Primera Espada
08-10-2007, 01:06 AM
Now, fortunately for us, the power of arrancar as they go through their ressureccion is clear. They restore themselves to their original form and power. This means that, as arrancar, they are no stronger than they once were. However, having this new form allows for a variety of new powers (Edorad's fire, Doldoni's wind, Grimmjow's nails, grand rey cero, etc) And also allows them to NOT have to constantly feed to maintain their higher level of power (perhaps the greatest advantage)
However shinigami are a bit different.
Shikai Ichigo beats non shikai kenpachi, who beats bankai tousen, and faces bankai Komamura.
But let's look at bankais for a moment.
What does Mayuri's bankai do? DOes it make mayuri any stronger, physically? Nope. Does it make him tougher? Nope. It gives him a gigantic weapon to fight with, and a huge supply of poison.
Bankai increases his combat ability dramatically.
Same with tousen. His bankai doesn't actually increase ANYTHING for him. It handicaps the daylights out of his opponent.
Also, when training for bankai, it is mentioned that it's the actual attaining bankai, and learning to use it that increases your spiritual pressure. The bankai move itself does not.
Hitsugaya goes bankai, and can still be sliced by Aizen's shikai.
Ikkaku goes bankai, and edorad specifically states that all the bankai release does is make his weapon super powerful.
Let's remember that it is a WEAPON release.
The exception to the rule (as he always is) is Ichigo. Instead of his weapon's full power being released, his weapon condenses, becoming very tough (which is why it no longer gets broken like his shikai so often does) and instead, as is the nature of Zangetsu, fuels it's leftover power into Ichigo as speed.
But, what does this mean, exactly?
It means that Ichigo, at his full power in shikai, compared to his full power in bankai... is pretty much the same.
The difference though, is that when full powered shikai Ichigo fights, he's not nearly as fast, and his sword is not nearly as tough. Having a much tougher sword, and being able to dodge your opponent, and get attacks off with rapid succession allows Ichigo to go from being heavily dominated to complete ownage, dispite having no real power increase.
This also explains why Ichigo, when perfectly syncronized with his zanpakuto, and even drawing on his hollow power without succumbing to it, managed to match the level of power that Kenpachi (whos power is actually being LOWERED by his sword) used against him in a one on one strike. Had Ichigo gone bankai and done the exact same attack, the exact same result would have happened. Kenpachi's sword would have broke, Ichigo and Kenpachi both would have been damaged, Kenpachi would have felt that he lost, and collapsed.
The real difference comes when someone like Hitsugaya uses bankai. His sword attacks do not become more effective in bankai, but his ice attack does. His ice attack goes from freezing water which yammy can shake off, to being able to create giant ice pillars and crush (though not kill) luppi.
Essentially bankai appears to allow the user to use more of their energy without any sort of charge up, when using special abilities of the zanpakuto, and increases the effect of the zanpakuto.
If you think about it, this perfectly explains how Zaraki, without bankai, can beat captain level opponents. His reiatsu is so great, and he doesn't rely on his zanpakuto for his fighting skills at all.
Remember the pressure analogy Ishida made? About how when you turn your tap off the pressure inside builds, and when you release it, a ton comes out? That's how shikai and bankai work. It's slowly learning how to open your faucet to allow the right amount of pressure.
Zaraki, on the other hand, just has a powerful flow, even without turning it off. He uses the eye patch to artificially do this, but as he learns to control it, he's likely to become even more devastating.
This also explains how Ichigo, without even learning shikai, could make a giant scar on a menos grande, something that is known to require a vice captain at least to handle, and nearly always requires bankai, from what we've seen. Yet from then, he gets shikai, specific training to learn how to use getsuga tenshou voluntarily, bankai, and a bit of hollow power, and it takes all that to cause the same level of scar on an ajuuca (grimmjow).
To me, it seems as though Ichigo's maximum strength output has increased VERY little. But his ability to use his maximum has increased to the point where he's using 90% of his max power output at all times when he's bankai/vaizard.
Essentially this means that Ulquiorra's assesment of Ichigo momentarily being stronger than him is likely right. Unfortunately, Ichigo still hasn't learned how to tap that voluntarily. It only shows up when he gets those 'blue eyes" he used against Kenpachi, Byakuya, and Grimmjow.
However shinigami are a bit different.
Shikai Ichigo beats non shikai kenpachi, who beats bankai tousen, and faces bankai Komamura.
But let's look at bankais for a moment.
What does Mayuri's bankai do? DOes it make mayuri any stronger, physically? Nope. Does it make him tougher? Nope. It gives him a gigantic weapon to fight with, and a huge supply of poison.
Bankai increases his combat ability dramatically.
Same with tousen. His bankai doesn't actually increase ANYTHING for him. It handicaps the daylights out of his opponent.
Also, when training for bankai, it is mentioned that it's the actual attaining bankai, and learning to use it that increases your spiritual pressure. The bankai move itself does not.
Hitsugaya goes bankai, and can still be sliced by Aizen's shikai.
Ikkaku goes bankai, and edorad specifically states that all the bankai release does is make his weapon super powerful.
Let's remember that it is a WEAPON release.
The exception to the rule (as he always is) is Ichigo. Instead of his weapon's full power being released, his weapon condenses, becoming very tough (which is why it no longer gets broken like his shikai so often does) and instead, as is the nature of Zangetsu, fuels it's leftover power into Ichigo as speed.
But, what does this mean, exactly?
It means that Ichigo, at his full power in shikai, compared to his full power in bankai... is pretty much the same.
The difference though, is that when full powered shikai Ichigo fights, he's not nearly as fast, and his sword is not nearly as tough. Having a much tougher sword, and being able to dodge your opponent, and get attacks off with rapid succession allows Ichigo to go from being heavily dominated to complete ownage, dispite having no real power increase.
This also explains why Ichigo, when perfectly syncronized with his zanpakuto, and even drawing on his hollow power without succumbing to it, managed to match the level of power that Kenpachi (whos power is actually being LOWERED by his sword) used against him in a one on one strike. Had Ichigo gone bankai and done the exact same attack, the exact same result would have happened. Kenpachi's sword would have broke, Ichigo and Kenpachi both would have been damaged, Kenpachi would have felt that he lost, and collapsed.
The real difference comes when someone like Hitsugaya uses bankai. His sword attacks do not become more effective in bankai, but his ice attack does. His ice attack goes from freezing water which yammy can shake off, to being able to create giant ice pillars and crush (though not kill) luppi.
Essentially bankai appears to allow the user to use more of their energy without any sort of charge up, when using special abilities of the zanpakuto, and increases the effect of the zanpakuto.
If you think about it, this perfectly explains how Zaraki, without bankai, can beat captain level opponents. His reiatsu is so great, and he doesn't rely on his zanpakuto for his fighting skills at all.
Remember the pressure analogy Ishida made? About how when you turn your tap off the pressure inside builds, and when you release it, a ton comes out? That's how shikai and bankai work. It's slowly learning how to open your faucet to allow the right amount of pressure.
Zaraki, on the other hand, just has a powerful flow, even without turning it off. He uses the eye patch to artificially do this, but as he learns to control it, he's likely to become even more devastating.
This also explains how Ichigo, without even learning shikai, could make a giant scar on a menos grande, something that is known to require a vice captain at least to handle, and nearly always requires bankai, from what we've seen. Yet from then, he gets shikai, specific training to learn how to use getsuga tenshou voluntarily, bankai, and a bit of hollow power, and it takes all that to cause the same level of scar on an ajuuca (grimmjow).
To me, it seems as though Ichigo's maximum strength output has increased VERY little. But his ability to use his maximum has increased to the point where he's using 90% of his max power output at all times when he's bankai/vaizard.
Essentially this means that Ulquiorra's assesment of Ichigo momentarily being stronger than him is likely right. Unfortunately, Ichigo still hasn't learned how to tap that voluntarily. It only shows up when he gets those 'blue eyes" he used against Kenpachi, Byakuya, and Grimmjow.