Bankai

Biodata

Nature of Bankai

Jun Shimizu regards Bankai as an elevation of the soul and a special ability born from self-awakening. In his theory, a Bankai sublimates an essence: that essence can be rooted in the wielder’s soul or drawn from an imagined concept 39 151.

• Relationship to Shikai: Jun argues that Bankai existed before Ōetsu Nimaiya invented the Zanpakuto system. Shikai provides an intermediate stage that makes Bankai easier to learn, but is not inherently necessary for it 38.
• Relationship to Kidō: Jun considers both Shikai and Bankai forms of Reishi manipulation and therefore forms of Kidō 38.
• Strength: Possessing Bankai alone does not guarantee a particular level of combat power; the user’s attributes and ability to supply energy also matter 39.
• Form and personality: A Bankai and its Shikai can belong to different or even opposite ability categories. Jun’s interpretation of Soi Fon’s distorted Suzumebachi Raikōben links that difference to the conflict between her imagined role and her nature 77 151.

Awakening and Training

Jun taught a method for communicating with a Zanpakuto: meditate with the sword, sense its Spiritual Power fluctuations, and then synchronize one’s own Spiritual Power with them. Soi Fon met her sword through Jun’s technique and achieved Bankai after recognizing her nature 103 151.

Jun mastered a rule-type Bankai but told Zennosuke Kuruyashiki that it had been difficult, partly because he had preferred studying Kidō. He publicly announced his achievement only after obtaining Clear Rain’s Bankai 97 100.

Costs and Restrictions

• Spiritual Power consumption: Bankai can be expensive to maintain. Jun gave Bankai to only four of his selected Zanpakuto; together they consumed the equivalent of one Gillian every three years, with combat quickly depleting their reserves 109.
• Permanent Bankai: Sōya Azashiro’s Bankai cannot return to its Asauchi or Shikai state. Unlike Permanent Shikai, a Permanent Bankai requires an ability suited to sustaining its cost 66 135.
• Sealed Blades: Some Bankai are forbidden within Soul Society because they could accidentally destroy it. Zaraki’s Bankai qualifies because of its destructive power 143.
• Control: Ashido Kanō often lost control in Bankai until he entered his Inner World and subdued his sword. Zaraki likewise lost consciousness while using Bankai against Grimmjow 199.
• Collateral damage: Ichigo avoids using Bankai against an Arrancar in the World of the Living because a missed Getsuga Tenshō could strike buildings or people 195.

Notable Bankai

Other Applications

• Manifested Bankai: Jun’s Zanpakuto can operate in humanoid form. Endless identifies himself as a materialized Bankai possessing its full power; his ability can kill with a strike to a wound or weak point 109 111.
• Doll fusion: Kariya Jin developed the Undead’s equivalent of Bankai, called doll fusion, with help from Zennosuke Kuruyashiki and Ashido Kanō 101.
• Multiple Bankai: Jun and Isuzu separate Soi Fon’s distorted release into two blades. Soi Fon later wields both Suzumebachi Tiger Stripe and Jusha’s Sniping Annihilation 152 244.
• Arrancar comparison: In Jun’s theory, Ulquiorra’s Segunda Etapa is the Arrancar equivalent of Bankai: a further sublimation of humanity after Resurrección 218.