Love Aikawa

, more commonly referred to as, is a Visored and the former captain of the 7th Division.

Appearance
Love is a tall Visored with brown eyes and a thick black spiked afro which adds further to his above average height. Love sports a green jogging suit and wears mirrored sunglasses at all times. When he was a captain, 110 years ago, his hair was in a classic, rounded afro style with long sideburns. He wore a standard Shinigami uniform with a sleeveless captain's haori and a pair of dark-lensed sunglasses.

Personality
Love is a laid-back and easy-going man, usually reading Shōnen Jump or some of Lisa's erotic manga in his spare time, more often than not, spoiling a piece of the story by quoting lines and explaining what the character meant by it in a dramatic, tough-guy demeanor, almost as if he was an actor rehearsing movie lines. As with most Visored, Love's attitude switches from serious to carefree within a moment's notice. During his time as a captain, Love believed in respect and maintaining the peace, quick to uphold those standards when no one else will.

He also appears to have little love for posturing, as indicated when he slaps the back of Rōjūrō's head, for talking about former enemies, banding together in times of war, in order to fight a common foe, just before they're about to fight Coyote Starrk. True to his more carefree side, right before starting his battle against Starrk, Love makes a manga reference in response to Starrk questioning what happened when Loves' mask dissipated. Despite his comparatively friendly attitude, Love is a rather brutal and merciless fighter, not letting his opponents make a move against him and using his Shikai's special ability mixed with his mask right at the start of his battle with Starrk.

The Thousand-Year Blood War arc
In Karakura Town, Love heads to the store to buy Jump and milk for coffee. When Hiyori is tasked to fix the distortion between the Human World and Soul Society, she drags Love, Lisa, and Hachi along with her to help. Love asks if that means he has to do work, which Hiyori angrily confirms. Later, Love arrives in Soul Society alongside Hachigen, Lisa, and Hiyori. Soon afterward, Love and the other Visored appear in Urahara's laboratory. When Urahara tells them to put on the shihakushō in the back, Love agrees and drags Hiyori off while admonishing her for trying to get out of this while Shinji, Kensei, and Rose are doing their best.

Later on, in the laboratory, Love arrives with the other Visored in shihakushō, as Hiyori complains to Urahara about finally wearing the shihakusho.

Powers & Abilities
Master Swordsman: As a former captain, Love is no doubt quite skilled in swordsmanship. He faces off against a Hollowfied Kensei one on one, without releasing his Zanpakutō. He even managed to block a spiritually charged attack from Kensei with his unreleased blade.

Shunpo Expert: His Shunpo is fast enough to keep up with the other captains when they were rushing to the scene of the conflict, albeit he seems slower than Shinji.

Enhanced Durability: When Love was brutally attacked by a Hollowfied Kensei, with a spiritually charged attack at point blank range, Love sustained only minor injuries and kept on fighting with no signs of faltering.

Great Spiritual Power: As a former captain, he possessed a great-level of spiritual power. Being a Visored Love possesses a dual type spiritual energy, part Shinigami and part Hollow.

Highly-Perceptive Combatant: During his fight with Coyote Starrk the 1st Espada, Love has shown to be very intuitive and can predict the actions an opponent may make and how to counter them.

Zanpakutō

 * In its sealed form, Tengumaru is an average katana with a white hilt-wrapping and heart-shaped tsuba (befitting his name). As a Shinigami, he wore it at his waist, but after becoming a Visored, he carries it by a tōju over his shoulder.


 * Shikai: His release command is . Tengumaru transforms into a large black kanabō, more than twice the height of Love himself. It is covered with bladed protrusions in a way resembling a cactus, and the handle itself is almost taller than Love. It is also very sturdy, as shown when it blocks, and even appears to dispel, Starrk's Cero blasts with ease.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Tengumaru possesses the ability to manipulate fire.
 * Love swings Tengumaru up and it ignites itself in flames. He then points it downwards and a huge fireball fires from the tip where upon making contact with the target the fire explodes outwards a great distance with the resulting blast being strong enough to cave in buildings near the center of impact. At the site of impact a huge column of burning flames forms further incinerating anything in the area.


 * Bankai: Not Yet Revealed

Hollowfication
Hollow Mask: His Hollow mask takes the form of a traditional Japanese Oni mask.


 * Power Augmentation: While wearing the mask, Love's Hollow powers supplement his Shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in both strength and durability.


 * Enhanced Strength: Love has displayed that usage of his mask grants him brutal physical strength.


 * a technique of pure, raw strength that allowed Love to rip a Menos Grande in half by sticking his bare hands through its head and pulling it apart.


 * Enhanced Durability: Love naturally possesses considerable durability, but it appears he must still Hollowify to effectively counter an attack like a Cero. According to Love, his and Rose's mask time limit is 3 minutes, which he jokingly says is because they are 'superheroes'.

Hollowfication
Time Limit: Love can only maintain his hollow mask for three minutes at a time.

Trivia

 * In the anime, later when he and the Visored aid the Gotei 13 against Aizen's army Love is portrayed with brown hair, despite Tite Kubo's official colorings showing him with black.


 * Because Love wears bright gray colored sunglasses, his eyes are usually never seen because of the light reflects on the lenses. However, the lenses have been shown to be transparent when he wears his Hollow mask, as well as when it starts to disappear after being used.


 * At one point, Love quotes from a manga "you're already dead...haven't you noticed you're a walking dead-man..." Love refers to this as "deep shit" as the character informs someone else of their own death in the middle of combat when they didn't know it themselves.

Quotes

 * (To Starrk, referring to the Visored and their masks) "Oh, mine only lasts about three minutes. I'm a hero, y'see."


 * (After Rose complains about his hair) "Is that right. How about you try and aesthetically not get yourself buried in the first place in the future."


 * (To Rose, about Starrk) "Once a guy's comrade falls, the battle gets personal."


 * (Regarding Starrk's non-avenging personality) "That's what makes him so scary. There's not a guy in the world who isn't affected at all by a comrade's death. If his comrade's death causes him to falter, we take advantage. If his comrade's death drives him to anger, we strike him down before he can let it out. In either case, speed is of the essence!"


 * (To Starrk) "Now that's a surprise! I always thought you Hollow scum didn't have hearts or feelings!"

The Hollowfication Incident

 * The New Captain of the 12th Division
 * Battle in Fugai Forest
 * The Fall of Kisuke Urahara

Arrancar Invasion

 * Visored Training

White Invasion

 * The Arrival: The Visored Appear
 * Love Aikawa & Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi vs. Coyote Starrk
 * Aizen's Impatience: Tense Situation
 * The Gotei 13 & The Visored vs. Sōsuke Aizen

Quincy Blood War

 * Fall of the Soul King

Navigation
Love Aikawa Love Aikawa