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Tite Kubo, the author of Bleach, was once asked in his Fan club, Klub Outside, whether he felt surprised by the popularity of any of his characters. In response, Kubo said that he had never imagined Shuhei Hisagi would become so popular.
The 9th Division lieutenant, Shuhei Hisagi, is a complex character with multiple scopes for in-depth analysis. The popularity of Hisagi has a lot to do with the light novel series Can't Fear Your Own World by Ryogo Narita, where he was presented as the protagonist. One of the highlights of this light novel series was Shuhei Hisagi's Bankai, which was finally revealed.
Now, there's much debate about whether Hisagi's Bankai is canon or not, considering the fact that the novel series wasn't authored by Tite Kubo.
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The reasons why Shuhei Hisagi's bankai can be considered canon in Bleach
Ryogo Narita's Can't Fear Your Own World novel series follows the story of Bleach after the events of the Thousand Year Blood War arc. In this novel series, Ryogo Narita chose Shuhei Hisagi as the main character.
The novel saw Hisagi's persona go through a dynamic shift. As a result, he finally unlocks the true power of his Zanpakuto Kazeshini and achieves the true potential of his Bankai, Fushi no Kyojo.
Now, as mentioned earlier, there are a lot of debates in the fandom about whether Shuhei's Bankai can be considered canon in Bleach or not. To know the answer to this question, it's important to mention how Ryogo Narita penned the story of Can't Fear Your Own World.
The author of Can't Fear Your Own World, Ryogo Narita, was flabbergasted to discover that Tite Kubo had intended to end the serialization of his manga.
However, he was elated when Kubo himself reached out to both him and Matsubara (the author of We Do knot ALWAYS LOVE YOU novel), and expressed his passionate desire and plans to create a last novelization to mark an end to his long journey of 15 years.
It was then that Narita came to know about all the unanswered questions regarding the Bleachverse - for example, the truth of the Soul King's past. Tite Kubo said that he couldn't muddle the story by incorporating those elements, as it would have taken the focus out of the original story.
Since Kubo's manga was about Ichigo Kurosaki and the battle of the Soul Reapers, Tite Kubo couldn't afford to digress. As a result, Narita took it upon himself to develop a novel that answered some of the unanswered questions.
Many fans of the series believe that the events of Can't Fear Your Own World can be considered Canon because Tite Kubo was heavily involved in the supervision of the story.
In fact, it was Kubo who had designed the Bankai of both Shuhei Hisagi and Shinji Hirako. Furthermore, according to the Jet Interview, Tite Kubo had spent a lot of time designing the Bankai of Shuhei Hisagi.
It should also be noted that on Klub Outside, Tite Kubo explicitly mentioned that he had a large influence on the storyline of CFYOW.
When asked whether the contents and the lore of Can't Fear Your Own World and We Do knot ALWAYS LOVE YOU novels were decided by him, Kubo remarked:
"I came up with and shared the contents and the lore with the two writers, but left the portrayal to them. Whenever there was something they didn't understand along the way they would come to consult with me."
Tite Kubo had plans for Shuhei Hisagi's Bankai prior to the Can't Fear Your World novel trilogy
As a mangaka, Tite Kubo had a lot of things to consider while designing the storyboard for the final arc of Bleach. Unfortunately, Kubo had to rush through the plot for a variety of reasons. Therefore, he couldn't exactly complete his story as he had envisioned.
In the afterword to the Can't Fear Your Own World novel, Kubo wrote the following:
"I am really happy that Shuhei's and Shinji's bankai, which could not be shown in the final arc, played active roles. I was pleased at Shuhei's lead role in this story. Good for him!"
Kubo probably had plans to include Shinji and Shuhei Hisagi's bankai in the story. This theory is half-confirmed as the latest season of Bleach TYBW anime exhibited Shinji's Forbidden Bankai, causing a buzz on the internet.
Moreover, it was also implied in the Thousand Year Blood War arc that Shuhei had learned his Bankai through his training with his Squad Captain, Kensei Muguruma. The first cour of Bleach TYBW anime also showed the fans that Muguruma wanted Shuhei to learn Bankai.
Thereafter, in the penultimate chapter of the arc, Shuhei mentioned that although he had learned his bankai, he didn't have an opportunity to use it. However, he was roasted by Matsumoto, Toshiro, and Kensei, because they didn't really see it, just like fans.
This means that Tite Kubo intended to showcase Shuhei Hisagi's Bankai, but since he was rushed, he didn't have a proper way to include it in the manga.
Considering the fact that Ryogo Narita's novel is shaped by the visions of Tite Kubo, and the latter had immense influence behind it, it can be said that Shuhei Hisagi's Bankai is a canon.
The fact that the latest season of Bleach TYBW anime has been using elements from the Can't Fear Your Own World Novel reinforces the argument that both Shuhei's Bankai, and Can't Fear Your Own World Novel, are in fact canon in Bleachverse.
Be sure to keep up with more anime news and manga updates as 2023 progresses.
