Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-44061-20130307153642/@comment-11051098-20130918155058

You mean a sort of similarity to Aaroniero's power of gaining the power from every hollow he devoured, only that Ichigo just got a part of the hollows' powers? It's an interesting theory.

Regarding his status, he is definitely a Shinigami. Whether he is 100 % Shinigami in his soul form, or 50 % Shinigami and 50 % Quincy, is something we don't know. I don't thin it's been stated. But the facts tell that he is indeed a real Shinigami in his soul form.


 * he has a Zanpakutô which is now "complete" with an Asauchi base
 * he has a constant-release Shikai, and he can perform Bankai

Zangetsu never had an Asauchi base, but he could nevertheless perform Bankai, which I think is a good enough proof that it has always been a Zanpakutô, just not a complete/real one.