Marechiyo Ōmaeda

is the lieutenant of the Second Division, under Captain Soifon. He is also the Corps Commander of the Patrol Corps in the Onmitsukidō.

Appearance
He is a large man (almost twice the height of his captain) with an equally large mouth who comes across as arrogant and dull. He claims that his largeness (he claims that he is "plump") is a sign of good living and his wealth. He is often seen wearing expensive, personalized jewelry.

Personality
His skill level as a Shinigami remains unknown, however, it is thought that he received his position as lieutenant because of his family's connections.

He also seems to be a coward. It is later revealed that this is a ruse he conjured up for one reason or another. He is in fact quite skilled at Flash Step and is corps commander of the Patrol Corps in the Onmitsukidō. Though he does possess the skills equivalent to a lieutenant, his arrogance, cowardly nature and tendency to get in over his head tend to make him appear weaker than his position. He likes to eat fried rice crackers (abura senbei) wherever he is. His captain is known to beat him up when the crumbs from the crackers fall on her hair. It is also known however, that he does not like fish.

Marechiyo is a man of contradictions, he appears to be large and slow while being very skilled at Hoho, he's loud and arrogant but also clever enough to surprise his enemies, and he appears cowardly but has shown that he is willing to fight along with his captain against enemies a lot stronger than him; his willingness to take an attack aimed at his captain, act as a temporary decoy, and cut off Soifon's arm at her request shows that Marechiyo holds a great deal of loyalty to his captain.

Marechiyo is shown to come from a rich family. As is typical of many rich families, he has a long name,. His father is named Marenoshin, his mother is Mareka, his older sister is Maremi, his younger brother is Marejirōsaburō, and his younger sister is Mareyo. With the exception of his younger sister, all closely resemble him. Mareyo is more normal looking and sweet, which shocks Izuru Kira, Renji Abarai, and Shūhei Hisagi (these three are replaced by Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki in the anime's equivalent sketch). Marechiyo thinks his younger sister is ugly. It is also remarked here that he enjoys inviting commoners to his home, probably only to show off his wealth. He is often taken advantage of by his fellow Vice-Captain Hisagi Shūhei, who often comes and eats Marechiyo's extra food when he is low on cash.

Being rich, he was able to install the 2nd Division quarters with floor heating, automatic doors and cooling/heating system.

Marechiyo's specialty is making bracelets, as he can craft gold. All the jewels seen on him are made by himself. He owns a factory named "Ōmaeda Gem-Precious Metals Factory", which makes jewelery. He fries any slacking workers with his yet unknown ability, the "Marechiyo Chop".

Soul Society arc
He is first seen in the Lieutenant meeting along with the other Lieutenant. He is later seen following his Captain Soifon while eating rice crackers, complaining about the Shinigami arguing about the legitimacy of Rukia Kuchiki's execution when nothing they say or think will affect the final decision. Soifon threatens him by saying that if he gets in the way of her, she will kill him, herself.

As Renji Abarai runs off with the rescued Rukia Kuchiki, Soifon orders him to go after them, soon followed along by Chōjirō Sasakibe and Isane Kotetsu. He releases his Zanpakutō to fight Ichigo Kurosaki, but is beaten mere seconds after release as his Shikai was shattered by a bare-handed Ichigo, and he is knocked out with the same punch. He and the other defeated lieutenants are retrieved by Retsu Unohana, where he and Sasakibe were healed by Minazuki and Isane by her captain directly.

Bount arc
He and Tetsuzaemon Iba are seen hanging out in Rukongai when Jin Kariya appears and defeats them both.

Shūsuke Amagai arc
He arrives along with Soifon to stop Ichigo when he breaks into Soul Society but is quickly defeated by Enryū when he releases his zanpakutō. However, he and the rest of the 2nd Division eventually manage to capture Enryū and Kenryū and try to search for Ichigo and Rukia when they vanish with Shū Kannogi. They later resurface, with Shū as an apparent hostage. Ichigo warns the 2nd Division to not try to follow them as they vanish once again.

Marechiyo continues to assist the 2nd Division to search for Ichigo and Rukia until Renji Abarai shows Makoto Kifune's Bakkōtō to Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, which causes the Captain-Commander to call off the pursuit of Ichigo and Rukia, and instead orders the Gotei 13 to seize the Kasumiōji Manor.

Fake Karakura Town arc
When Aizen, along with his top three Espada, attacks the fake Karakura Town, Ōmaeda is seen along with his captain and the rest of the Gotei 13 captains not currently in Hueco Mundo awaiting for Aizen's arrival. He talks about how Sōsuke Aizen's army has incredible reiatsu and Soifon tells him that he can leave if he wants.

He panics when Barragan Luisenbarn sees through the fake Karakura ruse before he finds out that Ikkaku Madarame, Yumichika Ayasegawa, Izuru Kira, and Shūhei Hisagi are guarding the pillars keeping the real Karakura Town in Soul Society. He then complains about how he thought they had been excluded from the mission. He asks if the others knew about this, in which they did and Soifon said she told him, but thinks that she may not have told him.



After the fight for the pillars are successfully defended, the fight between the captains and the remaining Fracción and Espada begin. He engages in battle with Nirgge Parduoc and is quickly pummeled, though his captain is less than concerned. While fighting, his opponent releases his zanpakutō and begins to pummel Ōmaeda even further. Ōmaeda tries to outsmart Nirgge, but to no avail. Eventually Ōmaeda reveals that his weakness was a ruse and begins to use Flash Steps like an expert. He then declares his position in Soul Society and releases his zanpakutō, proceeding to deliver a heavy blow to Nirgge. As Marechiyo taunts his apparently dead foe, the Arrancar rises, clearly annoyed. Suddenly, however, Soifon is thrown away by Ggio Vega's attacks and falls in the side of Nirgge's head, killing him. (In the anime adaptation, Nirgge survives being hit in the head by Ggio and continues to battle Ōmaeda. At one point, he almost kills him with a Cero, but Ōmeada is finally able to defeat him by smashing Nirgge on the head with his zanpakutō's Shikai.)

Marechiyo is surprised to see Soifon overpowered and reasons that she is too proud to fake losing. As Ggio prepares to "finish" Soifon, Marechiyo boldly grabs the Arrancar in a bear hug and tells his captain to attack. As Ggio prepares to blast Ōmaeda with a Cero, Soifon kicks him away, revealing she indeed had been feigning her loss in order to study the Arrancar's Resurrección. After knocking Ōmaeda back with a punch to the face, Soifon tells him if he sees an ally losing to attack the enemy from behind or stand aside if the foe is too strong instead of stepping between them. After Vega is defeated, Marechiyo and Soifon prepare to battle Ggio's master, Barragan Luisenbarn. Currently, Ōmaeda and Soifon are fighting the segunda Espada, Barragan; making him the only lieutenant still engaged in battle. Even with the assistance of his captain, the two of them are unable to move Barragan. Believing that Soifon is holding back because of the captain's seal, he begins bragging; but Soifon explains that the seal has not been placed on the captains this time and she is fighting at her best. Ōmaeda is shocked by this revelation. When Barragan uses his 'Respira' ability, Soifon commands Ōmaeda to withdraw, but when she is caught by it and her left arm begins to disintegrate, she has Ōmaeda somewhat reluctantly cut off her arm. As Ōmaeda is still at a shock at how powerful Barragan is, Soifon suddenly gets his attention by telling him that she will need him to act as decoy. Being the coward that he is, he tells his captain that it's impossible but Barragan then rushes at him. Ōmaeda then runs for his life as Soifon waits for her plan to be executed. As the pursuit continues, Ōmaeda dodges yet another Respira, albeit a slow one, and starts to scream. Soifon hears this and she activates her Bankai after coiling a building with cloth. Ōmaeda still acting as a decoy running from Barragan activates his Shikai and crushes a piece of building hoping that the fragments will hit and injure Barragan. When the pieces of rock disintegrate without even touching Barragan, Ōmaeda almost gives up due to how useless fighting him is and becomes frustrated that his zanpakutō cant use fire or ice or some form of Kidō. Then he gets the idea that he can use Kidō as it most likely will get the better of Barragan. Ōmaeda turns and gets ready to take the offensive, but then he recalls he's not really good at Kidō and decides to simply use Bakudō 21, Sekienton, to create a smoke curtain to hide his escape. Coming to the conclusion that this was all the power his opponent had, Barragan calls forth his "Gran Caida" and seems to be closing in on Ōmaeda to finish him off with the technique. Barragan then notices the surge of energy from Soifon's Bankai being released and turns around to face her. Ōmaeda is surprised to see Soifon's Bankai as he himself has never seen it. He comments on its shape and wonders how she can fight with it. He then notices she has wrapped a Ginjōhan around her waist, wondering why she would use that as it decreases mobility. Ōmaeda then witnesses her explanation on why she doesn't use her Bankai and the explosion following its use against Barragan.

Powers & Abilities
Swordsmanship Specialist: Ōmaeda is skilled enough in swordsmanship to hold his own in battle and in extension is also quite proficient using a flail.

Flash Steps Expert: Ōmaeda, being a member of the Onmitsukidō, is quite skilled with flash steps.

Expert Actor: Ōmaeda is thought to be cowardly and slow. It turns out he is quite fast as he is an expert in flash steps as well as being proficient in combat and making his opponents question his abilities.

Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Being a Corps Commander of the Onmitsukidō Patrol Corps, he is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant.

High Spiritual Energy: Being a lieutenant of the Gotei 13, Ōmaeda boasts a high spiritual energy.

Kidō Practitioner: As a lieutenant, Ōmaeda seems to have a understanding of Kidō spells at least enough to cast a failed Level 21 Kidō without incantation. However, he self-admitted that he is not good at using Kidō.

Zanpakutō

 * It is a normal katana with a bright yellow handle. Kept by his side through his waist tie.


 * Shikai: Its Shikai command is . In its Shikai, Gegetsuburi transforms into an over-sized spiked ball attached to a long chain, similar to a flail, allowing for it to be thrown at a distant target. The chain is attached to the hilt of his sword.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Though its strength is in long-range combat, Ōmaeda also uses it as a shield for close-range attacks. However, Gegetsuburi can be easily cracked and even shattered by stronger opponents. It is notable that against a Fracción like Ggio Vega, his Shikai cracks but does not break, while a Captain-level Shinigami such as Ichigo Kurosaki can shatter it with one punch. This is possibly a sign that Ōmaeda does not train with his Shikai very much or that just like Ikkaku Madarame's Bankai, it has a great attack power but very little defense. He also noted while fleeing from Barragan that his Zanpakutō can not use fire, ice or kido attacks. This confirms that his sword can only be used for physical attacks.


 * Bankai: Not Yet Achieved

Trivia

 * Although he is Soifon's lieutenant, he didn't know what Soifon's Bankai was up until their battle with Barragan Luisenbarn.
 * Strangely, during the two times that he uses his Shikai in the anime, first against Ichigo and secondly while using it against the Arrancar, his zanpakutō appears to have changed in appearance; in the first time that he uses it, it is an elaborate black flail with long, sharp silver spikes. But during its second appearance in the anime, it is all black with shorter, stubbier spikes. This is most likely a fault on the animators' part.