All UNREVEALED BANKAI in BLEACH - Which Ones Will We See? | Discussion 

So there are still quite a few Bankai left to see, even at the end of Bleach - who is missing, and which are we most likely to get, and where? Let's take a look! Whose Bankai do you want to see the most? Let me know!

It's possible that we never see Aizen activate his Bankai because it would deactivate his Shikai in the process and remove its effects.

Remember some of the bankai are incredibly situational and can actually be a detriment. Mayuri's poisons everyone around him. Yamamoto's inadvertently deactivated Hitsugaya's bankai. Rukia's send her to absolute zero. Kyouraku's plays dramatic theatre on EVERYONE around him. Bankai are difficult.

Kubo’s afraid to give Aizen a Bankai because even he doesn’t know what it would be capable of.

Imagine Hanataro’s Bankai puts you in a state of tranquility so that you don’t want to fight in any capacity.

I think for Yoruichi's case, when she says she doesnt get along with her zanpakuto, I think he she means at present. I think Yoruichi's zanpakuto spirit was very much a loyal advocate of the Shihoin Clan and Yoruichi's place as it's head. So when she defected from soul society, and thus defected from her clan, her Zanpakuto for the most part abandoned her. We have seen many times where a Zanpakuto and it's user disagree, like Zabimaru not letting renji have full bankai access, or the whole Fuiji Kujaku vs Ruri iro Kujaku thing. I think it would be interesting , if we do get that hell arc, if a former head of the Shihoin Clan ( maybe from the og gotei) in hell, fights yoruichi and she decides to reconcile that part of herself again?

I’d really like to see Isshin or Ukitake’s bankai. Aizen kinda hyped up Isshin’s in everything but the rain, we really got teased lmao

I definitely want to see Ukitake’s Bankai the most. More Ukitake in general, really. Aizen’s as well, of course, but I think he’s kinda surpassed Bankai.

I think it's entirely possible that Aizen doesn't see his Bankai as particularly 'useful' in 1 on 1 battle. It could be something like Hisagi's Bankai where you basically need someone else around if you want to finish them off. Which runs pretty much in direct opposition to Aizen's entire character, but it would be an interesting dichotomy between him and his Zanpakuto. This is what I personally believe. Aizen has a Bankai but hates it because it runs counter to everything he stands for.

Lisa, Isane and Iba being promoted to fill the spots without knowing Bankai is kinda weird when you consider Rukia waited 10 years to be promoted.

There’s no way Oetsu doesn’t have his own personal zanpakuto. It would be criminal for him not to possess one. His true abilities most likely have crazy hax.

I'm 100% sure that Aizen used his Bankai on Yhwach in the final fight, maybe instead of creating something Aizen wants the enemy to see, the illusion actually comes from the enemy themselves, making it way harder to spot and get over it(also only affects 1 person at a time). That's the reason i think, that Aizen doesn't actually know 100% of what's happening in Yhwach's eyes, under Kyouka Suigetsu, when he asks something like "ah, you think you're attacking Kurosaki Ichigo, is it?". That's bc he doesn't know what Kyouka Suigetsu's illusion is being shown to Yhwach, bc he's not the one dictating the effect.

I always felt like Ukitake's illness was a good excuse to never show his Bankai. Maybe his bankai was so strong or streneous that it would take a major toll on his health. That's what I tell myself everytime I feel robbed of quality Ukitake content😮‍💨

There was a really cool Bankai idea for Kira that I've read a while ago (and until proven wrong its my headcanon). Based on Kubos notion that he had thought about it, but eventually dismissed it on grounds of being too disturbing: Upon activation both Kira and his foe gain a backpack filled with heads, each head representing sins and guilts of their past. Everytime they strike each other said guilt increases until one (presumeably the one with less reiatsu) is forced to their knees. Which would fit in very nicely with Izurus philosophy and style really.

On the subject of Isane at the very least, I feel like a cool way to showcase her Bankai if she has one would be a Hell Arc in which she re-encounters Unohana. Because if there's one relationship that was never really resolved IMO it was Unohana and Isane. The final arc choosing to only really focus on Unohana and Zaraki. But as you mentioned it's a good story Arc to introduce Ukitake's Bankai too. Aizen I still believe Kyouka Suigetsu is his Bankai. A Byakuya and Ginrei thing would be interesting given how cool it was to see the filler Kuchiki fight. If the anime shows Isshin's Bankai I would love that.

I’ve said this many times but I think Aizen’s Bankai is the opposite of his Shikai. Kyoka Suigetsu allows Aizen to make others see what he wants them to see. But his Bankai will allow him to see what he wants to see at that moment in time (unrestricted space restricted time). Whilst Yhwach’s Almighty sees all possible futures of himself (unrestricted time but restricted space). That’s how Aizen saw the Soul King in the first place. It doesn’t makes sense that he has an offensive or defensive battle ability but chose not to use it.

Gotta love the quality being a permanent thing on this channel ❤

Isane’s Bankai will be interesting if we ever get to see it. Won’t be OP but still strong in the right situation. Come to think of it, we’ve never seen a Bankai that is “healing” oriented. Isane’s could be the first.

Yumichika is an underrated bankai candidate, especially since his shikai is so OP

At this point I'm just hoping they'll expand on Unohana's bankai this coming episode. She's always been one of my favorites captains.

My personal theory about Aizens BanKai is as follows: when he uses ShiKai he has to supply the knowledge of the image he is creating, when he uses BanKai the victims mind is the one supplying the knowledge making the illusion perfect but limiting Aizens control of what the victims sees, which is why he doesn't like it. To back this up I've two examples. Unohana was able to tell "something" was off about the corpses Aizen created with his ShiKai. Obivously being as highly intelligent as Aizen is he has wast amounts of knowledge and experience to create perfect illusions with just his ShiKai but when he does it against someone more experience in a topic (like Unohana the prime medic of the Gotei about corpses) his illusions has noticable flaws. When he goes against Yahweh he uses his BanKai BCS he needs to be absolutely sure the illusion works but he can't control its content which is why he says "oh so it was Kurosaki you where seeing" as if he just gave his BanKai the order "make me appears like something Yahwe would chase" and than the Zanpaktou went and pulled all the information needed form Yhawe mind.

Ishin's bankai may be the second most powerful fire type. That's why he states that it's hard to control if he's wounded since he was still in the younger years with his bankai during his captain phase.

i think Kubo also hinted at Izuru having one at some point. Hope we'll see some of them in the hell arc.

Awesome upload as always and thanks for uploading Bleach content despite manga and anime ending. Honestly it kept me thinking about Bleach and u reminded me about some of things I use wonder as well.

I really wanna see the bankai of Kira, Momo, Rangiku, Iba, Isane, Lisa and Yumichika

12:42 Having multiple Vizards going Bankai at the same time when fighting Gerard would be really cool.

Regarding Ginrei and your line of "if he's dead there's a better chance we can see his bankai" Kubo did say in Klub Outside he can't reveal who Byakuya used his Senkei ability on. Maaaybe in the Hell Arc it's revealed it was his grandfather and that's who Byakuya must fight?

I think it's pretty likely that Iba does have a bankai and that he's probably at or near a similar level to Tousen. I think the only reason he says he doesn't feel like he's captain material and that if he were to skip out on training he wouldn't be able to hold his head high is because he will forever have possibly the perfect example of a military general in his mind of Komamura. Iba is constantly comparing himself to Komamura and probably remembering the times when he fell short where Komamura held strong, e.g. against Poww and Bambietta. That's just my head canon, though I do love that Iba is written to feel this way. It's almost a direct nod by Kubo to the audience that he knows Iba didn't get to do anything in the manga, so readers probably don't feel that he's captain material either. My fingers are crossed super tight that once the anime is finished, Kubo decides to continue the hell arc and show Iba in action. Seeing the new scenes for him in the anime is nice and all, but I'm a manga purist at the end of the day so if it didn't happen in the manga, then I'm choosing to believe it's not canon. I could definitely see Iba getting some kind of arc where he shows how diligent he is with his duties but constantly comparing himself to Komamura, then getting some time to shine in battle and gaining a lot of confidence in his own abilities while being recognized by his fellow captains, so he could then let the image of Komamura he keeps in his mind fade away.

I just deeped that Yoroichii doesn’t even use her sword and she’s this powerful, like legit no Shikai or Bankai An yh whilst I believe she just genuinely fights better without it, it’s still a massive boost that she’s literally choosing to withhold from herself and she can still fight on the level she does, that’s insane

I honestly believe that Aizen's shikai is actually his bankai. Akin to Azashiro Kenpachi, whose bankai was in a constant state activation. I know this would require him to have a great amount of reiatsu however, Aizen has demonstrated that he has enormous amounts of it. I honestly don't believe Kubo would give one person such a broken ability to "just" a shikai.

We have seen yoruichi wield her zanpaktou during one of the flashbacks with soifon taking on hollows but that's about it

nice video! at 7:41 I can still see your face and glasses behind the frame. 😅

14:18 thank you for thinking of him! The Kido Corps and him are something I want and wanted them to develop more.

I really want to say an underutilized character I'd LOVE to see more of in a hell arc is Kaien Shiba. As a look alike for Ichigo he has so much potential to allow Ichigo to have some character growth, especially after the familial relation reveal. Moreover, as a lieutenant, he has the potential of having developed some powerful abilities (including a bankai), very similar to the other lieutenants seen in the series and was hinted at being a prodigy much like Hitsugaya. Edit: IF Ukitake does have a big role in the supposed hell arc after being cast into hell, this would be PERFECT timing to also showcase Kaien as he was Ukitake's lieutenant and ultimately was killed by the joint efforts of Rukia and Ukitake.

I have a bit of hope we may see Aizen's bankai in the anime but, if we dont then we just gotta hope for the hell arc

Having just read CFYOW again a few days ago, Yoruichi states that not only does she not get along with her zanpakuto she has to actively spend part of her time everyday actively appeasing and soothing it or it becomes tempermental.

I'm still of the theory that Aizen's shikai is actually his bankai release, and he just lies about it to mess with people because he can. Like how Ichigo's constantly in shikai release due to his high spiritual pressure, Aizen simply has enough to passively maintain bankai. It explains why his "shikai" is so overwhelmingly strong as "perfect hypnosis", complements how Aizen himself is incredibly powerful for him to be able to just be in bankai all the time. and later he even transcends bankai by fusing with his sword anyway yet that doesn't seem to change his powers at all. Given that his zanpakuto manipulates senses, if the above is true then I'm inclined to think his true shikai is "hypnotic suggestion", an ability that adjusts a targets sense of reason, such as to make them more suggestible or paranoid etc., making it easier to gaslight people prior to attaining bankai, which is where the vivid hallucinations that're indistinguishable from reality come out.

Maybe just hopeful wishing, but I'd love to see Kaien/Aaroniero return in a Hell arc where Kaien has use of a Bankai. Although, I know it's highly unlikely.

Would have been cool if Love revealed his Bankai against Gerard and Love should have been reinstated as captain of squad 7 instead of Iba. I also would have loved if Ukitake didn’t die releasing Mimihagi and instead died fighting alongside Kyoraku against Lille after releasing his Bankai. Lots of Bankais we could still see in the Hell arc.

Wonderful video 👏👏👏

Was just watching your older videos and then this video popped up. Instantly clicked it lol

I still would love a better explanation of Minazuki. As For Aizen, I've always felt like his bankai would be a sort of inverse of his Shikai. Where his Shikai allows him to make other people see illusions, his Bankai allows him personally to see the Truth of all things. That would explain how he knows what SK is, and why he never uses it in battle.

During Soul Society Iba fights equally with Ikkaku so it really would not be weird for him to have also unlocked bankai now.

For Ginrei: the Muramasa filler arc has a conversation that confirms he's died at some point (at least in the anime). That said, iirc only Captains that died in battle are supposed to need the special Konso, so those that die some other way might not end up in Hell. That raises questions about Ukitake, since he didn't technically die in battle, as well as Tousen & Gin, who died in battle a year or so before the TYBW

Your videos butter my biscuits thank you

the fact that Aizen releases KS without saying the command on multiple occasions proves he has a bankai.. thats a tell tale sign of a shinigami having Bankai

Do you want to know who _should_ be on this list? Kenpachi Zaraki. It was such a big deal that he never even had shikai, and for most of the series. It was cool that we finally got it in TYBW, but I feel like that was enough of a win. Of course, it was cool seeing what it was, and like everyone on this list, if we never saw it, I would have always been curious what it was, but if you would have told me before TYBW that we would see Zaraki's bankai before we see Ukitake's or Aizen's, or even before we get the name of Iba's shikai, I would have told you you were crazy. It _still_ boggles my mind.

Ukitake and Isshin are the ones I wanna see the most. Isshin gets that tease in the flashback, but we're left hanging. I would love to see Ginrei's powers, but I'm not gonna get my hopes up. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised. I want to see Genshiro fight in any new story. I don't know if he has a Bankai or if he should have one, but considering how old and powerful Yamamoto and Chojiro were And he was third after them and is an old guy, I'd assume that he's quite strong and highly skilled. Seems like there are too many little clues and setups to not do a Hell arc. Why show us the original Gotei for one little scene in the anime and the big revelation that the captain's souls go to Hell with Szayelaporro returning. Not to mention we know the post-war Gotei including two brand-new characters that show off their powers and the stuff about Kazui seemingly open a portal to Hell and being watched by those eyes.

I think oetsu bankai would literally be the ability to call upon any and every zanpakuto and their abilities at any moment. Being the creator and knowing where every blade is at any moment I could see him being able to call any one of them in battle and use their ability. Imagine holding a basic blade, and then saying bankai followed by Zanka no Tachi, Higashi

I have a theory That Yoruichi's Zanpakuto "makes her weaker" because She may have an Ancestral Zanpakuto much like Nanao Ise. Rather unlike most Shinigami who have a Zanpakuto that compliments their abilities, but her's might be incompatible because it has a " Specific Use" that doesn't work with her style of combat.

With oytsu the god of blades i feel he can simply use any banaki and any zanpakto he wants. He is loved and respected by all zanpakto and can probably bring out their full capabilities

I'm pretty sure Iba has a bankai. An underdeveloped one maybe, but a bankai at least. In the 10 years following the war, his insane work ethic Hitsugaya mentions would be the reason, as Yoruichi also said it typically takes about 10 years of training from shikai to bankai.

Kiganjō getting more screen time is something I didn't even think about The could extend it and it would be nice to see him show something but beaten in one strike is also cool It shows the difference in power between the Kenpachis

Idk why Love didn't use his bankai against Gerard, especially if you're facing someone as monstrously op as him you might as well go all out since you have nothing to lose

Crazy how Yorouichi’s zanpaktou didn’t come up in the last arc. I mean, her final fight involved her using a secret ability she had but didn’t want to use and disliked using… sounds like a perfect set up for her zanpaktou but instead we got a weird cat form

I think thar Aizen's bankai has been shown...at least to some extent...and it has to do with time manipulation....remember what Jhwach realized while fighting Ichigo.....his perception of time was disrupted somehow by Aizen. Also when he was sentenced to a few thousand years of prison time, he just smiled, that also would explain how he escaped some of the seals that he had.

This is an amazing video,can you please do a video on the Untold Stories in Bleach Brave Souls because it's really interesting because it happened during the Fullbringer Arc ,it's only my opinion anyway amazing video.

If we get to see OG Gotei 13 in action and unleashing Bankai it will get even more gory than we saw for sure. Either way if the hell arc continues the saga we will undoubtedly see the Bankai of many of these in action, they will need to given how dangerous hell's demons have shown themselves. And showing up in the human world? Oh and then there's deceased Shinigami turned hellspawn.

I always assumed Ginrei was going to be in Squad 0, that would be incredible

I would also love to see Ikaku's bankai again. If we do get a hell arc, maybe he can use it again and reveal that he has made his bankai even stronger through training or some other method.

Before Isane and Iba reveal a potential bankai, we need to first know what there shikai abilities do. Personally I think Renji, and Shuhei should've been promoted instead to fill the vacant postions. Lisa is a little different because I think she has probably trained alot with the vizards and seems like she would work hard enough during the time skip to achieve it if she didn't secretly have it already. I think Aizen may have a bankai, but it comes with certain conditions and it physically effects him like others he uses it on. Maybe this is why he hasn't revealed it in the series and relies just on his KS shikai ability instead. Perhaps reality bending of sorts since his shikai is full hypnosis. Ukitake I feel will get a bankai if the hell arc happens, it seems like Kubo is going to focus on him, Yama, and Unohanna since they're now guardians of hell. I think Yorichi's bankai is from her clan, it may not be like her other abilities and slows her down or has certain conditions that she feels isn't worth it in the long run. Maybe it drains her stamina the longer she uses it. Ginrei I've always been curious about he seems very old, (I'm shocked he wasn't in the OG gotei with Unohanna and Yama for Squad 6) so I think he's alot more powerful than people realize. Maybe it's similar to Byakuya's to a degree since they're clan members. I mean Ichigo and Isshin have similar abilities with Engetsu and Zangetsu so it could be possible. Love I don't think will reveal it unless the vizords assist the gotei and go to hell with them. I have no idea what he could be capable of. I would think he might be on the same level as Rose, and could be more powerful with haxs in bankai than we realize. It's criminal the Zero squad didn't achieve shikai and bankai abilities. Maybe the extended the fight with the sternritters since it was off screened since Kubo was rushed in the manga. The only one we saw is Ichibei, and we saw how broken he was. So I hope there on a similar level that he is, I think Oetsu maybe as powerful with haxs since he created the zanpukto, so I'd love to see how broken he could be I honestly hope we see the orignal gotei 13 face the current one along with some of the Kenpachis in the light novels and maybe even others that haven't been revealed to us. I'd love to see Isshin and Uryu's father actually get a proper fight in the series, I'm thinking Isshin in bankai turns into the human torch or something when he unleashes bankai, but it slowly drains his stamina and if he's not careful and uses it too long it will kill him. I could actually see him die in the hell arc to save Ichigo and his grandson to have them escape. But we'll have to see what happens.

In SAFWY Urozakuro tells Azashiro that Aizen needs his opponent looking at him to activate Bankai so yes he uses Bankai and without having to speak.

The 2 kiddo core guys and yoroichi are the ones left unrevealed that I'm dieing to see When I was always fascinated by the guy whose sword doubles the weight of anything it strikes what a fascinating ability it's a shame that we never got to see what that kind of shikai evolves into

Thanks for this video ✊🏾. I think Aizen has a bankai. There’s a clip showing him say the words as it fades to black but Idek if it’s cannon. It’s the issue of creating a power that tops his shikai is probably why we’ve never seen it. Idk what it would be.

That's a smooth shave it looks good on you!

I have always had a thought in the back of my head that Aizen could achieve Bankai, but never did due to never forming a connection with his Zanpakuto beyond a shikai if that makes sense. I just can't see Aizen forming a dialogue with Kyoka Suigetsu

I thought CFYOW implied that Aizen's Bankai only worked on those already affected by his Shikai? Also, I'm fairly sure Yoruichi mentioned having to placate/coddle her Zanpakuto in exchange for not using it.

Yoruichi states that her Zanpakuto doesn't match her fighting style. And once again, no-one states in their vids that Aizen might have a permanent Bankai mode similar to Azashiro. Suigetsu sounds like it could be his Shikai form which could have a limited hypnosis effect whilst Kyoka Suigetsu could be the Bankai where he has complete hypnosis.

Maybe if the Hell Arc comes out some of these Bankai will be revealed. Just a theory: Aizen might be some important role if he's already been mention in the beginning of the hell arc. Since his Reiatsu isn't around to keep hell in check, maybe he gets released and his Zanpakuto bankai makes a perfect reflection of him or something. So instead of Aizen and Yhwach it's now Aizen and Aizen keeping hell in check.

Aizen either didn't think there was a big enough threat to be worth using his Bankai on (Everyone he fought before Dangai Ichigo) or thought he was beyond needing to use his Bankai (When he fought Dangai Ichigo). My question is why didn't he pull his Bankai out when fighting Yhwach. I think at that point even Aizen would be like "Okay f@ck it. BANKAI!!!"

I neeeeed to see Lord Aizen's Bankai

I don't think Aizen "doesn't" have a bankai but it's more like he can't . The reason being for bankai you need to accept your zanpakuto spirit as your equal in the battlefield and Aizen thinks of himself as someone who's above everyone even his own zanpakuto, he only views it as a mean to get things done easily rather than something that he "needs"

Of the promoted vise captains i could see Lisa getting away whit not needing a Bankai thanks to her Hollow mask . She has some versatility that the others dont have thanks to the additional Skill tree she has access to

I wanna see an upgraded Ikkaku's bankai

The thing about Aizen's Bankai is that fandom wouldn't forgive Kubo if he made it's reveal underwhelming, but if it's too op, then the logical question arises: "why tf didn't he use it when it could have saved him?"

Aizen is an interesting cause due to his complete hypnosis. There are 2 options on what his Kyoka Suigetsu is: Isane stated that Kyoka Suigetsu is a "flowing water-type zanpakuto that uses diffused reflection in mist and flowing water to confuse enemies and create war between comrades" There is the possibility that this is actually something Aizen's zanpakuto can do, it could be his shikai and Kanzen Saimin is his bankai but he made up a shikai using perfect hypnosis and made everyone thing that the water illusions are his bankai. Or, and I really like this idea since it's both hilarious and explains why he doesn't use bankai, perfect hynosis is his shikai and Aizen thought "well damn if this is my shikai's power then how overpowered will my bankai be". He learned bankai, the water illusions are his bankai and aizen is just thinking to himself "wait that's it? are you kidding me? my shikai is more useful than my bankai. Heck it can do everything my bankai can do" Of course it could also be that Kyoka suigetsu is his shikai and he never bothered learning bankai, or he knows bankai but it's something completely useless or counterproductive for his goal, or it is his bankai but his shikai is useless. And we can't even take Aizen at his word to narrow it down to it definitely being his shikai since of course he would lie to everyone to just mess with them and drop their moral because they think "damn, we can't beat this guy and he isn't even using bankai"

If we are talking new Bankai that we might get in the TYBW anime, I would say Isshin seems like the most likely. Maybe in a fight against either Gerard or Yhwach. As for the Hell arc, I would say Ukitake. Since Kubo seemed to put a lot of focus on him now being in Hell and he is the only one out of the classic set of Captains, beside Aizen, to not have it revealed during the first run of the series. Out of the Lieutenants, I think Kira has a pretty good chance of getting a Bankai. Kubo has stated that he has one in mind for him, and he is one of the most prominent of the Vice-Captains, so I would say it seems pretty likely we might get one for Mr. Zombie-Cyborg.

I feel Aizens Bankai is overpowered but involves him giving control to his sword...he chose to go a different route because he doesnt like to give up control

Am I crazy for liking that some bankai aren't shown. I just like the mystery aspect of it!

Tbh maybe aizen bankai is like a thought overide he can mentally force people to do what he wants them to do at the cost of not moving. His shikai is already a coin toss he himself doesn’t know what the opponent is seeing , But he can move. where we see him not move a lot during the fake Karakura arc thus explaining the need for a army thus the espada idk tbh im just theorizing

Request for video Listing of the actual sternritter schrifts on which are the most powerful. Excluding their owners.

Always wish we could have seen if Ukitake has a Bankai. And hopefully Isane and few others will hopefully show their Zanpakuto more. Though I'm greatly excited for this Monday :) I'm saving my energy and excitement for it :) My Wife Unohana's Bankai :)

I still say Oetsu's Zanpaktou is his forge hammer

There has been so much new anime since Bleach came out but iMO, its Shikai and Bankai are still the coolest among all anime powers. It doesn't always make sense and the power levels are wonky, but the moment a character says "Bankai", it is always such a badass moment.

Bankai bro this was needed today

I wonder how our fallen captains' bankai would work once they're in hell. We do get to see Ukitake's shikai so it means they're still able to manifest shikai in a way. It just means both Unohana and Yama's might become broken AF!

Judging by what Aizen can do already, I would imagine his Bankai would grant him a power similar to Gremmy’s.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on what Iba's zanpakuto can do. I think Kubo and his team are taking a break while releasing the anime and then will go back to working on it, or they are already. It makes sense to me that the first chapter of the proposed hell arc is a teaser to hold us over until the anime is over

I know I'm late but they obviously need to have every single character showcase their bankais, I feel it's something that should at least have importance even though some might be more than disappointing than others but, it's something that they should do.

Narratively it would be hard to build Aizen a bankai that’s fittingly an evolution of his Shikai but somehow unsuitable for his conflicts in the series. We see Kubo having to build these explanations into certain characters’ bankai as an explanation for why they weren’t used before, example being Shinji Hirako. In designing it, Kubo had to also explain why Shinji didn’t use it on Aizen. Same with Kyoraku, and Urahara’s bankais, Kubo had to work in the hints he’d given about them as well as explain why they’d not use them against Aizen when he was the biggest baddest threat at the time. With Aizen, I feel like Kubo has to build in that kind of inherent limitation to provide a reason why he never used bankai. One idea I had for his bankai would be that where his shikai creates illusions, his bankai actually turns those illusions into reality. You could say he didn’t use it because of his arrogance and planning, where by the time he actually felt cornered for the first time against Ichigo he was already deep into the Hogyoku rabbit hole and for the same reason he didn’t use his Shikai. Problem with that explanation is that if his bankai really could turn illusions into reality then having that power he could have used it way simpler than all his plans to, for example, create a walkway straight to the Royal Palace. With that said, that seems like the logical extension of his shikai so there would have to be one hell of a downside to using it for him to instead go through with all that meticulous planning and waiting. I think it could work if it was a one time use thing, where he could only ever use his bankai once. Knowing that, he’d never use his bankai to achieve something he could do through planning and use of his shikai. This along with his arrogance and he’d never stoop so low as to waste his one Aizen Ex Machina, and by the time he finally found himself in a situation he had to accept he couldn’t work his way around it was too late. In summary I just think the way Aizen is written it would be really hard to design a bankai for him that’s a proper extension and evolution of his shikai while also having an explanation for why he never used it even with the threat of losing.

In Spirits are forever with you Azashiro when talking about downsides of bankai said that Aizen could not use his on the person who haven't seen his shikai, so yeah he has a bankai

I feel that aizens bankai may have been what led him on his path. Perhaps a perception advancing effect, to allow him to perfect the illusions he already is able to create, but as a side effect, it allowed him to perceive the truth of the world, or see above and beyond the barriers to the soul king.

Is it really the current concept that the captains in Hell are antagonistic? From what we've seen thus far, it seems like they serve the same role as the Kushinada did in the HellVerse. They're the overseers of Hell and are in Charge of keeping the rest of Hell in line, kind of like saying that a Captain's job is never fullfilled and once you reach that level of power, you can never truly rest. I expect that Ichigo and Co are going to have to go into Hell to rescue Kazui or to set right what Kazui is going to wrought by sending souls to Hell unaware, and to try to rebalance the balance of Reiatsu between the dimensions, and while inside, we will be aided by former captains and get inter-character moments and ability reveals the TYBW didn't have time for.

Being the blade god, oetsu probably doesn’t have a bankai or his own zanpakto but the ability to wield any zanpakto. Being the creator of all of them, it would make sense that he’d be able to use anyones he chooses

What if Kyōka Suigetsu's Kanzen Saimin is his Bankai, and he's been lying this whole time about it being his shikai? Knowing what we know about its abilities and Aizen himself, making people hear him say its release command would be child's play.

Good sir you forgot Hachigen. He was the vice captain of the kidou corps during the turn back the pendelum arc. We know he has a zanpakto and if Tessai has a shikai and bankai then its very likely Hachi has one as well.

Changing the zero division fight could be like shooting to themselves because their enemies are supposed to have their peak powers as mystery and can make them look even weaker.

@09:44 well actually in 2 flashbacks we see Yoruichi with a zanpakuto. 1- when she was kids. She & Urahara was training/playing underground. We see her strapped with it. 2- she saved a much younger Soifons life & used a zanpakuto to kill a hollow that was about to eat Soifon.

I feel like Iba would certainly had a bankai when promoted simply do to Love still being available to take back his job

Ngl my head cannon when fake karakura towns battle was going on was Kyoka Suigetsu was Aizen's bankai secretly, with Suigetsu (the mist release) being his actual shikai.