Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10786787-20130613005503/@comment-5398287-20140331153335

To get back to the topic of this board, I'd like to make something clear.

CAN Kenpachi achieve Bankai? Most likely, yes. Achievement of Bankai seems to depend on the power of the wielder, and Kenpachi is without a doubt one of the most powerful Shinigami ever in terms of pure Reiryoku, Reiatsu, and destructive force.

WILL he achieve it within this arc? Short of using a certain trollface device made by Urahara...no. Here's why:

In order to achieve Bankai, a Shinigami needs several years of training and communication with their Zanpakutou spirit, in addition to the experience and power required to WIELD said Bankai. Now, don't get me wrong: Kenpachi most certainly has the power to wield a Bankai, no questions asked. But he most certainly does NOT have the "training and communication" bit down, mainly because he only started communicating with his Zanpakutou spirit two days ago. Without using the Tenshintai, there's no way in HELL that he's gonna magically achieve Bankai because he's sooo powerful or whatever, not unless Kubo wants to ignore those rules he set down, and so far he's been good on sticking to them.

To summarize: Kenpachi most certainly has the potential to achieve Bankai now that he can communicate with his sword, but short of the troll device coming back, it's not gonna happen within the span of this arc, unless by "9 days" Yhwach means "9 years" or something because hue.

Also, does he really need Bankai? Is him finally showing off his full power in conjunction with the (eventually learned) name and ability of his Shikai not enough for you guys?