bleach spotlight: Sosuke Aizen's Bankai

year 18, month 6

BAN-KAI. By far the most iconic word in the entire fandom. Bleach is well known for many things but if you say Bankai to any anime fan, odds are, they will know exactly what you're talking about. This word is used in memes, discussion forums, roleplays, and much more and anyone with the status on WoR will agree that using it in your backstory or in topics is a fun and chilling feeling!

In today's Bleach Spotlight, we are going to take a look at this power and specifically analyse one that has always, and probably will always, remain a mystery, Sosuke Aizen's Bankai.
 

THe Theories Around Aizen's Bankai

Many people have come forward with some interesting theories on what his bankai might be, especially in the Reddit world. The generally accepted idea is that he was so powerful from the beginning that using Bankai was probably a waste. But, that hasn't stopped the guesses! Many go with the easy idea that his bankai creates even more massive illusions that can completely dominate someone's mind and perspective. A very cool choice indeed. Another popular theory is that his illusions become so strong they they are actually temporarily real, and can affect the real world in a big way.

Another theory posed is that his bankai is like Soi Fon's, an opposite of the shikai. While his shikai creates illusions, his bankai affects reality, allowing him to bend and shape it as he wishes. However, my personal favourite theory is that his bankai allows him to reset time, using the moment he attained bankai as a sort of spawn point to retry things whenever he gets something wrong, which explains why everything always seems to go as he planned. He already lived through it multiple times. It would be very cool to believe that throughout the entire time, he was always constantly using his bankai without anyone actually knowing about it, thus explaining why he never mentions it and relies on his shikai and other skills in the present. But surely there may be more to it than that?

Can Aizen use bankai at all?

It's obviously easy to think that the main reason Aizen never uses his bankai is not because Kubo just didn't much care to give him one, but rather that he was so focused on getting the Hōgyoku that he never saw any need to use his mysterious bankai. Then of course he had the Espada doing most of the wet work for him and eventually the Hōgyoku put him in a state beyond needing Bankai at all.

However, from what we know about him, it is also easy to question; He most certainly has Bankai, but can he actually use it? Well, after some research, you find something of an answer in the Bleach novel Spirits Are Forever With You, which has a line that states Aizen cannot use his bankai without someone first witnessing his Shikai. So this might answer one part of the question BUT, haven't many seen his Shikai before? How come he never used it then?

Canon versus non-canon

Unfortunately, this snippet of evidence is both non-canon and highly debated if it was translated properly, so this may be a close assumption to the reality, but only a guess. So what can we confirm to be true? Well, Aizen has said on many occasions that he plans things meticulously. Every action he takes is crucial and calculated to his plans. He has also said that his zanpakutō allows him to create a "wide range" of illusions. This can lead us to believe that his zanpakutō might be similar in vein to something like Kyoraku's Bankai, or Shinji's. It's a power that doesn't distinguish friend from foe and can be a wildcard that is unpredictable. Azien's worst enemy would be something unpredictable, so it is reasonable to think that he certainly does have a Bankai, but the only reason it's never seen is because it would most likely be a factor that could ruin his carefully made plans.

But what do you think? Is it something that he cannot control? Or perhaps he actually doesn't have one and hid it well? Maybe he was always just too goated from the beginning to bother with it. Let us know what you think!  

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