User blog comment:Godisme/The Crimson Cremation/@comment-44061-20120329002716/@comment-1332195-20120329090445

I'd hope so; God made a mention of Vandenreich using his Bankai, but I figure it'd better if we did get a flashback (possibly triggered by the introduction of the one claiming responsibility) of Chojiro actually using it himself, preferably before then, maybe as a prelude, as I'm positive VDR will use it eventually.

Which to me raises a possibility, haven't decided whether it's interesting or terrible yet; VDR is after Yamamoto's Banaki. They've got Chojiro's, they went after Ichigo's, and gaining the most powerful of the lot would go a long way to furthering their plans. After all, the release phrase does mention reducing all creation to ash (or variant thereof).

I'm a bit ambivalent about this chapter; I understand why Chojiro was chosen for the chop (to make it personal to Yamamoto), but the revealation that he had Bankai all along doesn't sit too well. We've already got one captain who's ashamed of their Bankai in Sui-Feng, and another in Ikkaku who won't use it coz he might be forced into a promotion. I just feel that it's a bit of a forced move by TK to try and make up for Chojiro having no panel time, and dare I say it no real impact on the story till now. Well, at least it's got us talking about him at long last!