Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-3244769-20140121195139/@comment-5398287-20140121221901

I don't believe there was ever a reason for Ikkaku to mention his Bankai would never recover, and as stated above, Hihiou Zabimaru was never completely destroyed.

As for the act of "breaking" a Bankai, a Bankai being damaged doesn't automatically mean it's weaker; it really just depends on how it was damaged. Of the three Bankai that have been really damaged in the series, as listed by Mayuri;


 * Ryuumon Houzukimaru had the blade of its guandao completely separated from the hilt. Even though Akon apparently super-glued it back together or something, there's no way it will ever have that same level of power again.


 * Hihiou Zabimaru had some of its segments cracked during Renji's fight against Byakuya, and as a result, these segments never reappeared when Renji activated his Bankai afterward. However, this didn't appear to affect its power in any noticeable way; all it did was (maybe) lose some attacking distance.


 * Tensa Zangetsu is by far the most severe case of Bankai breaking. Its blade was cut completely in half by Haschwalth. While Ichigo could still theoretically use hyper-speed combat, he wouldn't have been able to engage in sword combat, and god knows what would happen if he tried to fire a Getsuga Tenshou with his sword broken like that.

In conclusion, simply damaging a Bankai isn't enough to completely nullify its power, since it all comes down to where and how it was damaged.