Does Muramasa Exist in Bleach & Is He Canon?

Over the years, Tite Kubo’s Bleach has introduced us to many various groups of characters. The main ones are the humans and the Souls (or the Shinigami, to be more precise), but we’ve also been introduced to the Hollows, the Quincys, and some Hell dwellers. These are all canon characters. But, the anime adaptation of Bleach had several important filler arcs, and in these arcs, they introduced us to other groups from the lore. And while the Zanpakuto are, undoubtedly, part of the canon, as well as the spirits inhabiting the blades, the Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale anime filler arc gave us a wholly different view on these spirits, and in this article, we are going to talk about one character from that filler arc, namely Muramasa, the leader of the Zanpakuto rebellion.

Muramasa is the Zanpakuto spirit inhabiting Koga Kuchiki’s Zanpakuto of the same name. It is a powerful Zanpakuto whose history is tied to that of the Kuchiki family in Bleach. After his master was sealed, Muramasa learned how to materialize himself and also put other Zanpakuto spirits under his control, which led him to instigate the Zanpakuto Rebellion, hoping that he could be reunited with his master once again. And while the anime arc is indeed filler, the sequel light novel mentions that the Kuchiki clan’s unused ancestral Zanpakuto is called Muramasa, thus making at least part of the story canon.

The rest of this article will tell you what you need to know about Muramasa and his Zanpakuto Rebellion. The whole anime arc might not be canon, but as we’ve seen, Muramasa was subsequently made canon, so it makes sense to talk about him. This article will tell you his story and how it ties into the Bleach canon. Be careful, though, because this article will be one large spoiler for you if you haven’t seen the Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale Arc already.

Muramasa’s anime story is not canon, but the light novel made Muramasa a character canon, although not in the most direct way possible

When Muramasa first appeared as the villain of the Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale arc, he himself said he was a Zanpakuto spirit that killed its own master in order to live free. However, this was just a lie – in truth, he is very loyal to his owner, Koga Kuchiki, and acted only in his interest.

He pretended to hate the Shinigami from the bottom of his heart, wanting to destroy every one of them, freeing all the Zanpakuto spirits from their oppression and letting the Shinigami rule over them.

Muramasa’s real plan is to free his former master, Koga, who had been sealed away because he was a villain. Because of this, he wanted to enter the mind of Captain-Commander Yamamoto to find out his master’s whereabouts. To pacify Yamamoto, he enlisted the Zanpakuto spirits Sōgyo no Kotowari, Katen Kyōkotsu, and Minazuki, the spirits of the three most powerful Captains. However, Yamamoto locked himself in a barrier so Muramasa couldn’t harm him. From then on, Muramasa made an alternative plan.

With the help of the remaining Zanpakuto spirits of the Gotei 13, he caused a revolution that turned the Zanpakuto against their owners. With a spell, he released the Zanpakuto spirits from their sword form, which also meant that the Shinigami could no longer use Shikai or Bankai. After winning over all the Zanpakuto of the Gotei 13’s Captains and Lieutenants, he kidnapped Yamamoto and his barrier in the chaos.

He made the remaining Shinigami believe that he created the barrier because he couldn’t control Ryujin Jakka. He let Rukia escape into the human world, knowing she would return with Ichigo. When this happened, he was able to separate Zangetsu from Ichigo as well, thus strengthening his army.

However, since another soul lived inside Ichigo, Muramasa entered Ichigo’s mind, where he met Hollow Ichigo. Muramasa also wanted to take control of that part of Ichigo, but his powers didn’t affect Hollow Ichigo, so Hollow Ichigo fought Muramasa.

Ichgio protected his inner Hollow and forced Muramasa to leave his inner world again. Ichigo released Zangetsu from Muramasa’s control with a powerful attack – however, in Ichigo’s power, he had found the only possible way to destroy the barrier created by Yamamoto.

He let a few more Zanpakuto attacks provoke the Shinigami to counterattack – however, they did exactly what Muramasa wanted and brought Ichigo to him, who tried to kill him with his strongest attack.

However, Muramasa deflected the attack on Yamamoto’s barrier, promptly destroying it. So now Ryujin Jakka was also lost to Muramasa. However, when he found out that his owner’s sealed tomb was in Karakura Town, he immediately arrived there.

Exhausted and near death, he was found by Orihime, who healed him until Chad and Ishida approached and attacked him. However, the latter recognized a sadness in his eyes, which reflected his longing and dearest wish for the resurrection of his owner.

When Muramasa finally revived Koga, the unsealed villain stabbed Muramasa, telling him that it was punished because he had let him down on purpose the day it was sealed. Namely, many years ago, Koga was a loyal Shinigami who helped calm down a potential civil war in the Seireitei, but he was powerful and had unconventional methods, and at one point, after a mix-up, Koga was captured and convicted, not least through the intervention of Ginrei Kuchiki, Byakuya’s grandfather and at the same time Kouga’s future father-in-law at the time.

However, on Muramasa’s advice, Koga broke out and, despondent at his plight, began indiscriminately killing Shinigami and Rukongai residents, almost going insane. However, Muramasa remained loyal to Kouga and followed all orders, even if they became more and more ruthless and cruel after the Shinigami’s attempted coup.

And while Muramasa opposed the killings, there was little he could do, as Koga abused him physically when he objected, causing a rift between them. In the end, however, the misunderstanding was such that the spiritual bonds between Zanpakuto and the owner had become so weak that communication was no longer possible; Kouga took this as a breach of trust and thought Muramasa had betrayed him.

After Koga then broke Murmasa’s sword form, Muramasa lost control of his Reiatsu and sank into deep despair. The Hollows he released from his body were attracted to Muramasa, transforming him into one of them until Byakuya Kuchiki and Ichigo defeated both Koga and Muramasa.

So, the rundown of Muramasa’s story is as follows. Muramasa, in the shape and form we’ve seen him in the anime filler arc, is not canon. This was a wholly original story that was created for the anime due to production reasons. In fact, the whole Zanpakuto rebellion is not canon, and although Kubo did some of the designs that were later used in the canon (e.g. Kyoraku’s Zanpakuto spirits), it doesn’t make the story canon.

But, fans of Bleach will know that the Can’t Fear Your Own World sequel light novel written by Kubo and Narita, which can be considered canon, does mention Muramasa, stating that it is the Kuchiki clan’s ancestral Zanpakuto. So, this means that Muramasa as a character is canon, but that the story as we’ve seen it in the anime is not.