WHAT DO YOU THINK?
(my)
WEIRD THEORY (that I don’t really believe in, but still give it slight chance)
Spoiler:
1. Ichigo is constantly compared that he has a lot of similarities with Kaien (both looks & some character traits). I think it’s normal to assume Isshin should have looked something like his son before.
2. Both have black hair (Isshin & Kaien I mean)
3. Both have that weird thingy on the nose
4. I don’t think the time when Kaein actually “died” is given (I didn’t find), so 20 years might be a possibility.
(might be wrong with the timing, I’m not sure) (Here it says Rukia is about 150 years old, so it is possible
http://www.absoluteanime.com/bleach/rukia.htm)
5. He IS supposed to be dead, but with Urahara as “back-up” I wouldn’t be surprised ~_~
ISSHIN=KAIEN
The problem is that Rukia should have at least kind of sort of recognized him, then again she might have not. Plus, Isshin was pretty good fooling his family all these years, so he sure got practice.
[/QUOTE]
Wow I've never thought about that, but it really makes sense!! Now I am even more keen on knowing who Isshin really is!!