Rangiku Matsumoto
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| Bleach character | |
|---|---|
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| Rangiku Matsumoto | |
| Occupation | Shinigami lieutenant of the 10th Division |
| Birthday | September 29 |
| Height | 172 cm (5' 7¾") |
| Weight | 57 kg (125.6 lbs.) |
| Zanpakutō | Haineko |
| Seiyū | Kaya Matsutani |
| Voice actor | Megan Hollingshead |
Rangiku Matsumoto (松本 乱菊 Matsumoto Rangiku?) is a character from the manga and anime series, Bleach. She is the lieutenant of the 10th Division, under Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Divided, Rangiku means "riot/war" and "chrysanthemum" while Matsumoto means "pine tree" and "present" (time).
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[edit] Character outline
Rangiku is an attractive woman with long, wavy, strawberry-blonde hair (worn short in her youth). Her most distinctive features are her extremely large breasts, which are even larger than Orihime Inoue's. She also shares Orihime's strange taste in food. She dresses in the garb typical of shinigami, though her robes hang loose enough for her ample bosom to be revealed. She wears a necklace and a pink scarf over her arms. In addition, her lieutenant's armband is worn on her uniform's sash, as opposed to around the arm.
Rangiku tends to be a slacker who doesn't like paperwork and loves to drink sake. She's not the least bit modest about her appearance, frequently referring or complaining about her large breasts in casual conversation. She even tries to bribe Ichigo Kurosaki into letting her stay at his house using them, though unsuccessfully. Her easy-going and free-spirited personality is in sharp contrast with the serious Hitsugaya, but the two seem to be quite close, regardless. Rangiku is almost constantly by his side and has shown her loyalty to him on several occasions. While she seems somewhat self-centered, she is sensitive to the feelings of others, evident when she sees the concern Hitsugaya has for Momo Hinamori, the guilt Izuru Kira shares with her when Gin Ichimaru is revealed as a traitor, and when Orihime feels depressed about her role in Ichigo Kurosaki's life.
[edit] History
Not much is mentioned about Rangiku's past. She came from Rukongai and was rescued as a child by Gin Ichimaru; the two soon became friends. In one short chapter from the manga, she was once asked by Ichimaru during her childhood when her birthday was. She replied that she did not know because she had been alone for as far as she could remember. This possibly means she was orphaned since birth. When he heard about this, Ichimaru told her that if this was the case, then her birthday should be set on the day they met (the day she was not alone anymore).
It is not known how she became a shinigami or how she became lieutenant of the 10th Division, but it is hinted that she has held the position longer than her current captain has held his.
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Soul Society arc
Rangiku first appears at a lieutenants' meeting, the first one in a long time, and subsequently at another lieutenants' meeting, where it is announced that the 11th Division has been nearly annihilated. Rangiku later takes Momo Hinamori to her jail cell after Hinamori loses control upon seeing Sōsuke Aizen's corpse and attacks Ichimaru, whom she suspected was responsible. During Hinamori's time in jail, Rangiku gives her a letter from Aizen, addressed to Hinamori.
As the conspiracy revolving around the supposed death of 5th Division Captain Sōsuke Aizen and Rukia Kuchiki's execution begins to escalate, Rangiku stands by her captain's side. At one point, Hitsugaya confronts Gin, whom he suspects of murdering Aizen. When Hitsugaya is trapped between defending Hinamori and fighting Gin, Rangiku steps in to confront her friend and help her captain. Gin, however, leaves the fight without saying a word.
She and Hitsugaya attempt to make a final appeal to the Chamber of 46 at the advent of Rukia's execution only to discover all 46 members of the chamber have been killed. Gin's lieutenant, Izuru Kira, leads them away from the chamber. When Hitsugaya decides to return to the Chamber of 46, Rangiku stays behind to fight Kira. Due to her zanpakutō's ability to dissolve into ash, she easily overcomes him (she later jokes that while Kira really was trying to kill her, she wasn't doing the same).
Rangiku appears again just before Aizen, Kaname Tōsen, and Gin leave Soul Society. She holds Gin to prevent him from escaping. However, she has no choice but to step back when the negación beams appear. Gin tells her it's a bit disappointing, since he wanted to be held a little bit longer, then apologizes. Rangiku later enters a short depressive state, including getting drunk with Kira and Shūhei Hisagi, but quickly recovers.
[edit] Bount arc
In the anime, Matsumoto, among others, is assigned by Tōshirō Hitsugaya to defeat the Bount in the human world. She ends up joining Chad, Ururu, and Noba in their battle against Sawatari's doll, Baura. After Ururu is captured in Baura's stomach, she comes up with a plan to free Ururu. Using a kidō spell and Noba's Bount-searching abilities, she is able to locate Sawatari. After an unsuccessful attempt, Chad fires an energy blast at Baura's stomach, releasing Ururu, and Baura and Sawatari withdraw from the fight. After Yumichika Ayasegawa finds the Bount's hideout, Kira, Hisagi, Yumichika, and Matsumoto are ambushed by Ugaki's doll, Gesell. Matsumoto saves Ichigo and his friends from Gesell after they enter the cave, then explains its ability to manifest itself through shadows. After helping to smash everything nearby that can cast a shadow, she is left behind with Rukia, Kon, Chad, and Ririn while Orihime treats their injuries.
Later, in Seireitei, she heads a search for the two remaning Bount, Koga Gō and Jin Kariya, with Tōshirō Hitsugaya. However, Koga figures out she is using hell butterflies to convey her messages to the various squads searching for him and destroys them, thus ending any communication. After finding Koga themselves, Hitsugaya orders her and Renji to treat the injured shinigami while he faces off against Koga.
[edit] Arrancar arc
Despite the betrayal of Gin, Rangiku remains fairly positive. She is one of six shinigami assigned to aid Ichigo in the human world with the new arrancar threat. She and Hitsugaya appear to be staying with Orihime for the time being. Orihime and Matsumoto appear to get along very well, partly due to Matsumoto's undiscriminating tastebuds. They also form a strong sister-like bond when Rangiku assures Orihime that she is important to Ichigo.
When Grimmjow Jaggerjack leads an assault on the living world with five other arrancar, Rangiku's opponent is the arrancar Nakim. Though she seems to be outmatched at first, it is only because she is buying time for the approval of her application to lift her power limit (a limit placed on all shinigami captains and lieutenants in the human world in order not to cause unnecessary influence). After she lifts the limit, she easily defeats Nakim.
Following this incident, Matsumoto and Yumichika Ayasegawa attempt to learn the final release forms of their zanpakutō, but meet with little success (their zanpakutō have personality traits matching theirs) and are soon interrupted by the arrival of the arrancar Luppi and Yammy. Because of Matsumoto's physical appearance, Luppi is particularly keen about killing her after he subdues Hitsugaya and traps Ikkaku Madarame, Matsumoto, and Yumichika with his zanpakutō.
While Kisuke Urahara takes on Yammy, Matsumoto distracts the arrogant Luppi while Hitsugaya successfully reforms his dispersed final release and traps Luppi. The fight ends without a victor on either side, as Ulquiorra recalls all the arrancar once his mission to obtain Orihime is complete. The turn of events leads the recalling of Hitsugaya's team from the living world and all the shinigami, including Matsumoto, return to the Soul Society.
[edit] Haineko
Rangiku's zanpakutō is Haineko (灰猫, lit. Ash Cat). The guard is in the shape of a cat's head, as its name suggests. Its initial release command is "growl" (唸れ unare?).
In its initial release, Haineko's blade dissolves into ash, which Rangiku can then control. The only time she actually puts this to use is during the anime's Bount arc, where she uses the ash to cut through objects as easily as a sword would, similar in principle to Byakuya Kuchiki's Senbonzakura. In Bleach Heat The Soul 3, the ash that Haineko produces can form together into a cat or leopard-like animal.
Rangiku has not yet mastered the final release of her zanpakutō, though she is trying to learn it; however, Haineko is just as moody, lazy, and selfish as Rangiku is, making progress difficult.
[edit] Trivia
- In the introduction to an omake, Tite Kubo stated that he could not beat Rangiku Matsumoto in the game Bleach: Erabareshi Tamashii. His younger brother did it for him.
