Warning: Contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 3, episode #9.

This article contains a discussion of sensitive topics.

At long last, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has unveiled another Bankai, this one belonging to captain Shunsui Kyoraku. Kyoraku has always been one of Bleach’s most popular characters, and with him becoming the new Captain Commander of the Soul Reapers after Yamamoto’s death, the unveiling of his Bankai was the perfect way to cement his importance in the story.

Kyoraku’s Bankai more than lived up to the hype, but there’s far more to it than its visuals and powers. Befitting the theatrical nature of Kyoraku’s character, Kyoraku’s Bankai in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War relates to an obscure, yet nonetheless noteworthy form of Japanese theater, and when examined through a critical lens, it adds a lot of depth to both Kyoraku’s Bankai and Kyoraku, himself. There are few Bankai in Bleach’s anime that represent their owners as well as Kyoraku’s, and that makes its appearance in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War great to see beyond the sheer power of it all.

How Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War's New Bankai Weaponizes An Obscure Form Of Japanese Theater

Kyoraku’s Bankai, Katen Kyokotsu: Karamatsu Shinju, draws inspiration from the concept of shinju, a form of Japanese theater involving lovers’ suicide as emotional catharsis. Every attack Kyoraku performs with his Bankai is framed as an act in a play involving shinju and weaponizes a different form of lovers’ suicide, starting with two people sharing the same wounds and progressing to slitting each other’s throats. Not only that, but each attack is unavoidable, even if Kyoraku’s opponent would otherwise be invincible, as if to further emphasize the strength of will one would need to go through a lovers’ suicide.

As depressing as the inspiration for Kyoraku’s Bankai is, there’s far more to it than that. The point of shinju isn’t to be depressing, but to impress upon the audience the power of the love that two people shared for one another and end things on a note of emotional catharsis. With that in mind, Kyoraku’s Bankai drawing from the concept of shinju is fitting in that it forces tragedy upon his enemies to allow him and his allies to have a happy ending, and that level of depth perfectly encapsulates why Bleach’s Bankais are always so great to see.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Perfectly Sold Its Biggest Bankai Yet

Beyond the symbolism of Kyoraku’s Bankai, Katen Kyokotsu: Karamatsu Shinju is a great Bankai because of how much work Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War put into it. In addition to having a soundtrack that incorporated the music of traditional Japanese theater, the shadows spawned from the initial activation spread out like calligraphy, and everything turned the same shade of yellow commonly seen in kabuki theater, as well. Everything about the direction in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 3, episode #9 perfectly sold the aesthetic of Kyoraku’s Bankai, and overall, that made it great to see.

Kyoraku’s Bankai was especially great to see in light of its appearance in the mobile game Bleach: Brave Souls. In the years before the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime, Brave Souls was the only way to see powers that weren’t featured in the anime, and its depiction of Kyoraku’s Bankai only gave a very basic presentation of its appearance. Much of that stems from the limitations of a mobile game, but even so, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’s depiction of Kyoraku’s Bankai is the perfect payoff to decades of anticipation, and its lackluster portrayal in Brave Souls only emphasizes that idea.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War's New Bankai Hints At The True Nature Of One Of Its Best Characters

Why Kyoraku Is One Of Bleach's Deepest Characters

What best sells the impact of Kyoraku’s Bankai, however, is how much it says about his true character. Kyoraku’s Shikai weaponizing children’s games played into his childish and lackadaisical nature, so with his Bankai revolving around lovers’ suicide, of all things, that means that the contrast between Kyoraku’s Shikai and Bankai is meant to hint at Kyoraku being a far more serious and sullen person underneath his goofy exterior. That idea can already be seen in the few moments where Kyoraku acts seriously around allies and enemies alike, and it makes sense for his Bankai to lean into that.

Kyoraku being less happy than he appears would also tie into his backstory. Kyoraku’s brother and sister-in-law died young and entrusted him with protecting his niece, Nanao, something Kyoraku has felt guilty from inaction over for hundreds of years, and with half of his Zanpakuto spirit created in response to protecting Nanao, Bleach has already all but stated that Kyoraku’s Bankai is a reflection of everything he’s gone through before the story. All of these details come together to make Kyoraku’s Bankai one of the best in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, by far, and that’s unlikely to change, anytime soon.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War releases new episodes Saturdays on Hulu.