Summary
The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War, available onHuluandDisney+.
As a member of the Zero Squad, the faction that serves as the Royal Guardof the Soul King, it goes without saying that Shutara Senjumaru is a bit of a mystery given that she and her squad mates were only introduced in theThousand-Year Blood Wararc. However, they serve a significant role in the maintenance of theBLEACHcosmology, given that they are individuals who answer directly to the Soul King, the ultimate entity within theBLEACHuniverse that serves as the linchpin of the three worlds.
Shutara Senjumaru is known by the moniker Ōorigami (“Great Weave Guard”), and like the other members of the Zero Squad, Shutara is an innovator of an invaluable aspect of Shinigami life. As the inventor of the trademark black kimono associated with the Shinigami, otherwise known as the Shihakusho, Shutara is a legendary presence in this war and in the greaterBLEACHuniverse. Just who is she?
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Divine Guard
Each of the Royal Guard members, except for their leader Ichibē Hyōsube, is associated with a cardinal direction. Shutara Senjumaru is known as Hoppō Shinshō (“Divine General of the North”). She is the fourth officer of the Zero Division, and as mentioned before, her major contribution to Soul Society is the very garment that isassociated with the Shinigami. It is for the invention of the Shinigami Shihakusho (“Garment of Dead Souls”) that Shutara was promoted to the Royal Guard. As a member of this elite squad, Senjumaru boasts an insane amount of spiritual energy, while her trademark ability is the manipulation of cloth and material. She can control textiles and alter them to her desires, and weaves long tapestries have been seen draped in her Riden. Her skill is so great that she is capable of creating highly stylish protective wear capable of withstanding the 72 layers of the Shakonmaku barrier that exists between the Seireitei and the Soul King’s Palace.
With her six golden skeletal arms protruding from her back, Shutara can weave at incredible speeds, creating realistic images with her tapestries that are so well-crafted that they can deceive her enemies. The name “Senjumaru” 千手丸 literally translates to “1000 Arms”, and her weaving can be so fast that she can alter the outfit worn by an enemy in seconds, without them noticing a thing. In episode 11,“Too Early To Win, Too Late To Know”, Shutara uses this weaving ability to make quick work of Nianzol Weizol, as well as in improving the ruse that she and the rest of the Zero Squad had crafted in the sealing away of the true Soul King’s Palace. Her tapestries were so realistic that Lille Barro had been thoroughly convinced of the Quincies' victory against the Zero Squad; however, when he destroyed the floating Riden of what they believed to be the Soul King’s Palace, the tapestries became visible. Beyond her weaving abilities, Shutara commands a squadron of faceless soldiers she refers to as “The Blade of the Soul King”; including a giant variant of the soldiers that was quickly dealt with by Pernida Parnkgjas.
Arachna
Shutara Senjumaru carries herself in a rather dignified manner, with her speech patterns reflecting a highly refined, yet archaic kind of personality. On some level, it can be said that she talks like an old woman, but perhaps one from a long time ago. While having a highly enigmatic air about her, Shutara has her own eccentric sense of humour. In a way that is similar but still starkly different fromformer 4th Squad Captain Retsu Unohana, Shutara’s very elegant and polite manner of carrying herself can also be construed as highly threatening in certain contexts. If her energy could be summarised, it would be explained as something akin to the paralysing fear experienced by the prey of a poisonous spider. Her ruthlessness in combat also makes Shutara quite scary, and when considering the death of Nianzol Weizol, she didn’t waste any time in erasing one of the enemies for good.
1000 Arms, Unleashed
In the finale, the Royal Guard members elect Senjumaru to take on their shared might to defeat the six enemies currently trying to invade the Soul King’s Palace. Senjumaru’s power should have been evident in her deletion of Nianzol Weizol, due tothe nature of the Quincy’s ability; however, her resilience and ability to weave highly realistic battle doubles, backdrops and everything in between means that she not only has the ability to create highly convincing illusions; but also conceive of wildly dangerous offensive tapestries and the like. Her Bankai is particularly devastating, and upon activation, the three realms trembled violently due to Shutara being in possession of the brunt of the Royal Guard’s combined combat power.
This is through something known as the Blood Oath Seal, a covenant that binds the lives of the Royal Guard members, evenly distributing their power so that they do not disrupt the balance of the universe. As expected, the Bankai manifested a number of tapestries, each of which seemed to be specifically woven for the enemy in question, which indicates that Shutara’s Bankai could have vastly different effects each time it is activated, making the offensive possibilities endless. There is also an underlying association with fate – often in anime there is a reference to a red string of fate that connects two people (often romantically); however, inBLEACH, thatred string of fatereflects the manifestation of a Shinigami’s reishi ribbon, so it’s possible that Shutara’s Bankai is as devastating as it is because it is powerful enough to affect fate itself.
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