Mura's Toolshed

» Shikai Release Phrase: Slow Down, Hōkamaru!

» Shikai Release Action: Ranma unsheathes his Zanpakutō and holds the blade over his shoulder, preparing an overhead strike. That's when his Zanpakutō morphs into its Shikai.

» Shikai Appearance:

The blade, free of doubt, now bends once as its length extends from a short handle, the blade itself bending to take the shape of a large khopesh. One side of the blade has purple, glowing words engraved:

कसानाकल्प

These words are fully lit when the Shikai's ability is fully available. Once used, the light is drained like a tank from the phrase, only slowly filling up during the cooldown of the Shikai's ability.

» Shikai Abilities: Ranma coming to better terms with his Zanpakutō's nature changes its form, but the ability stays the same - once the Shikai is released, he can emit a visible, lavender sphere out from and around his Zanpakutō. The sphere can reach a radius of max 50 meters. Its Reiryoku is more than detectable by other Shinigami, Hollows and other enemies who possess Spiritual Awareness.

Time moves much slower within this sphere, physically impeding the movements of any objects, people and/or other creatures inside of it - as if they're forced to move in slow-motion. Only Ranma himself moves normally within his Shikai's effective range, resulting in him moving much 'faster' relative to his targets. Should he will it, he can extend the ability to affect the sword itself, but it still won't affect Ranma's physical form in any way.

Enemies who excel in speed against Ranma, or who easily dwarf him in the speed department - whether natural or through similar enhancements - are able to make up for the slowdown and can even cause the Shikai's sphere of influence to bend away from them if they move much faster than Ranma himself, granting them the opportunity to escape it like escaping a pool of sticky jelly. If anticipating the Shikai, very strong or fast opponents can even break the sphere with high strength or speed exerted from the get-go, making it more useful if released as a surprise.

Ranma's own conditions affect just how potent the slowdown is, too - an injured Ranma performing Shikai would make the sphere weaker and easier to break compared to that of a prime-condition Ranma. On top of that, the sphere only lasts for 1 post (unless shrunk to the Zanpakutō's own size to accomodate for Zanjutsus). After reaching its duration, it needs a cooldown of 3 posts before it can be released again.

Hōkamaru's Zanjutsu Techniques:

» Bankai Name: 日月報科丸, Jitsugetsu Hōkamaru (Sun-Moon Loud Singer)

» Bankai Appearance:
Ranma appears to charge forward with his blade held back, only to suddenly appear in a 'loop' of him advancing but never going forward - akin to an old film tape repeating the same frames over and over again at rapid speed. Then, soon after, a loud boom travels out in all directions as he brakes his movements, releasing a small burst of his lavender Reishi and announcing the completion of his Release. It is merely a visual display of his ascension.

His Zanpakutō now takes on the form of a seven-branched, long sword in a lavender color with a faint, bluish tint. It's awfully detail-less, and even the handle looks like part of the sword's skeleton itself. An unfinished sword of a glass-like material, almost appearing edge-less.

His Shihakushō is caught on lavender fire from the boom, too. On random places, lavender flames crawl up on him harmlessly, as if after-effects after breaking some barrier.

» Bankai Abilities: Hōkamaru's limited affinity with the flow of time manifests as a lavender aura emitting from the sword itself - now, that aura draws back from the surroundings right after being released, fully centering itself deep within Ranma, and causing his body's flow of time to zoom forward. Effectively performing the polar opposite of his Shikai, his body's movement speed is vastly increased, far more than what it'd appear if he moved relatively to a trapped foe with his Shikai.

At first, it'd appear like a purely speed-boosting Bankai, speeding up Ranma instead of slowing his foes down… but his perception of time is left unchanged, just as with his Shikai. Whatever action he decides to take, from the moment the thought of doing it crosses his mind, his body will execute it before his idea of doing such an action ends. His hand will already be stretched forward before he stops thinking about doing exactly that. He'll be walking way before the thought finishes. He'll be several meters ahead of himself, before the thoughts from his brain finishes loading to his legs. This disconnect between his Bankai and his perception of time can help him evade at much higher speeds than before, but it can also prove to be a major flaw.

It essentially grants him a turbo-version of tunnel vision, and he's now easily able to accidently collide with nearby objects that he didn't mean to hit. If stretching his arm out makes it collide with a blade half-way, his thoughts to stop are far slower than the action itself. Because of the huge boost in speed and the unchanged perception of his, his movements are limited to either very short actions (such as moving an arm or a leg around while standing still) or strictly linear directions before having to brake in his tracks and reaffirm his surroundings - whenever he advances in a direction, it takes him crossing a distance of 250 meters before his thoughts catch up to him and he has to stop and recollect himself. This can make it very easy for an opponent to trick him into flying into walls, allies or prepared counterattacks. The foe can also purposely slow down in their tracks in order to trick him into passing right by them, should he miscalculate their next move.

Since time is zoomed forward for Ranma alone, he still endures any damage inflicted before, during or after the Bankai's ability is used. Going forward will not help recover from such sort of wounds. However, effects that express themselves through his body go through their durations much faster - healing abilities placed on him will finish much faster as a result. Binds and external objects on him won't be affected by this, since they're not directly part of his own self.

It's an unbalanced Bankai in those regards, but the jump in speed and the destructive force such speed brings when colliding with the desired target is an attempt by Hōkamaru to make up for it.