Muguruma Kensei vs Hirako Shinji

[Jackk]

We've seen that Kensei is mostly a close range fighter and this is definitely going to be bad against Shinji because Shinji definitely has the advantage in close quarters combat. I don't see why some people are assuming here that Shinji is just going to keep a distance and attack in a straight line.

Shinji is actually going to pressure the guy as much possible. Shinji's best tactic is to put on his Mask, activate Sakanade and shunpo around attacking from multiple angles/directions as fast as he possibly can to completely throw off his opponent. How the heck is Kensei going to keep up? Kensei has yet to actually show some powerful AoE wind techs that could blast in every single direction around him and/or from a distance. And, again, Kensei even seems to prefer CQC combat... his Bankai even seems to be oriented towards that type of combat.

Furthermore, even if Kensei managed to land a hit or two on Shinji... I don't see him taking down Shinji, I think that it would take more serious blows to take down the likes of Shinji for good. Heck Shinji even tanked an attack on the back from freaking Aizen. And since Shinji has the advantage in combat here due to placing a massive debuff in his opponent's thought pattern and movements, well... you get the picture. Shinji's chances of winning are higher in my opinion. As I pointed out in my previous post, Shinji has shown amazing speed (outrunning the likes of Rose and Love), and insane reaction and reflexes (the way in which he saved his head from getting cut off by Tousen in FKT). Then add to that his very HAX shikai, and yeah...things aren't looking good for Shinji's opponent.

[Gran Maestro]

If X is the back to front and kensei perceives shinji as X = 1 when his in fact x = -1 X = 0 which is kensei's body down the middle from a side veiw.

Then the other planes are the same.

If lets say up is down kensei perceives shinji's head as y = 1 when his head is in fact at y = -1. Y= 0 is kensei's waist

This is the vertical plane and while Kensei lies on the line x if shinji attacks strictly vertical kensei has to adjust his block blocking his head to save his leg so on.

And the left to right kensei would percieve shinjis right arm as Z = 1 when it's his left hand at Z = -1. Z=0 is kensei split down the middle.

And if it's strictly horizontal then kensei has to adjust his block from left to right if shinji was attacking kenseis left hand side then kensei would have to block right to save his heart.

If shinji comes at a diagnol angle then the two planes will intersect so kensei has to worry about reverting the horizontal and vertical plane.

Shinji's attack y = 1 which is y= -1 and the vertical plane z = 1 which is in fact z = -1. Double the confusion, ya get me?

Oh, I see your point now.

But if Kensei moves towards Shinji's image at (1,1,1), he will get away from Shinji in all directions, right? For example, if Kensei reaches the old position of Shinji's image, and if Kensei's new position is (0,0,0), then Shinji's new image will be at (2,2,2). In any case, Kensei will understand that real Shinji is at his back and turn around.

Now, if Shinji (x=-2,y=-2,z=-2) approaches Kensei, he will be at (-0.1,-0.1,-0.1) when gets close and Kensei's bankai attack may cover the area bounded by (-0.1,-0.1,-0.1), (-0.1,0.1,-0.1),(-0.1,-0.1,0.1) and (-0.1,0.1,0.1). (Assuming x=back/front)

Is it wise for Shinji to get close to Kensei? I don't think so because when he gets close, he will be in serious danger of being a target of Kensei's bankai attack which is strong enough to hurt him. Shinji's best shot will be to stay away and use long-range attacks like cero.

But then how long will it take for Kensei to figure out the mirror effect? Not long after he figures out he has to turn around to see the real Shinji. He'll move towards the position where he thinks real Shinji is and then when he is in range, he will blow up the place.

Shinji's mask is irrelevant in this fight because Kensei has the same mask. (Unless you think Kensei can't use his mask in bankai which some people argue) Shinji can't approach Kensei because Kensei's bankai is too dangerous in close range (able to attack Shinji and his image at the same time) and Shinji's cero can be countered by Kensei's cero or Kensei can simply move sideways.

Even if it may take some time for Kensei to adjust his movements, Shinji will eventually lose due to Kensei's strong firepower. Kensei's shikai covered a big area in front of him and his bankai, for all intents and purposes, is a stronger version of his shikai which will force Shinji to stay at quite a distance to be safe.

[leshrak]

What if Kensei uses the same strategy Kempachi used against Tousen's bankai?

These 2 fights are very alike in my opinion, a strong/tough fighter agains an opponent who tricks his senses. Shinji doens't look like a guy who can endure much damage, Kensei just needs to endure a few blows (which i think he is perfecty able to do) to figure out where shinji is and blow him away with his bankai

[benelori]

What if Kensei uses the same strategy Kempachi used against Tousen's bankai?

These 2 fights are very alike in my opinion, a strong/tough fighter agains an opponent who tricks his senses. Shinji doens't look like a guy who can endure much damage, Kensei just needs to endure a few blows (which i think he is perfecty able to do) to figure out where shinji is and blow him away with his bankai

That's a good idea...but we saw how much endurance one must have in order to tank such attacks...Kenpachi took two shikai attacks, and he became more bored by the entire fight...we didn't really see that from Kensei...especially if Shinji goes for the kill, something that Tousen didn't do, as he wanted to punish Kenpachi for breaking justice and whatnot

[Takahashi]

I'm not really sure why there's so much support for Kensei. Both haven't shown much, but one has a hax Shikai. Just about everything is impossible to compare, might as well just go with the basics, cutting wind doesn't beat reversing and double reversing your perception.

If Bankai Kensei had shown anything however, I'd give it to him.

[Jackk]

It's not about figuring out how Sakanade works or figuring out where Shinji is in one particular instance. Shinji can even outright explain to you what his zanpakutou does and it will not make an iota of a difference. Heck it shouldn't be very difficult for Shinji's opponent to figure out what Shinji zanpakutou does once he sees Shinji upside down, the problem is countering! Seriously, understanding and reacting to Shinji's ability are two entirely different things.

Like, AIB said in one of his posts... Shinji's sakanade, to put it simple, is basically for disorientation. It doesn't matter if you're aware of what's happening to you, you're still not going to be able to react and counter as fast as you normally would! ...At bare minimum, having to register everything in one's head and then flipping it around will definitely slow down anyone's thought pattern and movements. And not only are you going to have to fight with such a handicap, but you're also facing a powerful captain level opponent! Yeah, this is why Shinji is that dangerous. Think about it~

And I still don't understand why a certain someone keeps insisting that Shinji will just keep a distance the whole time and attack in a straight line. Heck even if Shinji wanted to keep a distance at some point, why would Shinji stay in a straight line from Kensei? That makes absolutely no sense because constantly moving side ways would be a whole lot more effective if Shinji wants to really confuse his enemy.

What Shinji needs to do is shunpo around and attack as fast as he possibly can from multiple angles/directions. This is Shinji's best strategy. Now, Kensei has yet to show any abilities in Bankai. Therefore, claiming that Kensei wins simply because he apparently has access to a bankai in this tournament is being very unreasonable--specially since Shinji has shown better speed, reaction and reflex feats, and has a very HAX shikai. Heck Kensei's Bankai even seems more like a close range melee type--which probably allows him to create explosions by punching things... and even that, while reasonable, is still speculation. Kensei has definitely not shown the ability to do massive AoE wind techs that he could use to surround himself from all directions nor has kensei even shown a cero. Granted Kensei can most likely use cero since most of the other vizards have been shown doing it;however, we still have no idea how powerful Kensei's cero could be. Furthermore, if Shinji is moving all over the place, even if Kensei really had some long range attack....how the heck is Kensei going to be able to aim properly if not only is his vision and sense of direction completely inverted but Shinji is also making it even harder for him by moving all over the place? How is Kensei going to reliably hit Shinji? Yeah, good luck with that.

Heck Shinji could potentially end it quick by going for Kensei's head soon after releasing Sakanade. But even if Shinji doesn't go for the head immediately, he still has the advantage of being able to confuse his enemy--which could also provide openings for Shinji to attack. There's just no way that Kensei is going to adapt to sakanade, it's just not happening. Even if Kensei knows how Sakanade works, having to look at a Shinji who's moving all over the place will certainly confuse Kensei. And, in the heat of battle, this could cause Kensei to make a mistake--which could be fatal for him.

[Tsukisama]

Shinji wins! He shall advance on into Round 3. Discuss the result of this match and all others in the Tournament Discussion thread.

Stay tuned for more details!