Nanao Ise is the lieutenant of the 8th Division of the Gotei 13, under her uncle, Captain Shunsui Kyōraku, and Vice-President of the Shinigami Women's Association. The Ise family is cursed. Any man who marries into the family will die prematurely. There are loopholes, like if Nanao married into another family. However, this would end the Ise name as she is the last daughter. Nanao is a slim and youthful girl with long black hair normally kept pinned back, with flat bangs that hang to the right side of her face. Nanao also wears a standard Shinigami outfit. She has slightly light blue eyes that have a deep tint of violet and wears glasses with a slight oval shape to them. Nanao is a very serious and pragmatic person who often puts up with her captain's silly antics, but like all lieutenants, she is extremely respectful of her captain and follows his instructions without hesitation. She is almost always carrying a heavy book. Nanao is often accosted by her captain, whose teasing takes various forms. Nanao's usual reaction is to scold him or hit him with something, usually a fan. When she is particularly annoyed she takes off her glasses in an act so frightening that most people who see it are reduced to gibbering wrecks just by witnessing it. In her free time, she likes to go shopping, but even more so loves to read, and often visits the library. Nanao also has an article serialization in Seireitei Communication, titled "Please be Moderate", which is very popular, especially among the male readers. Nanao is known to be an excellent calculator, a skill very handy, given that she has to do most of her captain's paperwork. Her favorite food is sweet bean jelly, and she does not like powdered green tea, a trait which is shared with her captain. Nanao is the Vice-President of the Shinigami Women's Association, but is usually the one who attempts to maintain and control the meetings due to the juvenile actions and behaviours of President Yachiru Kusajishi, who is a little child. Yet while she attempts to be the main moderator, Yachiru usually has higher say on everything from budget decisions to activities done by the club making any of Nanao's comments or advice worthless. She is also frequently at odds with Shinigami Men's Association leader Tetsuzaemon Iba, of whom she usually forces her superiority and control regarding the influence and power she and the Women's Association have over his association. Shunsui Kyoraku has a nickname for Nanoa, “Nanoa-chan.” She hates it.