KISUKE URAHARA
KU
Runs a small convenience store in Karakura Town. Hat, fan, wooden sandals, the specific affect of someone who has decided that appearing harmless is more useful than appearing dangerous. Former captain of Squad 12, inventor of several things that should not exist, exiled from Soul Society under circumstances the show revisits with increasing complexity. Urahara knows more about what is happening and why than he tells anyone at any point in the series, and he tells them exactly as much as he has decided they need. The most consequential person in Bleach who is technically never in charge of anything.
KISUKE THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
SUBSTITUTE SHINIGAMI BEGINNINGS //
Open page →Episodes 18–20 · Chain of Fate · Hollow Mask
Urahara does not simply hand Ichigo another sword. He forces him through the edge of Hollowfication until Ichigo can reach the Shinigami power inside himself. The training introduces the inner world, Zangetsu and the Hollow danger that will keep following him for hundreds of episodes. When Ichigo enters Soul Society afterward, he is no longer borrowing Rukia's strength. He is carrying his own.
