Bleach: How Powerful Is Senjumaru Shutara’s Bankai & What Are Its Abilities? Shatatsu Karagara Shigarami No Tsuji Explained!

Senjumaru Shutara was initially the least-explored member of the Royal Guard, as Kubo did not give her much space in the manga. While we know that the reason for that was the fact that he had to rush the Bleach manga, he has atoned for it by giving Senjumaru an epic moment in the anime, which showed just how powerful she was and how she was able to take down the whole Schutzstaffel all by herself. In this article, we will talk about her Zanpakuto, her Shikai, and her epic Bankai.

How powerful is Shigarami, Senjumaru Shutara’s Zanpakuto?

To properly understand a Bankai, we must first explain the user’s Zanpakuto, which is a prerequisite. We will explain how and why later, but this is how we have always done these articles; there is no reason to change that now. As far as Senjumaru Shutara’s Zanpakuto is concerned, it is called Shigarami, and it has been classified as a Kido-type Zanpakuto, although no details have been provided. Since we haven’t seen its Shikai, only its Bankai, we do not know the exact release command of Shigarami.

There is, sadly, not much we can tell you about Shigarami’s base form, save for the fact that it is quite unique in the world of Bleach and that it is one of those Zanpakuto that fit the user completely, thereby breaking the traditional form of a Zanpakuto; this is something we’ve seen with all the members of the Royal Guard, save for Nimaiya, but his Zanpakuto, Sayafushi, which does look like a standard katana, is special in many other ways. But let us get back to Shigarami.

As we have said, the appearance of Shigarami perfectly fits Senjumaru Shutara and her leitmotiv. Namely, in its unreleased form, Shigarami is actually an oversized sewing needle that Senjumaru can use both to enhance her sewing skills and to attack her opponents, like when she wanted to pierce Gerard’s heart but failed, probably because Gerard was the Heart of the Soul King. Hence, she had to use more power to kill him. There is absolutely no doubt that she would be able to kill someone with just that needle.

The name, Shigarami (written in Japanese as 刺絡), actually means “Thorny Entanglement”.

And this is all we know about her Zanpakuto’s base form. As we have said, Senjumaru never released her Shikai, so we don’t know how much it would change when released, but we assume it would further increase her sewing abilities and make her attacks more lethal and even more precise. Having said this, we can move on to the core of this article, Senjumaru’s Bankai.

Senjumaru Shutara’s Bankai, Shatatsu Karagara Shigarami, explained

The revelation of a character’s Bankai is always a special moment in Bleach because the Bankai usually looks awesome and shows just how powerful the Shinigami is. Now, some Bankai have been revealed fairly early in the series (Byakuya’s, Renji’s, Toshiro’s, etc.), while others were revealed much later (Kenpachi’s, Shinji’s) or never (Aizen’s, Ukitake’s).

Save for Ichibei, the Royal Guard’s Bankai have not been revealed in the original manga, but the anime has, luckily for us, provided us with some details, at least, regarding the Zanpakuto of the Zero Division members, and Senjumaru Shutara got the honor of having her epic Bankai revealed in the second part’s finale.

But, before we actually get down to her Bankai, we have to explain something about the Bankai of the Zero Division members. Namely, there is absolutely no doubt that all five of them can use Bankai; that is not even a question. But, although they were not explicitly named among the forbidden or banned Bankai, there is a reason why they do not activate them except when in need.

Namely, the Bankai of the Zero Division members are so powerful that each individual activation causes a trembling in all three realms; this actually happened when Senjumaru activated her Bankai, as we saw scenes from the World of the Living and Soul Society, which showed there was an earthquake-like disturbance.

This is also why they cannot activate their Bankai simultaneously, as the power released would probably be enough to shatter the realms. This, in turn, is why only one designated Zero Division member activates their Bankai at a time, while the three others “commit suicide” (they do, technically, but are revived later, as it is relatively easy to bring them back to life, as they are nigh indestructible) and thus lend their powers to the designated Bankai.

Ichibei Hyosube seems to be the only exception here, as his Bankai does not cause a trembling, probably because Ichibei is so deeply connected to the essence of existence that his Bankai is not an issue per se.

So, in short, when Senjumaru Shutara activated a Bankai, it caused a disturbance. This is why the Royal Guard members do not activate their Bankai unless there is a proper emergency, and the elimination of Yhwach’s Elite Guard was such a moment. This is a big thing, as the manga never revealed any of this, and it was an anime-only moment that is canon, as Kubo himself is supervising the anime, which has finally given him enough space to make all of his plans and ideas come true.

We know that the Zero Division members were ultimately defeated. Still, it will be interesting to see how the anime handles that, seeing how it changed the manga significantly.

Now, let us get back to Senjumaru Shutara’s Bankai. Her Bankai is called Shatatsu Karagara Shigarami no Tsuji, which literary means “Crossing of the Old Woman’s Gate, Kāla’s Corpse, and Thorny Entanglements” (it is written as 娑闥迦羅骸刺絡辻 in Japanese). It is a Kido-type Bankai, and when activated, the area is surrounded by darkness, and then a torii-like structure appears, trapping Senjumaru’s enemies inside with her.

Before the activation, the symbols of the other three Zero Division generals disappear, and the only one left is one of the generals who will activate their Bankai; in this case, it was Senjumaru’s Bankai.

So, after the torii-like structure appears, Senjumaru seems to be praying, after which a large golden loom appears, and the space is colored dark red due to the large number of swathes of red cloth that suddenly appear. Senjumaru can then manipulate the space she is in, and while it has been said that she has 1,000 arms, she seemingly adapts her Bankai’s special technique to the number of her enemies. In this case, she faced six opponents, so she activated the Shide no Rokushiki Ukimon no Hata (死出六色浮文機, Loom of the Six-Colored Floating Patterns of Death).

This ability allowed Senjumaru to isolate her enemies by weaving special tapestries that trap an individual enemy inside it and then kill them in different ways, actually adapting to the enemy itself. While the enemies are trapped, Senjumaru is weaving the tapestry, and once the process is done, the enemy is dead, and the whole process is done when she cuts and releases all the tapestries from her loom, sealing her opponents’ fates. The six individual techniques were as follows:

Senjumaru’s Bankai – which is similar to Yamamoto’s in that it has several forms – was so powerful that it effortlessly defeated all the six Schutzstaffel members, and it shows just how powerful Senjumaru really was.

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