Kakaku Taihō

The Kakaku Taihō (花鶴大砲, Flower Crane Cannon) is a massive cannon created and employed by the Shiba Clan.^[1]

Overview[]

The Kakaku Taihō is a tall and slender black cannon, dwarfing the central house of the Shiba Clan. When not in use, it is concealed by a tan mold of roughly the same size with its opening wrapped up - when he first saw this, Uryū Ishida mistook it for a smokestack due to the size disparity between it and the house.^[2] The Kakaku Taihō itself normally rests in a dark chamber beneath the ground with several vents near the ceiling; this area is accessible via a passage from the central house.^[3] Those scheduled to be fired out of the Kakaku Taihō enter the cannon via a large circular opening in the side, which is generated by slamming one's fist into the center of the closed area, causing the material to retract in a spiral-like manner until the opening is fully formed.^[4] The interior of the cannon is dark, flat, and featureless.^[5]

When a situation calls for the Kakaku Taihō to be used, Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko begin rapidly turning a crank near the base of the mold covering the cannon, causing the chamber that the Kakaku Taihō is located in to begin rumbling as it rises upward, breaking through and shattering the mold in the process. The ceiling of the chamber, actually part of the ground outside, splits into two halves that retract in a circular formation, allowing the Kakaku Taihō and its base to be fully raised above ground. The platform containing the Kakaku Taihō is largely composed of wood, with a set of stone steps leading up to the cannon itself.^[6]

The Kakaku Taihō has two known methods of differing styles for launching its passengers; the method used by Kūkaku Shiba and Ganju Shiba to launch the Ryoka into the Seireitei, Kagizaki, is a complex process known as the Flower Crane Archery 2nd Style (花鶴射法二番, Kakaku Shahō Niban),^[7] while the method which Kūkaku used to return the Royal Guard, accompanied by Ichigo, to the Soul King Palace is much more straightforward and remains unnamed.^[8]

Replica[]

After the first invasion of the Seireitei by the Wandenreich, 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi built a basic structure of a Kakaku Taihō replica beneath the Twelfth Division barracks in anticipation of it being needed for travel to the Soul King Palace at some point in the future, and Kisuke Urahara completed the work on it when he entered the Seireitei during the second invasion. However, this replica is not exact; according to Urahara, the Kakaku Taihō is built uniquely using secrets of the Shiba Clan and cannot be easily replicated, so the replica can only fire once and requires a power source other than Kidō^[9] while the capsule inside is rocket-powered and needs to be manually guided while flying,^[10] though it can still reach the Soul King Palace with the right input.^[11]

Usage[]

During their rescue of Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends enlisted Kūkaku Shiba's help for breaking into the Seireitei, and she decided along with Ganju Shiba to use Kagizaki for the launch, which entailed Kūkaku using the Kakaku Taihō to fire the group, protected by the Reishukaku, into the air and determine their direction while Ganju controlled their trajectory and acceleration.^[7] Almost 2 years later, the Royal Guard had Kūkaku use the Kakaku Taihō to fire them back up to the Soul King Palace after they visited the Gotei 13, where she used a much simpler and unnamed method to launch their Tenchuren straight upward.^[12]

References[]