Masaki Kurosaki

is the mother of Ichigo Kurosaki who was killed trying to protect her son from Grand Fisher.

Appearance
Masaki is a woman of average height. She had fair skin and long, light, wavy brown hair down to her back, which she usually had tied in a knot in the back and bangs down to her chin in the front. She typically wore plain dresses and wore lipstick on occasion.

Personality
Though not much was seen of her personality, her family has described her as being a very loving mother and wife. She also found men who smoke to be attractive.

History
When Masaki was a teenage girl she was the last of the Kurosaki family. She was taken in by the Ryūken Ishida's mother so that she would be protected as one of the last quincy and so that one day she would marry Ryūken and keep the Quincy Bloodline of the Ishida family pure, due to the Quincy being an endangered race. Later that night she meant the Shinigami, Isshin Shiba. After saving him from a Hollow, she introduces herself and also says that she is a Quincy, when he asked her how she could possibly have defeated him.

Grand Fisher, a Hollow, used the forms of Humans whom he had devoured (mostly women) to attract other Humans with high spiritual energy. Ichigo, who at the time could not distinguish between Souls and Humans, saw Grand Fisher's lure, in the form of a woman about to jump into a rushing river, and ran after it. Masaki, realizing the danger, went after Ichigo and protected him from Grand Fisher at the cost of her own life. According to Ichigo, Masaki was the center of the family and everything that went on with the family revolved around her. Due to this fact, Ichigo's family was greatly devastated by her death.

The Kurosaki family now visits her grave every year, and that is the only day in the year Isshin smokes. The reason he smokes in front of her grave was because when they had first started dating, Masaki complimented him about how cool he looked while smoking. He also added that was the first and last time she complimented him about his appearance. Isshin hung up a large poster of her in his home, displaying the phrase "Masaki Forever", and he frequently talks to it as if it were the real Masaki.

According to Tatsuki Arisawa, Ichigo stopped crying every time he saw his mother. She claimed Ichigo had the most beautiful mother ever, and he took it upon himself for her death. Isshin also thought it was his own fault his wife died. His reason was: he could not get there in time to protect her from Grand Fisher. When Ichigo asked him why nobody ever blamed him for his mother's death, Isshin explained to him that he was "the woman I fell in love with was a woman I fell in love with gave her life to save." He also added that when they meet each other again, if he had ever blamed Ichigo, Masaki would not be able to forgive him.

Agent of the Shinigami arc
When the Kurosaki family visited Masaki's grave, Grand Fisher returned as he could sense their high spiritual power. During the fight, when Ichigo began to lose, her memory upon being killed was released from Grand Fisher's lure, telling Ichigo her last thoughts before she died. All she could think about was how much fun they all had together, and for Ichigo to never stop smiling. Her spirit gave Ichigo the strength to nearly kill the Hollow, forcing him to retreat.

The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

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