Bleach: Who Is Uryu’s Mother, Kanae Katagiri? & What Happened to Her?

One of the things that we know about Uryu Ishida is that he and his father were supposed to be the last of the Quincy, but that was not the case because, in Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War, there were other Quincys that were revealed to have always been alive and that Ichigo himself was part Quincy. When Isshin Kurosaki told Ichigo the true story behind his mother, we also met Uryu’s mother, Kanae Katagiri. So, who is Kanae Katagiri in Bleach?

Kanae Katagiri was a maid who worked for the Ishida family when Uryu’s father, Ryuken, was still younger. She also became Ryuken’s sworn protector because she was a Gemischt or impure Quincy after the incident involving Masaki, Kanae, and Ryuken got married and gave birth to Uryu.

It was already clear back in the earlier episodes of the Bleach anime that the fathers of Ichigo and Uryu were familiar with one another, as it was eventually revealed that an incident in the past connected them. Of course, during that time, Kanae was there for Ryuken to protect him, making him fall for her. So, with that said, let’s learn more about Uryu’s mother.

Who Is Kanae Katagiri?

The characters of Bleach are all diverse in terms of their origins, as we know that the origins of the main characters’ powers are quite different from one another. Of course, Uryu Ishida was introduced as a Reiatsu-wielding human being called a Quincy. Using his Quincy powers, Uryu can use a bow made out of Reiatsu and then blast arrows that are capable of killing Hollows and Shinigami alike. And Uryu’s powers were inherited from his parents.

We know that Uryu comes from a long line of Quincys, but he and his father were known as the last living Quincys during the early part of Bleach. Then, in The Thousand-Year Blood War arc, it was revealed that other Quincys were still alive but were merely recuperating their strength while they were waiting for the Quincy king, Yhwach, to return to his full power. And it was during that arc that Ichigo was revealed to be part Quincy as well due to his mother being a full-blooded Echt Quincy.

During a flashback scene involving Ichigo’s parents, Isshin and Masaki, we also saw Uryu’s parents. Masaki was actually living with the Ishida household during her younger years because the family took her in after all of the members of the Kurosaki clan died out. And she was even arranged to marry Ryuken Ishida, the father of Uryu.

During that time, Uryu’s mother was actually working for the Ishida family as a maid. Her name was Kanae Katagiri, and she was a loyal servant to the Ishida household and was just as stoic as her son.

Kanae’s story began when she was brought into the Ishida family as a young girl that was supposed to serve them. After all, she was a Gemischt or impure Quincy, while the Ishida family was composed of Echt or pure-blooded Quincy. As such, she was seen as a lower member of the Quincys due to the fact that her bloodline was already mixed with other bloodlines.

Still, despite that, she served Ryuken loyally and was even his sworn protector. We saw her in episode 11 of The Thousand-Year Blood War arc just shortly after Masaki was introduced as a high school teenager. During that time, it was also clear that Ryuken and Kanae were quite close with one another, as he confided to the maid that he was unsure whether or not Masaki would be happy to marry him.

After all, the only reason they were supposed to marry one another was to ensure that the bloodline stayed pure because he and Masaki were both Echt Quincys.

That was when Kanae told Ryuken that he was very kind because he prioritized Masaki’s happiness over their status. Of course, that was already a hint about how Kanae felt about Ryuken, who she secretly loved not only because she was brought in to serve him but also because he was indeed a kindhearted person, especially when compared to the other Quincys.

Meanwhile, Masaki felt the massive spiritual energy of Isshin and White as the two were battling. She decided to try to help Isshin because she didn’t want to regret not helping someone in need. After that, Ryuken contacted Kanae and told her to prepare the Reishi Armor, as it was clear that he wanted to go after Masaki to try to help her in her attempt to assist in the fight against White.

Both Ryuken and Kanae were indeed there but did not interfere with the fight because Masaki had already defeated White, and Isshin had already neutralized the explosion caused by the black-clad Hollow.

However, Katagiri told Ryuken’s mother what happened, as Ryuken’s mother scolded Masaki for breaking the traditions of the Quincys. And Ryuken realized that Kanae Katagiri probably told his mother about what happened.

When Ryuken confronted Kanae, she said that she told his mother what happened so that Masaki could be healed and that she could marry Ryuken and continue the pureblood Ishida line. As such, it was clear that Kanae only thought about Ryuken and her duty to the family when she told Ryken’s mother about the incident involving Isshin.

What Happened To Kanae Katagiri?

Masaki eventually got infected by White’s Hollowfication, as Ryuken took her away from the Ishida household so that Isshin and Urahara could heal her. Her Hollowfication was suppressed when Isshin sacrificed his Shinigami powers. And after Masaki was healed, Ryuken met up with Kanae Katagiri outside in the rain.

Katagiri asked him if he had left Masaki with the Shinigami, and Ryuken confirmed that he did indeed do that. Ryuken also told Kanae to tell his mother that he was not fit to protect the Quincys, to which Katagiri said that she couldn’t leave him alone because it was her duty to stay with him and protect him.

That was when Kanae told Ryuken that she was devoted to him not because it was her duty but also because she wanted to stay loyal to him. She also said that it broke her heart to see him sad, and that was when Ryuken told her that everything was okay and that she shouldn’t be sad as well.

After that incident, Ryuken and Kanae married, and the union led to the birth of Uryu Ishida. Nine years before the events of Bleach, Katagiri lost consciousness and died three months later due to unknown reasons. But they didn’t know that Yhwach had performed Auswählen and took the power of every Quincy he determined to be “impure” so that he could make their powers his own and become stronger than ever.

Because of Ryuken’s love for Kanae, he performs an autopsy on her corpse to find out the true reason behind her death. He discovered that the silver blood clot that was formed in her heart was from the Auswählen. As such, he forged an arrowhead out of that silver blood clot, hoping that he could use it to eventually kill Yhwach.

Did Yhwach kill Kanae Katagiri?

So, now that we actually know what happened to Kanae Katagiri and what her role in the story is, we can actually answer one interesting question – can Yhwach be labeled as Kanae Katagiri’s killer? Now, Auswählen is a specific process, and we know that all Quincy are, at one point or another, destined to give their powers back to Yhwach, either when they die (when their powers automatically go back to Yhwach), or when Yhwach takes them (through Auswählen). But does that fact really change much?

Auswählen allows Yhwach to redistribute the powers of the Quincy as he pleases, as they are essentially all his powers anyway. He can completely drain any Quincy, even the powerful Sternritter, of their powers, after which the victim is extremely weakened or dies directly, which is a process we’ve observed in the series.

The absorbed powers are then available to Yhwach himself, which he can use to strengthen or heal. However, he can also pass them on to other Quincy to raise them from the dead and increase their powers immensely.

Yhwach usually uses Auswählen to strengthen himself, which is what he did nine years before the plot, but he has also used it to empower the members of his Schutzstaffel when they entered the Soul King’s palace, thereby killing some of his other Sternritter (e.g., Robert Accutrone was completely wiped out) and weakening the survivors (including Bazz-B, Giselle Gewelle, and Liltotto Lamperd).

Nine years prior, though, Yhwach targeted only the Gemischt Quincy, and everyone save for Uryu Ishida was actually affected by it, with the latter’s mother dying.

Did Yhwach know the consequences of his Auswählen? He absolutely did. He knew that those who were weak would die while the stronger ones would be weakened. Knowing that, he willingly activated Auswählen and accepted the consequences of his actions, not really caring what happens to the Gemischt Quincy in the process, as he considered them to be lower forms of life anyway;

Yhwach is, as you probably know, a narcissistic tyrant who doesn’t really care about anyone but himself, and he would be willing to sacrifice all of Quincy just so he could win, so we cannot really say that he felt sorry for anyone.

Can he be described as a killer? Whether he wanted their deaths or simply didn’t care, Yhwach can be described as the killer of Kanae Katagiri. He indirectly contributed to the death of Masaki Kurosaki, but since Grand Fisher killed her, we cannot really blame him directly, but in Kanae Katagiri’s case – since she died from the consequences of Yhwach’s Auswählen – he can be blamed directly, so we can, here, openly state that Yhwach did, indeed, kill Kanae Katagiri and that he can be labeled as her killer.