Rangiku Matsumoto
Rangiku Matsumoto by Tite Kubo
Created by	Tite Kubo
Voiced by	Kaya Matsutani (Japanese) Megan Hollingshead (English)
Profile
Gender	Female
Species	Soul Reaper
Date of birth	September 29
Occupation	Soul Reaper lieutenant of the 10th Division
Zanpakutō	Haineko

Rangiku Matsumoto (松本 乱菊, Matsumoto Rangiku) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. She is the lieutenant of the 10th Division, under Tōshirō Hitsugaya. The recent 2006 popularity poll states that she made 17th place and 1,628 votes, trailing behind Soifon by almost 300 votes and surpassing Sōsuke Aizen by 111 votes.

Rangiku is an attractive woman with long, wavy, strawberry-blonde hair (worn short in her youth), icy blue eyes, and a beauty spot to the right of her mouth. Her most distinctive features are her very large breasts, which are even larger than Orihime Inoue’s. She also shares Orihime’s strange taste in food. She dresses in the garb typical of Soul Reapers, though her robes hang loose enough for her ample bosom to be revealed. She wears a necklace and a pink scarf over her shoulders. In addition, her lieutenant’s armband is worn on her uniform’s sash, as opposed to around the arm.

Rangiku tends to be a slacker who doesn’t like paperwork and loves to drink saké. She’s not the least bit modest about her appearance, frequently referring or complaining about her large breasts in casual conversation. She even tries to bribe Ichigo Kurosaki into letting her stay at his house using them for seduction, though unsuccessfully. Her easy-going and free-spirited personality is in sharp contrast with the serious Hitsugaya, but the two seem to be quite close, regardless. Rangiku is almost constantly by his side and has shown her loyalty to him on several occasions. While she seems somewhat self-centered, she is sensitive to the feelings of others, evident when she sees the concern Hitsugaya has for Momo Hinamori, the guilt Izuru Kira shares with her when Gin Ichimaru is revealed as a traitor, and when Orihime feels depressed about her role in Ichigo Kurosaki’s life. Despite her lackadaisical image, she can be extremely serious when needed. She’s shown to be somewhat maternal, especially with Orihime and Momo.

Not much is mentioned about Rangiku’s past. She came from Rukongai and was rescued as a child by Gin Ichimaru; the two soon became friends. In one short chapter from the manga, she was once asked by Ichimaru during her childhood when her birthday was. She replied that she did not know because she had been alone for as far as she could remember. This possibly means she was orphaned since birth. When he heard about this, Ichimaru told her that if this was the case, then her birthday should be set on the day they met (the day she was not alone anymore).

It is not known how she became a Soul Reaper or how she became lieutenant of the 10th Division, but it is known that she has held the position longer than her current captain has held his. She first met Hitsugaya in Rukongai when the two bumped into one-another. Recognizing his immense power, and the harm it was causing to the old woman he lived with, she convinced him to become a Soul Reaper in order to control it.^[1]

Most of Rangiku’s appearances coincide with that of her captain, commonly appearing beside him or in missions on his orders. Rangiku, along with her captain, attempt to prevent Rukia Kuchiki’s execution, and later to stop Gin’s suspected defection, and the two become shocked once they realize the entire conspiracy. She is later assigned to Karakura Town to deal with the Bount invasion, and later the arrancar invasions. During her stay in the human world, she grows close to Orihime Inoue, the two forming a sister-like bond.

Rangiku’s zanpakutō is Haineko (灰猫, lit. Ash Cat). The guard is in the shape of a cat’s head, as its name suggests. The zanpakutō’s form is that of a straight-bladed wakizashi. Its shikai command is “growl” (唸れ, unare, Viz: “roar”).

In its shikai, Haineko dissolves into ash, which Rangiku can then control. The ash can cut through objects as easily as a sword would, similar in principle to Byakuya Kuchiki’s Senbonzakura. In Bleach: Heat the Soul 3, the ash that Haineko produces can form together into a cat or leopard-like animal.

Rangiku is trying to learn the bankai of Haineko, however, Haineko is just as moody, lazy, and selfish as she is, making the progress difficult.^[2]