Kenta Tarou

Kenta Tarou (健太タロウ, Tarō Kenta) is a young who, through methods unknown, has fused himself with his. Following this he became a member of Minamoto "Hikaru" Kazuhira's crew on-board The Serenity. He is the son of Jessica Tarou through adoption.

Appearance
Kenta has spiky, brown-colored hair, predominately red swirl marks upon his cheeks, and black eyes with no seperate color for the irises. He is a large and robust young man, and easily the largest individual on-board The Serenity. Due to his large size he is sometimes clumsy in his movements and knocks things over, though he is surprisingly gentle, as Tomoko soon discovered during their accidental meeting. He is rarely confrontational, but can be quite serious in his facial expressions should the situation demand the need; though he is often found with either a smile on his face or an embarrassed look as his normal expressions -- especially around girls. When he does become serious he is especially resolute, which is ultimately shown in the way he holds himself: back straight, gaze ever-forward, and shoulders squared; his expression brimming with confidence.

Before joining the crew, Kenta wore brown shorts, a long white scarf, a short-sleeved green-colored jacket over a white shirt emblazoned with the kanji for food on it, and small hooped earrings, coupled with bandages on his arms and legs. He also wore a blue bandanna which he would later exchanged in favor of a red. After some years which saw Kenta mature he exchanged his old garments in favor of armor on his chest, arms and legs, where he also exchanged the old white and green for red; which matches his newly acquired bandanna. He also changed his hooped earrings for studs, which Minamoto gave him to mark his anniversary after ten years within the crew, and grew his hair out as it now reaches past his shoulder blades. Many have remarked that he is quite intimidating with his new look.

History
Kenta was born under a name he doesn't recall. The youngest of four siblings to unnamed parents who, shortly after Kenta was born, gave him up for adoption. Kenta grew up in an orphanage on Boon Island, Heisekai, never knowing who his parents where or that he had brothers or sisters. When he grew old enough he left the orphanage and worked his way into the Jōren, though circumstances led to his involvement in a certain mission during his sixth year with organization where he was framed for the murder of seventeen civilians, twenty-three members of the Jōren and a Lieutenant-General of the Shuuten and was arrested; much to his own confusion. What happened to Kenta afterwards is largely unknown, as is his background before joining Minamoto. But when he did meet Minamoto Kenta and his zanpakutō had been fused together in a single body. Hunted by the authorities of the Jōren and the Shuuten, Minamoto, taking pity on the boy, orchestrated his death before giving him a place in his crew. Minamoto asked the boy his name who replied that he had none. Thinking for a moment Minamoto named him Kenta after Minamoto's deceased younger brother, and welcomed him into the crew. The name Tarou would come from Jessica Tarou -- one of the female members of Minamoto's crew, who looked after Kenta like he was her own son.

Synopsis

 * Main Article - Bleach (Kenji Hiroshi).

Powers and Abilities
A testament to his power is the fact the Shuuten suggests facing him in groups; and never alone.

Hakuda Master: As he has no zanpakutō to call upon Kenta relies exclusively on Hakuda usage during battle, training, and self-defense -- and has done so since before he met Minamoto and joined his crew. As such he is fit to combat multiple enemies at once and still give a good account of himself. He favors high-impact attacks, quickly executed grapples, and full-body attacks that make use of his robust physique.


 * Kotemyaku (小手脈, "Forearm Pulse"): a technique which has Kenta pack spiritual power into the core of his forearm, using this and a defensive position to almost instinctively block another's attack, upon contact with the opposing force, the spiritual energy is then expelled outward in a shockwave of sorts, allowing him to repel the force upon himself to cause the opponent to lose their balance.


 * Zurashi (ずらし, "Stagger"): a follow-up to Kotemyaku used immediately should the shockwave succeed in unbalancing the target. With it Kenta twists quickly in a half-circle. The motion takes him to his foes back, where he then strikes their spine with a single, decisive strike, which can easily cause paralysis.


 * Tesshō (鉄掌, "Iron Palm"): an open palmed strike that can effortlessly shatter a Hollows head to pieces with single strike. Kenta often uses a downward angle when performing the technique so his body naturally carries greater momentum; something his robust size helps further.

Hohō Expert: In terms of footwork in battle, Kenta is quite skilled, though sometimes he is clumsy, mainly thanks to his superb Hakuda skills and the training received from Minamoto and his adoptive mother, Jessie. However, his skills in Shunpo fall behind his actual footwork. He can move sufficiently fast enough to catch lower-tier opposition unawares, though is bested by better practitioners of the art-form.

Zanpakutō
As such the element of surprise is usually in his favor. However, Kenta says that his zanpakutō was always quite lazy, and as such he couldn't use all of its power from the get-go. This means that Kenta can only use a percentage of his zanpakutō's power at any given time, and can only use more under certain circumstances. Instead of releasing his power in the form of a ' or ', Kenta releases his power in percentages; slowly getting stronger as a battle progresses.

Wariai Kaihou (割合かいほう, Percentage Release): the name Kenta gives to his ability to release the power of his zanpakutō slowly.


 * Ten Percent: By tapping a mere tenth of what his zanpakutō is capable of, Kenta's muscles increase in mass, while he becomes more powerful. Ranmaru Shibata Jr. states that Kenta's true strength only begins to emerge when he begins using this state.


 * Special Powers: Kenta's muscle mass increases and thus his strength becomes larger, he becomes more agile, and his durability is increased proportionally. He also gains the use of certain spiritual-based attacks that require a level of synchronization with his zanpakutō to use, and fighting-styles, which use his greater levels of strength exclusively.


 * Bītosutansu (ビートスタンス, "Beatdown Stance"): a style of close-quarters Hakuda which becomes more effective the greater percentage of his zanpakutō's power Kenta releases. When in use Kenta's attacks are characterized by timed punches, kicks, shoulder barges and throws. It's an entirely physical form with equal emphasis on attack and defense.


 * Raiōken (雷王拳, "Thunder King Fist"): a powerful technique involving a series of rapid punches delivered against a single target. The accumulated force can cause widespread damage to the surroundings and the target.


 * Inshō (印象, "Striking"): a mid-range, physical attack that uses the spiritual energy leaked sub-consciously by Kenta and others around him to sheath the intended fist in energy that is then launched with a striking motion. The energy is fast -- comparable to a  -- and is similar in strength, being able to effectively counter the latter reliantly.


 * Twenty-five Percent: By tapping a quarter of his zanpakutō's power Kenta begins to access his true strength. He becomes larger physically, as his muscle mass once again increases, which boosts his physical parameters to even higher levels.


 * Special Abilities: Kenta retains any techniques demonstrated with lower percentages of release, including an enhanced Bītosutansu, due to his greater strength.


 * : As he is now bolstered by twenty-five percent of his zanpakutō's reiryoku, Kenta becomes sufficiently stronger in terms of the spiritual. Ringlets of blue power emanate out from his body, and a mere step can cause an indent to appear in the floor.


 * Enhanced Physical Abilities: Kenta's strength, speed and durability becomes that much greater than before. He becomes fit to stop, grapple with and ultimately throw an enemy of Captain-General standing -- a feat that surprised even Minamoto. With careful use of Bītosutansu Kenta can cause excessive damage with only a few strikes.


 * Forty Percent: Not yet Revealed.


 * Fifty Percent: Not yet Revealed.


 * Seventy Percent: Currently Unavailable.


 * Eighty-five Percent: Currently Unavailable.


 * One-hundred Percent: Currently Unavailable.

Behind the Scenes

 * Kenta fusing with his zanpakutō was inspired by, who was the main antagonist of the OVA.