Tatsuki Arisawa

is a student at the Karakura High School, in the same class as Ichigo Kurosaki, her childhood friend and former karate partner.

Appearance
Tatsuki is a teenager of average height and brown eyes. She is the more boyish friend of Orihime Inoue with contrasting appearances to her best friend. Tatsuki's frame is boyish, with a small chest and a very lean frame compared to Orihime's curvier figure. Her hair is short and dark, kept spiked out at the sides in tune with her less than feminine appearance. She usually appears in her school uniform or else her karate outfit while still training in school or at the dojo.

Personality
Tatsuki is protective and level headed most of the time, unless she is provoked by somebody. She uses her great strength to beat up anyone who troubles her friends or her. She has a lot of insight on Ichigo's personality. When they were children, Tatsuki regularly saved Ichigo when he was getting beaten up, as well as cheering him up when he was upset. A tomboyish karate practitioner with dreams of becoming a vale tudo champion, and already ranking Japan's second strongest in her age group. Her only obvious feminine trait is how she writes her name: using hiragana: (たつき), though this is because she thinks it looks feminine while she considers the kanji of her name to be un-cute.

Tatsuki is best friends with Orihime Inoue and is constantly protecting her from men looking for a date, as well as Chizuru Honshō, the school lesbian, who often approaches and tries to grab Orihime's breasts. Tatsuki has done this since middle school, when she beat up some bullies who were trying to cut Orihime's hair, and had already done so once before her brother died. After that, Tatsuki promised to protect her from anyone who dared to make her cry, and she and Orihime became best friends.

Like many of Ichigo's friends, Tatsuki is spiritually aware to the point that she can clearly see ghosts, Hollows, Shinigami, and other such supernatural phenomena, though she lacks any unique spiritual powers of her own. She is strong enough to survive spiritual attacks most humans are incapable of dealing with, though this may be due to her karate training. She also has the ability to sense Orihime from almost anywhere, even across dimensions; she is able to sense Orihime when she travels to Soul Society, but remarks that she can't sense her presence after Orihime is taken to Hueco Mundo.

She has shown a very estranged side of her though at some points, mainly showing it to Orihime when they are discussing her affections toward Ichigo. One part, that was cut from the anime was when Tatsuki was actually disappointed in Orihime for not taking advantage of Ichigo when he thought she was hurt. She then went on to teach Orihime on how to take advantage of Ichigo.

History
Tatsuki and Ichigo are childhood friends. They first met age four, at that dojo where Tatsuki used to train. She claims to be the first person to make Ichigo cry at the dojo, with one blow to the upper body, which sent Ichigo crying in about 10 seconds. That was the beginning of her friendship Tatsuki routinely beat Ichigo until sometime in the 6th grade, they have not had a Karate match since the day Ichigo beat her. Ichigo also used to call Tatsuki, Tatsuki-chan but stopped in the 5th grade and started calling her just Tatsuki.

Ichigo's mother died when he and Tatsuki were nine years old. Following his mother's death, Ichigo started skipping school, this prompted Tatsuki to go look for Ichigo. She found him by the river-bank, which he paced from morning till night. Tatsuki believed that Ichigo was looking for his mother and claims that it was very hard for her to see Ichigo like that. As a child, Tatsuki once asked Ichigo if it was true that he could see ghosts. Ichigo denied it, Tatsuki believed him and in-turn got angry at the kids who were spreading the rumours about Ichigo.

Tatsuki and Orihime met in middle school, shortly after the death of Orihime's brother. Tatsuki became Orihime's protector and due to her friendship and projection, Orihime gained enough confidence to grow her hair long. They have been best friends ever since.

The Agent of the Shinigami arc
In the earlier part of the series, Tatsuki is mainly seen alongside Orihime and also protects her from the Hollow Numb Chandelier, but gets injured in the process. When Orihime's powers awaken Tatsuki in turn gets protected by Orihime. Soon after that, Tatsuki begins to see Hollows clearly, but never mentions it to Orihime. Tatsuki made Orihime promise that she will come back alive before Orihime goes to Soul Society.

Bount arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

The Arrancar arc
Later on, during the first invasion of the Arrancar, Tatsuki nearly dies at the hands of Yammy, who uses his special technique called Gonzui to suck up human souls. A timely rescue by Orihime and Chad saves her. Tatsuki also witnesses the battles between Ichigo, Tōshirō Hitsugaya's team and the Arrancar. When Orihime gets taken away to Hueco Mundo, Tatsuki is noticeably upset at her sudden disappearance, punching Ichigo's head through a window and shouting at him for not telling her what he knows. She is later accompanied by Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima to Kisuke Urahara's Shop and sees Ichigo leaving for Hueco Mundo.

The Hueco Mundo arc
Tatsuki joins the Karakura-Raizer team and defeats an Arrancar in charge of a Hollow fortress. She is put to sleep along with the rest of the team and they were sent to Soul Society for their own protection along with the rest of Karakura Town due to the dangerous battle about to take place.

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.

Fake Karakura Town arc
After Tatsuki wakes up in Karakura Town and spots everyone else to be asleep, she finds Keigo crying for someone to be awake, and she punches him in the face because of this. He begins explaining his situation to her but it simply ends up annoying Tatsuki and she punches him in the face again. She tells him to be quiet, and he apologizes since he just got excited all of a sudden, but Tatsuki yells at him to stop making excuses. She then shows him the unconscious bodies of Chizuru Honshō and Michiru Ogawa, and she tells Keigo to pick up Chizuru while she picks up Ogawa and that their going to take them to the school. Tatsuki warns Keigo not to touch Chizuru, but Keigo remarks about her chest and Tatsuki punches him again. Tatsuki tells Keigo that she recently walked around the edge of town, and it felt as if the town had been transported somewhere else since there are only mountains surrounding the area. Keigo wonders if this has to do with Ichigo and Tatsuki remarks that it has to be, but since it's Ichigo he'll do something about it. Soon they are spotted by Gin Ichimaru and Sōsuke Aizen, who recognizes Tatsuki from Ulquiorra's report.

Along the way, Tatsuki asks Keigo if he is going to search for Kojima. Keigo replies that he already did and that since Ichigo disappeared he has been going to school alone and not answering his phone. Tatsuki is surprised by this and Keigo explains that Mizuiro is very distant with everyone other than Ichigo and he was happy to see him take the initiative with Ichigo. Tatsuki tells him to look for Kojima once they leave the others at the school. Keigo asks if she is going to look for Ryō Kunieda and Mahana Natsui, but she replies that they can take care of themselves and that she will look for Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki. Keigo says that their dad will be with them, but Tatsuki replies that he is probably asleep as well. They are then interrupted by the reiatsu of the approaching Sōsuke Aizen and Gin Ichimaru. Keigo asks Tatsuki if she is alright, but she tells him not to worry about her. As Tatsuki asks who the pair are, she collapses to one knee, worrying Keigo. Aizen compliments them for being able to continue existing despite his being so close to them. When Tatsuki again asks who he is, Aizen states that Ichigo will inevitably arrive with a new power and that he will kill them in order to push that power closer to perfection. Tatsuki tells Keigo to run, as he cannot do anything by staying. Keigo turns and runs with Chizuru still on his back. Rangiku orders Kanonji to take Tatsuki and Michiru away from Aizen, which he reluctantly does. As she is being carried away, Tatsuki looks back at Rangiku and wonders who she is. Noting that her clothes are similar to Ichigo's, she complains that Ichigo never told her that he had such a pretty friend. After escaping, Tatsuki tells him to put her down, as she can now walk. He tells her not to overdo it, but she head-buts him when he continues to refuse to put her down, complaining that he never hears things the first time. Keigo then appears carrying the Zanpakutō of Zennosuke Kurumadani. Keigo tells her it belongs to an unconscious "Af-san". Tatsuki asks who this is, but Keigo tells her he will explain later. She asks him if he had searched for Chizuru and Mizuiro. Keigo says that he found him and that he left Chizuru with him. He tells her to ask about it later and to run, as the presence of Aizen is getting closer to them.

Power & Abilities
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Having been trained professionally since a young age in karate, Tatsuki has a high level of skill at it, enough to fight several enemies and also teach Orihime basics to defend herself. Tatsuki is considered the second strongest girl in Japan of her age group. She managed to come second in a tournament with a broken arm.

High Endurance: Tatsuki's resolve to win is proven great enough for her to willingly continue in a national tournament with a broken arm.

Spiritual Power: Her spiritual power is enough to resist her from Yammy Riyalgo's Gonzui. Even in the presence off the Hōgyoku-enhanced Sōsuke Aizen, she was able to "maintain her existence" (albeit she was still brought to knees and paralyzed in fear). In the Karakura-Riser omake, it is revealed that her spiritual power manifests itself, through her Raizer suit, in flame-like blasts called }, which she can shoot out of her fists or incorporate it in her fighting style easily defeating an average Hollow.

Appearance in Other Media
Tatsuki appears in both Bleach: The Blade of Fate and Bleach: Dark Souls as a playable character. She also briefly appears in the game Bleach: The 3rd Phantom. In the game she must be protected from Yammy and Ulquiorra by Chad, Orihime, and Uryū, until Ichigo, Yoruichi, and Urahara arrive.

Trivia

 * During an interview with Kon (manga only) he teased her for having small breasts (when compared to a fan) to which she replied they are actually C cup.


 * Her theme song, as chosen by Tite Kubo, is "Mou Aoi Tori wa Tobanai" by Hal