. Without this invention, achieving the bankai takes at least ten years, not to mention the many years of combat experience needed. This method, however, is very dangerous due to the fact that it forcibly materializes the zanpakutō's spirit. If used more than three times consecutively, it is possibly fatal to the user.
Hōgyoku (崩玉, lit. Crumbling Orb, translated as Orb of Distortion, Viz: "Breakdown Sphere")<ref name="Hougyoku">Bleach manga; chapter 175, page 13.</ref> – This item is a small orb that dissolves the boundary between a shinigami and a hollow. It can allow a shinigami to use hollow powers and vice-versa. As Sōsuke Aizen reveals to Orihime Inoue, continued use of the orb seems to weaken it.<ref name="Hougyoku2">Bleach manga; chapter 249, page 15.</ref>
Variations of gigai (faux bodies) – Having experimented with gigai at length, Kisuke has created at least two variations. The most notable one is an untraceable gigai which drains the user's spiritual power instead of restoring it, effectively making them human if used long enough. He also developed an inflatable gigai for use as a decoy in combat.<ref name="Inflatable gigai">Bleach manga; chapter 235, pages 5-6.</ref>

In addition, Kisuke has also developed several novel techniques throughout the course of his research as the captain of the 12th Division, most notably the technique to bury matter within a soul and later remove it without any damage to the bearer. This was used by Aizen to remove the Orb of Distortion from Rukia.

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Synopsis

Kisuke's first appearance is along with the other members of his shop, giving Rukia Kuchiki some gikongan. Prior to this, Kisuke, offscreen, gives Rukia a special gigai that will slowly transform her into a human, locking the Orb of Distortion inside her forever. Kisuke also plays a significant role by transforming Ichigo Kurosaki into his shinigami state when Rukia is unable to, and also helps defeat several hollows and block Rukia from reaching Ichigo so Ichigo and Uryū Ishida can defeat a Menos Grande without interference. Urahara also transforms Ichigo into his shinigami state when Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai appear to bring Rukia back to Soul Society, mainly so Ichigo would learn how outclassed he is, and also trains Ichigo to regain his shinigami powers afterwards. Kisuke also sends him, Uryū, Orihime Inoue, and Yasutora Sado to Soul Society along with Yoruichi Shihouin to rescue Rukia.

Once they return, Kisuke plays a more active role in the series. He sends three modified souls to train the four and Renji Abarai by pretending to be enemies battling them, and also reveals to the group the existence of the Bount, who plan on invading Soul Society. Kisuke also helps the group sneak into the Bount mansion, though prefers to stay out of the battles. When the arrancar begin to terrorize Karakura Town, Kisuke and Yoruichi fight Yammy on two occasions, and also lets Chad and Renji train in his shop. He also attempts to hide Orihime from Aizen's view so he won't attempt to kidnap her, though this fails. After Orihime is captured, Kisuke opens a portal for Ichigo, Chad, and Uryū to enter Hueco Mundo to rescue her, and also tells three of Ichigo's friends from school to do their part with their deal with Ichigo. Much later, when Kenpachi Zaraki arrives to help Ichigo in his battle with Tesla, it is discovered that Kisuke received orders from Yamamoto to stabilize the Garganta so that the captains can pass through safely into Hueco Mundo. Although Yamamoto initially ordered it to be ready in three months, allowing for a winter battle, Kisuke managed to stabilize the Garganta in only one month.

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Benihime

Image:Uahara with Benihime.JPG

Benihime's shikai.

Kisuke Urahara's zanpakutō is Benihime (紅姫, lit. Crimson Princess, English TV: "Red Princess"). It is one of the few known female zanpakutō. When sealed, Benihime takes the form of a shikomizue (a blade hidden inside Urahara's cane). The shaft of the cane is able to separate a soul from a body, much like Rukia Kuchiki's glove. The shikai command of Benihime is Modèle:Nihongo.

In its shikai, Benihime's blade becomes a bit wider than that of a sealed zanpakutō and the hilt curves, adding a crimson ribbon and other elaborate decorations around it. Benihime has two known special abilities, one for offense and one for defense, both of which are activated by the command Modèle:Nihongo. Benihime's defensive ability forms a polygonal "blood mist shield" in front of Urahara. The barrier is able to block Ichigo's first use of his getsuga tenshō while only slightly eroding, after which Urahara comments that he would have lost an arm were it not for the shield. Benihime's offensive ability fires a crimson-colored energy blast which is similar to a cero<ref name="Similar to cero">Bleach episode 114</ref> as Urahara was easily able to cancel out the blast by the Espada Yammy by striking it head-on with this attack.<ref name="BenihimeForm2">Bleach manga; chapter 194, page 13.</ref> In the game Bleach: Blade Battlers, Urahara has a special skill/effect that when used, Benihime's bloodmist shield becomes an opaque golden pyramid that completely engulfs Urahara and even reflects projectiles. Benihime's energy blasts also become larger and more destructive.

Benihime's bankai has yet to be revealed, but has been vaguely commented upon. Yoruichi comments that Urahara managed to learn bankai using the very same three day method he created. When Yasutora Sado comes to Urahara for training, he instead gives the task to Renji Abarai, remarking that Sado needs to face the strength of a bankai to improve. When Renji asks why Urahara, who also possesses one, does not train Sado himself, he states that his bankai is not fit for training others or lending power to them.

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