RAKURAI

Rakurai is a Lightning type zanpakuto, owned by Lieutenant Takehiko Saito of the 5th Division. In its unreleased form, Rakurai takes the appearance of a normal katana with a green bandage around the hilt and a single silver hook attached to the tsuba. This hook resembles Takehiko's dominant fighting hand being his left due to an injury he sustained in his Academy years, leaving him unable to train with his right hand. Because of this, Rakurai cannot be wielded by anyone right handed.

When Shikai is activated, Rakurai transforms into a traditional longsword with a golden cross guard and the same green bandage around the hilt with a golden pommel. Rakurai is able to generate its own electricity, amplifying it a thousand times to create lightning. The lightning charge requires both Rakurai and Takehiko to be in sync and can unleash power as high as 400 million volts.

Rakurai as a personality is extremely obsessed with Takehiko, constantly fuelling his desire to fight and being very jealous of anyone else that gets near him. In later years, Takehiko does a lot of training to keep Rakurai happy and feeling useful, but he notes that their relationship has sometimes gotten a bit "weird". In her full form, Rakurai appears as a dragon-woman hybrid with yellow-green hair and two horns protruding from her head.