Asuka Katakura

Asuka wears his black hair at shoulder length, parted into a bang that frames the right of his face. Beneath the standard Shinigami garb he keeps a white shirt paired with a collar.

During the Wandenreich's assault, Asuka takes his place alongside Lieutenant Izuru Kira and the rest of the Third Division's officers, positioned near one of the towering blue flames the enemy raises. When Taketsuna Gori grumbles about the wait, Asuka rebukes him, and after the squad learns a Quincy lurks within the fire, Kira orders an attack only to be gravely wounded first. Third Seat Rikū Togakushi calls for the remaining officers to release their Shikai, and Asuka does so at once, but Bazz-B overwhelms him instantly and drives him headfirst into the ground, killing him. The manga shows him managing to release his blade, whereas the anime cuts his incantation short.

As a seated officer, Asuka commands spiritual energy above the ordinary rank and file. His Zanpakutō, Katakage, resembles a plain katana with a rectangular guard in its sealed state, and its name, echoing the blades carried by the division's other seated officers, draws on a poetic seasonal word evoking summer shade. Answering the command to drown out, rendered as counteract in the dub, the blade splits into two forked prongs near the guard, though its full capabilities go unseen.