Hello guys its me again, I was bored yet again and decided to make this kind of thread… yet again. So far I've discussed how Rukia, Kira, Hisagi, Kyoraku and Byakuya are Psychopaths. Now I want to talk about Mashiro. You guys remember her? I'm sure you will when you continue to read this. Mashiro seems like a jolly sort of person. Full of energy and questions. But could she be hiding a dark side? There are reasons to say yes! Ten of them, coincidentally.
1. She can keep her mask on for an insanely long time.
First and most obviously, Mashiro can keep her mask on for a really, really long time. Most of the visored can only keep their mask on for minutes at a time, if that. But Mashiro? She can keep it on for fifteen hours, if she’s not being pressured. That’s a very long time to remain hollowfied. It’s almost as if Mashiro has a special affinity for her hollow side that the other visored lack.
2. She never had to undergo visored training.
And it’s not that Mashiro just trained harder than the others or anything like that. She never had to undergo visored training at all - she could keep her mask on for long periods from the get-go. We recall that Ichigo’s visored training involved him beating Hichigo into submission so that he could keep his mask on without getting taken over by his hollow. So if Mashiro never had that internal conflict, that implies that either her inner hollow was always subjugated, or that she and her inner hollow just get along really really well. And I rather suspect it is the latter. Either way, Mashiro is really in tune with her dark side.
3. Her hollowfication is…different.
This is something I only realized while researching for this list (yes I research. Shut up.). Apparently Mashiro’s hollowfication is…different. When everybody gets hollowfied during the TBTP arc, the hollowfications consume their entire head. It’s only later, when they became visored, that the masks become smaller - more mask-like. But Mashiro has a visored-style hollow mask from the get-go. There’s no difference between her hollowfied mask and her visored mask. Again, this would seem to indicate that Mashiro’s visored form is more hollow than everybody else’s. And yet she remains in control. Perhaps because she’s pretty hollow herself.
4. She is unaffected by stress.
Speaking of the TBTP arc, we see Mashiro and Kensei when they head out to investigate the disappearances of their comrades. They find their empty uniforms, which is pretty spooky. Then they make camp. That night, only Mashiro sleeps - everybody else is too freaked out. Kensei even comments on this, wondering aloud how Mashiro can sleep with everything that’s going on. It’s as if Mashiro is unaffected by fear and violence and horror. Perhaps because she doesn’t feel such emotions herself.
5. She is disappointed when there aren’t more enemies to fight.
In the Fake Karakura Town fight, we see that there is one thing Mashiro likes - and that would be violence. She gets mad at Kensei after he defeats the last Menos Grande because she wanted to do it, and then she gets excited when Kensei points out she can still fight that giant Menos Grande container thing. Mashiro just really loves killing things. Now, that isn’t too unusual. Lots of characters like to fight. But given how hollow Mashiro is, it may be slightly more chilling that she just really wants to kick things to death.
6. She seem to be insane.
Plus she’s…insane? It’s really hard to say. Mashiro seems child-like in her seeming inability to understand what’s going on, but it’s unclear how much of that is actual confusion and how much of that is just her messing with Kensei. I mean, she was made lieutenant and she’s an effective fighter, so it’s not like she’s actually dumb. She’s just…crazy. Crazy and wild. You know, like Hichigo.
7. We only rarely see serious Mashiro.
We very very rarely see serious Mashiro. Like when she’s just been seriously wounded by Wonderweiss and she asks Kensei if he will avenge her - no childlike joking there. Moments like those beg the question of how much of the rest of it is an act. And if Mashiro is putting on an act, then what about her real nature is she hiding?
8. She is willing to kill a comrade (or at least, Kensei thinks she will).
Just a small point. But I wanted to bring up Mashiro’s most recent appearance. Kensei apparently smuggled (?) her into Soul Society to fight Hisagi into developing bankai. When Hisagi seems reticent about this plan, Kensei says, “Do you think I won’t kill you?” Except of course, Kensei isn’t the one who might kill Hisagi - Mashiro is. Kensei is telling Hisagi that if he isn’t careful, Mashiro WILL kill him. This may just be a pose, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Kensei is just being honest. As we’ve seen, Mashiro kills her opponents in battle. Even fellow soul reapers, perhaps?
9. She doesn’t use her zanpakuto.
We’ve never seen Mashiro use her zanpakuto. That puts her in the company of people like Unohana, Yoruichi, Yachiru, Kenpachi and Kyoraku - people who for various reasons choose not to use their power if they don’t have to. You know, psychopaths. This may be a false pattern, but I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Mashiro’s power is something seriously scary.
10. Her hollow form is insect-like.
Speaking of patterns, we might also consider what insects mean in Bleach. There’s Soi Fon’s wasp shikai - or “death in two strikes.” There’s Nnoitra’s praying mantis form - which he uses in his super violent fights to the death. There’s Tosen’s beyond-creepy hollow cricket form. Aizen’s successively more and more horrible butterfly form. Basically, in Bleach insects tend to be creepy and deadly and powerful. And Mashiro’s hollow form is a bee, so yet another insect. I’m thinking that’s a bad sign.
1. She can keep her mask on for an insanely long time.
First and most obviously, Mashiro can keep her mask on for a really, really long time. Most of the visored can only keep their mask on for minutes at a time, if that. But Mashiro? She can keep it on for fifteen hours, if she’s not being pressured. That’s a very long time to remain hollowfied. It’s almost as if Mashiro has a special affinity for her hollow side that the other visored lack.
2. She never had to undergo visored training.
And it’s not that Mashiro just trained harder than the others or anything like that. She never had to undergo visored training at all - she could keep her mask on for long periods from the get-go. We recall that Ichigo’s visored training involved him beating Hichigo into submission so that he could keep his mask on without getting taken over by his hollow. So if Mashiro never had that internal conflict, that implies that either her inner hollow was always subjugated, or that she and her inner hollow just get along really really well. And I rather suspect it is the latter. Either way, Mashiro is really in tune with her dark side.
3. Her hollowfication is…different.
This is something I only realized while researching for this list (yes I research. Shut up.). Apparently Mashiro’s hollowfication is…different. When everybody gets hollowfied during the TBTP arc, the hollowfications consume their entire head. It’s only later, when they became visored, that the masks become smaller - more mask-like. But Mashiro has a visored-style hollow mask from the get-go. There’s no difference between her hollowfied mask and her visored mask. Again, this would seem to indicate that Mashiro’s visored form is more hollow than everybody else’s. And yet she remains in control. Perhaps because she’s pretty hollow herself.
4. She is unaffected by stress.
Speaking of the TBTP arc, we see Mashiro and Kensei when they head out to investigate the disappearances of their comrades. They find their empty uniforms, which is pretty spooky. Then they make camp. That night, only Mashiro sleeps - everybody else is too freaked out. Kensei even comments on this, wondering aloud how Mashiro can sleep with everything that’s going on. It’s as if Mashiro is unaffected by fear and violence and horror. Perhaps because she doesn’t feel such emotions herself.
5. She is disappointed when there aren’t more enemies to fight.
In the Fake Karakura Town fight, we see that there is one thing Mashiro likes - and that would be violence. She gets mad at Kensei after he defeats the last Menos Grande because she wanted to do it, and then she gets excited when Kensei points out she can still fight that giant Menos Grande container thing. Mashiro just really loves killing things. Now, that isn’t too unusual. Lots of characters like to fight. But given how hollow Mashiro is, it may be slightly more chilling that she just really wants to kick things to death.
6. She seem to be insane.
Plus she’s…insane? It’s really hard to say. Mashiro seems child-like in her seeming inability to understand what’s going on, but it’s unclear how much of that is actual confusion and how much of that is just her messing with Kensei. I mean, she was made lieutenant and she’s an effective fighter, so it’s not like she’s actually dumb. She’s just…crazy. Crazy and wild. You know, like Hichigo.
7. We only rarely see serious Mashiro.
We very very rarely see serious Mashiro. Like when she’s just been seriously wounded by Wonderweiss and she asks Kensei if he will avenge her - no childlike joking there. Moments like those beg the question of how much of the rest of it is an act. And if Mashiro is putting on an act, then what about her real nature is she hiding?
8. She is willing to kill a comrade (or at least, Kensei thinks she will).
Just a small point. But I wanted to bring up Mashiro’s most recent appearance. Kensei apparently smuggled (?) her into Soul Society to fight Hisagi into developing bankai. When Hisagi seems reticent about this plan, Kensei says, “Do you think I won’t kill you?” Except of course, Kensei isn’t the one who might kill Hisagi - Mashiro is. Kensei is telling Hisagi that if he isn’t careful, Mashiro WILL kill him. This may just be a pose, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Kensei is just being honest. As we’ve seen, Mashiro kills her opponents in battle. Even fellow soul reapers, perhaps?
9. She doesn’t use her zanpakuto.
We’ve never seen Mashiro use her zanpakuto. That puts her in the company of people like Unohana, Yoruichi, Yachiru, Kenpachi and Kyoraku - people who for various reasons choose not to use their power if they don’t have to. You know, psychopaths. This may be a false pattern, but I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Mashiro’s power is something seriously scary.
10. Her hollow form is insect-like.
Speaking of patterns, we might also consider what insects mean in Bleach. There’s Soi Fon’s wasp shikai - or “death in two strikes.” There’s Nnoitra’s praying mantis form - which he uses in his super violent fights to the death. There’s Tosen’s beyond-creepy hollow cricket form. Aizen’s successively more and more horrible butterfly form. Basically, in Bleach insects tend to be creepy and deadly and powerful. And Mashiro’s hollow form is a bee, so yet another insect. I’m thinking that’s a bad sign.
