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Kazumi Takeda | |
Race | Soul |
Birthday | September 13 |
Age | 26 (Physical) 200+ (Actual) |
Gender | Female |
Height | 171 cm (5'7") |
Weight | 65 kg (143 lb.) |
Blood Type | B- |
Professional Status | |
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Previous Affiliation | Kidō Corps![]() |
Profession | Enforcer |
Position | Aristoi |
Previous Position | Vice Kidō Chief |
Personal Status | |
Mentors | Fumio Enomoto |
Education | Shin'ō Academy |
Magical Focus | |
Magical Specialty | Meiandō |
Signature Spell | Kyokkō |
Zanpakutō | |
First Appearance | |
Kazumi Takeda (武田和美, "Warrior Rice Paddy Harmonious Beauty") is a female Soul and the former Vice Kidō Chief of the Kidō Corps, now an Aristoi of the Coven.
Owing to her exploits as a member of the Yorutai (夜隊, "Night Corps") she has earned the moniker of "Onryō" (怨霊, "Vengeful Spirit").
Appearance[]
Kazumi is a tall young woman with a toned physique. With a square-shaped face she has a fairly prominent jaw and an upturned nose. Her complexion is fair and freckles dot most of her countenance. She keeps her curly auburn hair short in a pixie cut. The colour of her eyes is green.
Typically, she wears a personalised variant of the standard Kidō Corps uniform. Her bluebell garments are noticeably more tight-fitting than normal but she wears ordinary sandals and white tabi. Additionally, she is usually seen with a bandana so that the lower part of her face is concealed most of the time she spends in public. The Kidō Corps symbol is embroidered in the middle of the bandana.
Personality[]
Cunning and secretive. These are the core aspects of Kazumi's personality that have a significant influence on her behaviour. She is rather introverted and not one to approach others in a friendly manner. Behind that timid façade, however, hides a truly sly person. Ever vigilant, she tends to observe events unfold and prefers to analyse and consider them before she decides to participate in a more active way. This allows her to act with dangerous deliberateness.
Furthermore, even though she normally spares her allies from that aspect of her demeanour, she is quite deceptive during combat. Her approach toward enemies is markedly roundabout and misleading as she employs a variety of tricks in order to confuse them and gain an advantage. Notably, she values quality over quantity and makes great use of her refined skill to keep up with more powerful foes. In addition, she is not particularly fond of the widespread devastation that many a strong warrior, including practitioners of Kidō, cause during their battles. Not exactly a good-hearted person, perhaps, she does nonetheless appreciate harmony and peace. More than that, she displays a great deal of devotion toward the duty of a Shinigami, especially because of her indepth understanding of the issue and importance of balance. As such, she favours far more precise methods to avoid collateral damage and unnecessary chaos.
Last, but not least, she is a somewhat independent person. She can be rather distrustful even toward alleged allies and may appear to ignore orders issued by some people who technically outrank her. She does, however, exhibit loyalty and obedience toward those who have earned her respect through their prowess and actions. Provided a common enemy she can cooperate effectively with any potential allies, unlikely or not, as long as they are willing to listen to her.
History[]
Kazumi was born over 200 years ago to a low-ranking noble family that resides in the Seireitei. The youngest of her siblings, she was free from any important duties pertaining to the family politics. As such, she was allowed to enter the Shin'ō Academy at a relatively young age to develop her budding potential. She had completed the six-year period of study and joined the ranks of Kidō Corps some time before then-Vice Kidō Chief Hachigen Ushōda and Grand Kidō Chief Tessai Tsukabishi disappeared mysteriously from the Soul Society, 103 years before the Quincy Blood War.
Owing to the peculiar combination of natural skills and personality traits Kazumi became a member of the Yorutai, the primarily combat-oriented division of the Kidō Corps. Many an overambitious mage and a misguided rebel fell prey to her methods, unusual for the division that favours raw magical power first and foremost. Nevertheless, her deadly precision, cunning, and competence as an elusive assassin were not overlooked by the senior members despite, or perhaps because of, their atypicality. With time, she honed her spellcasting prowess to a level high enough that by the time of the Quincy Blood War she had been elevated to the rank of Vice Kidō Chief.
Plot[]
Powers and Abilities[]
Hakuda Expert: Takeda has studied the basics of unarmed combat during her education in the Shin'ō Academy and maintains a high degree of proficiency to this day. She knows various stances and can perform a number of moves with remarkable facility. This serves two purposes. Firstly, she is not utterly helpless when confronted directly and may prove capable enough to fend off an enemy so that she can make use of her more developed skills right afterward. Secondly, fairly frequent training sessions help her stay in shape, since she prefers a rather mobile approach to battle regardless of her expertise in the ranged form of combat that is Kidō. Be that as it may, Hakuda is but a supplementary skill to her and she seldom resorts to unarmed combat unless that is beneficial to do so. Furthermore, rather than rely solely on her physical fitness she tends to enhance her performance with light-type Meiandō spells. Kidō Master: The exceptional aptitude for spellcasting Kazumi displays was recognised early during her time in the Shin'ō Academy. As a result, she was able to focus upon the development of her talent from a very early stage in her career as a Shinigami. Her gift was outstanding enough to earn her a place in the ranks of Kidō Corps promptly after her graduation. Since that day she has spent a couple of centuries discovering, studying and practicing the arcana of advanced magic. Consequently, Takeda has learnt all traditional Hadō and Bakudō spells as well as honed her skill to effectively cast low- and mid-level techniques in utter silence. Even the most complex spells of the 90s range are within her grasp. More than that, not satisfied with knowledge of just the classic arts she strove to acquire much more sophisticated skills. Ultimately, she exhibits a level of competence impressive even among the ranks of Kidō Corps and wields her own subtle and intricate Meiandō with great adeptness. Many Kidō practitioners and experts, especially among the members of Gotei 13, favour the art for its spectacularly devastating might. Kazumi's style, however, is very different from that brute force approach. Offensive spells are but an element of her usual combat tactics and one that is no more important than the others. First, she never begins battle unprepared as she takes care to protect her person not with wards but oftentimes inconspicuous, delusory charms and stealth-enhancing techniques. Subsequently, she engages her foes in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Proficient in the craft of deception she frequently confuses and misleads her enemies with intricate illusions. As such, she strives to erode morale, deplete their energy with futile attacks and encourage them to reveal their own fighting styles for her to analyse. Then, she might resort to bind them with Bakudō or destroy them with Hadō, depending on the circumstances. Notably, as someone who generally disapproves of massive collateral damage, she often resorts to employ light or composite Meiandō spells to achieve the latter owing to their intrinsically more focussed offensive properties. Regardless of their exact type, Takeda is quite skilled at casting spells in deliberate sequences to exploit the resultant synergy. |
Eishōhaki (詠唱破棄, "Incantation Abandonment"): Chants ensure the stability and full potential of standard Kidō spells. However, the time required to recite them might prove to be a significant hindrance in the thick of battle. In consequence, many Kidō practitioners decide to forgo incantantions to reduce casting time. Only competent specialists, though, are capable of using the technique to great effect and without fault. As a prime example, Takeda might reliably cast functional spells that retain most of their power despite the lack of incantation or, in some cases, any utterance at all. Kōjutsu Eishō (後述詠唱, "Spoken-After Incantation"): An alternative solution to the issue of long casting times. Kazumi may cast a spell with the use of its name alone and only then recite the incantation to empower the technique. This skill is suitable for spells which do not require to obtain maximum effectiveness immediately. This includes binding spells and barriers that may be cast quickly to impede the adversary and then reinforced with an incantation to wrap things up. Notably, this skill becomes particularly effective at the hands of an adept Eishōhaki user, such as Takeda. Nagare (流れ, "Flow"): To generate a spell the caster first needs to accumulate an appropriate amount of spiritual energy, whether they draw from their innate reservoir and/or exploit ambient particles in the atmosphere. Kazumi has devoted a significant amount of time to perfect her ability to harness said energy and achieve optimal efficiency. Once she engages in battle she deliberately maintains a steady flow of spiritual energy. Her body acts as a conduit so that she may cast spell after spell with natural ease. Shidō (指導, "Guidance"): Normally, once cast a spell takes a pre-determined effect, nothing more, nothing less. While this does not stop them from being adequate seasoned spellcasters are well-aware of many limitations that result from this simplicity. For instance, elusive enemies might be able to evade a powerful offensive technique so that they devote minimal effort to avoid crippling damage and render the caster's own exertion virtually null and void. In order to alleviate this, Kazumi trained to maintain constant control over the spells she generates. Consequently, she can purposely guide the techniques to pursue or outmanoeuvre her foes. With such a degree of control her Kidō is not a set of "fire and forget" techniques but a metaphorical extension of her will. Kaihen (改変, "Alteration"): Once a specialist of Kidō gains considerable experience and learns the more profound intricacies of spellcasting, one may forgo the basic notion of a spell to rediscover the concept, in a way. Traditional spells are, in fact, mnemonic techniques intended to facilitate the usage of Kidō as performed by more casual practitioners. However, genuine masters are capable of grasping the fundamental aspects of spells and, consequently, are no longer subject to any but the most inherent limitations. This skill allows Kazumi to readily alter the spells she casts so that she employs them as flexible templates, their shape and properties malleable like the finest clay.
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Sekidō Master (斥道, "Way of Repulsion"): There exist several distinct branches of broadly defined Kidō in addition to the commonly known hadō, bakudō and kaidō. And most of these branches remain obscure for good reason. Among them the art of sekidō stands out as relatively straightforward yet insidious in function. Kazumi has earned quite a reputation during her 100 years tenure in the Yorutai division of the Kidō Corps. The impressive number of rogue mages she has vanquished is in no small part the result of her high proficiency in sekidō, the anti-Kidō art. Perfectly suitable for someone who prefers an efficient, tactical and stealthy approach to battle as opposed to the clamour of magical devastation unleashed by the average wizard in battle. In fact, she can well turn their brazen displays against them. Through careful analysis she can produce and deploy counter-spells that nullify enemy techniques on contact, invade and dissolve their barriers and wards, unveil what is hidden or distorted by illusions and even deflect their very own attacks back at them with negligible effort. While a very competent fighter in general, Kazumi is the most effective when deployed against fellow spellcasters. A peculiar case where fire does beat fire. Meiandō Master (明暗道, "Way of Dark and Light"): A sophisticated type of Kidō which exists beyond the standard classification system. Spells which belong to this category do not possess incantations or numbers. Instead, the generation of two distinct focal points of opposite energies is essential for the ability to exert tangible and intangible forces as the caster actively projects one's imagination through them. In short, the art consists of manipulating "dark", or negative energies, and "light", or positive energies. The dark aspect of this art involves the ethereal and as such allows to generate highly elaborate and convincing illusions. These illusions cannot inflict direct harm on their own, although affected individuals experience everything they perceive just as if it were real. Conversely, the light aspect focuses on the employment of the physical in that it is capable of exerting tangible forces upon its targets. This means that Kazumi can not only mend grievous physical injuries in a matter of moments but also assault the adversary with kinetic and concussive forces. In the end, it is possible to deploy both energies conjointly to produce the most complex manifestations of this art. First, Takeda creates the sheer form with dark energy and then grants it corporeality with the use of light energy. Consequently, she may generate completely functioning constructs or entities. While she has yet to explore all of the intricacies of composite Meiandō, Kazumi has already mastered light and dark aspects of the art as performed separately.
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Enhanced Strength: Rather surprisingly, Takeda boasts a degree of physical strength more than adequate for a spiritual being of her level in spite of being a Kidō specialist. She can use that strength effectively to cripple unwary opponents with precise, and powerful, strikes. Of course, she does not rely solely on her body in that regard - Kidō, and Meiandō by extension, offer several ways of enhancing her performance. Enhanced Durability: Kazumi displays sturdiness which is beyond the average for a Shinigami. She is largely unfazed by light attacks. Moreover, she may withstand several moderately strong blows in the rare event she is directly hit. Great Endurance: Moreover, she has trained to remain in fighting condition for extended periods of time. She may continue to manoeuvre and cast fairly strong techniques without fatigue hindering her performance. Great Speed & Reflexes: An unusually nimble combatant for a Kidō specialist, Takeda displays remarkable agility and reflexes. This allows her to easily react to enemy attacks in time to intercept, redirect or outright dodge them with swiftness that may surpass that of an average Captain, even. She habitually manoeuvres around the battlefield at consistently high speeds. Expert Tactician: Kazumi is a creative and cunning combatant. Because her fighting style relies in no small part on illusions she has become skilled in the art of deception and subterfuge. Furthermore, she is capable of combining various spells or casting them in deliberate sequences so as to achieve a variety of impressive effects. Highly Perceptive Combatant: As an astute and meticulous person there is little that can escape the notice of Kazumi. She is highly observant and habitually attempts to analyse whatever situation she finds herself in. Even though not infallible, she is not one to easily fall for tricks or traps either. Great Spiritual Power: In spite of the fact she has not achieved Bankai Kazumi boasts a very large amount of spiritual energy. This ample innate reservoir is crucial for her ability to employ powerful Kidō spells. When visible, her spiritual pressure manifests as a glowing aura of fandango hue. The emanations of her aura tend to instil a vague sense of uncertainty in the individuals within her proximity.
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Trivia[]
- Kazumi was designed as a way for her creator to explore and depict advanced spellcasting methods in an RP. Her fighting style is also quite unusual, especially for a Kidō specialist.
- According to User:Njalm2, her revised Price Level is 36,800.
Appearances[]
Bleach Renascence[]
Obsolete[]
References[]
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