Well, yesterday I got the two figures in Series Three of Bleach by Toynami. Here is what their cards have to say about them:
"Byakuya is the captain of Squad 6. He is the head of the noble Kuchiki clan. Rukia is his sister. His Zanpaku-to's name is Senbonzakura."
"Renji is the Squad 6 lieutenant. Both Renji and Rukia grew up in the Rukon District, where they became steadfas friends. His Zanpaku-to's name is Zabimaru."
What the heck is a Zanpaku-to? One of these days I'm going to have to watch this show. In the meantime, these are very well sculpted samurai-style figures, seven inches tall with rather limited articulation. They both come with a base and a trading card. Cost together: $30. The one with the big saw-tooth blade is Renji, the other is Byakuya.
2 comments:
It's their sword. Or actually their weapon, which always takes the basic form of some kind of sword. Each Zanpaku-to has a unique name which must be discovered by the Soul Reaper during training. It takes a long time, except for Ichigo, who took only three days.
Each Zanpaku-to has three forms of release, if I recall correctly. The first is just as a sword. The second is as a sword plus some special powers that vary and I think are unique to each Zanpaku-to. The final release is a super-powerful form of attack, and is also unique to each one.
Byakuya's final release turns his sword into 1,000 (or is it 1,000,000) individual swords which he controls with his mind. Renji's final release becomes a dragon (again, if I recall correctly).
Ichigo's final release is different. Instead of changing his sword into some other form, he becomes incredibly super-duper fast--faster than any other Soul Reaper. It was his speed at final release that allowed him to defeat Byakuya.
In the Soul Society, during training, Ichigo's Zanpaku-to took the form of a tall man with long dark hair and a long, flowing black cloak. Ichigo almost died before he was able to discover his Zanpaku-to's name. The Soul Reaper must learn his Zanpaku-to's name to be able to achieve final release.
Since Ichigo is not a real Soul Reaper, he can only achieve final release if he is in the Soul Society. He can't do it in the Human World.
I think I got all that right.
P.S. The second stage of release for Renji's Zanpaku-to is that the blade becomes very extended and whip-like.
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