User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 609 - "A"/@comment-4822693-20141211203350/@comment-4822693-20141212012828

I just looked at the chapter again, and, at least for me, it's not entirely clear if that is what is going on. Mangapanda: "hmmm, the kids these days call this 'bankai' I think? Whatever the case back before the term 'bankai' came about... we used to call these the evolved zanpakutou. Mangastream: "... If one were to call it by its most recent terminology I suppose it would just be 'bankai.' To put things in perspective, long before what is now known as 'bankai' existed in this world the first 'evolved zanpakutou' were born.

I guess there are two ways of taking this. 1) "Bankai" predates the term "Bankai" or 2) There's a difference between bankai and shinuchi. I think it could be number 2, just because why would Ichibei have called them two different things? He named everything, including all the terms for the releases. He obviously knows what a bankai is. So unless he goes around changing his mind, I don't see why he would have bothered pointing out the difference. Furthermore, releasing a zanpakutou requires a specific chant (for both bankai and shikai). The only time when this changes is when bankai has been achieved, then shikai can be released without a chant. How could he have released bankai without actually using the specific chant. Mangapanda down plays this side, but mangastream doesn't. I think it's to early to tell, but I think the possibility is there.