Matsuri Kudō

Matsuri ties her light blonde hair up in a high ponytail, leaving long, unruly bangs to drift across the center of her face. She has vivid blue eyes and wears the standard Soul Reaper uniform, finished with a flower-adorned headband.

Diligent and serious about her responsibilities, Matsuri often chides her twin Fujimaru when he grows lax, though the two are close and clearly devoted to each other. She holds their guardian and captain Seigen Suzunami in high regard, and she looks upon his sister Konoka as something like a mother.

As children, Matsuri and her twin Fujimaru were rescued from a Hollow by Seigen Suzunami, captain of the 5th Division, who adopted the pair into his noble house. After six years at the Shin'ō Academy they enlisted in his division and served together until the Arrancar Arturo Plateado assaulted Soul Society; in the final battle against him, the twins fought at the captains' side.

That clash leaves Matsuri, Fujimaru, Seigen, and Arturo frozen in time and flung into present-day Karakura Town. Landing alone, Matsuri falls in with Ichigo Kurosaki, downs a Menos Grande, and is taken to Kisuke Urahara, who gives her hope that her family survived. Led home by Yoruichi Shihōin, who has taken the shape of a cat, she returns to Soul Society and takes shelter with Kūkaku Shiba and, after helping repel a Hollow attack, is placed under Sajin Komamura's watch until Captain-Commander Yamamoto vouches for her and lets her serve unofficially. She is stunned to find childhood friends now ranking officers and to learn of Aizen's treachery and Kaien Shiba's death.

Discovering that Seigen and Fujimaru still live in Hueco Mundo, embittered over Konoka's death and allied with Aizen, Matsuri trains under Yoruichi to grow strong enough to win them back, attaining her Bankai and learning Shunkō from Yoruichi and Suì-Fēng. Seigen turns on her and nearly kills her, only for Fujimaru to take the blow and finally side with her. Aizen's schemes push events toward a monstrous transformation of Seigen; with her allies and the girl Shiyo, who carries Konoka's soul, Matsuri at last defeats Arturo and, in a final duel, lays her adoptive father's soul to rest. Offered a formal post in the Gotei 13, she and her brother decline, choosing instead to make their home in the Human World.

Urahara marks Matsuri as spiritually powerful, evidenced by her huge appetite and her knack for grasping Bankai as quickly as Ichigo did. She fights as a skilled swordswoman with her Zanpakutō Kotōmaru, whose Shikai resembles a bladed polearm, and can unleash its Bankai, Ryūkyū Kotōmaru. Trained broadly by Yoruichi, she also handles Hakuda, Shunpo, and enough Kidō to master the advanced Shunkō.