Warning: Contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War & Can't Fear Your Own World.Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 has released a new trailer, and just from that, it’s clear that the anime is fixing the manga’s worst mistake. One of the biggest criticisms of the “Thousand-Year Blood War" arc of the Bleach manga is how it ended with many Soul Reapers’ Bankai never being shown. Ukitake died without ever revealing his, characters like Shinji, Aizen, and Hisagi didn’t receive enough involvement to use their Bankai, and Ichigo had his new Bankai broken twice without ever using it. Bankai are supposed to be the ultimate weapon of Soul Reapers, so Bleach ending with so many still unknown was a major downside of the manga.
The lack of Bankai was a big problem in the “Thousand-Year Blood War” arc, but fortunately, the new trailer for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 makes it clear that the anime is going to fix that. One scene of the trailer showed that not only will Shinji be doing more fighting than he did in the manga, but that unlike in the manga, he’ll be using his Bankai. This will mark the first explicitly canonical appearance of Shinji’s Bankai, and if Shinji is going to use his Bankai, then that means there’s a chance for other characters to use their Bankai, as well.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 Reveals Shinji's Bankai
Something worth noting about Shinji using his Bankai in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 is that his Bankai was already revealed in Can’t Fear Your Own World, a trilogy of post-canon novels written by Ryogo Narita. Volume #3 revealed Shinji’s Bankai to be Sakashima Yokoshima Happōfusagari, which indiscriminately inverts the mentality of everyone around him so that they see their allies as enemies and vice-versa. The recent trailer had Shinji all by himself and surrounded by Quincies, the exact sort of situation his Bankai works best in, so Shinji’s Bankai will likely be the same as it was in Can’t Fear Your Own World.
If Shinji’s Bankai in the anime is the same as it was in Can’t Fear Your Own World, then that could serve as a means of definitively making the novels canon. While Can’t Fear Your Own World does continue Bleach’s story and greatly expands on a lot of the lore, the canonicity of the novels has long since been under debate since they weren’t written by Tite Kubo himself. Any additions that Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War makes to the story are overseen by Kubo, however, so if Shinji’s Bankai is the same as in the novels, then that would work to finally put the issue of their canonicity to bed.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 Can Reveal New Bankais
Shinji finally using his Bankai in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 is great to see, and it begs the question of which other characters might be able to use their Bankai in the anime. Ukitake, for example, is heavily involved with the overarching mythos of the Soul King, so it would make sense for him to receive an expanded role so his Bankai could be shown. Someone like Hisagi, however, wouldn’t make sense since his not using his Bankai was important for his development, but since Aizen will be involved in the final battle against Yhwach, that would be a perfect time to finally reveal what his Bankai is.
If anyone should get a chance to show off their Bankai, however, it should be Ichigo. The original manga very infamously had Yhwach destroy Ichigo’s new Bankai twice before he could use it because The Almighty told him it was too dangerous to deal with, so the anime should show Ichigo actually fighting with his Bankai, possibly through the vision that made Yhwach conclude it was dangerous in the first place. Whatever the case, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 has plenty of opportunities to show off the Bankai that were never used in the manga, and capitalizing on that can ultimately serve to take the anime to even greater heights.
