The 10 Worst Bankai In Bleach History, Ranked
Vote up the Bankai you wouldn't want to have.
Most of the Bankai that appear in Bleach are awesome power-ups that can turn the tide of any battle. But there are also some pretty disappointing Bankai. Whether they're one of the weakest Bankai, have too many downsides, or just aren't all that interesting, they don't do the characters justice.
One oft-cited example is Soifon's Jakuho Raikoben. Sure, it's a powerful missile, but it's way too big and heavy for her to do much of anything with it. There's also Sajin's Kokujo Tengen Myo'o - cool, but the fact that he takes all the damage the giant monster he summons takes kind of negates its usefulness. Byakuya's Senbonzakura Kageyoshi isn't weak, but it's practically a clone of his Shikai.
Which of these Bankai would you least want to have?
- 12,035 VOTES
Soifon's Jakuho Raikoben
Photo: Studio PierrotSoifon hardly ever uses her Bankai, and she has a good reason for that. It's basically an oversized, golden missile launcher. It's heavy, difficult to move, and way too flashy for somebody who specializes in covert operations. She considers it a stain on her honor.
No one can say it's not powerful, but if it's this hard to use, is it really worth it?
- 21,645 VOTES
Sajin's Kokujo Tengen Myo'o
Photo: Studio PierrotAt first glance, Sajin's Bankai sounds pretty incredible. It's a massive mechanical monster that mimics Sajin's movements, but is able to deal a whole lot more damage than Sajin can because of its size.
Unfortunately, it has one major weakness - any damage dealt to the giant impacts Sajin, too. That means that he can quickly rack up injuries - even potentially fatal ones - without even realizing what's happening.
- 31,425 VOTES
Kensei's Tekken Tachikaze
Photo: Studio PierrotThe Tachikaze isn't exactly terrible - it's just really, really boring. It's basically a knife that turns into a pair of brass knuckles. It's powerful, but it's not exactly inspired. You would think that with a name like that, it would give him power over the wind or something, but no. It's just brass knuckles.
Also, it requires sustained physical contact to keep doing damage, which puts Kensei in an unnecessarily vulnerable position.
- 41,575 VOTES
Ikkaku's Ryumon Hozukimaru
Photo: Studio PierrotRyumon Hozukimaru sounds like a wildly inconvenient Bankai to have. It doesn't offer any sort of boost in power - all it does is unleash a little bit of Reiatsu. Worse, he can't even use its full strength until a meter fills up, otherwise it will become impossible to control.
It also seems to be activated by Ikkaku either getting injured or injuring somebody else - a situation that a better Bankai might be able to prevent in the first place.
- 51,519 VOTES
Renji's Original Zabimaru
Photo: Studio PierrotRenji's Bankai evolves significantly over time, but before that happens he has very little success in battle. Basically, it's a blade coming out of the mouth of a snake. While it does have the potential to do some damage, it isn't particularly durable, and it makes it tough for Renji to deal with long-range attacks.
Maybe it's a good weapon to use against somebody with a snake phobia, but otherwise it's not going to be all that useful.
- 61,047 VOTES
Rose's Kinshara Butodan
Photo: VIZ MediaWe haven't really seen Rose's Bankai's full potential, so it's hard to say that it's outright terrible. But so far, it just seems kind of weak. Basically, he can summon giant hands that conduct a musical performance that induces hallucinations.
If the target figures out what's going on, all they have to do to counteract it is block their hearing. Mask took things pretty far by crushing his own eardrums, but hypothetically all you'd need are noise-cancelling headphones.
- 71,354 VOTES
Tosen's Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Korogi
Photo: Studio PierrotBeing able to encase your opponents in a dome that negates every sense except touch sounds like it would be pretty useful, but sadly for Tosen this Bankai just has too many weaknesses. First of all, it doesn't work on deaf people. The reason for this isn't explained, but it's a pretty big problem if the person Tosen is up against happens to be deaf.
Also, anybody who manages to grab his sword's hilt becomes immune to the Bankai's effects. So anybody who knows about this loophole and is particularly fast or sneaky can easily escape. One last thing - the dome only works as long as Tosen is actively maintaining it. So if he gets seriously injured and can't focus on it, the dome disappears - not exactly what you'd want in your most vulnerable moment!
- 81,505 VOTES
Hitsugaya's Original Daiguren Hyorinmaru
Photo: Studio PierrotWith training and refining, Hitsugaya has turned his Bankai into something truly impressive. But at first, its ice-based powers just aren't that great. Sure, he has cool ice wings and might be able to lob some frozen chunks at his opponents, but get him anywhere near a heat source and it's all over.
Also, it takes a long time to power up to his new form. Not exactly what you'd call convenient.
- 91,393 VOTES
Mayuri's Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo
Photo: Studio PierrotNo one could argue that the Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo is weak. It emits an incredibly potent poison that can seep into a person's body even if they manage to block their breathing. Anybody unlucky enough to face off against this thing - or even to be within its radius - is looking at a lethal dose.
Mayuri himself is immune to the poison, since it's distilled from his own blood. As far as he's concerned, its unfocused destructive capacity isn't important - Mayuri doesn't really care whether bystanders get hurt. But for anybody with a moral compass, this would be a pretty rotten Bankai to have. Also, just look at that thing. If it doesn't creep you out, then Petelgeuse from Re:Zero is probably your anime waifu.
- 101,468 VOTES
Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu
Photo: VIZ MediaIf you haven't finished the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc, scroll on by, because we're about to talk about spoilers.
At one point, Ichigo has a Bankai that's worthy of his protagonist status. That changes when he faces Yhwach, who breaks it completely. Its abilities are unknown, but apparently they're such a huge deal that he has to get rid of them. That implies that they're pretty badass, but Ichigo is left with nothing.
We have no objection to Ichigo having obstacles to overcome, but the utter uselessness of his Bankai is still kind of a bummer.
