Kaname Tōsen
Kaname Tōsen is a anime and manga male character who features in Bleach.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Kaname Tōsen (Japanese: 東仙 要, Hepburn: Tōsen Kaname) was a male spiritual being who came to inhabit the Soul Society. In those years, he met a woman who was special to him where he heard of her dream of becoming a Shinigami so that she would use her powers to maintain a peaceful world and came to idolise her. Soon afterwards, she was accepted into the Shin'ō Academy but she came to be killed by her husband after she scolded him for killing a comrade in a petty argument. Despite his crime, the man was not punished and Kaname sought an audience from Central 46 to ask why the man did not pay for his crime. However, he was denied entry and the guards instead forcibly took him away from the scene. From that point onwards, Tōsen vowed that he fought fight for justice and do so without unnecessary bloodshed. This saw him shortly afterwards joining the Shinigami Academy in order to be trained as a Shinigami. Whilst the Shinigami Academy, he was noted to had met Sajin Komamura with the two finding the other to be a kindred spirit. Eventually, the pair came to join the ranks of the Gotei 13 and reached high ranking positions though saw each other less due to their respective duties to their divisions. At some point, he was noted to had transferred from the 5th Division to the 9th Division. Later on, he came to fall under the influence of Sōsuke Aizen and decided to willingly follow him in his goals.
Around 100 years ago, Tōsen held the position of 5th Seat of the 9th Division where he served under Captain Kensei Muguruma. He accompanied his captain alongside Lieutenant Mashiro Kuna along with his 3rd, 4th and 6th seats as they went to investigate a series of disappearances in Rukongai. During this time, Mashiro constantly complained about the fact that they were being sent to investigate the matter and knew nothing of the nature of the threat. A vanguard of 10 were sent to prepare the site for the others where Mashiro's complaints came to irritate Kensei causing him to have to be physically restrained from attacking her by his subordinates. Shortly afterwards, they were alerted of a Hollow attack where they protected the people of Rukongai from one such a large creature. Kensei came to release his Shikai that completely obliterated the Hollow where the shinigami later found 10 empty shihakushō close to the site of the recent attack. This led to them determining that something was targeting and killing shinigami where he requested a researcher from the 12th division to help in the investigation. Meanwhile, Tōsen joined Kensei as they searched the area for the culprit where by night he stood guard only to be secretly killing his fellow shinigami. It was then that the mastermind of these attacks arrived which was Sōsuke Aizen who was accompanied by Gin Ichimaru. He revealed that he was secretly conducting experiments in Hollowification on shinigami and had infected the Gotei 13 members at the scene causing them to sprout Hollow masks. The scene was interrupted by Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi who looked to stop Aizen though Sōsuke along with Tōsen and Ichimaru looked to leave the scene before they were discovered by the rest of the Soul Society.
Sometime afterwards, he came to witness Kenpachi Zaraki arriving in the Seireitei where he killed the captain of the 11th Division and took his place. Later on, Tōsen came to reach the rank of captain and headed the 9th Division. During this time, he became a mentor to Shūhei Hisagi who served as his lieutenant. In this time, he accompanied Aizen and Ichimaru to Hueco Mundo where they visited the Hollow Baraggan Louisenbairn who ruled as Lord of Los Noches and king of this realm. Aizen intended to take over to set up the region as part of his base of operations and a place for him to enact his plans. For that, he wanted the fealty of the Hollows though they came to attack the three shinigami. Despite their numbers, Tōsen and Ichimaru decimate the Hollows with Aizen having hidden this using the power of his Zanpakutō. Aizen then revealed it to Baraggan Louisenbairn thus showcasing his power leading to him agreeing to serve the shinigami in exchange for greater power.
Soul Society
During the Ryoka incursion, Tōsen attended the emergency meeting of the captain's where he explained that the 13th Division's head was excused for his injury. He then remained silent throughout the meeting as he witnessed the constant bickering of his fellow officers. Tōsen and Komamura later came to discuss the recent apparent death of Sōsuke Aizen with Retsu Unohana after she finished the autopsy. She came to confirm his seeming demise and ruled out the possibility that this was a fake body. She then told the captains to return to their posts after she completed her examination. Kaname came to tell his lieutenant about the death of Captain Aizen and that he was stepping out into the field to find the person responsible for the murder and ending the Ryoka intrusion in the Seiretei. Captain Tōsen came to find one of his quarry by the stairs to the Shishinrō with this being Uryū Ishida who Kaname disabled using his Shikai. He later met with Captain Komamura where he commented that the pair continued to walk down the same path. The pair and their lieutenants confronted Kenpachi Zaraki over his decision to help the Ryoka intruders. Tōsen came to unleash his Bankai against Zaraki which encased the pair in a sphere of darkness. Kaname thought that with his senses he was at an advantage and would easily defeat Kenpachi as a result. However, Zaraki was able to close the distance between them by trapping Tōsen nearby allowing Kenpachi to defeat his opponent. Badly injured, Kaname's Bankai was dispelled though was still determined to fight for justice with Zaraki about to finish him off when he was interrupted by Komamura who saved his friend. Despite that, Tōsen stood alongside Aizen's side after the traitors to the Soul Society were revealed to everyone. His old friend Komamura demanded an explanation on how he could abandon his ideals towards justice with Tōsen replying that he continued to walk the path of least bloodshed. They then departed when a Menos Grande took Aizen, Ichimura and Tōsen which helped transport them to Hueco Mundo via a Garganta.
Hueco Mundo
Within Hueco Mundo, Aizen came to take residence in the capital of Los Noches where he took command of his Espada. Both Tōsen and Ichimaru took senior ranking positions as Aizen's enforcers where they began to wear the uniform of the Arrancar. At some point, he subjected himself to Aizen's Arrancar experiments where he was transformed and came to gain the power to adopt a Resurrección as well as could heal from his injuries. He later came to learn that the Espada Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez had defied orders and taken a group of Arrancar without permission into the world of the living where he intended to eliminate anyone with notable spiritual pressure. Tosen opened a portal from Huenco Mundo to Earth where he interrupted the fight between Grimmjow and Ichigo Kurosaki where he forced the Espada to return to face judgement for his actions. Taken before Aizen, Kaname stated that Grimmjow had disrespected their leader and broken the rules with him stating that the Arrancar should be executed for his disobedience. However, Aizen decided to overlook the matter stating that in his own way that Grimmjow was following his wishes. Despite that, Kaname believed that the Arrancar should be punished for his actions and he severed Grimmjow's arm and destroyed it to prevent it from being re-attached. An angry Jaegerjaquez was ready to battle Tosen but Aizen stepped into the matter to stop any further fighting.
Later on, Nnoitra Gilga who was the 5th Espada was killed in a battle against Kenpachi Zaraki. By this point, Tōsen was with Aizen and Gin when Sosuke announced taht the entire kidnapping of Orihime Inoue was simply a ruse. The plan was to deprive the Soul Society of a valuable asset where in a rescue attempt Aizen could launch his own attack. The intention was to open a path to Karakura Town in order to sacrifice it to make the Oken key with Kaname joining Aizen as he led the Espada into the world of the living.
Fake Karakura Town
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Kaname Tōsen had dark skin and dark brown hair where he had solid white eyes that lacked pupils or irises.
His creed in life was said to be, "take the path with the least bloodshed". He once told Grimjoww that justice without a great cause begot nothing more than slaughter. However, that same slaughter in the name of a great cause was justice. Gin Ichimaru claimed that both Kaname Tōsen and Kenpachi Zaraki were afraid of death. Tōsen himself had confirmed this by stating that the one thing he feared was being assimilated into shinigami culture and dying a pointless death.
Despite his calm attitude, he did acknowledge that even he experienced fear and noted that this was a perfect reaction in battle. In fact, Kaname believed that those who did not know fear were not fit for battle. This was a word of advice he gave to his former lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi after he felt uncertain of being a shinigami after feeling fear on a mission. He stated that the most important thing for a soldier was not power but a heart that knew its limitations.
It was said that he could be counted on to follow the rules to the letter. According to Tosen, killing as part of a duty provided a reason for doing so and distinguished the act from murdering others.
The death of his closest friend led to Tōsen dedicating himself to the pursuit of justice against the Soul Society for allowing her killer to go free. He came to hate the world for taking his friend away with this contrasting with her ideals. He had said that one could not live a peaceful life if they did not avenge the dead with such an act being seen as evil to him. It was these personality traits that led to him betraying the Soul Society and siding with Aizen.
When he was the captain of the 9th Division, he was charged with the editing of Seireitei Communication and was the chief editor of the journal. He himself wrote a serialization titled "The Path of Justice" which was not very popular until he began to publish cooking recipes in his articles which made them more popular among female Shinigami.
After using his resurrección, Kaname developed the ability to see again though this led to him becoming arrogant and carried away as a result. This meant that he did not rely on his other senses in battle as he used to before when he was blind. It was this obsession with his eyes and sight that led him to falling prey to attacks that he wold never have succumbed to when he was blind.
Tōsen saw Kenpachi as a monster who served no purpose but to create chaos and would eventually break the tenuous peace of Soul Society. He held similar views about Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez who he thought of as a killing machine that will cause only more bloodshed in the world. The Arrancar Wonderweiss Margela was shown to have a large affection towards Kaname with Tōsen explaining that this was because they were both pure spirits and that pure spirits tended to attract and follow each other.
Powers and abilities
As a soul (魂魄, Konpaku), Kaname Tōsen was a spiritual being from the Soul Society that could manifest spiritual pressure to achieve a number of feats and techniques. It was these traits that allowed him to eventually qualify to be a shinigami. Though unable to see, he had always been able to detect the presence of another person with only a few exceptions.
A skilled and competent hand-to-hand fighter, Tōsen used swift and powerful kicks to easily overpower and throw around other skilled fighters even those that had a massive difference in size over him. Kaname was skilled in the Shunpo (瞬歩, Flash Steps) that was a fast movement technique. This allowed him to sneak up behind Grimmjow before he realized it and even intercept Shinji Hiraki's attack for Aizen.
Tōsen was shown to be familiar in the use of Kidō (鬼道, Demon/Spirit Way; Viz "Demon Arts") techniques. He was able to use high level Kidō spells without incantation. Among the spells he knew included:
- Hadō #54. Haien (廃炎, Abolishing Flames; Viz "Abolition Flame") :
He came to wield a Zanpakutō (斬魄刀, Soul-Cutter Sword; Viz "Soul Slayer") named Suzumushi (清虫, Cricket; Viz "Bell Bug") which in its sealed state looked like a regular katana with an orange hilt. The tsuba was shown to have a teardrop shape with the base of the drop arcing over the top of the blade and the point of the drop pointing below the cutting edge. It was shown that his sword had a number of unique effects that were tied to sound. These could be triggered by uttering his shikai (始解, Initial Release) command which was "Cry" (鳴け, nake; Viz "Howl"). This resulted in Suzumushi producing vibrations where it projected a high-pitched tone over a wide area that overloaded anyone in range and knocking them unconscious. One technique using his shikai was Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihikō (清虫二式紅飛蝗, Cricket 2nd Movement: Crimson Flying Locusts) that changed the blade to its Benihikō form. Suzumushi vibrated momentarily with Tōsen moving the blade around him in a semi-circle whereupon a trail appeared following the sword's path. The trail then turned into hundreds of blades which then rained down on his opponents
Kaname was able to unleash his sword's full power with his bankai (卍解, Final Release) which took the form of Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi (清虫終式閻魔蟋蟀, Cricket Final Form: Devil Cricket; Viz "Bell Bug Closing Ceremony: Field Cricket").
Whilst serving Aizen, he came to gain the ability of Hollowification whereby he was able to create a featureless Hollow mask over his face. In this state, he was shown as being far more powerful than before. This allowed him to use abilities of an Arrancar such as giving him the power to use the Descorrer (解空(デスコレール), Desukorēru; Spanish for "Drawing Back/Opening", Japanese for "Loosed Void") where he could open a Garganta allowing for travel between Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living. He could trigger a more powerful state by activating his Hollow mask that covered most of his head, neck, and throat, with the exception of a small hole in the back for his hair.
The experiments also gave him the power of a Resurrección (帰刃 (レスレクシオン), Resurekushion; Spanish for "Resurrection", Japanese for "Returning Blade") that was normally associated with an Arrancar. Tōsen's took the form of Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo (清虫百式狂枷蟋蟀 (グリジャル・グリージョ), Gurijaru Gurījo; Spanish for "Chirping Cricket, "Japanese for "Bell Cricket Hundredth Style: Insane-Fettered Cricket"; Viz "Bell Bug Hundredth Ceremony: Crazed Cricket") which was triggered by holding his Zanpakutō upside down. Upon release, he was enveloped in darkness and transformed into a bestial Hollow-like creature.
In the Soul Society, he came to join the ranks of the Gotei 13 (護廷十三隊, Goteijūsantai; lit. "13 Division Imperial Guards"; Viz "Thirteen Court Guard Companies") where he served as the former 5th Seat of the 9th Division. Later on, he he came to rise to the position of Captain of the 9th Division. This was until his betrayal was revealed and he abandoned the Soul Society.
Notes
- Kaname Tōsen was created by Tite Kubo where he featured in the setting of Bleach.
In other media
Television
- In Bleach, Kaname Tōsen appeared in the setting of the anime television series adaptation where he was voiced by Japanese actor Toshiyuki Morikawa and initially by English actor David Rasner and later by actor Brian Palermo in the dub.
Video games
Appearances
- Bleach:
External Links
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