User blog comment:Godisme/BEFORE THE SHADOWS/@comment-3141417-20120827010930/@comment-1393830-20120827011329

I doubt it was the "anime's" portrayal. I find it highly unlikely that the anime would just decide to randomly give a character a shikai ability like nothing it has ever done before without first consulting Kubo.Kubo was said to have a higher involvement with the Zanpakuto arc than he had previously had. My guess is that he told the animators that Chojiro had a lightning type