Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War - How Ichigo is related to Kukkaku and Ganju?

As Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War finally kicked off, fans of the series are immensely hyped as the final arc will expectedly resolve the mysterious plotholes of the first half of Bleach. The eighth episode of Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War surprised fans by revealing the renowned Royal Guards, also known as the Zero Division, and a few old faces of the series, including Kukkaku and Ganju Shiba.

Kukkaku is the only individual in Seireitei who can launch the Royal Guard’s Tenchuren back to the Soul King Palace. Soon after Kukkaku sent Ichigo and the five Royal Guards to the Royal Palace, she was a little saddened by realizing how unbearable it would be for their uncle, Isshin. It is apparent that Kukkaku and Ganju are well aware of their lineage, and so is Ichigo.

Disclaimer: This article contains heavy spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War.

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Kukkaku reveals Ichigo to be her cousin in Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War

In the eighth episode of Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War, when Kukkaku said to Ganju, “we have no choice but to let him go, even if that means making uncle sad,” it was crystal clear that she was talking about Isshin Kurosaki.

The episode also surprised fans with a momentary visual of them standing together. With such revelations, it is apparent that Isshin is not a distant relative to Kukkaku, Ganju, and the late Kaien Shiba. Also, Ichigo is their actual cousin.

In the manga chapters 528 to 538 of Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War arc, when Isshin unveils to Ichigo his mother, Masaki’s Quincy bloodline, in the flashback, it gets revealed that at that time, besides being the 10th Division Captain of Gotei 13, he was the head of the Shiba clan.

After marrying Masaki, he violated the shinigami conduct and voluntarily left the Soul Society and his position as the head of the Shiba clan. Later, Kaien Shiba, the eldest member of his family, became the prominent head and was well-respected for his noble status and for being the lieutenant of the 13th Division under Jushiro Ukitake’s captainship.

After Kaien’s death, the Shiba clan fell from their high-status position and were discarded from the list of five noble families of Seireitei. Kukkaku became the next head and moved her home to a different location from the Soul Society’s West Gate. In her first interaction with Ichigo, she didn’t know he was her uncle’s first-born child.

However, after Kukkaku discovers that Isshin is alive in the human world, she learns that Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin are her cousins. As Kukkaku calls Isshin her uncle, it can be surmised that the latter is the youngest of the two brothers and had taken charge of his clan after his elder brother’s fall. For now, it is just a fan-based theory, as Tite Kubo has never mentioned Isshin having an elder brother.

After Isshin revealed his shinigami status to Ichigo, he might have also told him about the Shiba clan. Though Ichigo didn’t confront Kukkaku and Ganju about their relationship in the story, it can be presumed that they have kept it to themselves without being upfront with each other.

Kaien Shiba (on left) and Ichigo Kurosaki (on right) (Image via Studio Pierrot)

At the beginning of the series, Rukia noticed how Ichigo is eerily similar to Kaien in appearance and personality, which was the first ever hint in the storyline regarding Ichigo’s connection with the Shiba clan. As Kukkaku and Ganju will play a significant role in Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War, fans can expect a possible encounter between them and Ichigo in the upcoming episodes.