Bleach: Shunsui Kyouraku’s Zanpakuto Fully Explained

The new Head Captain of the Gotei 13, Shunsui Sakuranosuke Jiro Kyouraku is famous for his elite swordsmanship and immense reserves of Reiatsu.

Throughout the Thousand Year Blood War, Kyouraku has proven himself to be more than worthy of the title and even surpass his master and predecessor, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, not so much in terms of raw power but in leadership.

However, for a long time. Kyouraku has avoided the use of his Bankai and with very good reason.

Shikai: Katen Kyoukotsu

In their sealed form, Kyouraku’s Zanpakuto exist as a daisho sword pair, consisting of a tachi and a wakizashi.

Having one of the oldest Zanpakuto in Bleach, Kyouraku uses a long release command:

“The Flowery Winds Become Disturbed, The God Of Flowers Sings, The Heavenly Winds Become Disturbed, The Devil Of Heaven Sneers.”

The daisho sword pair turn into a pair of huge, black, heavily curved Chinese scimitars with silver edges. Although both swords look identical, they operate similarly to their individual sealed forms.

Kyouraku has one of the most creative Shikai in the story, with the basic premise being that he is able to “turn children’s games into reality.”

Each attack has a rule that both the user and target are bound to follow and Kyouraku must inform the target of these rules for the games to work.

This might seem like a disadvantage for Kyouraku but while yes Kyouraku has intimate knowledge of his Zanpakuto’s games, as he says, his sword is fickle and its outcomes are not completely in his control.

In spite of Kyouraku’s skills, this also means that Katen Kyoukotsu’s power is dependent on the sword’s mood.

Bushōgoma

Bushōgoma (“Lazy Spinning Top”) is Kyouraku’s primary attack, this is a representation of a spinning top game, where Kyouraku spins around with both his blades facing opposite directions to produce two wind blades that form a tornado to trap a target.

Takaoni

Takaoni (“Mountain Demon”) is a game where the person who is higher up wins but the effect could not be seen in the battle against Coyote Starrk.

Kageoni

Kageoni (“Shadow Demon”) is another of Kyouraku’s primary attacks, where stepping into any of the players’ shadows results in a loss.

With Kageoni, Kyouraku could hide within any person’s shadow in a pocket dimension, with its opening being the shape of the shadow in the outside world.

This means that light or other means could be used to seal the gap, possibly trapping Kyouraku and anyone inside the pocket dimension but that has yet to be seen.

Because of this shadow dimension, a third application of Kageoni is Kyouraku’s ability to manipulate his and other people’s shadows, mostly through sneak attacks.

His swords can emerge from the enemy’s shadow to deliver an attack and is quite hard to dodge, as Lille Barro was the first to do so.

A fourth application of Kageoni involves the creation of shadow clones that can form and attack in multiple directions, making this Kyouraku’s most creative and flexible ability.

Irooni

Irooni (“Lustrous Demon”) is a color-based game where the player says the name of the color they want to cut with their sword and they are bound to only cut objects of that chosen color and nothing else.

If the color chosen does not exist on the caller’s own body, their damage will be minimal, even if the attack would normally inflict a severe wound.

However, if the caller calls out the color they are wearing or possess, the attack will be proportional to the amount of that color the caller has on them.

Maximum damage involves maximum risk, such that even a minor blow could be fatal as long as the player has much of that color that they called.

However, the caller could potentially be at risk of suffering major damage in return depending on how much of the enemy’s skin or clothing is covered in black.

Kyouraku was able to deal the finishing blow to Starrk because he took off his white Captain’s haori and was only left with his black shihakusho.

Daruma-san ga Koronda

Called “The Dharma Doll Fell Down” in English, this game involves one of two combatants being tagged as “it”.

The pair would chase and attack each other without being spotted, with the chase implemented by following a trail of Reiatsu from the previous attack for a surprise attack.

If the player chasing after “it” lands a blow without “it” noticing, the player wins but if the player who is “it” notices their opponent, then that opponent loses and dies.

In the anime, this game is presented by making the entire world around the players black while they appear in the form of colored outlines, with the colors representing their Reiatsu (yellow for Kyouraku/Shinigami and blue for Lille/Quincy)

Kageokuri

Although connected to Kageoni in concept, Kageokuri (“Shadow Sending”) comes from a different game entirely (Chiichan no Kageokuri), where children stare at their own shadow for too long that when they look at another location, the shadow’s afterimage is made.

This game involves Kyouraku or his opponent staring at their own shadow long enough to produce an afterimage in a different location.

When an opponent’s Reikaku (Reiatsu Sensing) is higher than their eyes’ vision, the afterimage can appear more realistic, which is how Kyouraku was able to avoid being sniped by Lille Barro.

Kyouraku combines “Daruma-San’s” ability to track Reiatsu (the shot Lille took from afar) with Kageokuri to send a shadow that would distract his opponent long enough for Kyouraku to deal a blow from behind.

Yubikiri

Yubikiri (“Pinky Promise”) is the Japanese version of pinky swear and a game where both players must always tell the truth, so every lie equals a loss.

Players who lie the first time will lose control of their fingers.

During the second lie, the player’s entire body will be paralyzed.

The third lie will make the player experience excruciating pain.

This game is introduced in the light novel “Can’t Fear Your Own World”.

Among the Shikai we have seen, Kyouraku has some of the most diverse attacks that can compliment any strategy and fight.

Bankai:

Ever since the battle with Coyote Starrk in Chapter 363: “Superchunky from Hell” (2009), when Ukitake warned Kyouraku that his Bankai would affect his allies, we immediately had the impression that this Bankai would be serious and overpowered.

Once it was revealed seven years later in Chapter 647: “The Theater Suicide” (2016), we were in for a big shock.

This is one of the few times the TYBW adaptation chooses to use the OG Reiatsu effect as Ichigo, who is stated to have built an immunity to the Reishi poisoning of the Soul King Palace dimension by Askin in the same scene, feels overwhelming pressure that makes him sweat, which is rare in its own right.

The anime alters the color of the landscape to reflect the aesthetics of a classic painting, with yellow and black colors and tree-like patterns spreading on the buildings.

Although the icy colors of the building remain, the sky and shadows shroud the buildings with wisp-like patterns

While holding his Shikai out in front of him with the blades pointing down, Shunsui activates his Bankai, causing black, root-like tendrils to spread out from him as his Zanpakutō Spirit, Katen Kyōkotsu, appears behind him. Shunsui considers this his last resort, and will only use it if his allies are far enough away from him so that they do not get caught in its effects.[157]
Bankai Special Ability: Upon release, an aura covers a large area around Shunsui. This aura changes others’ perception of the surrounding environment, making them perceive it as darkened, bleak and gloomy, and causes others to feel varying levels of melancholy and despair.[158]

Act 1: Hesitance and Apportionment of Wounds

In Act 1, any wounds that Kyouraku or his opponent inflict on each other’s body will emerge on their body as well, as if shared.

The story begins with the man suffering the same wounds as the partner he has betrayed but he has yet to die in spite of bleeding out.

Act 2:  The Pillow of Shame

In Act 2, black spots appear all over the body of Kyouraku’s opponent, causing them to bleed profusely.

The story continues with the shameful man becoming ill from guilt.

Act 3: The Severing Abyss

A massive amount of water floods the affected area, causing both Kyouraku and his opponent to sink, still clinging to life until one of them runs out of Reiatsu and dies.

In the climactic third act, the two lovers drown themselves into the gushing waters.

Final Act: Thread-Cutting Scissors upon a Blood-Streaked Throat

In the final act, Kyouraku sheathes his swords and winds a white thread around his opponent’s throat and pulls it out, resulting in a deep cut on the throat that expands to the point of blowing up their head.

This is the final act of the regretful man’s partner ignoring the former’s pleas and shears his throat.

In a Q&A, Tite Kubo revealed that in the event the opponent dies in any of the 4 Acts by Kyouraku’s Bankai, then the Act and the Bankai itself will automatically end as there are not enough “performers” left to continue the “play”.

Zanpakuto Spirit: Katen and Kyoukotsu

Through Kyouraku, we learn that no Shinigami can naturally have two blades as their Zanpakuto.

Ukitake’s situation was due to the influence of Mimihagi while Hisagi’s true Zanpakuto was the chain connecting the two sickles.

In a way, Kyouraku recreated the relationship between Nanao (Kyoukotsu) and her late mother (Katen).

Although Kyouraku treats his Zanpakuto romantically, one could also see this as a reflection of his longing for the memories of his sister-in-law, a good woman to his brother and a kind memory of his childhood.

After the death of Nano Ise’s mother, Katen made Kyoukotsu to store the Ise Clan’s Zanpakuto, Shinken Hakkyouken.

This could be implied through the eyepatch worn by the older spirit that the right eye was the base for Kyoukotsu as 3/4ths of her face, which was covered in a black mask, acted more like a void that kept Shinken Hakkyouken.

Although originally from the anime, Tite Kubo imported the design of both Zanpakuto spirits into the manga the same way he imported the story of Bleach Movie 1: Memories of Nobody into the same arc.

Katen’s design and her action of drawing a circle around Kyouraku’s eye in Episode 257: “A New Enemy! The True Nature of the Beast Swords “, part of the Beast Sword Arc, foreshadowed the loss of his right eye in more ways than one.

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