Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24189673-20131120064700/@comment-26420452-20141207113704

BoschePG wrote: 2.I believe Shunsui was chosen to be the new Captain Commander cuz A) he is one of the oldest active Captains, with only Unohana at the time with more senority. B) and most importantly, Shunsui character was a fresh new angle to the Gotei 13. Everyone else outside of Ukitake would have left Gotei 13 as status quo. Take Byakuya, he is a rule follower. Shunsui is all about hope. Like when he consoled Urahara when his vice-captain went missing. He helped free Rukia from death even though it meant going against Yamamoto. He is very liberal with his decisions, IMO

I don't think that Shunsui was chosen because he's liberal with the rules. Quite the contrary, we've seen that Central 46 doesn't like his decisions. He was chosen simply because of his power and seniority. Unohana was both more powerful (if we compare battle stats from the databooks) and senior to him, but she was a Kenpachi, a "criminal" and choosing her as Captain-Commander would "tarnish" the name of the Gotei 13. So the next choice would be Kyōraku. Ukitake is of the same generation, but, due to his illness, is very frail. Byakuya has the right temperament to fit the tastes of Central 46, but he's too young and at the time was comatose and nobody was expecting him to survive.

Long story short, Kyōraku wasn't chosen because he radiates love and peace, simply he was the least bad decision in a time when they needed a new captain commander ASAP.