Kaname Tosen

Kaname Tosen was the former captain of the Ninth Squad of the Gotei 13 during Aizen's Rebellion. This betrayal puts him at odds with his former best friend Sajin Komamura and his former lieutenant Shuhei Hisagi.

Information Box

Voice Actors

Japanese Voice Actor
English Voice Actor	David Rasner

Appearance

Tosen has dark skin and dark-brown braids that move down to his shoulders. He has pupil-less eyes that are a pale lavender and has been blind since birth.

Tosen wears clothing similar to that of the Arrancar since he left the Soul Society with Aizen and Gin; he wears a white sleeveless coat over his standard black shihakusho, black hakama, white boots, black long, fingerless gloves, a band-like visor and an orange rope coming from his right shoulder running across his chest to under his left arm. With this outfit, he carries his Zanpakuto.

Personality

Tosen's creed in life is to "take the path with the least bloodshed"; it was for this reason that he felt it necessary to follow Sosuke Aizen. Despite this, he knows of Aizen's plan to create the King's Key, which will require the deaths of thousands of innocent people. He was also willing to attack and kill members of his own division while acting as the Fifth seat, including Hollowfying his own captain. Tosen, along with Gin Ichimaru is identified by Kenpachi Zaraki as being afraid of death, this is later confirmed with him saying he only feared being assimilated into the Shinigami culture and dying a pointless death. Also, despite stating many times how much his friend loved the world, he himself never said so, and in fact hated the world that took away his friend. 

As Captain of the 9th Division, which is charged with the editing of Seireitei Communication, Tōsen 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. This also indicates that his specialty is indeed cooking, his favorite dishes being chicken stewed with carrots and other sophisticated ones. He does not like pickled food.

Powers and Abilities

• Master Swordsman - Though he has a personal philosophy that questions the need for violence, Tosen is highly proficient in the use of his Zanpakuto, which is further impressive with his blind status. During his days as the Fifth seated officer of the Ninth Division, he was able to fight at a captain's level, going toe-to-toe with Shinji Hirako (although Shinji was focused on halting his Hollowfication process at the time). Tōsen's swordsmanship mastery is even further emphasized by him holding his own against Kenpachi Zaraki, one of Soul Society's foremost experts in swordsmanship, even if it was only for a short time.
• Shunpo Expert - Tosen was fast enough to sneak up behind Grimmjow (when he attacked Karakura Town) before he realized it.
• Kido Expert - Tosen has been shown using high-level Kido spells without incantation.
• Hakuda Combatant - While relying mostly on his sword skills, Tōsen is also competent in hand-to-hand combat, using swift and powerful kicks to easily overpower and throw around other skilled fighters like Sajin Komamura, despite the massive difference in size.
• Descorrer
• Great Spiritual Power - As the former captain of the Ninth Squad of the Gotei 13, Tosen boasts a great amount of spiritual energy. His Reiatsu is pink.

Zanpakuto

Suzumushi (Cricket) - In its sealed state, Suzumushi looks like a regular katana with an orange hilt. The tsuba has a teardrop shape, with the base of the drop arching over the top of the blade, and the point of the drop pointing below the cutting edge. A row of several tiny teardrop-shaped holes decorates the bottom of the curve, and a small ring, approximatley 2" in diameter, dangles off the tip of the tear-drop. The ring itself plays a vital role in the activation of Tosen's Bankai.

• Shikai - Unlike most Zanpakuto, Suzumushi has two Shikai commands, each producing a unique automatic effect.

Shikai Special Ability - Suzumushi maintains its form of a regular katana. Suzumushi's release command is "Cry", which projects a high-pitched tone over a wide area, overloading the hearing of anyone in range and knocking them unconscious. This comparatively humane and painless technique fits with Tōsen's self-presentation as a proponent of justice. The ring tone is produced by the vibration of Suzumushi, which Tōsen used to free his sword from the chains of Hisagi's Kazeshini.

• Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihiko (Cricket Second Movement: Crimson Flying Locusts)
• Bankai - Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Emma Korogi (Cricket Final Form: Devil Cricket) - Suzumushi maintains its form of a regular katana, though without the small ring. Tosen holds up his sword in his right hand, and places his left palm against the ring on his cross guard. The ring begins to spin as it releases spiritual energy. As it spins faster, the circle grows bigger and bigger until it's large enough to surround his body. The ring then splits into ten other glowing rings of similar size that encircle Tosen. With a slash of his sword, the circles go flying outwards and form a circular perimeter over a large area. Once in position, the ten rings begin to generate a black void, which grows in size until it forms a large black dome, which is centered around Tosen's body and anchored to the ground by the ten rings.

Bankai Special Ability

• Resurreccion - Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo (Cricket Hundredth Ceremony: Lunatic Shackles Cricket) - The dome creates a vacuum that nullifies the senses of spiritual energy, sight, sound, and scent, what Tōsen calls Mumyō. The only sense the victim retains is that of touch. Unlike with some Zanpakutō, Suzumushi does not convert itself into the massive dome that it creates during Bankai. Instead, the dome serves as a separate extension of Suzumushi itself, allowing Tōsen to wield its sealed form as a weapon while inside the dome, but preventing him from using its abilities. The technique's main shortcoming is that anyone, not just Tōsen himself, touching Suzumushi's hilt is immune to the dome's effects, so anyone able to grab Suzumushi recovers their senses. The dome only exists as long as Tōsen wills it to, or if he happens to become seriously injured; in either circumstance, the dome shreds apart and dissipates.

Resurreccion Special Ability

• Immense Strength
• High-Speed Regeneration
• Los Nueve Aspectos
• La Mirada

Hollowfication

• Hollow Mask
• Power Augmentation - While wearing the mask, Tosen's Hollow powers supplement his Shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in both strength and speed.
  • Enhanced Strength
  • Enhanced Speed
  • High-Speed Regeneration

Equipment

• Reiatsu Concelaing Cloak

List of Moves and Techniques

• Hado #54: Haien
• La Mirada
• Los Nueve Aspectos
• Suzumushi
• Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo
• Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihiko
• Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Emma Korogi

List of Awakenings

• Bankai - Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Emma Korogi
• Hollow Mask
• Resurreccion - Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo

Relationships

Friends/Allies

• Sajin Komamura (Best friend, formerly)
• Shuhei Hisagi (Lieutenant, formerly)
• Sosuke Aizen
• Gin Ichimaru

Enemies

• Sajin Komamura
• Shuhei Hisagi
• Ichigo Kurosaki
• Kenpachi Zaraki
• Ikkaku Madarame
• Yumichika Ayasegawa