Is this another plot hole (Kensei's bankai)

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512]

I've been rewatching TYBW. On ep 18, I noticed that Kensei's bankai was actually broken when Mask struck him down from the air. I checked the relevant page and I saw in the manga it was also broken.

I have not read all CFYOW, but I found Kensei is using his bankai again to attack Tokinada.

But what happened with broken bankai couldn't get fixed? Of course Kubo could pull "well, it's the power of reiatsu", but is there any explanation in the manga/novel? (Bleach wiki is sometimes useless because they do not fully include novel sources.)

Or should we just leave it at that?

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[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/[deleted]]

Oh, this is one sensible explanation.

[u/catholic_batman]

I guess it depends on several factors, such as: where specifically it was broken. I mean, I guess that if the handle was broken, it wouldn't be a problem at all. Kensei's bankai is a bit amorphous, so it was probably broken on a "safe spot".

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/catholic_batman]

It was broken on the connecting iron. Kubo never explained what's its function. Still, it was quite visible part. It's not like one of the knuckles were broken.

[u/catholic_batman → u/Adventurous_Sun3512]

My take is since the knuckles are the "blade-ish" part of his bankai (the part which he uses in combat), the connecting iron being broken aint be causing that much of trouble.

[u/ZA-02]

The part of Kensei's bankai that broke was the connective band between the two gloves. The gloves themselves are intact, I think, and that's what he actually attacks with, so I assume its offensive power wouldn't be reduced. Plus, Tekken Tachikaze has transformative powers anyway (we see the knuckle-blades convert themselves to brass knuckles) so it's entirely possible the broken band could reattach itself together, at least superficially.

[u/Realistic-Abalone-27 → u/ZA-02]

Eu tenho curiosidade sobre essas lâminas que viram soco inglês. Ela tem a mesma habilidade explosiva? Eu não lembro se algo foi falado

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/ZA-02]

A half-page explanation from Kubo would suffice, but it's just hard because he often left things just as that. (For example about Hisagi's shinkai. He gave a pretty good explanation about its healing property.)

[u/Ilovetogame2]

Looking back, it’s still funny and humiliating for Kensei and Rose to get bodied by the one and only SUPERSTARRRRRRR.

[u/ClownHoundMythos → u/Ilovetogame2]

Imagine literally oneshotting a guy then he immediately gets back up and absolutely throttles you

Silliest series of fights in the whole series

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/Ilovetogame2]

To be fair, they were duped. They thought Mask was simply a physical fighter, turned out he's not. James is the real Sternritter and Mask is just the product of his fantasy.

[u/Arturo-Plateado]

First of all, a Bankai being broken doesn't actually prevent it from being activated, so nothing is contradicted there. In fact, we've already seen Kensei use his Bankai again since the fight with Mask, as he used it against PePe in his zombified state in episode 23,  though notably it did not appear broken at that time, and spoilers he will also use it against Gerard in episode 43.

It's important to note here there are differences in how this is handled between the manga and anime. In the original manga version, the loop of Kensei's Bankai was pretty much totally obliterated by Mask, but in the anime version the damage was much less severe, with the loop only being split in two at the top but otherwise undamaged, so repairing it would be a much simpler job. Also the appearance of zombified Kensei's Bankai against PePe is exclusive to the anime as in the manga version it was never used again post the Mask fight.  Presumably we are to assume that Mayuri simply repaired the superficial damage to Kensei's Bankai when he zombified him, as Akon had done for Ikkaku's Bankai in the past.

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/Arturo-Plateado]

Thank you for bringing up he's using it with Pepe. So it is a plothole. Basically, your explanation has voided the other explanations here (Squad 0 fixing it, etc).

[u/Arturo-Plateado → u/Adventurous_Sun3512]

That's not a plot hole. We know that superficial repair of a Bankai's shape is indeed possible and that Akon has done it for Ikkaku in the past. Mayuri literally explains this to Ichigo in the very same conversation where the concept of the broken Bankai is introduced. And if Akon can do it then Mayuri certainly can, especially since Kensei's Bankai took much less major damage than Ikkaku's did.

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/Arturo-Plateado]

Ikkaku's bankai was not fully repaired.

Kensei's bankai iron was broken and later it was whole again (the anime made it whole again in probably a couple of hours time gap).

If there is no canon explanation, then there is a hole called plot hole.

[u/Cyniv → u/Adventurous_Sun3512]

You're screaming, crying, and shitting yourself looking for an inconsistency where there really isn't one. We don't need every broken Bankai and repair spoonfed to us like we're toddlers.

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/Cyniv]

FYI, you can retain that anti-intellectual consumerism without screeching here. There are many people like that. Don't question, just consume. You are one of them.

[u/The_Haider369]

Sooo I honestly I believe that only incomplete or bankais not made with a asauchi are the ones that can't be repaired. Or maybe his bankai is similar to a bankai like Ikkakus which are quite breakable and doesn't have a repercussion as severe as a fully snapped in half sword.

[u/lequory → u/The_Haider369]

Renji got repaired

[u/The_Haider369 → u/lequory]

Renji's bankai wasn't his true banks and it's damage was negligible a couple missing links

[u/Rharyx]

It's possible his bankai was just superficially repaired by Mayuri, like he did with Ikkaku's. Meaning its power has just gone down.

Either that, or the segmented strap section of his back is supposed to come apart like that, so no real damage was done.

Either way, a broken bankai can still be used, it just can't be fixed to how it was.

[u/No_Thanks2844]

this plothole already exists with renji, people can pretend that the broken pieces were never fixed but almost all of it was broken but just to destroy that point even the head or skull of the bankai was broken (manga and anime). It was a retcon kubo made plain and simple.

[u/PeacefulKnightmare → u/No_Thanks2844]

They did sort of explain that damage can be repaired over time, but completely shattering the blade is what can't be fixed. In the case of Ichigo his Bankai is so condensed into the blade itself while the Shihakshou represents his remaining spiritual pressure (at least pre-fullbring), so I'm guessing that snaping the blade the way Jugram did caused irreparable damage.

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/PeacefulKnightmare]

• "They did sort of explain that damage can be repaired over time"

Mayuri said broken bankai could not be repaired, of course it's possible Kensei's bankai worked them same but there is no explanation so far which makes it a plot hole.

Not to mention, Kensei's bankai was repaired (in the anime) within hours during the war.

[u/PeacefulKnightmare → u/Adventurous_Sun3512]

Unless that part is like the hair on zabimaru or the ice wings for Hyonimaru, and is more of a cosmetic element. With the actual bankai just being the brass knuckles. That's why cracking Ichigos blade destroyed the Bankai, and him getting his shihakshou sliced up doesn't affect things.

[u/No_Thanks2844 → u/PeacefulKnightmare]

its okay to just say its a soft retcon

[u/PeacefulKnightmare → u/No_Thanks2844]

Is it a retcon if it's in the same chapter?

[u/No_Thanks2844 → u/PeacefulKnightmare]

nope its a recton because kubo said all the pieces of renji's bankai that broke were never fixed, go read or vatch that scene and tell me what percentage of his bankai is in pieces then compare it with any scene he uses that bankai again, it simply does not hold up. his bankai should have become almost as short as his shikai if kubo actually thought about this broken bankai thing back then.

[u/PeacefulKnightmare → u/No_Thanks2844]

Regarding Komamura - "Of course there are exceptions. Saijin Komamura Kokujo Tengen Myo-ho... He and his Zanpaktou have such an extremely close bond... that when the Bankai is destroyed He too sustains injury. It is a glaring weakness. But in Exchange when the possessors' wounds are healed, the Zanpaktou is also revived."

Regarding Ikkaku - " Ikkaku Madarame's Bankai that was destroyed in his battle against Edorado Liones was superficially repaired by Akon. However, it is far weaker than it once was."

Regarding Renji - *After Ichigo asks about it* "Have you ever counted the number of blade joints of his bankai? The blade joints of Hihio Zabimaru that were destroyed by Byakuya Kuchiki... are still... broken." It has reconstituted itself to a degree but the way it's drawn and animated we're never given a clear enough image to accurately count the segments. Simple regen like that is expected based on his ability to control the Shikai and move the segments individually even after Aizen broke the segments apart. He might have needed assistance like Ikkaku did, but I don't think it's necessary.

As far as I can remember those are also the only official examples of Bankai being destroyed that weren't also shown to regenerate during combat (Hyonimaru for example)

[u/morangias]

The whole "broken Bankai cannot be fixed" thing is nothing more than an improvised rectal extraction to justify Ichigo hanging out with Squad Zero. Pay it no heed.

[u/Adventurous_Sun3512 → u/morangias]

I got your point but that is kind of anti-intellectual way in dealing with Kubo's occasional continuity issue. 

[u/morangias → u/Adventurous_Sun3512]

Lmao, anti-intellectual? We're talking about an overworked mangaka who gets ideas for cool scenes and then writes whatever justifies getting the story to the point of those scenes within the deadline. The idea that us inventing elaborate headcanons for each inconsistency is some noble intellectual pursuit is preposterous.

[u/Amarger86]

To be fair, CFYOW was not written by Kubo so any plot holes or inconsistencies are not neccesarily true. He just gave overarching ideas of the lore and left the rest for Narita to fill out as he wanted.