User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 569 (You've been hit by / You've been struck by / Senbonzakura~)/@comment-7079377-20140221113541/@comment-26420452-20140224055654

@SternRitterM I don't think she could gain Bankai if she didn't know the true nature of her Shikai.

@SuBash The events of Hueco Mundo showed that Rukia was on par with lieutenants at the time. People say she got lucky in killing Aaroniero, but that's absurd. If Aaroniero hadn't pretended he was Kaien, would she have hesitated so much? No, she'd immediately go for the kill and not do silly things like "I needed to prove myself you weren't Kaien".

I don't understand why people find unexpected Rukia's Bankai. She's one of two main female characters and adored by most fans. That's enough for Kubo.