What is AIZEN'S BANKAI? Does He Have One? 3 Ideas for Aizen's POWERFUL Bankai, Explored | Bleach

Beware manga spoilers in this video!

Sosuke Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu is considered one of the most powerful, broken zanpakuto in Bleach - and that's only his Shikai! His Bankai was, regrettably, never revealed. So in this video, we'll take a look at 3 of my theories for his Bankai, as well as answer some of the questions that often surround it, like why it's so difficult to come up with a Bankai for Aizen, and whether he even has one or not. Enjoy!

#bleach #bankai #bleachmanga #bleachdiscussion #sternritter #aizen #bleachtybw #bleachanime #ichigobankai #yamamotovsyhwach #aizensosuke

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[MrTommo]

What do you think of my ideas for Aizen's Bankai? Do you have a favourite? What do YOU think his Bankai could be, if he has one? Let me know!

[jeffreyburton]

I think that part of the appeal of Aizen is that there is always mystery with him. A Bankai reveal with him would be very special and a top 5 Bleach moment for sure.

[tbgold]

I think hearing Aizen say Bankai in the final fight would be the ultimate hype moment.

[christopherg]

I heard of a idea once:
What if his Bankai is not illusions - but revealing the truth? The exact opposite of illusion powers.
It counters all other illusions, possibly even reality manipulation in it's area of effect. And reveals truth to the wielder.
Learning the truth made him want to replace the soul king. What if his Bankai is what made him realize the truth?
This would also explain why he never used it - he simply never fought someone that used illusions on any grade he had to worry about. And never got a chance against Ywach.
He sounded a bit disapointed that he "only" needed Kyoka Suigetsu or basic speed to counter Shinjis Sakanade.

[LeagusDaemon]

My personal head-canon is that, with his Zanpakuto being themed around hypnosis, Aizen's Bankai could be self-hypnosis. It's really weird to begin with how we have this guy, this Shinigami who for all intents and purposes is able to quite literally surpass *everyone* when it comes to the core tenets of a Shinigami's fighting style, and seemingly is doing so effortlessly. My thought is, his Bankai might very well be responsible for that, and it's because of this that we never see it used during the series, because we're already seeing the outcome his Bankai has led to, it's already been used beforehand. Aizen's Bankai could be what's bumping all his abilities to their utmost limits (he's hypnotized himself into a version of him capable of achieving the highmost points of Shinigami skills), and so the Aizen we see today is the result of him formerly unlocking his Bankai and using it. This would also explain his obsession with reaching the next stage for a Shinigami, because as long as he remains as he is, there'd no longer be any room to grow for him.

[randallsavage]

I think he has a Bankai but if he uses it, everyone under the spell of his Shikai will be released, so Aizen doesn’t really want to use it

[pharma_weeb]

My head cannon is that his bankai has the ability to alter and heighten HIS OWN senses and that he has always had it active. Altering his own senses allows him to cast an illusion that tricks his own body and mind to adapt and reflect those illusions. This would explain why he is so much stronger than everyone else and how he mastered all 4 basic combats skills in the soul society long ago.

[nathanielreichert]

I like it when a storyteller doesn’t tie up every loose end. Aizen’s bankai not being revealed for example, gives Bleach an air of mystery and makes the reader feel like there is still a big world out there to explore. Another example is when we never saw or learned more about the shinigami king of Death Note. It just adds mystery and a coolness factor when we never get to see this seemingly fundamental character of that universe.

[melonpan]

I imagine Aizen having a single-target only, but one-hit K.O. Bankai similar to Itachi’s Tsukuyomi Mangekyo Sharingan, that scene where he trapped Kakashi in a world where he controls the laws of time and space and tortured him. A world where 1 second is almost eternity there, and kills opponent through mental torture first, before the physical body gives up and dies right after too.

[lolmuffins]

I always had a schizo theory that Aizen's bankai makes it so that, instead of Aizen dictating what his opponents see, his opponents fool themselves into seeing what they want to see. Kinda similar to your second idea, but a little more nuanced. When he fools Yhwach at the very end, he says something like "so you think you're seeing Ichigo.. Curious." This makes no sense when you think about how his Shikai works, of course he would know that he was fooling Yhwach with an illusion of Ichigo if he was using his Shikai. This can explain why Aizen never uses his Bankai: it simply just isn't that useful compared to his Shikai and there is precedent for Bankais being too situational versus their Shikai, like Shinji's. It would only really works when he's fighting alongside other people and playing support for them, and of course Aizen never does this until he backs up Ichigo against Yhwach. This perhaps feeds into Aizen's contradictory nature; like how he wants to be a God while being normal at the same time, at the same time he has a broken Shikai but a borderline useless Bankai. As for why he uses this theoretical bankai versus Yhwach? Who knows, maybe it produces illusions that are truly foolproof, and he couldn't afford to have Yhwach seeing through his Shikai's illusion as such a critical moment.

[seankelly]

I feel like his Bankai would be similar to a reality marble or his own small world, illusion surpassing reality all within his control. A sphere of influence that marks you as under his spell another set piece to move within his grand theatre. It cannot create anything stronger than himself.

[swimminginbeyblades]

I think it would be cool to have Aizen’s bankai be a domain control type like Tosen’s and Urahara. Whereas Urahara’s is one where he reconstructs anything in his domain and warps the concepts of the things around him, Aizens could quite literally bring his perfect hypnosis illusions to life.(eg. making the fly turning into a dragon a physical a real threat that has to be dealt with)
It’d just be a cool contrast where while Urahara controls reality, Aizen would bring to life fantasy.

[tedculbertson]

I think the TYBW arc gives us two possible hints at Aizen's Bankai. When Ywach goes to the underground prison, Aizen seems to alter his perception of time. That could be his Bankai ability (or at least part of it). He can make an hour feel like a second or a second feel like an hour.

The other is in the final battle when he seems to imply that he couldn't trick Ywach as easily if Ichigo were under the effect of Kyoka Suigetsu. He makes it sound like everyone under his complete hypnosis sees the same thing. Maybe his Bankai could remove that limitation.

[lout]

Anytime Aizen’s name is in a video= immediately watch

And before I watch imma say what I think it is. So Azashiro’s Bankai stated that for Aizen’s Bankai to work there had to be someone under Kyoka Suigetsu (which wouldn’t be a problem since basically everyone is under it)….so I think his Bankai actually makes his illusions come to life for the people under the Bankai. So an example would be how his Shikai can make you think a meteor is coming at you, his Bankai would actually form a meteor that you’d have to avoid..so I guess reality warping technically

[MistrzGeralt]

Funny this vid just came as I was thinking about his Bankai. I always thought Bankais feeded off Shinigami inner hidden personality desires, like for Soi Fon being loud and brash or Shuhei not wanting to actually kill anyone. We don't get much of Aizen inner world, but in Deicide arc Ichigo mentions that Aizen wanted someone to view the world in the same way he does, someone he can relate to (similiar to Starrk but not neccesarily friend). Based on this I theorized his Bankai would need another person to activate, someone that would be an equal in Aizen eyes and someone he could trust - while his Shikai was about controlling others, his Bankai would make him give up control to another being entirely, either just to activate it or just straight up make someone else stronger.

[LeslieAdams]

I personally believe that we have already seen or in some part seen a variantion of what he's bankai was going to be. It may have been intended to be added or maybe he had the idea in back of his mind and decided not to "give" Aizen a Bankai but still liked the idea behind, and that person is... Tsukishima and his Book :P

[dyshtrack]

If I remember correctly, I think it was mentioned in CFYOW that Aizen's Bankai only works on those whom has seen his shikai. Yes, it still doesn't explain what it can do, but at least we got a hint of his bankai's capabilities.

[Mimi-vvgz]

My headcanon is Aizen doesn't truly understand himself given his subconscious lost in Day Aside.

So his relationship with his sword is similar to that of Zaraki's: while he has a Bankai, it's not to his liking and he doesn't like using it - much like how Soi Fon is hesitant to use hers.

- This is a great way for Kubo to retroactively explain why Aizen seemingly willingly let himself stay in Muken and why he refused to join Ywhach.
- It was to understand himself more.

[xaxxbx]

My theory was always something similar to izanagi from Naruto. Casting illusion on reality and choosing what is real and what not. That way he can survive anything by making the damage an illusion but since he is immortal now his bankai is useless and that’s why we never saw it.

[trener]

I think it's not that we never knew his Ban Kai, it's just we never knew his Shikai. There was something about him showing his Ban Kai to the all divisions and from there he kept it always active. The most scary part about Aizen was his reiatsu and in first place his ability wasn't oriented towards pure fighting abilities, so it's possible it didn't consume that much reiatsu and he just kept it on for years.