SHUNSUI'S BANKAI, EXPLAINED - The Theatre of War | Bleach TYBW Discussion

So did Kyoraku's long-awaited Bankai live up to your expectations? Would you have changed it at all? Let me know!

Maybe it’s reflecting his old life before being a shinigami. Could also be his own story but he couldn’t go through with the suicide

I like it when he was talking about how the characters were feeling the presence of this Bankai how they were feeling cold and shivering and feeling just the effects of this Bankai but what I feel like you was trying to portray in the first part of it the activation of it it's more like the lights of a theater turning off that chilling Melancholy Vibe of a play getting ready to start that's what I feel like they were trying to portray when they did that

It is conceptually a unique Bankai that's for sure. I didn't knew that this Bankai was so deep and dark. You definitely helped me understand it better. Thank you.

Saying Shunsui's Shikai or Zanpakuto is some since represents a degree of "fairness" is routed in a misconception of Shunsui's character.

"Remember what Yamamoto said, " Shunsui's is a peace loving man who loves to talk his way out of a fight but he was always able to see the truth."

And what exactly does Yama mean by this? The truth in this context is analogous to the reality of the world being a doggy-dog place; hyper-competitive, unfair and unforgiving. Worst of all, everyone's forced to play and be apart of it*. Shunsui himself hate this, has the greatest disdain for it to the point in which is 'causes him depression and great pain but he simultaneously embraces this world and plays the *game for what it is.

So his Shikai/Bankai/Zanpakuto is not holding up to some measure of fairness, it's maintaining an appearance of fair play to distract you from the harsh reality that its not. Remember, Shunsui might initiate all the games but he doesn't have to tell you all the rules right away unless necessary, and he's the one that knows the ends and outs of each game, all the loop holes and when the game has switched. Bankai, same thing, the other party doesn't know what triggers the next act and I have a sneaky feeling, regardless of what they do, Shunsui can progress the play as he sees fit anyway. But the story on top of it maintains this illusion of fairness (he can just alter the dialogue impromptu for the situation), just like his shikai and just like Shunsui does himself. I'm sure the theories of him having potentially other plays that he could perform, would follow this line of reasoning in some way shape or form too.

So his Zanpakuto is actually a perfect parallel to his personality, like someone said, "it's a double entendre on the word play", but also a metaphor for the game of life we all play and are forced into. The games and theatrics are his grace to you, to distract you from the harsh reality your put into, that this shit actually not fair at all and he's not actually going to fight you like it is.

Just, appear to. :)

Incredibly well designed and DEEP character, truly a peak fictional character.

I know his is a late comment for this but relevant still since the anime will be showing this within the next year.

@MrTommo2304

I think he could possibly beat aizen

Best bankai

love your videos!

I think his bankai has many different names with each name representing different plays in japan which would make a lot of sense karamatsu shinjū being the play sunsui uses here and his bankai affects everyone in the vicinity and makes them a character of the play hence it being banned in Sereitei since not everyone could know the play one wrong actions from them can get them killed or worse can affect sunsui since he completely immerses himself in the characters one of his comarad being in danger could make him break the character and put his life in danger

i knew paddy mc baddy would do a live video for me.

Ukitake wasn't kidding when he said that Shunsui's Bankai isn't something to be used in public. Stark really got lucky.

He can really play yugioh foreal 😂🤣😂

his banki isnt that cool ngl. his powers make no sense. he isnt even fighting. its just a bunch of anime visuals and then he wins the fight. not interesting fighting wise. neet concept. but anytime your warping reality in ways the BARLY make sense. its realy not for me

when you think about that we saw his bankai after getting the explaination of how asautsies(?) work from our main dude it hits really hard!the implications for kyoraku are insanly deep-dark and complex(how his bankai connects to his past and...),specially when kyoraku sees him strangle to get to the surface and sais "...you re selfish..."

I'd like to think here tommo are Shinji here 😎

He cheated on his wife got syphilis gave it 2 her then they killed themselves or died

I wonder why fighters always explain their abilities to their opponents. Is it a forbidden rule? Wouldn’t it be a easier fight if they didn’t reveal how their powers work?

I'm a good bit late to the discussion but I had a discussion, turned argument, about Shunsui Kyōraku's bankai and how it works. Seeing it explained like this it almost feels as if someone "Has to take the role of the woman, and one has to the the role of the man." It kinda feels as if the kid games didn't work so it's turned up a notch. Maybe the reason Shunsui was so concerned is because at the end of it all, the man and woman still have a pact and the woman (Shunsui in this case) has to kill herself. That could be why his Zanpakto spirit says what she says and he starts to drift off to death. Maybe it relies on someone saving "the woman" past the story for it to turn into something else meant to doom "the man" in all of this. Maybe "the woman" is redeemed this way. It's a very crazy story and bankai nonetheless and from my favorite Captain too. It would be nice if we got a better explanation somewhere down the line of these questions. I really hope Tite Kubo picks it all back up and goes a bit further at least with the rumored "Hell Chapter." We will hopefully see.

Like others in the comments, I'm leaning towards the Bankai having the power to make stories/plays real. Not much evidence for it, but it would best fit his Shikai's ability to impose game rules on others.

If he chooses the story, he can choose one that limits the damage he'll take or otherwise use one that fits the situation, but it could be that Katen Kyokotsu can/will only use those with tragic ends, making it risky if/when the plays reach their conclusion. Considering Bankai vanish when their Shinigami is near death, it could always end before he actually dies, while always leaving him near-death

I would assume this is scarier than any Bankai besides from Unohanas Minazuki

I'm curious if this bankai is used against someone more powerful than Shunsui such as Ywach. Would the plays continue or would it be broken in between.

I think the Bankai started with Kyoraku already in the role of the woman as a result of him activating it upon receiving a blow from Lily,

I love the more abstract shikai and bankai. They're so unsettling in an almost cosmic horror way. I like those kinds of abilities more than the "hurr durr bigger sword, big boom" bankai.

Stark. Accutron. And lille. Why's he always fighting people with guns ? Does kubo ever mention ?

You need to take the story from it's outright beginning. The moment He injured Shunsui his bankai was able to be activated. Based on the story. I think his bankai requires him to not attack. Based on everything I think that is the one flaw in his bankai in that if you can get him to injure you he then has to die too, or cancel his bankai. Similar to bankais like ikaku. Where if he doesn't take enough damage etc. his sword won't charge and he can't use his full potential

If all the captains used there bankai against aizen they would have more of a chance of winning but probably still lose

It would be cool if his bankai also worked a bit like how Byakuya used Senkei in his fight with Ichigo. Like the bankai becomes a sort of arena that buffs the user in some ambigeous way, but they still fight with their normal sword in there. So here, Kyoraku's bankai could still have had all the, in lack of a better word, theatrics, but he could also fight with his swords in it

I think his bankai is a game of chicken. The first phase shares the physical wounds he sustained, the second represents guilt. The third represents suffering to atone for your guilt. and the fourth kills you if chicken out from your characters' promise. I think he would've died if that enemy didn't try to escape, I think that accounts for the name of his bankai

It’s a domain expansion in other words

His bankai is lie

I wm interesting how sternritter use his bankai if they took it

I swear to God you are lost brother of Lazy peon. You sound so identical

Kyoraku's Mangekyou

best anime power!

Stop showing you face. I just want to see the anime

I liked that the Bankai was a major extension of the Shikai.
We play a game, and I’m as beholden to the rules as someone playing for the first time, so I can still lose, no matter how well I might play
But, I am going to be supremely calm,while you panic…
Lille is supremely arrogant, so holding him to any standard, is very SS thing. When you think only god can judge you, you think you are beyond judgement itself…this is incorrect

One of then lamest bankai's Kubo made. Its completely self inflicting

This makes me think...how cool would an anime character's power be to force them and their opponents to play the role of characters in different stories? Like, imagine a character activating their power and forcing themself and their opponent to play through King Lear or Romeo and Juliet? This is a cool Bankai.

"It doesn't matter who is getting back at whom, once war breaks out everyone becomes evil".

- Captain Kyoraku Shunsui (Ep. 283)

They actually die of confusion coz I'm confused then a mother fuc*er right now.....

If it's basically an illusion then anyone with a comparable or stronger spiritual pressure could resist or overcome it such as Aizen for sure

His Shikai creates a reality manipulation field that everyone must follow, but I noticed that the main 'games' he uses (those that end in 'oni') all require the 'players' own power, skill, and cunning to meet the 'win conditions'. They don't directly attack the target, like say Getsuga Tenshou does.

His Bankai can actually induce damage and debilitating effects on the target like a curse, without the need to physically strike the target. Really fitting to give a 'cursed fate' to a character in a 'tragic play'.

This means that his bankai is useless if the user isn't harmed

Imagine him having to perform this in a captians exam? 😂

I think it did deliver if you look at shunsui backstory and how his bankai represents what he went through

In the series kyoraku said to starrk at the level of captain Toshiro " he can match me in 100 years" ,also when starrk is very curious to know about the bankai but captain ukitake says not use the bankai if he uses it the karakura town will be destroyed ,I think the range kyoraku's bakai is very long like gin lchimaru when it will be revealed in the anime series it will probably the strongest banaki except some characters of bleach like ichigo, Yamamoto,aizen and yhwach also I am very curious see the full power and true form of captain kyoraku's bankai

I cant help but feel like maybe its more of the opposite the man didnt run away in this story but more of she backed out after getting sick but still wanted to die and more or less he kills her which in turn kills him on the inside. A Lovers suicide. He attempts to level the playing field at first by bringing himself to her level. I dont know man something feels darker and in a sense more sinister. His face almost screams trauma like he suddenly lost all life and just lives toneless emotionless. Then when she appears its her attempt to finally bring him with. I really think its darker in nature then we thought.

His Bankai reminds me of 'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai