Ise Clan

Ise Clan
Family Head	Nanao Ise
Family Seat	Unknown
Affiliation	Soul Society
Specialty	Religious Rites & Rituals

The Ise Clan (伊勢家, Ise-ke; lit. "Ise Family") is a clan of priests from Soul Society.

Overview

The Ise Clan is a matrilineal lineage of priests (神官の家系, shinkan no kakei), who oversee and carry out rituals.

As far as the records show, only females have ever been born into the clan, so they have always brought in husbands from other families into the clan. However, it is said that any man who joins the Ise Clan will die an early death, and this phenomenon is called the Ise Curse (伊勢の呪い, Ise no Noroi). This happened even if a family member left the family and married into another.

The Ise Clan's women do not possess individual Zanpakutō. Instead, the head of the family in every generation inherits a single sword. This "ceremonial sword" is considered a sacred treasure, called Shinken Hakkyōken, and was used for rituals and rites; because all members are being spiritually bound to Shinken Hakkyoken, it is impossible for the members of the Ise Clan to imprint their essence into an Asauchi. It came into Shunsui Kyōraku's possession after Isuzu Ise tried breaking the curse by casting it away. The loss of a sacred treasure was a crime, and the Central 46 had Isuzu executed for it. However, during the Quincy Blood War, Shunsui returned Shinken Hakkyoken to Isuzu's daughter, Nanao.

Zanpakutō

Shinken Hakkyōken as wielded by Nanao Ise.

Shinken Hakkyōken (神剣・八鏡剣, Divine Sword, Eight-Mirror Sword; Viz "Divine Eight Mirror Sword"): Shinken Hakkyōken is a sacred ceremonial sword held by the Ise Clan. Because they are in charge of rites and rituals, the members of the family do not have their own individual Zanpakutō; instead, the head of the house would inherit the Shinken Hakkyōken, which has been passed down from generation to generation.

Shinken Hakkyōken takes the form of an ornate, medium-sized sword whose rectangular, oar-like "blade" has blunt edges. Said "blade" portion seems mostly wooden in appearance due to its light-brown coloration and has four rhombus-shaped mirrors laid into each of its flat sides, for a total of eight mirrors. In place of a proper tsuba (guard), a habaki-like golden collar covers about an inch of the blade's forte and has two blue tassels attached to it. The hilt of Shinken Hakkyōken is more than long enough for two-handed use, covered in grayish fabric, and features a pair of red tassels tied to its golden, ring-shaped kashira.

Lille Barro perceives Shinken Hakkyōken as glowing brightly.

Nanao severs Lille's hand with Shinken Hakkyōken.

Special Ability: Owing to its nature as a sacred ceremonial sword not meant for conventional combat, Shinken Hakkyōken has the ability to take the "power of a god" (神の力, kami no chikara) into its blade and disperse it into all directions. The blade itself reflects the power of the godly opponent that its wielder is facing; when confronted by the sword while in the true form of his Quincy: Vollständig, Lille Barro was unable to even see it due to how bright it appeared to be to him. Lille lost his left hand to a blow from the sword, despite having been able to phase through most of Shunsui Kyōraku's attacks prior to this, with the light making up Lille's body being dispersed into all directions. Nanao can also reflect attacks back at their users by holding the blade in front of her. When she did this against Lille's Trompete, a large blast of all-destroying energy that erased everything around Nanao and Shunsui, Shinken Hakkyōken protected the thin strip of land that the two were on, causing part of Lille's body to be destroyed by his own reflected attack and the Sternritter to disintegrate into shards of light. However, the energy dispersed by the sword can harm Nanao herself if she is not careful.

Family Members

(† = confirmed death)

Ise Clan
Name	Title	Relation	Status
Nanao Ise	Head of the Ise Clan	Daughter of Isuzu Ise and Shunzan Kyōraku Niece of Shunsui Kyōraku	Active
Former Members
Isuzu Ise	Head of the Ise Clan	Mother of Nanao Ise Wife of Shunzan Kyōraku	Deceased †

Trivia

• The Ise Shrine (伊勢神宮, Ise Jingū) is one of Japan's most significant and holy Shintō shrines, and purportedly home to the Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡, Eight Ata Mirror), a sacred bronze mirror that is one of Japan's Three Sacred Treasures (Imperial Regalia).
• Despite Shinken Hakkyōken being outright called a Zanpakutō by both Shunsui and Nanao, it is notably very different from any other Zanpakutō that exists; it is not bound to any single Soul, it does not possess Shikai and Bankai states, and it does not serve to purify Hollows.
  • It is also unknown if Shinken Hakkyōken was ever birthed from an Asauchi, as ever other Zanpakutō was.
• According to Ryōgo Narita's novel, Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, it was illegal for Shunsui to be hiding Shinken Hakkyōken, and that Shinken Hakkyōken is a cursed sword, similar to Enrakyōten.

Klub Outside Trivia

• According to Q&A #574 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", the Ise clan has poor eyesight, hence why both Nanao and Isuzu wore glasses.