About

The following contains series spoilers.

Kaname Tousen is a shinigami (Soul Reaper or Death God) from the anime and manga Bleach by Kubo Tite. He once was the captain of the Ninth Division of the Gotei 13 (13 Court Guard Squads) of Soul Society, the place where shinigami and the dead dwell. His Japanese voice actor is Toshiyuki Morikawa while in English he is given voice by Jean-Benoît (JB) Blanc.

Backstory

Tousen is a man of principles who vowed to always follow the path of least bloodshed. A friend that he had in his youth possessed these ideals, and he idolized her because of it. Her dream was to become a shinigami so that she could use her abilities to make a more peaceful world. Unfortunately, soon after joining the academy in Soul Society to train to become a shinigami, she was killed by her husband because she scolded him for his violent behavior. Tousen took her zanpakutou upon her death and vowed that he would stand in her place and fight for justice without unnecessary bloodshed. He joined the Academy soon afterwards, graduating and rising in the ranks to the level of captain.

During the Soul Society arc of the Bleach anime and manga, it was revealed that Tousen was working with Sosuke Aizen & Gin Ichimaru who had betrayed Soul Society in order for Aizen to gain power and take the place of God in heaven. As the trio escaped to Hueco Mundo, the realm of hollows, who had become Aizen's allies, his friend Komamura demanded to know how someone who seemed to walk on a righteous path could side with traitors. Tousen responded that justice can be found in the path of least bloodshed, and that he hadn't in fact abandoned his principles, meaning that he believed that Aizen's plans were the best way of bringing about the world that he had always desired.

Powers and Abilities

The name of Tousen's zanpakutou is Suzumushi (literally Pure Insects or Bell Bug as translated by Viz). In its regular state, Suzumushi looks like a regular katana. Its crossguard is shaped like a tear drop, and at the wide part of the teardrop are several teardrop-shaped holes. Hanging off the tear's tip is a small ring. Unlike most zanpakutou, Suzumushi has two shikai commands, each producing a different effect. Tousen's zanpakutou is also unique in that it originally belonged to his departed friend.

Suzumushi's regular release command is "Cry" (Viz translates this as "howl"), which causes it to project a high-pitched tone over a wide area, overloading the hearing of anyone in range and knocking them unconscious. It is a non-lethal and relatively painless attack that fits with Tousen's mindset.

Tousen's zanpakutou's second release command is shishi o tsubusu yo ("smash his limbs"), which changes Suzumushi into its Benihiko ("Crimson Flying Locusts") form. Suzumushi vibrates momentarily and, after Tousen moves the blade around him in a circle, a trail appears from the sword's path. The trail turns into hundreds of blades that rain down on his opponents.

Suzumushi's bankai, named Enma Korogi (literally Enma Cricket or Field Cricket according to Viz), creates a large black dome centered at Tousen's location that is anchored to the ground with ten rings. Anyone within the area of influence loses the ability of all sensation save that of touch. The weakness of this technique is that anyone touching Suzumushi's hilt is immune to the dome's effects. So if an enemy is able to grasp the hilt of Tousen's sword, that person recovers their senses.

I personally like Tousen because he is a complex character that is not a true villain though he fights on the opposing side in the more recent arcs of the Bleach manga. He is a noble and moral individual who illustrates how following one's ideals can sometimes lead one down a darkened path that may actually conflict with those very principles.