Bleach: Who was Masaki Kurosaki?

Key points

• Masaki Kurosaki was a Quincy who lost her powers while protecting Ichigo from Grand Fisher.
• Masaki's legacy and marriage to Isshin reveal key plot points in Bleach.
• Isshin saved Masaki's life by connecting his soul to hers, costing him his Shinigami powers.

At first, little was known about Masaki Kurosaki Bleach. It was previously believed that his death was an unfortunate and freak accident. However, the truth about his heritage was revealed during the Thousand Year Blood War.

Masaki has always been the center of attention in the Kurosaki family. However, his legacy contained the answer to Ichigo's power and information about Aizen's plans. But who was Masaki and how does his heritage affect Ichigo?

Who was Masaki Kurosaki?

All of her family members loved Masaki and she was the glue that held them together

Kurosaki Masaki was the wife of Isshin Kurosaki, formerly Isshin Shiba. She was also the mother of three children: a son, Ichigo, and twin daughters, Yuzu and Karin. When we first learn about Masaki at the beginning of Bleachwe see that she is a cheerful and loving mother, and the Kurosaki family has always centered around her.

Masaki was also a full-blooded Quincy Echt. A Quincy is a race of spiritual humans who have all inherited the Quincy powers of Yhwach, the Quincy King. However, the Quincy were a dying race as many of them were exterminated by the Soul Society over 200 years ago. While Soul Society's main goal was to maintain the world's balance and prevent its collapse, Quincy's goal was to hunt down and destroy all Hollows, thus leading to the world's collapse.

At the beginning of the series, Masaki's heritage was unknown and he was believed to be a normal human. Unfortunately, in chapter 19, Memories in the Rain, we learn of Masaki's death during a flashback to Ichigo at age 9. Throughout the chapter, we learn that Ichigo can always see ghosts and Hollows, even from a young age. This ability is likely due to the fact that his mother is a Quincy and his father is a Shinigami.

With the ability to see ghosts, Ichigo, at the age of 9, could not distinguish between the living and the dead. Like Ichigo's personality in the present, Ichigo, as a child, also had a good heart. For this reason, when Ichigo saw a young girl in the rain, he ran to her to stop her from jumping into the river.

Unfortunately, Ichigo didn't listen to his mother's pleas to stop; when he awoke, she had died protecting him from the Hollow Grand Fisher. Ichigo believed this for many years before learning the truth about his heritage. At that moment, Ichigo thought he was responsible for his mother's death; however, this was not the case.

In chapter 537, it was revealed that Yhwach initiated Auswahlen or the Holy Selection on June 17. During this selection, Yhwach stole the powers of the mixed blood or Gemischt Quincy to regain his own power. Due to the Auswahlen, Masaki lost his Quincy powers and, in doing so, lost his life while protecting Ichigo from Grand Fisher.

How did Masaki meet Isshin, a Shinigami?

Masaki was an exceptional Quincy and her good nature led to a chance meeting

As previously mentioned, Masaki was a Quincy Echt and pureblood. However, he was also the last remaining member of the Kurosaki family. Because of this, Masaki lived with the Ishida family, where she was protected because she was a pureblood Quincy. The Ishida family also had a pure blood heritage, which is why they decided to involve Masaki. However, this also came with a condition.

Since many Quincy have been exterminated by the Shinigami, few Echt Quincy remain, and those who do place the utmost importance on maintaining the purity of their bloodline. As a condition of keeping Masaki safe, the Ishida family took her in to continue their bloodline with an arranged marriage between Masaki and Ryuken Ishida.

At this time, a mysterious Hollow called White, created by Aizen, has killed several Shinigami in the human world, which is a cause for concern. Isshin Shiba, former captain of the 10th Division, has snuck into the human world to investigate. During Isshin's encounter with the Hollow, Masaki also felt his incredible Reiatsu from the Ishida residence. Not wanting to stand still and allow the Hollow to cause destruction, Masaki went to the scene to assist Isshin. She then lured White to attack her as she gave him a point-blank shot in the head, killing him.

Unfortunately, this caused White to self-destruct, in which Isshin protected Masaki from the explosion. The wound Masaki received from White caused her to experience a Hollowfication, a process of inserting a Hollow's soul into a normal soul, thus breaking the boundary and transforming the original soul into something much more powerful, as stated by Urahara Kisuke in chapter 535.

To save her, Isshin had to stop the “soul suicide”. Since Isshin is the opposite of Quincy, he is the only person who can save Masaki's life; however, this would also cost him his Shinigami powers. Without hesitation, Isshin and Urahara quickly took action and connected his soul to Masaki's, saving her life.

After this, Masaki soon fell in love with Isshin and often visited his clinic after she became a university student. The two would soon marry and Isshin would take on the name Kurosaki as he was no longer the head of the Shiba family.

As previously mentioned, Masaki died while protecting Ichigo from Grand Fisher. After Masaki was saved by Isshin, Masaki's soul was still mixed with that of a Hollow. Since she was no longer a full-blooded Quincy, this was likely why Masaki lost her Quincy powers on the Day of Auswahlen, rendering her powerless against Grand Fisher.

Bleach is now available to stream on Hulu.