In reading Fuma Kotaro, I have concluded that he isn't a character but a living being. As if he was literally living, as if I was in his shoes I would fall and resort to the same thing as him. He is completely realistic. The death of his wife changing everything about him, similiar to that of a king who has lost everything and is now a peasant. I was interested as the death of his partner not only changed his appearance, but completely altered the once incredible handsome and "personification of happiness" Fuma to a now dark night if you will. Unable or literally forgetting how to even smile! His personality then drastically changed to those around him. He soon became a callous heartless person using others as pawns and mere subjects of entertainment. These emotions, feelings or whatever you call them that were being felt by Fuma are completely understandable, as I believe that any normal person whould also drift into such a horrible despair similair to he did after his wife passing. To tell the truth I nearly cried a little as I read of this mans story and his drop from greatness.
This character extreme amount of intellect and cunning are very practical and deadly in battle and should not be under sold. Despite his lack of Hakuda he makes up for it and then some with his incredible swordplay and kido prowess. His extensinve knowledge of Kido is vey deadly as he can use kido with the upmost skill in battle and can use it rapidly and violently and I suggest it be a precaution his enemies take. On his Zanpaktou, he is know weielding the power to travel through space and time! His moves are now unreadible, and can be very fatal to a opponent in battle! He is just to good to be left alone and you must always keep both eyes on him in a fight.
Overall, he is a very emotional character in my perspective and has suffered a tremendous deal, losing a close loved one. His powers can be very easily understood but defeating him is a entirely different thing. As he can completely change a battle around with his proficeint kido powers and skilled and very well thought out shikai powers. Twonjr2 04:05, May 8, 2011 (UTC)
Firegod's short review[]
You know me Kou, I'll be blunt to save some time, so..where to start? I could not help but laugh at the "human plum". But as always, your work shines in the Zanpakto section. The limit on his power is so logical that any other weakness would seem odd. And in closing him having grandmastery in Kido is a very good match for him. I would give him 5/5, if we could vote on such things. User:Firegod00 (Say your prayers) 00:55, May 9, 2011 (UTC)
Strife's Review[]
Now that I've got my computer sorted, I'll punch out this review as my first order of business. I'll do the usual format, so sit back, and hopefully enjoy :P
Introduction[]
First thing that struck me is the balance you've been hitting with your introductions lately. You've moved away from the large intro to focus more on a concise and pin-point account of his life, both past and present, which is fully explained further down the page. His intro makes a good stab at attracting the readers attention, as you've mentioned his wives passing and his personality change from peaceful to vengeful. Overall, its a nice opening that makes the reader want to read more, which is the entire point of an opening, I guess :P Moving on.
Appearance[]
There aren't many appearance sections that make me laugh, but this one did, so there's a thumbs up from me lol. You've got a nice habit of working in elements of Bleach others wouldn't give the time of day, such as the Seireitei Communication, and for that I applaud you, Kou. And the fact you've described what he used to look like gives a nice indication of his changes, and also the emotional impact of loosing his wife. I pity the poor guy, to be honest. Anywho, there's also a nice little sentence near the bottom that reads Even after this drastic change in appearance, he still considers himself quite handsome, which may be why Kotarō continues to flirt with women, much to the dismay of said women. That says a lot imo, as you incorporate the universe this guys taking part in, others feelings regarding his now shriveled looks, which also would make for some comical situations if he was ever to appear in an RP. Nicely done, pal :P
Personality[]
Ah, I loved this reading this part. I can't help but feel sorry for this guy. He was once a good looking, happy man with a woman he loved, yet when she was took from him in the raid, we see the end result to be nothing short of unpleasant. You've shown quite clearly - throughout the entire article, I might add - the full consequences of her death on his body and mind. This section had everything I've come to expect of your characters when I read 'em, Kou. They're exciting, while at the same time saddening to read, as nearly all your characters have some point written into them that makes them unique and believable. Tsume has her "gifts" and is never the same personality-wise with every meeting, Naishō Kawahiru has the will to look out for the underdog and an amazing IQ - not to mention his hatred of Bankai - while this guy takes an abrupt and realistic personality somersault due to bereavement. Very impressive, Kou. It says something pretty big when you can continually knock out articles with so many good points, so keep up the good work, pal. The fact you've described this with Fūma makes him all the more interesting.
Powers & Abilities[]
Right, my favorite section overall of any article!
Spiritual Energy: Great? Now there's something I don't see everyday. Even in my own characters, especially those of captain-level, the rating is usually immense. Seeing it labelled as Great instead is a nice change of pace, and quite relevant, considering your description of said power. He very much falls into the area of average captain, as you've said that only the strongest of Captains could beat him out. Gives him a nice appeal, as he isn't the strongest, meaning folks will be taken surprise when they underestimate him. That's what I reckon. I've got a thought, though. If he fused with his zanpakutō as you've said further down the article, wouldn't that serve to bolster some of his spiritual energy? Regardless, you've done a nice job, pal.
Swordsmanship: Nice angle with the zanpakutō btw. Anyhow, he clearly isn't a master, being around the level of a powerful lieutenant. Perhaps Hisagi's level? That in itself makes him an adaptable fighter, as even experts can battle against masters for a short amount of time. Anyways, the sections well written and flows brilliantly, but so his skills don't fall into decline; how about giving him an extra sword in an equipment section, or making him a master of Hadō #3: Hoketsuken, which creates a substitute blade for use in combat. Just a thought, though.
Hakuda: Ah, and now we see where he shines besides Kidō. The fusion with his zanpakutō gives him a nice Hierro variant, not to mention increased physical abilities that makes it quite easy for him to destroy lower-echelon foes with relative ease. You've worked the fusion of the zanpakutō being the incentive to train his skills well, and when coupled with the fact he has limitations besides, its quite easy to see he isn't overpowered or anything along those lines. he has realistic weakness in this field, and prominent strengths, which are needed when your a master lol. Another interesting take on his powers, Kou.
Shunpo: This guy sucks at anything speed related, eh? Reminds me of my own Tyrell Nishiki. With those two, I reckon it'd be a contest to see who could jump the farthest. Ah, brings back memories of sports day lol. Anywho, back on topic :P As a replacement, why not have him utilizing his enhanced strength mentioned above in some shape or fashion to augment his natural speed? You've said he's slower than your average Joe, so it'd help give him a greater edge. But then Njalm's Hiroya has shown me that when its Kidō being used, you don't need to move a great deal. Nicely written and a good account of his speed, with a nice allude to Idzumo for good measure, which helps link together your work a little easier.
Kidō: I was expecting this, but as he's the Kidō Captain, its rightly justified and understandable. His skills in the three main fields of Kidō are nothing short of incredible. He can fire high-level spells in succession without much trouble. He has demonstrated amazing healing skill and can probably whip up a nasty binding spell if the situation arose. But you've countered it by saying he tires incredibly quickly when using forbidden spells, meaning things like transportation of space are a no-no for him. That helps add a little balance, though his skills are still nothing short of formidable. To improve this more though, I'd go into more detail about some of his skills. Which are his favorites? Can he manipulate any in a unique manner? Makes them look different so the opponent doesn't know whats coming until you use a delayed incantation, in which case its usually too late to dodge. Little things like that, and you'll reveal just how in depth his actual skills go. Aside from that small issue, good job, Kou :P
Zanpakutō[]
Say it ain't so. A captain without a Bankai? I thought I'd never see the day lol. Since he assimilated it into his own body, you don't really need a description of the blade itself. Though I reckon it'd be nice to describe, just so its there if you ever decide to do a story looking at his past or something like that, or perhaps a flashback scene. Anyways, with an effect that powerful, its nice to see it takes quite the level of spiritual energy; which in itself would help limit its overall usefulness in battle. But if used correctly... well, it could reap disaster. You've pulled out another good zanpakutō buddy, so very nice job.
Overall[]
Right, you've done a good job on the article on a whole, so I'll give you an 8/10. The points flow well, the articles structured superbly and I loved the focus you took on his dead wife and the consequences of that on his character. But I reckon, as I said in the Kidō part, that some of the things could be expanded. Keep up the good work, dude. Kenji-Taichō (Talk) 11:45, May 14, 2011 (UTC)
One of your best works[]
While I enjoy more or less all of your works, this is one of your best yet. You've given him a very humanoid personality and his obese appearance is very unusual (most, including myself tend to make their characters super-models), the fact that he thinks he's attractive is quite amusing as well and to be honest I like this character more than Idzumo, because he's so unique.
I do however have one problem with him - his age, you describe him as being presumably 5.000 years old, which in my opinion would be impossible given his powers whom, while certainly above that of the ordinary captain-level Shinigami are simply too low for his age. You've also given him Genius intelligence which means that I have a hard time picturing him as anything less than Quadrumvirate level :) Njalm2 12:34, May 14, 2011 (UTC)
Fuuma's Stats[]
Alright, having read trough this article several times - I notice how his stats are.. mismatched if you will, and while I base this solely upon a message I got from Illuminate Void when he reviewed Hiroya's abilities for balance-issues, the points he made was very viable and perfectly reasonable due to the fact that he had come to the conclusion by comparing the stats of the thirteen squad captains. I will thus post my side on his abilities and how I believe they should be organized. I will also provide detailed reasoning for it.
| Offense | Defense | Speed | Kidō/Reiatsu | Intelligence | Stamina | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | 80 | 25 | 75 | 100 | 75 | 440 |
Offense & Defense[]
Most people think this is almost exclusively related to Swordsmanship and Hakuda, I chose to see it as an adapted stat in that it represents the overall power of the character when using their preferred way of combat, in Fuma's case that would essentially transelate to Kido & Hakuda, likely a combination of both. According to what Void wrote to me, that'd essentially put Fuma's combat abilities on par with that of Byakuya - which is very impressive in its own right, as while characters like him are easily understimated with all the Aizen-Class characters around he's still very formidable.
Speed[]
You've made quite the vivid point here that he is very slow - and I was surprised to find that you had given him a rating of 75 - which is 15 points above what most regular Shunpo Masters have in this field, namely 60. His speed is thus reduced to 25 as 20 is what normally classifies as practioner-level.
Kido/Reiatsu[]
This is the stat I HATE the most - in that it brings together two almost completely unrelated subjects and mashes them into an unsightly blob! Fuma's original number in this stat was likely more than aduquate for describing his Kido skills, but was much out of place to describe his Spiritual Power. 75 seemed the most likely amount to me, as that is still 15 points above what Great Spiritual Power is classified as (60). Immense is by Void classified as 80 and thus his power would be just below them.
Intelligence[]
Pretty much an accurate stat, and what should in my opinion have been actually linked to Kido. There's nothing wrong with this stat being as it is.
Stamina[]
I choose to see this stat as what is described as his innate damage resistance, if you will and highly useful for melee-characters and the likes. While Fuma is not one of those, I concidered his stamina to be at this level due to his increased durability, but while at the same time making odds for his low stamina in combat situations except for Kido.
Overall[]
That's everything, this is just a suggestion on my part, and I encourage you to read section number 60, Power Descriptor to Stat Analyzis on the first archive of my Talk Page :) - But anyhow, you do what you want, just thought I'd attempt to be helpful :)
Njalm2 19:18, June 6, 2011 (UTC)