Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has been getting ready to return to screens later this Summer the highly anticipated Part 2 of the new anime series, and the newest trailer for the next wave of episodes have set up the anime debut of a long awaited Bankai not seen in the original Bleach anime or manga! It’s been over ten years since the original Bleach anime adaptation cut its run short before the final arc of Tite Kubo’s Bleach manga series, and unbeknownst to many fans, there actually was some canonical Bleach material released in the years since we’ve last seen the anime in action!
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1 already capitalized on the fact that it’s the first anime adaptation in a while with some new scenes filling out the events of the final arc from the manga, but it seems like Part 2 is taking that a step further by showing off a Bankai that was only briefly teased in the manga and anime, but wasn’t fully revealed until the Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World spin-off novel series. Shinji Hirako’s been set up to have a very dangerous Bankai, and the newest trailer teases we’ll finally see it in anime form after all these years.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Bleach: Shinji Hirako’s Bankai in the Anime
Bleach series creator Tite Kubo teased in the months leading up to Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 that there was an original fight between two characters that never was seen in the manga. It seems like we have gotten our first look at what this fight is as Shinji will be using his Bankai for the first real time. It was previously relegated to a single appearance in the Can’t Fear Your Own World light novels that had a canonical adventure for Shinji and a few other Soul Reapers, so it does tease that the anime will be able to take on even this side-material as well.
Shinji’s Bankai was previously hinted in the manga to be forbidden due to the fact it confuses both enemies and allies (and makes them attack one another in the process), but it seems like Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 will actually show us what this looks like! Luckily it won’t be too long before we get to see more as Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 – The Separation will be streaming with Hulu in the United States (and Disney+ in international territories) beginning on July 8th.
Are you excited to finally see Shinji’s Bankai in the Bleach anime at last? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!
