‘Bleach’ Reveals First-Look At Shinji’s Bankai

Bleach might have ended a couple years back, but the franchise lives on in its own way. For those caught up with the series’ spin-off, Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World shared a big gift with fans this week, and it highlights a fan-favorite Soul Reaper some might have forgotten.

Just, don’t let Shinji hear that. If the captain finds out he’s been forgotten, he will send his regimen out to find you.

Recently, audiences were given a first-look at Shinji using his Bankai, and the peek came from the latest volume of Can’t Fear Your Own World. The release hit Japan not long ago, and fans were quick to snap photos of Shinji’s Bankai as its concept art appears in its pages.

As you can see above, Shinji looks rather regal with his Bankai on full display. Dressed in his white captain robes, Shinji has his usual smile as he stands in the middle of what appears to be a flower. Its abstract petals are seen blooming from an empty circle where Shinji stands, and he’s holding a long staff with a circular knob attached at the end.

So far, Shinji has not used this Bankai in Can’t Fear Your Own World, but this volume teases what it can do. Fan-translators turned over the description that came with this design, and it turns out Shinji’s move reverses everything. From senses to directions, the Bankai flips anything you can perceive, and it even allows “friends [to] become foes and foes [to] become friends.”

For those who have kept up with Bleach, they will know this isn’t the first time Shinji’s Bankai has been brought up. This drawing marks the first full look at the technique, but Can’t Fear Your Own World showed off its power awhile back. The spin-off confirmed the technique’s name loosely translates to Reversed Evil Eight Treasure Barrier, and it takes Shinji’s mind-boggling Shikai to a whole new level of topsy-turvy.

So, are you ready to see this Bankai be put into action? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Bleach was first created by Tite Kubo for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, running from 2001 to 2016. The series follows the young delinquent Ichigo Kurosaki, who has the ability to see spirits. He soon obtains the power of a Soul Reaper – one meant to usher lost souls to the afterlife – and now has the duty to defend the living world from monstrous dark spirits known as Hollows.