Yes, Ichigo is a special case. Therefore, everything that happens to him defies logic- which means we overlook him. Now, Andromeda, someone like Steph is kind of an Ichigo case. Things that he does goes against the logic- but that's because of who he is. You've established that he's not normal. However, most of the other RP characters are, so we follow the basic logic.

Seeing the physical manefestation of your zanpukto is the first step of achieving bankai. Obviously, it is not easy, seeing that obtaining bankai takes years to achieve. You do not need to see your zanpukto to achieve shikai. They haven't really talked about achieving shikai much, but from what I gather, you do in fact speak to your zanpukto...however, even if you see him (vaguely or clearly) in your mind's eye he cannot appear before you. Still, this is NO EASY TASK. The fact that Kuradic's character sees his zanpukto before it even exists is insane.

I'll explain our method for obtaining various things associated with zanpukto's after we GET THEM. Until then, unless your character is "different" or some sort of prodigy...let's not have ANY encounters with out zanpukto's. And yes I sound strict and rude, but I don't want to exit bleach's boundaries.

Thank you,

--Xeim--