Unlike some of the other Vizard, Kensei is portrayed as a much more
serious character, often angry at the others for their immaturity. This
anger is seen when Orihime infiltrates the Vizard's hideout, asking
"where is the bathroom" and subsequently saying "just kidding,"
resulting in
Lisa and
Rosecalming him down. A skilled and respected battlefield commander, he has
a rather brutal fighting style quite often blasting his opponents
apart. When outside of battle he has a blunt and slightly aggressive
attitude, trying to cheer up a tearful Hisagi in a manner reminiscent
of an army drill sergeant, though he seems more passive as a Vizard. He
is most frequently irritated by his former lieutenant Mashiro Kuna due
to her childish airheaded manner, and once noted that she had the
uncanny ability to aggravate him even when asleep. Kensei is also very
keen when watching a fight, noticing just how scared Ichigo was to call
out his power.
Master Swordsmanship Specialist:
The fact that Kensei can still fight effectively with his blade at
close-range when it sealed and shikai forms are smaller than most
zanpakutō, as shown that he could take on hollow Ichigo (using his
bankai) during the vizard's training is a testament to his skill.
Unlike the rest of the vizards, Kensei seems to prefer using the skills
and powers he obtained as a Shinigami.
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant:
Despite the skill and power he has in is zanpakutō. Kensei takes more
pride in his hand-to-hand combat prowess, which can be seen in his
physique. During Ichigo's transformation into a hollow, Kensei was able
to knocked him away a good distance with just an elbow strike. He then
dodged all of a transforming Ichigo's attacks, despite his use of Tensa
Zangetsu, and manages to kick him. The only times he uses
Tachikazein this fight are when he cuts Ichigo once, and then twice more to fire
his spiritual energy. Kensei relies more on his hand-to-hand prowess,
and less on his swordplay, making him a very strong combatant.
Enhanced Strength: it has been implied by his fellow
vizards back when they were captains that his strength was high, even
before his hollowfication. After which it was considerably augmented
allowing him the ability to break out of high level binding kido using
brute strength alone, something considered impossible.
Flash Steps Expert:
As a Captain-level Shinigami Kensei possessed considerable skill in
this area, especially owed to the fact that upon his hollowfication his
speed was highly increased to the point of taking his fellow captains
by surprise when he attacked them.
Highly Perceptive Combatant: Despite his short-tempered
nature, Kensei has shown to be a very perceptive fighter. Back when he
was a captain, he was able to instantly determine that his men were
somehow removed from their uniforms simply from how the uniforms were
discovered.
Zanpakutō
Blow it away, Tachikaze
Tachikaze (断地風,
Earth-Severing Wind): When sealed, it is shown as a short katana with a rectangular guard in an 'H' shape and white hilt weaving.
- Shikai: Kensei's Shikai is triggered by the command Blow it away (吹っ飛ばせ, futtobase)
in which air currents swirl around Kensei in a circle up to his
Tachikaze. It then transforms into a survival/combat knife with a black
guard and small ring on the hilts blunt edge.
Kensei destroys a huge Hollow with Tachikaze.
Shikai Special Ability: While in this form, Kensei
demonstrates the ability to manipulate wind while mixing it with his
spiritual energy for devastating effects. In the video games, his
fighting style resembles that of Western boxing combined with
Tachikaze.
- Air Blades: Making slashes allows him to release
transparent blades of wind to cut enemies from a distance. It appears
to be extremely powerful, easily severing and killing a giant hollow.
- Energy Blast: Kensei charges spiritual energy in
Tachikaze and fires white energy blasts from his hand with extreme
force. This blast is quite devastating as it was shown blowing off the
arm of Ichigo's hollow form.
Hollowfication
Kensei as he appears in his Hollow form during his time as a Captain
Kensei is unique among the Vizard so far in that he seems to prefer
his Shinigami abilities over his Hollow powers. His hollow self is a
large bulky humanoid with armored hands and feet and with a number of
thick cylindrical protrusions on its back and forearms.
[1] Also does the cylinders on his back seem to make him a hounchback in his hollow form.
VizardHollow Mask: His hollow mask resembles a flat hockey face
guard with six slitted eye holes in two columns and extensions which
frame his head.
- Power Augmentation: During his hollow metamorphosis, Kensei used his zanpakutō's special ability very
efficiently. One of his energy blasts was enough to greatly injure Love
Aikawa (his fellow captain.) It seems that his hollow powers increase
this special ability explosively, creating enormous blasts by
comparison to the already large blasts Kensei can fire. In terms of
physical might, Kensei's hollow form was shown to give him vast
superhuman strength and speed as evident from his ability to
effortlessly punch tremendous creators and dodge multiple high-speed
attacks from his allies.
