If you just watched Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Conflict Episode 09, you might be just as confused as I was about Captain Shunsui’s clearly OP powers and abilities. I mean, the man says he is merely bringing children’s games to life, but there’s so much more to it that we must unearth in order to fully understand and appreciate this character. So join me as we venture down the rabbit role that is Shunsui Kyōraku and discover the truth behind the current Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13!

Who is Shunsui Kyōraku?

Starting with the basics, this man’s full name is Shunsui Sakuranosuke Jirō Kyōraku, but since that’s such a big mouthful everyone prefers to call him Shunsui Kyoraku. He was the previous captain of the 8th Division in the Gotei 13, alongside his lieutenant and niece Nanao Ise. After the fall of the Yamamoto Genryusai, he was immediately appointed as the 1st Division Captain and Captain-Commander of the entire Gotei 13. Not even the shrewd Central 46 had a second thought about appointing him to the position, which speaks volumes about his immense capabilities. Shunsui himself is a shrewd tactician employing a gigantic pool of Reiatsu, who possesses elite proficiency of standard Shinigami techniques like Kido, Shunpo, and Zanjutsu. But the most broken tool at his disposal is none other than his OP Zanpakutō…..

Shunsui’s Zanpakutō

At first glance, this Captain’s Zanpakutō didn’t look special. “Katen Kyōkotsu”, which can roughly be translated to “Bones of Heavenly Blooming Madness”, appears as a daisho sword pair consisting of a tachi and a wakizashi in its default sealed state. While dual Swords are quite rare in Bleach, these looked so standard back then that we didn’t care much. Much like Shunsui’s style, the rectangular cross guards are decorated with cherry petals and line patterns with dark-blue handles. But the Shikai is where things get interesting…. 

The Shikai

The Shikai command goes as follows: "The Flowery Winds Become Disturbed, The God Of Flowers Sings, The Heavenly Winds Become Disturbed, The Devil Of Heaven Sneers." To enter the Shikai State, Shunsui sets the two blades against each forming a cross, and then proceeds to pull them apart as he recites the poem. After a flash, we witness the Katen Kyōkotsu in the form of a pair of big, black, heavily curved Chinese scimitars sporting silver edges! While the hilt and tsuba are unchanged, they do possess long red tassels dangling from the end now. Both Swords look and function identically, but we see that the “Wakizashi” is used for speed strikes, while the “Ttachi” is used for power strikes. If you pay really close attention, you may even notice that the Wakizashi is actually slightly smaller than the Tachi! 

The Shikai’s Special Ability is so cool that one could even mistake it for a Bankai, but alas it is not the full extent of Shunsui’s abilities! Katen Kyōkotsu possesses the ability to "turn children's games into reality", but there’s a catch: the Zanpakutō is OP enough to make the rules depending on its own whims, and whoever is unfortunate enough to step within its Reiatsu range is forced to play by said rules, while Shunsui himself is no exception. In the words of the almighty Captain-Commander, "You win, you live. You lose, you die. She's a fickle one, all right." 

The Shikai “Games”

The games we know thus far are:

1. Bushōgoma, which translate to “Lazy Spinning Top”
   For this game, Shunsui rotates his blades facing in opposite directions and sends big wind slashes towards the intended target. These wind slashes combine to form a spinning circle of wind (thus the name), which envelopes the target upon contact with tornado-like intensity. While it obviously deals a ton of damage, it has the bonus effect of disorienting any opponent trapped within. On the defensive side, this ability can even counteract high-powered Cero blasts even though it represents something as childish as a spinning top game!
2. Takaoni, a.k.a. Mountain Demon
   You may remember this one from Shunsui’s fight against Starrk, but we never really got to see it. What we do know is that whoever is higher up "wins" here and it really is as simple as that!
3. Kageoni, the Shadow Demon
   Perhaps you’ve played this game yourself when you were a kid, but know it by a different name. The sole rule here is that whoever gets their shadow stepped on "loses"! But since Shunsui himself is a shrewd one, this game is not above allowing its competitors to manipulate shadows to their advantage. We saw Shunsui “play” around with this ability by hiding himself in shadows and even controlling the shadows as he fancies. He effectively uses them to attack opponents by simply attacking the shadow they are currently standing upon. As an extension to this ability, the caster can even make multiple shadow clones of himself to attack his target from multiple angles.
4. Irooni: Lustrous Demon
   Getting closer to the OP Bankai, this is a twisted color-based game that poses great harm to the caster as well. Shunsui calls out the name of the color he wants to cut with his sword, and this renders him incapable of cutting anything else. If said color does not exist on his body, the damage dealt is minimal even if it was a massive attack. Things go south as you realize the opposite is also true; Shunsui calling out a color that he’s wearing as well as attacking causes the damage dealt to be proportional to the amount of that color on him. Thus if Shunsui wants to maximize the damage he deals, he needs to call out a color that poses the maximum risk to both himself and his target. Not so childish now, eh?
5. Daruma-san ga Koronda, which means “The Dharma Doll Fell Down”
   This is basically the Red-light Green-light game from Squid Game, which I played as a kid as well. As per the Zanpakutō’s whims, either Shunsui or his enemy are marked as "it", and the other is to travel towards “it” on a trail of Reiatsu left behind by “its” attack, all in an attempt to catch “it” by surprise. However, if "it" sees their enemy mid movement, they immediately lose and die. 
6. Kageokuri, which is Shadow Sending
   Yet another eerie children’s game. Both Shunsui and his foe can project an afterimage in a different location by staring hard enough at their shadow. Turns out, the higher their foe’s Reikaku is, the more realistic the afterimage! I don’t know if you’ve tried this game before, but it originates from children staring at their shadow on the ground for several seconds before looking at another surface, which allows them to see an "afterimage" of their shadow. 

The Bankai

Now if you thought that Shikai is twisted, wait till you hear about Shunsui’s Bankai! “Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū”, which can be translated into “Bones of Heavenly Blooming Madness: Withering Pine Lovers' Suicide”, is one messed up ability which Shunsui only resorts to if he has no other choice. Even then, he must make sure that none of his allies are nearby so that they do not get caught up in the twisted effects. In order to do this release, Shunsui holds his Shikai Swords out in front with the blades pointing down, leading to several black tendrils extending out from him like shadows, which resemble pine branches drawn with ink. Meanwhile, his beautiful Zanpakutō Spirit, Katen, begins to manifest and embrace him from behind. The area of effect around Shunsui is huge, which gets subsequently overcast by an eerie aura that alters the very perception of those it reaches, and makes all of their surroundings gloomy, desolate, and full of despair. This chill-inducing environment is further worsened by the sky getting covered in eerie yellow squares, which is meant to resemble the paneling of a theater stage.

Now comes the confusing power: The Bankai’s Special Ability is one which forces both Shunsui and his opponent to act out the tragic roles of a twisted play, which essentially speaks about a double suicide committed by two doomed lovers. Thus, the Bankai possesses four distinct techniques which each represent an Act in the overarching narrative to be presented by Shunsui himself in the form of a brief exposition poem. This ability casts a curse-like effect on Shunsui's target, and the Act finale is written to ensure the target’s death via the destruction of their head. 

The Bankai “Acts”

The cruel Acts are as follows (which I hope are still fresh in your mind from the Episode):

1. Ichidanme: Tameraikizu no Wakachiai
   “Act the First: Hesitance and Apportionment of Wounds”
   Starting off by evening the battle field, any and all wounds that Shunsui or his target inflicted on each other will appear on their own bodies as shared injuries. If you follow the poem, Shunsui begins to tell the tale of a pitiful man who suffers from the same wounds as his partner, but cannot die from them.
2. Nidanme: Zanki no Shitone
   “Act the Second: The Pillow of Shame”
   Next, eerie Black spots that bleed profusely begin to appear all over Shunsui's target. While the foe bleeds painfully, Shunsui continues the tale of the man feeling shameful after wounding his partner, which causes him to both collapse in shame and become incurably ill.
3. Sandanme: Dangyo no Fuchi
   “Act the Third: The Severing Abyss”
   Moving on, Shunsui and his target get swallowed by a massive and inescapable body of water, where they are both doomed to remain until either one of them eventually runs out of Reiatsu and drowns. Now we learn that the two characters from the tale have actually thrown themselves into gushing waters.
4. Shime no Dan: Itokiribasami Chizome no Nodobue
   “Final Act: Thread-Cutting Scissors upon a Blood-Streaked Throat”
   As the finale, Shunsui sheathes his Swords and winds a white thread around his target's throat multiple times. Afterwards, he pulls the thread and leaves a deep cut in his target’s throat, which expands before finally blowing up their head. Reaching the end of the tale, we learn that the man's partner had ignored his pitiful pleas and mercilessly sheared his throat, completing the tragic double suicide… 

That’s it, Shunsui's Bankai explained in the simplest way I possibly can! If you are still confused, try rewatching Episode 09 after reading this Article; surely watching it play out alongside the explanation now will clear things up for you. As intricate as it is, Shunsui’s powers are truly unique and OP as hell, and I honestly loved witnessing every single second of it; I hope you understand what the new Captain-Commander was on about now and will continue to enjoy Bleach TYBW until the very last episode. Thank you for reading!