Warning: Spoilers for Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War, Part 3, episode #7
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War finally gave Renji the opportunity to show what he’s truly capable of in an all-new, anime-original fight scene with Uryu. Although Renji ultimately couldn’t match Uryu, his showing was enough to win back fans who were hoping to see more of his new Bankai.
Back Thousand Year Blood War “Rages at Ringside” from part 2, it was revealed that Renji obtained his true Bankai, So-oh Zabimaru, by training with Ichibe Hyosube of Squad Zero. Renji used his new Bankai against Sternritter “S”, Mask De Masculine, demonstrating that it was much more powerful than he previously believed his Bankai to be. However, the fight against Mask De Masculine was shortened a bit in the anime, and so Renji’s time in the spotlight was shortened, despite emerging victorious. Fans hoping to see more Renji in action were pleased to see him in the spotlight again in “Gate of the Sun.”
Renji’s New Bankai Finally Shows Its True Potential
Renji’s So-oh Zabimaru has several powerful abilities
In episode 7 of Thousand Year Blood War part 3, Renji has the chance to use his Bankai again in the battle against Uryu Ishida. Renji uses at least three new abilities throughout his fight with Uryu, including So-oh Zabimaru, Zagai Zekko, possibly his strongest technique yet, although it requires a substantial amount of charge time to deploy. It was also revealed that Renji’s new Bankai retained the ability of his old Bankai, Hikotsu Taiho, which allows Renji to fire concentrated energy blasts from the baboon-like skeletal arm that is part of his Bankai.
Given that Renji was fighting a difficult battle in hostile territory, his performance against Uryu was quite impressive. Renji forced Uryu to give it his all, as he did with Ichigo, and use his Vollstandig as well as Sklaverei, with Uryu strengthening himself immensely using the nearby spiritual particles. Uryu also noticed that Renji was still holding back, reluctant to kill his former friend as well as Ichigo, and this was enough for Uryu to emerge victorious. It all comes together to create a pretty close fight, which means there’s no shame in Renji’s ultimate defeat here.
Renji is a fan-favorite character who never got enough time to shine
Renji could have more new fight scenes in the future
This new fight scene certainly emphasized that Renji’s Bankai is much more powerful than it was, even if Renji’s spiritual pressure was rapidly decreasing. Under different circumstances, Renji might actually have been able to win, but the deck was simply stacked against him in this world of Quincy-controlled spiritual particles. Renji’s fate at the end of the battle is unclear, but he still has a role to play in the manga and so presumably he survived the battle with Uryu.
In the manga, Renji has one more substantial fight after this, against Gerard Valkyrie, although he is just one of a group of Soul Reapers fighting that particular Quincy. This would be an excellent opportunity for Renji to further showcase his new power, as Renji’s new Bankai would be well equipped to fight an opponent like Gerard. Fortunately, his Bankai is not destructive to his allies, so there should be no problem using it in a group.
Will Renji continue to play a role in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War?
Renji still has a little time to impress fans even more
There’s a solid chance, though, that this fight with Uryu will be Renji’s last time in the spotlight alone, and the character’s fans are extremely pleased with his performance despite the loss. Renji has a reputation for losing more fights than he wins, but this fight at least gave him the opportunity to show what his Bankai is truly capable of, helping fans accurately gauge its true power. Uryu had every advantage in this fight, so even Renji’s fans found the defeat understandable, at the very least.
Barring more new fight scenes that weren’t in the anime, Renji has one more chance to impress, and his new Bankai skills would certainly give him the ability to do just that. Whether this makes any material difference in the battle is almost irrelevant, as the idea is mainly to give Renji more of a chance to show off his powers. Renji may have lost yet another battle, but at least he had the opportunity to prove that his power level is much greater than it previously seemed, and that’s the kind of change that Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War necessary in its anime adaptation.