Bankai are the most powerful abilities that a Soul Reaper can use in battle, but they are instructed to only ever use them when absolutely necessary. A Bankai can take an incredible toll on the user, and as has been shown inthe Thousand Year Blood War, it’s not always a smart idea to throw them out at every opportunity, since there’s no telling how the enemy could end up countering them.
Most of the time though, the captains and lieutenants who possess these abilities know exactly when and where to use them so they aren’t wasted, but this isn’t exactly the case for everyone. There have been several characters inBleachwho, despite having incredibly powerful Bankai abilities, manage to barely use them throughout the series, or are just too inexperienced to utilize them to their full potential. Either way, these are the individuals who probably could have made more use of their most powerful technique.
6Kamashini No Yari (Gin Ichimaru)
Despite Its Speed And Power, Gin Keeps His Bankai Hidden For Much Of The Story
Gin possesses one of the deadliest Bankai in the entire series, but despite its powerful capabilities, he only ever decides to use it once before his untimely death at the hands of Aizen. When shouting out his release command, Gin’s blade will extend up to 13km (8.1 miles) at 500 times the speed of sound, and will slice apart anything it makes contact with, whether it be a person or an entire skyscraper.
When Gin does decide to use his Bankai, he’s essentially just showing off its abilities, since he doesn’t genuinely have any intent to kill Ichigo by that point in the story. Even though Gin technically acts as adouble agentfor most ofBleach, he does still make many enemies during this time and definitely could have made his fights much easier if he decided to let his Bankai loose, but instead, he kept it hidden away for much of the story.
5Jakuho Raikoben (Soi Fon)
Soi Fon Hesitates To Use Her Bankai Because It Doesn’t Suit Her Fighting Style
Asthe captain of the 2nd Division, Soi Fon uses a hit-and-run fighting style where she can use her lightning-fast movements and Shunpo expertise to strike her opponents without them suspecting a thing. The truth is though, Soi Fon’s Bankai doesn’t suit this method of fighting in any way, shape, or form, and as a result, she doesn’t like using it. Jakuho Raikoben is a giant golden missile launcher that can deal a staggering amount of damage when fired off, though it does also come at the cost of having a dangerous amount of recoil, and is also very difficult to move around.
When Soi Fon does eventually decide to use her Bankai during the Fake Karakura Town arc, a lot of the captains, and even her own lieutenant, comment on the fact they’ve never seen it before, because Soi Fon isn’t fond of ever using it. As seen by the enormous blast it can set off though, this Bankai is ridiculously strong and feels like it was wasted being attached to someone like Soi Fon.
4Ryumon Hozukimaru (Ikkaku Madarame)
Ikkaku’s Stubborn Pride Prevents Him From Unleashing His Bankai When He Probably Should
Despite only using his Bankai one time in the whole story, many fans have argued that Ikkaku actually has one ofthe strongest Bankai techniques in the entire series. The reason for this is that Ikkaku’s Bankai, Ryumon Hozukimaru, will charge up his sword the longer a fight goes on, meaning if he can hold out long enough for the small dragon crest to completely fill up, he can become almost unstoppable in battle.
Similar to Soi Fon though, Ikkaku actively tries to avoid using his Bankai even when he probably shouldn’t, not because he doesn’t like it, but because he wants to hide his strength. This actually proved to be costly when, during Arrancar’s invasion of Karakura Town, Ikkaku failed to protect one of the four pillars and was scolded afterward by Iba for not using his Bankai, all for the sake of protecting his own pride. In the right hands, Ryumon Hozukimaru could be an absolutely devastating ability, but Ikkaku seems a bit too naive and inexperienced to be wielding such an immense amount of power.
3Kinshara Butodan (Rose)
Rose Decided To Show Off His Bankai Against The Worst Possible Opponent
Admittedly, Rose only becomes formally introduced to the story at the beginning ofthe Arrancar arc, but despite this, it really feels as though he should have used his Bankai a lot more, given how devastating it can be in battle. Kinshara Butodan taps into Rose’s underlying passion for music as it uses faint melodies to create physical illusions which can be used to trick the opponent, leaving them wide open for an attack. In fact, Rose has even stated that the emotions conjured up by his Bankai can be so strong, that it can even stop the target from breathing altogether when powerful enough.
The Bankai is actually similar in some ways to Shinji’s which also revolves around tricking the opponent’s mind through the use of illusions, but it’s arguably even stronger because of its potential to kill an opponent right off the bat. The one time Rose got to really show off his Bankai against Mask de Masculine, the big brute destroyed his own eardrums, making this incredible attack look somewhat lackluster as a result of Rose using it against the wrong opponent.
2Tekken Tachikaze (Kensei Muguruma)
Kensei Really Should Have Used His Bankai More, Considering How Convenient It Is To Throw Out
The Vizardsoften catch a lot of flak for being underused for most ofBleach’sstory, which is a real shame considering the fact most of them are incredibly strong, including Kensei. As a hand-to-hand fighter, Kensei loves nothing more than getting up close and personal with his opponent, and when his Bankai is activated, it focuses all of his Reiatsu into each individual punch, giving his attack a staggering amount of destructive power.
Compared to most other Bankai which come with several shortcomings, such as being awkward to use or posing a danger to the user, Tekken Tachikaze is one of the most convenient abilities that can be thrown out. It’s therefore surprising Kensei doesn’t use it more often, such as activating it earlier on when he and the other Vizards were facing off against Aizen, for example. The one time he really got the opportunity to show it off was against one of the most durable enemies in the entire series, Mask de Masculine, so it didn’t exactly get a great showing, despite how lethal it can actually be when used effectively.
1Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame (Kisuke Urahara)
Kisuke’s Bankai Could Have Been A Game Changer If He Used It More Often
It’s not until near the end of the series that Kisuke, who has been in the story from the very beginning, decides to finally reveal his hotly anticipated Bankai.Kisuke’s Bankaiis essentially the ultimate support unit since it’s able to restructure anything it makes contact with through the use of stitches, such as how Urahara used it to cure his blindness. Despite its healing properties being more advanced than even those possessed by Orihime, Kisuke never decides to use it at any earlier points in the story, even though it would have been extremely useful.
For example, once Aizen enters his final form and travels to the real Karakura Town to continue his mission, Kisuke could have used it to “dissect” Aizen and potentially remove the Hogyoku from his body. It’s also revealed that Kisuke’s Bankai is capable of granting increased strength and durability to body parts and potentially objects, so this too could have been a valuable ace-in-the-hole which would have made taking down Aizen much easier than it ended up being.
