Cassie's Character Corner: Mayuri Kurotsuchi

Despite it not being my favourite shounen series ever, Bleach contains quite a few characters that I really like, in fact the range of personalities within the Gotei 13 is one of Kubo's biggest strengths. Granted when it comes to Bleach finding them attractive is generally about as strict as the criteria for liking them gets. However, there are a couple of exceptions and one of those is captain of the 12th squad and Head of the Shinigami Research Institute, Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

I'll say it, my main reason for liking this guy is that he is a complete freak, but that's what makes him such a strong character. Let's face it, nine times out of ten, the messed up or evil characters are far more interesting to watch than the "nice" ones and that's precisely what happens here. At his core, Mayuri is distinctly unlikeable. Despite essentially being on the side of the "good guys", he often seems to put his own interests above that of anyone or anything else to the point where you often wonder where his loyalties actually lie. Additionally, he is wholly callous towards other beings. He doesn't see people, just subjects. Even his own artificially created daughter, Nemu, doesn't escape his cruelty as he both mentally and physically abuses her to the point where he will even consider discarding her if she no longer proves "useful". Nice guy, huh?

Mayuri's design during his early appearances in the show.

More than anything though, it's the "Mad Scientist" aspect of his personality that shines above it all. He's a sadistic git who you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night, as he'd likely try to dissect you or at the very least inject weird substances into your veins. He lives for experimentation and no one is exempt from his studies, least of all himself. As Bleach has gone on, even more of Mayuri's bodily alterations and various fighting mehtods keep coming to light, to the point where watching him fight is like going to a carnival freak show. He has crazy detachable body parts that he can instantly re-grow if severed, a whole host of dangerous poisons at his disposal, one of the creepiest zanpakutou going (seriously, all those baby-ish giggles from Ashisogi Jizou creep me the hell out) and to top it all off, he has the last-ditch solution of dissolving into a puddle of liquid to escape a fight that he is unlikely to win.

What's more is that as the series has gone on, his appearance has changed and he's become even more deranged!

Creepy enough as he was, Mayuri has now morphed into possibly the most terrifying member of the Bleach cast.

Whereas before he was just kind of odd-looking and a bit creepy, now he's full on nightmareish. When you look at him as a person, there's no way in hell you'd want to know him, and you'd pray to god that you never became his enemy. He's a messed up creep that if he actually existed would have been locked up in a tightly secured padded cell long, long ago, probably after having been on a crazed killing spree. But as a fictional character in a series, isn't he incredible to watch? He brings a whole world of colour to proceedings, and even if that palette makes you feel a bit ill or just plain disgusted, no one could ever claim that Mayuri Kurotsuchi is dull.