Summary
Bleach: The Thousand Years’ Blood War episode 16 finally reveals Shinji’s powerful and never-before-seen Bankai, which slaughtered a group of Quincy soldiers. Shinji’s Bankai ability, called Sakashima Yokoshima Happofusagari, confuses enemies and allies, causing them to lose sight of friend or foe. It explains why it wasn’t shown before due to potential collateral damage. The inclusion of Shinji’s Bankai scene from the Bleach novel into the anime supports the book’s canonical status. Fans can expect more Bankai revelations in the extended anime version of Bleach’s final arc.
Warning: Spoilers for Bleach: Thousand Years of Blood, Episode 16The Bleach: Blood of the Thousand Years the anime revealed a Captain’s never-before-seen Bankai for the first time and it made a powerful introduction by slaughtering dozens of Quincys around him.
A surprising number of characters are known to have achieved Bankai release status for their Zanpakuto never having their Bankai actually shown in the anime or manga. Shinji Hirako, the former leader of Visored and now the Captain of Team 5, was formerly counted among them (although it was mentioned in a book), until his Bankai was revealed in the trailer for Thousand Years of Blood part 2 a few weeks ago. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the teaser scene, and episode 16 of the series was finally proven, as Shinji deployed his Bankai on a large group of Quincy soldiers and revealed its monstrous power.
Shinji’s Bankai is one of the strongest Bleach
As usual in Bleach, Shinji couldn’t help but explain how his power works when he uses it. Shinji’s Zanpakuto is called Sakanade, while the Bankai ability is called Sakashima Yokoshima Happofusagari, causing everyone around him, enemy or ally, to lose track of who is friend and who is foe. The effect is extremely powerful, as Quincy begins killing each other without a second thought within seconds of activating the ability. The nature of this ability also explains why it’s never been seen before: deploying such an ability when an ally is around deals too much extra damage and Shinji can only use it here since all the other Shinigami in the area have been killed.
Shinji’s Bankai is mentioned in the Bleach Can’t Fear Your Own World novel, which has some references to the Thousand Years of Blood that the anime also seems to include, as seen with Ichigo’s “Irazusando” scenes. Although the book was written by Ryogo Narita, it was made with the contribution and approval of Tite Kubo, using ideas not found in the manga. The description of Shinji’s Bankai in the book perfectly matches what was shown on screen during the anime premiere. Anyway, many fans consider the book a classic, and the inclusion of content from the book into the anime seems to vouch for that belief.
There are still a few other Captain-class Soul Reapers that Bankai has yet to reveal, but they could appear in the anime expansion of the final season of Bleach. Given that teasing Shinji’s Bankai is such a big deal, however, further revelations may have to wait until the third season of the anime adaptation or later. The Bleach: Blood of the Thousand Years The anime is giving fans what they have been waiting for a long time and hopefully it will continue to live up to expectations.