Tite Kubo's hit Shonen series Bleach is all about Soul Reapers vs evil spirits, and the plot kicks off when high schooler  Ichigo Kurosaki gains the power and sword of such a reaper to join the fight. He learns much from Rukia and Kisuke Urahara, then leaps right into the action and save the day.

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During the Soul Society arc of the story, we meet many new Soul Reapers beyond Rukia and Renji, and one of them is the soft-spoken and polite Lieutenant of Squad 5, Momo Hinamori. She's petite like Rukia, but tough and smart in combat, and she's hard not to like. Now, what are ten essential facts that make Momo Hinamori who she is?

10 She Is Captain Hitsugaya's Childhood Friend

Toshiro Hitsugaya seems like a bit of a loner, but that's not totally true. A prologue chapter shows us the charming friendship of both Toshiro and Momo, and they grew up as neighbors. In fact, Momo went to the Soul Reaper academy before Toshiro did.

Now, the both of them are still good friends, though Momo would rather call Toshiro by funny nicknames, such as "Shiro-chan," while the latter would much rather be called "Captain Hitsugaya." Some habits die hard, don't they?

9 She Is Obsessed With Aizen

Sosuke Aizen in Bleach.

While Momo sees Toshiro as a good friend, Captain Sosuke Aizen is the object of her idolization. To her, Aizen is not just a Captain or a good Soul Reaper. He means everything to her, and she will follow any orders he gives without hesitation.

This all started when Aizen rescued Momo and her friends from a gang of hollows, and Momo was assigned to his Squad right away. But even after Aizen turned on her and indeed the entire Soul Society, Momo begged Toshiro to not kill him. Just how far did Aizen worm his way into Momo's mind?

8 She Gets Along With Captain Hirako

Here is another major figure in Momo's life: Shinji Hirako, the visored. He was a Captain since well before Momo's own Soul Reaper days, and he spent much of the next century hiding out in Karakura Town with his fellows.

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With Aizen, Gin, and Kaname gone, there were three Captain slots open, and Shinji stepped in as Squad 5's new commander. Fortunately, despite her passion for Aizen, Momo seemed to accept Shinji as her new boss with little trouble, and they fought side by side during the Thousand Year Blood War arc. At last, Momo has a Captain she can truly trust, even if Shinji is a bit of an oddball.

7 She Loves Art And Literature

Most Soul Reapers have a hobby to pursue during their off-time, anything from poetry or drinking to sparring or just watching the clouds pass by. Momo is an artsy kind of girl, being an excellent sketch artist.

She also likes to read, and Captain Aizen would sometimes lend her books to read. Now that he is gone from her life, she visits the library instead, to pick out something new to read during her off time. Maybe she ought to form a book club, too, and share this passion with her friends? That could be fun.

6 She Is Rash

Some Soul Reapers are cool as a cucumber or wait patiently before finding the right moment to speak or act. Momo Hinamori, however, would rather leap right into the action. She incorrectly blamed Gin for the apparent death of Aizen, and attacked.

Izuru Kira and Toshiro stepped into stop her, so she turned her shikai on them and the battle continued. It took some time for Momo to come to grips with what happened, but Toshiro fully forgave her, knowing that she had been deceived and was acting out of grief.

5 She Survived Two Brushes With Death

This little lady is a lot tougher than she looks, and she ought to get some credit for that. When she came face to face with Sosuke Aizen, she was overjoyed to the point of tears... until Aizen impaled her with a cold "goodbye."

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Later, the entire Gotei 13 was finally doing battle with Aizen once again, and Toshiro thought he had skewered the traitor Captain... only to realize it was Momo he had attacked, owing to Aizen's deceptive shikai. Fortunately, Momo survived that too, but her many injuries (from that and other battles) called for a lengthy healing process.

4 She Is Savvy With Kido

Momo is really an average sword fighter at best, but she is much better with kido, and that makes her a flexible opponent. There is only so much you can do with a sword, and Soul Reapers can call on all kinds of kido to turn battle around.

When she helped Rangiku battle Tier Halibel's three fracciones, Momo unleashed all kinds of kido, one of which formed a net to help catch an injured Rangiku when she fell. And even her zanpakuto is a kido-type (more on that soon).

3 Her Shikai

momo hinamori using shikai bleach

Some shikai, such as those of Renji or Ikkaku, are melee type, forming blades and other forms for direct damage. Momo's shikai is named Tobiume, and it releases when she says "Snap, Tobiume!" It is a fire-based zanpakuto.

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It could be said that this fire matches Momo's fierce dedication for Aizen and her love of art, and at any rate, it is a fierce shikai that opponents of her level must take seriously, with all those explosions it can create. Its name translates to "flying plum tree."

2 Her Censored Stabbing

The Bleach series, despite all its humor, is known for having a lot of graphic action scenes, with dismemberment, gushing blood, and broken bones being standard fare. It might not be at Berserk's level, necessarily, but it's pretty R-rated stuff.

When Aizen ran Momo through with his zanpakuto, the original Japanese release used shadows to hide the sword and blood, but for the English Viz and Adult Swim releases, audiences were given an uncensored version instead. Just as well. This level of violence helps cement the horror of Aizen's betrayal, and how much it devastated his poor Lieutenant.

1 She Puts Others First

Momo is a tough Lieutenant and a skilled Soul Reaper, but she's not doing this for herself. In fact, she's much more of a team player, and she thinks that the Gotei 13 is only as good as the friendships and alliances in it.

More specifically, she not only had steadfast loyalty for Aizen, but she risked life and limb to bail Rangiku out of a losing situation against Halibel's three fracciones. When both women were injured, Momo asked that Rangiku have her wounds treated first. Now that's a selfless spirit.

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