Bleach fans might not know this but there are a few Bankai that are so powerful that they have been banned from being used within Soul Society.

SUMMARY

Bankai are the strongest forms of power for any Soul Reaper in Bleach.
Some of them are so powerful that they became a threat to the Soul Society.
This is why, there are a few Bankai that are banned from being used within the Soul Society.

The might of Bankai is the strongest power in Tite Kubo’s Bleach universe that a Soul Reaper can use. This power is the ultimate form of their Zanpakuto and provides the Soul Reapers with the next level of strength that they need to defeat their opponents in battle.

From Renji Abarai’s Sō’ō Zabimaru to Kuchiki Byakuya’s Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, these Bankai appear in different forms, providing different levels of strength that determine the abilities of the Soul Reapers. However, the Soul Society banned some Bankai due to their extreme strength and danger.

One such Bankai was Shunsui Kyōraku’s Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū, but it was already known to Bleach fans as he specifically mentions it in the narrative. Aside from him, there are three other Bankai that were not allowed to be used in the Soul Society.

1Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s Zanka no Tachi

The captain of the 1st Division in the Gotei 13 and also the Captain-Commander of the whole Gotei 13, Yamamoto was the epitome of power in Bleach. Although he was an old man, his strength and abilities exceeded almost every Soul Reaper in Soul Society.

His Bankai was called Zanka no Tachi, and it not only absorbs the flames released by his Shikai, but it also takes its powers to a whole new destructive level. It unleashes a heatwave that depletes the moisture in the entire area, and even a single slash from his sword can destroy the entire Soul Society.

Captain Yamamoto unleashing his Bankai in Bleach | Credit: Studio Pierrot

While his Bankai was not explicitly banned, Yamamoto decided to keep it sealed as he knew what it was capable of. In fact, according to the Bleach storyline, when Yamamoto was fighting Yhwach, he deliberately held back the power of his Bankai because it would have destroyed the entire Soul Society.

2Shinji Hirako’s Sakashima Yokoshima Happōfusagari

Shinji currently serves as the captain of the 5th Division in the Gotei 13 and he is one of the strongest Soul Reapers in Bleach. His Bankai is so terrifying that it has been banned from the Soul Society. Tite Kubo himself explained the reason behind his ban as his Bankai did not discriminate between the enemies and allies.

Shinji Hirako’s Bankai | Credit: Studio Pierrot

His Bankai Sakashima Yokoshima Happōfusagari, generates a unique mist that inverts the perception of all his enemies and/or allies within the vicinity of his Bankai. Shinji is the only one who is not affected by this mist. After their perception is inverted, his opponents attack each other making it easy for him to win the battle.

His Bankai can literally force an entire army to slaughter themselves and he wouldn’t have to even lift his sword up. The extreme dangers around his Bankai make it difficult for his allies to be with him, and thus it was essentially banned in Bleach.

3Kenpachi Kuruyashiki’s Gagaku Kairō

Kenpachi Kuruyashiki was one of the main characters in the Bleach: Spirits Are Forever With You light novel. He was the seventh Kenpachi in the Bleach universe, and just like Shunsui, his Bankai was also banned by the Central 46, as it possessed the powers to destroy the entire Soul Society.

Kenpachi Kuruyashiki | Credit: Studio Pierrot

He was so powerful that he was invited to join Squad 0 in the Soul King Palace, but he rejected it because he didn’t like the idea of waiting for his opponents to fight. He was one of the strongest Kenpachis in Bleach, and he didn’t even use his Bankai at the time of his death because he knew the effects it would have on Soul Society.

His Bankai was called Gagaku Kairō, and it summons an enormous pair of jaws from the ground that can devour anything and everything within their reach. These jaws do not differentiate between enemies and allies, which is why their powers are considered to be too dangerous in Bleach.