Ganju Shiba
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is a character in the anime and manga series Bleach. He is the younger brother of Kūkaku Shiba and Kaien Shiba, the deceased lieutenant of the Gotei 13's 13th Division.
Character outline
An outrageous figure, Ganju wears a vest, scarf, bandanna, and pair of goggles. He is often found riding about on a boar with his gang, all of whom also ride on boars. Ganju's boar is named Bonnie (affectionately referred to as Bonnie-chan).Because he is not particularly attractive, it has been a running joke in the series that he never denies this fact, especially when Yumichika Ayasegawa makes note of it, but tends to talk around the subject.
Ganju possesses a deep hatred for shinigami, a hot temper, and an ego to eclipse the sun. Though he always acts tough, he is really quite friendly, and is easily cowed by his older sister Kūkaku.
History
Because of his brother Kaien's death at the hands of Rukia Kuchiki when Ganju was still young, he holds a grudge against all shinigami. This grudge is slow to dissipate even after Ganju learns the truth of the incident.
It is implied at after Kaien's death, the Shiba clan, one of the Noble Clans (which included the Kuchiki and Shihouin clans), was removed from the group (which now only contains four clans, Shiba had originally been the fifth, as revealed in Bleach Character Book). Upon Ganju's introduction, he and Kūkaku are the only remaining members of the clan.
Synopsis
Forced to go with Ichigo's company on their trip into Seireitei by his sister, Ganju hopes to determine the truth behind Kaien's death and why his brother had wished to become a shinigami so badly. After they are fired from Kūkaku's cannon, he attempts to cast a second spell to control the trajectory of the spirit cannon ball. The group is broken up and Ganju and Ichigo are forced to work together.The two run into two of the 3rd and 4th strongest members of the 11th Division, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa. Ganju runs off, leaving Ichigo to fight Ikkaku while Yumichika pursues him. Ganju manages to defeat the vain Yumichika when the latter is in the air and Ganju throws a firework at him. Alerted by the firework, Ichigo and Ganju meet up again, each being pursued by one half of 11th Division (in effect, the entire division) with the sole exceptions being Captain Kenpachi Zaraki and Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi (who are attempting to find the invader with the highest spiritual pressure to fight), and the defeated Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa.
The pair kidnap 4th Division member Hanatarō Yamada in hopes of using him as a hostage, but discover that the 11th Division doesn't care about the lives of 4th Division members. Ganju and Ichigo flee with Hanatarō, who is deemed a useless hostage until he reveals a way to get to Rukia Kuchiki, who is being held in the Shrine of Penitence until her execution.
While Ichigo is forced to fight Zaraki, Ganju and Hantarō go to rescue Rukia. Upon seeing Rukia's face, Ganju recognizes her as the shinigami who killed his brother. He refuses to save her until Byakuya Kuchiki appears to stop Rukia's would-be-rescuers. When Hanatarō decides to risk his life for Rukia, Ganju puts aside his pride for his brother and attempts to fight Byakuya. After being heavily wounded by Byakuya's zanpakutō, Ichigo arrives to save them. However, Yoruichi Shihouin and Captain Jūshirō Ukitake of the 13th Division disrupt the fight; Ichigo is evacuated and Ganju is brought to 4th Division headquarters for healing.
Ganju ends up in the 4th Division jail with Uryū Ishida and Chad until they are broken out by Orihime Inoue and the elite members of the 11th Division. They attempt to find and aid Ichigo on the day of Rukia's execution, arriving only after Ichigo's fight with Byakuya.
As Soul Society recovers from the conspiracy surrounding Rukia's execution, Ganju is last seen being berated by Kūkaku for being useless during the rescue attempt as Rukia arrives to apologize to them for Kaien's death.
Anime only
In the anime, Kūkaku recently sent him to the human world to investigate the Bount. He is soon reunited with his friend, Hanatarō Yamada, and is given a job at the same convenience store as Hanatarō by the manager.Abilities
Though Ganju is not a shinigami, he is a member of the Shiba clan, and is a relatively powerful fighter on a higher level than the average shinigami. He has a zanpakutō which resembles a meat cleaver, though he never demonstrates the ability to use initial release (shikai). Ganju's sword skills are limited, so when in combat he relies primarily on his arsenal of fireworks, his agility, and his earth magic.Exactly how Ganju's earth magic works is never explained, but it is seemingly a specialized type of demon arts (kidō). If so, he must be skilled at it, as he is able to bypass the incantations for his spells. He is able to turn objects into sand and quicksand with his sand wave (石波 seppa) ability.
Trivia
- According to Tite Kubo, whenever he designed clothes for Ganju, he would give him a new pair of goggles to wear. However, whenever it came time to publish the chapter, he would forget about it and omit the detail.
- In the anime, Ganju's seiyū is Wataru Takagi.
- The Shiba siblings have a naming pattern. The first characters in their names refer to a type of terrain ("kai" means "sea," "kuu" means "air," "gan" means "boulder) and the second characters refer to birds ("en" means "swallow," "kaku" means "crane," "ju" means "eagle").
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