Akane Kasai is my favorite Bleach fan-made (or original character (OC)) character, and possibly my favorite character that I have ever made.

She’s been through a lot to get to her current state.

She started out as a joke character, my sister had found a Bleach RP that was not very good.  The guy who made it, his character was pretty much a rip-off of Ichigo.  I was pretty okay with that, until I saw that he even stole Ichigo’s sword, Zangetsu.

So I decided to make a Renji rip-off character to pester the Ichigo rip-off.  I didn’t know if I would join the RP (I never did), but it was fun to make the character.

I decided that the Renji rip-off would be his and Rukia’s daughter, and for some reason, she had borrowed Zabimaru.  I thought maybe at one point there would be a rescue mission to save Rukia from who-knows-what.

I found a site with Japanese names, and decided that Akane would fit perfectly, as it meant Dark Red.  Since I stole Renji’s hair and put it on her as a ponytail that reached her waist, it went nicely.

Thus, she was Akane Abarai.



Later, I discovered a Bleach forum for a Bleach online game.  I put Akane on the RP section there and gave her a new last name by using a Japanese-to-English dictionary.  Though, I forget what it is now, I never was too happy with it.

She now had her own Zanpakto.  Creating it took me a while; I had problems deciding what kind of powers and what the spirit would look like.  That is, until I remembered a Tigger plushie I saw at the Disney Store once.  It was part of a “sherbert” theme or something, so he was blue with yellow stripes.  I thought he looked electric, and dubbed him “Tigger-chu”.

So, using the Tigger-chu idea, I made Akane’s spirit a blue tiger with yellow stripes.  I used the Japanese-to-English dictionary to name him Raikoutora, or Lightning Tiger.  It took me a while to figure out his Shikai shape, but I finally decided on a lightning bolt.  The hilt for all forms looks like a cloud.

I thought that maybe her Bankai would be that Raikoutora took physical form and was able to attack and help Akane fight.

Though, not much of this mattered, as I started her out as a newbie Shinigami, as I was fairly new to the game.

Akane was ignored in that RP, until, she was randomly chosen by the Arrancar to be kidnapped.  While she was kidnapped, she befriended a kind Espada Arrancar, got turned into an Arrancar, and had training in Arrancar abilities.

Her Arrancar form is interesting.  Her name becomes Escura (Portuguese for Dark).  She was given the number 76 (which was tattooed on her lower back) by my friend that was RPing Aizen and Akane’s Arrancar buddy.  Her hair becomes shoulder length and orange (I figured that since I had based her Shinigami form on Renji, I’d loosely base her Arrancar form on my other favorite character, Ichigo).  Her mask is only a small, roundish, and smooth patch on her right cheek.  Escura’s Hollow hole is in her middle, right where her heart would be (At the time I made her, I didn’t know that Arrancar holes could vary, so I just stuck it where I had seen regular Hollow holes always be).  Her Arrancar Zanpakto is solid black (I had forgotten about Ichigo’s Bankai at the time, and was just making her somewhat the opposite of her Shinigami form).  I forget exactly what her release was called, but it translated to pretty much Earth Dog (Opposite of Lightning Tiger).  

Akane still had her old memories in this form, and was distraught at the transformation.  But, once she was being trained by her Espada friend and his other fraccion, Akane got into the training, and while she was focusing on that, temporarily forgot about her Shinigami past.  But, after resting, the next day, she remembered everything and returned to her old self.  Had she continued to stay as an Arrancar for a while, she would have sunk more and more into the Arrancar ways as she got more used to them.

She was placed under the Espada that she had befriended, and they were sent to the Seireitei for one reason or another.  The other Shinigami were surprised to see Akane’s transformation and they promised her that they’d get her back somehow.  Sadly, her Arrancar friend was killed, and when she was sent back to Las Noches, she was in despair.  For some bizarre reason, they had Aizen have Orihime turn her back to normal and she was sent back to the Seireitei.  There, she was giving her report to Captain Ukitake, when a Shinigami that looked like and had the same name as her Arrancar friend showed up.  Akane was surprised to see him, and after a while, the two became friends again.  Later, he gave her human chocolates and tied a yellow ribbon in her hair.  They fell asleep in each others arms, and then the forum blew up and the RP was dead forever.

That was the second Akane.



The third Akane was little different from the second.  The Bleach forum came back, but we had to restart everything.  I brought back Akane and I used the Japanese-to-English dictionary to give her a new last name.  It was Kasai, which meant Fire.

I kept everything else the same; she was a newbie Shinigami and the like.

She is still around and having a few small adventures and missions, but nothing on the scale as what the second one did.

So, Akane Kasai was finally created.



The fourth Akane is only different from the third in which that she has a lot more detail to her.  A friend on the Bleach forum asked me to join another forum and the Bleach RP there.  It was called Coloholics Anonymous.  They required a lot of information and detail.  Here is her profile:

General Information
Name: Akane Kasai
Alias: Akane
Gender: Female
Age: 167
Birthdate: April 5  (My Memaw’s birthday, she was sick with cancer at the time and died soon after I made the character.)
Birthplace: In the 40th section of the Rukongai
Current Residence: Sixth Division living quarters in the Seireitei
History: Akane Kasai was born in the middle section of the Rukongai. Unfortunately, both her parents died soon after she was born. Fortunately, there was a kind couple that adopted several other orphaned and abandoned children, and they took in Akane as well. She grew up happy with the other children, they weren't rich or poor, but in a happy medium. Once she was old enough, Akane decided to go to the Shinigami school to learn how to become a Shinigami. She did well in all her classes, except Kidou. For some reason, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do any Kidou at all. She nearly failed, but the teacher, seeing how hard she tried at it, let Akane do alternative work to make up her grade. Once she graduated, the 6th Division let her join them, and she works hard to prove her worth to her squad.

Appearance
Visual Appearance: Any possible image goes here.  (I don’t have an image of her, so I left this blank.)
Physical Appearance: Akane is of medium height and has her long red hair in a ponytail that almost reaches her waist. She has green eyes.  (She either has brown or green eyes, depending on the RP and my mood at the time.)
Clothing and Armor: Akane wears the basic Shinigami outfit.
Personality: Akane is determined and dependable. She tries to live up to Byakuya's standards for the 6th Division. She isn't very strong, but is always working on training to become stronger. Akane knows that her lack of Kidou is a hindrance, so she tries even harder to make up for that.

Visual Age: 20
Division: Sixth Division
Divisions: Sixth Division
Rank: 10th Seat

Zanpakutou
Zanpakutou Name: Raikoutora (Sometimes nicknamed "Rai")
Spirit Appearance: Raikoutora looks like a slightly larger than normal tiger, except that he is blue with yellow-green stripes.
Inner World: Raikoutora lives in a jungle where it always has a thunderstorm going on.
Sealed Form: Raikoutora looks like a normal Shinigami katana sword, the hilt is bronze-colored and shaped like a cloud.

Shikai
Shikai Release Phrase: Thunder, Raikoutora!
Shikai Appearance: Raikoutora changes so that it looks like a lightning bolt.
Shikai Abilities: Raikoutora gains a small electric charge that Akane can control slightly, depending on how much she concentrates on it. Akane is also a small bit faster, but the speed can be harder to control.

Bankai
Bankai Name:
Bankai Appearance:
Bankai Abilities:

Learned Kidou:
None



The fifth Akane is a version of the fourth, with less detail and a few changes to her profile for use in other RPs.  I still play her as a newbie with no powers sometimes, but this profile has her Shikai information for when I make her more experienced.

After watching the episode of Bleach where Ichigo shows his Bankai to Byakuya and Byakuya talks about how rare and special Bankai is, I decided to remove Akane’s Bankai potential, because she is an average Shinigami and not special at all.

Squad: 6th
Zanpakto: Raikoutora (Lightning Tiger) (Sometimes nicknamed "Rai")
Shikai: "Thunder, Raikoutora!" Raikoutora changes so that it looks like a lightning bolt and it gains a small electric charge that Akane can control slightly, depending on how much she concentrates on it. Akane is also a small bit faster, but the speed can be harder to control, though with her experience with her Shikai, she rarely has problems with the control.
Bankai: Not learned (Probably will never learn)
Kido: None (Is unable to learn)
Appearance: Akane is of medium height and has her long red hair in a ponytail that almost reaches her waist. She has brown eyes. She wears the regular Shinigami uniform.
History: Akane Kasai was born in the middle section of the Rukongai. Unfortunately, both her parents died soon after she was born. Fortunately, there was a kind couple that adopted several other orphaned and abandoned children, and they took in Akane as well. She grew up happy with the other children, they weren't rich or poor, but in a happy medium. Once she was old enough, Akane decided to go to the Shinigami school to learn how to become a Shinigami so that she could help people. She did well in all her classes, except Kido. For some reason, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do any Kido at all. She nearly failed, but the teacher, seeing how hard she tried at it, let Akane do alternative work to make up her grade. Once she graduated, the 6th Division let her join them, and she works hard to prove her worth to her squad. Since she has joined the 6th Division, Akane has grown from her early days at the Academy. She is now quite proficient with her Shikai and is always training to become stronger. She has not yet had a mission to the human world, but it is likely with her skills that she will in a few years. During the invasion of Ichigo and his friends, Akane was ordered by Captain Kuchiki, along with other members of the 6th squad, to continue doing normal patrols. As such, she did not meet the humans until after all the chaos was over, though, she did not have much time to speak with them, as Captain Kuchiki frowns upon his squad members socializing when there is work to be done.
Personality: Akane is determined and dependable. She tries to live up to Byakuya's standards for the 6th Division. Akane knows that her lack of Kido is a hindrance, so she tries even harder to make up for that. She is usually friendly and cheerful and helps people when she can.



And that’s the current state of Akane Kasai.  I use her in RPs whenever I get a chance.  I like using her in a specific plot involving a Shinigami getting poisoned, along with other random plots, for RPs and stories I make to pass the time.  Maybe I’ll someday write out a version of my favorite one that I did by myself.