Love Aikawa

is a Vizard and former Captain of the 7th Division.

Appearance
Love is a tall man with thick black hair worn in a afro and with large sunglasses. During his time as captain, his afro was more rounded and well kept with long sideburns. As a Vizard, his hair is more unkempt and spiky, and has grown an amount of facial hair. He has also changed his captain's robes for a green jogging suit.

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. During his time as captain, he tried to keep the argumentative Hiyori Sarugaki in line, with little success.

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 Starrk.

History
100 years before the main storyline, as captain of the 7th division, he was dispatched with a group of the Shinigami who would later become the Vizards to investigate the disappearance of Kensei Muguruma and members of his division. He was blasted by during their battle with Kensei, who had turned into a Hollow but managed to withstand despite a significant part of his garments being destroyed and him suffering some burns. He and the others with the exception of Shinji Hirako were knocked out by an unexpected attack from Kaname Tōsen, who was at the time a seated officer of unknown number in the Ninth Division, but was already working as Sōsuke Aizen's subordinate in secret, helping him in his Hollowfication experiments. After the attack for an as yet unspecified reason, all of them began to undergo the process of hollowification. Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi appeared and after fending of Aizen moved them to the 12th division's research department in an attempt to rid them of their hollowification. This process failed and he along with the other Vizards was given a Reiatsu concealing gigai, made by Urahara, and transported to the Human world by Kisuke and Yoruichi Shihōin. He took up residence with his fellow Vizards in Karakura Town.

Arrancar arc
Love is with the other Vizards when Ichigo Kurosaki arrives in their warehouse to "use" them to suppress his inner Hollow. When Hiyori Sarugaki fights Ichigo, she forces his inner Hollow to appear, nearly killing her, which makes Love, along with the other Vizards, restrain Ichigo before Hiyori is killed. (He actually sits on top of Ichigo to physically stop him). Shinji agrees to train Ichigo after this.

The vizards send Ichigo into his inner world to fight his inner Hollow and they take his body into their own training ground, where they seal Ichigo within a small area, knowing that Ichigo's body would enter a mindless Hollow state during his inner battle. The Vizards decide to take turns fighting this "Hollowifing" Ichigo, with Lisa Yadōmaru fighting first. She is able to fight evenly with Ichigo for some time before switching with Kensei Muguruma. Later, its Love's turn, and as he's fighting, a fully Hollowfied Ichigo prepares to fire a Cero. Love starts to don his Hollow mask, but stops when Ichigo is able to subdue his inner Hollow, and his body returns to normal.

Fake Karakura Town arc
Love is first seen in this arc with the other Vizards, preparing to join the fight at the fake Karakura Town. He is then seen with the rest of the Vizards arriving at the fake Karakura Town, intercepting Aizen, Gin, and Tosen's release from Yamamoto's fire prison. As the gigantic Fūrā releases a horde of Gillian Menos, Love and the rest of the Vizard don their masks and begin to battle the horde. As he battles he uses his hands and rips apart a Gillian-class Menos. After the Gillians are killed, he takes off his mask and interrupts Rose's speech and tells him to concentrate on the battle. He then points at Starrk, who asks if they really want to take off their masks. Love then explains that the masks only last three minutes.

Powers & Abilities
Master Swordsmanship Specialist: As a former captain, Love is no doubt quite powerful. Along with the other Vizards, he faced Hollow Kensei, without releasing and even managed to deflect or block an energy based attack from Kensei with his unreleased blade. He also took the brunt of the fighting.

Flash Steps 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 attacked brutally by a Hollowfied Kensei at point blank range, he continued to fight as if he only sustained minor injuries.

Immense Spiritual Pressure: As a captain, he must have had great spiritual power. And as a Vizard, he also has a dual type spiritual pressure, Hollow and Shinigami.

Kidō Expert: It is not known if Love is proficient in Kidō, but since he was a captain, it's relatively safe to assume that he knows at least the basics.

Zanpakutō
His zanpakutō has a heart-shaped tsuba (befitting his name) and he carries it by a tōju over his shoulder.


 * Shikai: Not Yet Revealed


 * Bankai: Not Yet Revealed

Vizard
He was about to don his Hollow mask during combat with Ichigo's Hollow self but stopped when Ichigo won his inner battle and transformed back. Without putting in his mask he is seemingly incapable of deflecting a Cero from Hollow Ichigo which suggests Hollow Ichigo's Cero is exceptionally powerful. According to Love, his and Rose's mask time limit is 3 minutes, which he jokingly says is because they are 'superheroes'.

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


 * Enhanced Strength: Love has displayed that usage of his mask grants him brutal physical strength. He was able to rip a Gillian-Class hollow clean in half, straight down the middle, using only his bare hands.

Quotes

 * (To Starrk referring to their masks) "We're superheroes. So, they only last 3 minutes."

Trivia

 * He shares his seiyū with the current captain of the 7th Division, Sajin Komamura.
 * When Aikawa says "We're superheroes. They only last 3 minutes", he references Ultraman.

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