Momo Hinamori (雛森 桃, Hinamori Momo) is the lieutenant of the 5th Division, formerly under captain Sōsuke Aizen and currently under captain Shinji Hirako.
Appearance[]
Hinamori has brown eyes, and wears standard Shinigami robes with her black hair pulled into a bun held in a tied cloth. When in her Shinigami robes, she wears the 5th Division's lieutenant armband. She can be seen in her pajamas, a plain kimono; in the latter case her hair is tied in a loose ponytail. When she attended the Shinigami Academy, she wore the red student's robes assigned to the girls and her hair was in pigtails tied at the base of her neck. 17 months after Aizen's defeat, Momo wears a new hairstyle, no longer tied up in the back, it hangs down in a bob with a clip on the left side.
Personality[]
Hinamori's main pastime activities are reading and drawing. Due to her talent in drawing, she has overseen work for book illustration in the Shinō Academy. Her love for books has developed since Aizen regularly gave her the books he had read. In his absence, she frequently visits the library. She also attends the ikebana lessons held by Captain Retsu Unohana. She frequently visits her and Tōshirō's grandmother in Rukongai. Her favorite food is peach, while she does not like plums. She sometimes bakes cookies and once made a batch in the shape of Aizen's glasses.
Hinamori is generally an upbeat, easy-going and friendly girl. She has a strong friendship with Tōshirō Hitsugaya, whom she grew up with, repeatedly calling him "Shirō-chan" despite his higher rank and complaints about this. Though normally kind, her rare bouts of anger can appear rather menacing, such as her outrage at Captain Gin Ichimaru when she blamed him for killing Aizen. While serving as his lieutenant, Hinamori greatly respects and admires Aizen. She idolizes him to the extent that a letter from Aizen leads her to attack Hitsugaya, her childhood friend[8] and even after being stabbed by Aizen, she proclaims that Aizen was being manipulated and asks Hitsugaya to save him. However, when Aizen leads an attack on the fake Karakura Town, Hinamori helps to defend the town from Aizen and his forces. However, she still notably refers to him as "Captain Aizen".
History[]
Momo grew up in Junrinan, District 1 of Rukongai, along with Tōshirō Hitsugaya. While Hitsugaya tended to be a bit of a brat as a child, Momo found him amusing and treated him like a younger brother. The two have a close friendship, reflected by Momo giving him the nickname Shiro-chan (Lil' Shiro in the English dub). Although Momo is older than Tōshirō, it gives him the best reason to protect her. Even more, the two are very close and have promised to protect each other. When Momo entered the Shinigami Academy, she excelled at Kidō[16]. It was there that she met Izuru Kira and Renji Abarai, who soon became her friends and, later, her fellow lieutenants.
Her friendship with Izuru Kira and Renji Abarai began back in the Shinigami Academy on a standard field exercise to the real world to practice performing the Konsō (Soul Burial), and combat with artificial Hollow replicas. The exercise was led by Shūhei Hisagi. Everything went well until a group of Huge Hollows attacked them. Shūhei told everyone to run, but Momo turned to see Shūhei being attacked by a Huge Hollow. She ran to help him, and was followed, somewhat reluctantly, by Renji and Izuru. The group, at first, managed to escape but ended up being surrounded by even more Large Hollows, however backup arrived in the form of Fifth Division Captain Aizen and his Lieutenant Gin Ichimaru. Momo began idolizing Aizen from that moment. Later, Momo was assigned to Aizen's Division after her graduation from the Shinigami Academy. After Gin's eventual promotion to Captain, Momo made her way through the ranks to be Aizen’s Lieutenant (through much hard work as noted by Hitsugaya).
Both Momo and Izuru Kira presented Renji with the news of his promotion to the 6th Division as their new lieutenant. Ikkaku Madarame told Renji that, due to his promotion, he was now closer to Rukia in status and that he should renew his friendship with her. Izuru also informed him that Rukia was being stationed in the Human World, and Momo urged Renji to go after her before it was too late, but Renji refused, stating that it wasn't official until the ceremony anyway, and that he'd rather surprise her with his new promotion after she returned.
Powers & Abilities[]
Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Momo is proficient enough to cross swords with other lieutenant-level Shinigami. While she is capable enough in swordsmanship to attain her high-level seated position, she knowingly states when facing Harribel's Fracción that she knows she is not strong enough to combat them using her swordsmanship skills, instead sneaking up on them and using Kidō. Shunpo: Hinamori is skilled enough in the use of Shunpo that she can keep up with lieutenant-level Shinigami.
Kidō Expert: Momo, like Izuru, but unlike Renji, excels at Kidō. Momo is a Kidō master as stated by Captain Hitsugaya and Izuru. Her abilities reach to such a pinnacle that she can devise ways to use multiple spells in conjunction with each other (as well as her Zanpakutō) to make a unique way in which to attack and incapacitate her opponents. In this way she can make common spells all her own. She is also able to use a single Kidō technique on two separate targets at once. Hinamori also has some skill with healing Kidō.
High Spiritual Power: Being a lieutenant of the Gotei 13, Momo boasts a high spiritual energy.
Skilled Tactician: Knowing her own limitations in direct battle, Momo has shown herself able to compensate for it through crafty combination attacks (such as when she caught Sung-Sun, Mila Rose, and Apacci in a Kidō net). By using her mastery of Kidō, Momo is able to attack in a number of versatile ways.
Zanpakutō[]
Tobiume (飛梅, "Flying Plum Tree"): In its sealed state, Tobiume takes the form a regular katana with the only slight difference being the five-petal flower designs stamped on the rectangular tsuba with a light red handle. Her Zanpakutō is a Fire-type.
- Shikai: The command for its Shikai is "Snap" (弾け, hajike). When its Shikai is activated, Tobiume's blade straightens and produces two jutte-like prongs (three in the anime) along its length at various intervals.
- Shikai Special Ability: In this form, Tobiume releases exploding fire balls from its blade.[ The release of a fireball is accompanied by a sound, similiar to a seagull cry.
- Bankai: Not Yet Achieved
Trivia[]
- In the fourth character popularity poll, Hinamori was ranked 6th with 4102 votes, while in the Zanpakutō poll, her Zanpakutō, Tobiume, placed 23rd, tying with Szayel Aporro Granz's Fornicarás.
- In the anime, when Momo appears to aid Rangiku against Harribel's Fracción, when Emilou Apacci,Franceska Mila Rose, and Cyan Sung-Sun all release their Zanpakutō, Momo draws hers from its sheath and at the same time, it goes to its Shikai form without Momo calling the release command.