Summary
Little was known about Masaki Kurosaki at the beginning ofBleach. It was previously believed that her death was an unfortunate freak accident. However, the truth of her heritage was revealed during The Thousand-Year Blood War.
Masaki has always been the center of attention in the Kurosaki family. However, her heritage held the answer to Ichigo’s power and information about Aizen’s schemes. But who was Masaki, and how does her heritage affect Ichigo?
Who was Masaki Kurosaki?
All members of her family loved Masaki, and she was the glue that held them together
Kurosaki Masaki was the wife of Isshin Kurosaki, previously Isshin Shiba. She was also the mother of three children: aboy, Ichigo, and two twin girls, Yuzu and Karin. When we first learn of Masaki at the start ofBleach, we see that she is a cheerful and loving mother, and the Kurosaki family was always centered around her.
Masaki was also anEcht pure-blooded Quincy. A Quincy is a race of spiritual humans who all inherited their Quincy powers of Yhwach, the Quincy King. However, the Quincy’s were a dying race as many of themwere exterminated by Soul Societyover 200 years ago. WhileSoul Society’s primary goalwas to maintain the balance of the world and prevent it from collapsing, Quincy’s purpose was to hunt and destroy all Hollow, thus leading to the collapse of the world.
At the start of the series, Masaki’s heritage was unknown, and she was believed to be a normal human. Unfortunately, in Chapter 19, Memories in the Rain, we learn of Masaki’s death during a flashback of Ichigo at age 9. During the chapter, we learn that Ichigo can alwayssee ghosts and Hollows, even from a young age. This ability is likely due to his mother being a Quincy and his father, a Shinigami.
With the ability to see ghosts, Ichigo, at age 9, could not tell the difference between the living and the dead. Like Ichigo’s personality during the present, Ichigo, as a child, also had a good heart. Because of this, when Ichigo saw a young girl out in the rain, he ran to her to stop her from jumping into the river.
Unfortunately, Ichigo did not listen to his mother’s pleas to stop; when he awoke, she had died protecting him from the Hollow Grand Fisher. Ichigo believed this for many years before he learned the truth of his heritage. At this time, Ichigo thought he was responsible for his mother’s death; however, this was not the case.
In Chapter 537, it was revealed that Yhwach initiatedAuswahlen or the Holy Selectionon June 17th. During this selection, Yhwach stole the powers from the mixed-blooded or Gemischt Quincy’s to regain his own power. Due to the Auswahlen, Masaki lost her Quincy powers and, in so doing, lost her life while protecting Ichigo from Grand Fisher.
How did Masaki meet Isshin, a Shinigami?
Masaki was an exceptional Quincy, and her do-good nature led to a chance encounter
As previously mentioned, Masaki was an Echt and pure-blood Quincy. However, she was also the last remaining member of the Kurosaki family. Due to this, Masaki lived with the Ishida family, where she was protected for being a pure-blooded Quincy. The Ishida family also had a pure-blooded heritage, which is why they chose to bring in Masaki. However, this also came with a condition.
As many of the Quincys have been exterminated by the Shinigami, few Echt Quincys remain, and those who do place utmost importance on keeping their bloodline pure. As a condition for keeping Masaki safe, the Ishida family took her in to continue their bloodline with an arranged marriage between Masaki and Ryuken Ishida.
At this time, a mysterious Hollow named White, created by Aizen, has been killing several Shinigami in the Human world, which was cause for concern. Isshin Shiba, previouslyCaptain of the 10th Division, snuck out to the Human world to investigate. During Isshin’s encounter with the Hollow, Masaki also felt itsincredible Reiatsufrom the Ishida residence. Unwilling to sit still and allow the Hollow to cause destruction, Masaki made her way to the scene to assist Isshin. She then lured White to attack her while giving it a point-blank blow to its head, killing it.
Unfortunately, this caused White to self-destruct, in which Isshin protected Masaki from the blast. The wound Masaki received from White caused her to experience a Hollowfication, a process of inserting a Hollow’s soul into a normal soul, thus breaking the boundary and turning the original soul into something much more powerful, as stated byUrahara Kisukein Chapter 535.
To save her, Isshin had to stop the “Soul Suicide.” As Isshin is the opposite of Quincy, he is the only person who can save Masaki’s life; however, this would also cost him his Shinigami powers. Without hesitation, Isshin and Urahara quickly sprung into action and connected his soul to Masaki’s, saving her life.
After this, Masaki soon fell in love with Isshin and would often visit his clinic after she became a university student. The two would soon get married, and Isshin would take on the Kurosaki name as he was no longer the head of the Shiba family.
As previously mentioned, Masaki died while protecting Ichigo from Grand Fisher. After Masaki was saved by Isshin, Masaki’s soul was still mixed with a Hollow’s. As she was no longer a pure-blooded Quincy, this was likely the reason why Masaki lost her Quincy powers on the day of Auswahlen, rendering her powerless against Grand Fisher.
Bleach
Cast
Based on Tite Kubo’s battle shonen manga, Bleach centers around Ichigo, a high school student who is dragged into the world of Soul Reapers. The original anime ended in 2012, but it was revived in 2022.
