Summary

  • Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War episode 16 finally reveals Shinji's powerful and previously unseen Bankai, which slaughters a group of Quincy soldiers.
  • Shinji's Bankai ability, called Sakashima Yokoshima Happofusagari, confuses enemies and allies, making them lose track of friend or foe. It explains why it hasn't been shown before due to potential collateral damage.
  • The inclusion of Shinji's Bankai scene from a Bleach novel in the anime s the book's canonical status. Fans can expect more Bankai reveals in the expanded anime version of Bleach's final arc.

Warning: Spoilers for Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War Episode 16The Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War anime has revealed one Captain's previously unseen Bankai for the first time, and it made a powerful introduction by slaughtering the dozens of Quincy around him.

A surprising number of characters who are known to have achieved the Bankai release state for their Zanpakuto have never had their Bankai actually shown in the anime or the manga. Shinji Hirako, the former leader of the Visored and the current Squad Five Captain, was previously counted among them (although it was mentioned in a book), until his Bankai was teased in a trailer for The Thousand-Year Blood War part 2 several weeks ago. Fans have eagerly awaited the teased scene, and episode 16 of the series proved to finally be the one, as Shinji deployed his Bankai on a large group of Quincy soldiers and unveiled its terrible power.

Shinji's Bankai is One of Bleach's Most Powerful

Shinji uses his Bankai in Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War

As is often the case in Bleach, Shinji couldn't help but explain how his power worked as he used it. Shinji's Zanpakuto is known as Sakanade, while the Bankai ability is known as Sakashima Yokoshima Happofusagari, which entrances all those around him, enemy or ally, into losing track of who is friend and who is foe. The effect is insanely powerful, as the Quincy began to kill each other without a second thought within seconds of activating the ability. The nature of the ability also explains why it hasn't been seen before: deploying such an ability while allies are around would result in far too much collateral damage, and Shinji was only able to use it here because all the other Soul Reapers in the area had been killed already.

Shinji's Bankai was mentioned in the Bleach novels Can't Fear Your Own World, which contain some content relevant to The Thousand-Year Blood War arc that the anime seems to be including, as seen with Ichigo's "Irazusando" scenes. While the book was written by Ryogo Narita, it was done with the input and approval of Tite Kubo, making use of ideas which didn't end up in the manga. The description of Shinji's Bankai in the book matches perfectly with what was shown on screen during its anime debut. Many fans considered the book to be canonical anyway, and the inclusion of content from the book in the anime would seem to vindicate that belief.

There are still a few other Captain-level Soul Reapers whose Bankai have yet to be revealed, but which could show up in the expanded anime version of Bleach's final arc. Given what a big deal the tease of Shinji's Bankai was, however, further reveals may have to wait until the third part of the anime adaptation or later. The Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War anime is giving fans what they've long awaited, and hopefully it will continue to live up to the hype.