I came into Bleach partway around the Fullbringer saga. I was well aware of the series flaws, and I was able to accept the bad parts because I was prepared for them. At first, the last arc seemed strong, and it looked like Kubo might finally have worked past his worse flaws. But towards the end of the initial invasion, things started falling apart again, and the usual problems reared their ugly heads.
One of the things I liked is that Ichigo could finally challenge the new bad guys without getting his butt handed to him the first time around. I was hoping that maybe his power would finally be more consistent. But then we're told that his broken bankai can't be perfectly restored, and it proves that no matter how many gains the characters make, Kubo will just end up downgrading them because he has no clue how to have characters win by strategy instead of brute force.
The Vandenreich seemed cool at first. They were powerful, and seemingly much more intelligent than their predecessors. But they lost any claim to being smarter when four of them thought they could take the Head Captain, the guy who beat their leader. I also find it irritating that after all Ichigo has done, they only see him as a weapon to be used (BECAUSE THAT WORKED OUT SOOO WELL FOR GINJO, DIDN'T IT?) Let's face it: Bleach villains are stupid. They'd underestimate God almighty himself if they fought him.
The conversation between Kukaku and Ganju made me realize...I'm just sick of all of the conspiracies in Bleach. Everyone's hiding something, and as soon as you find out one thing it turns out they're hiding three other things. I'm tired of Kubo adding more questions then he answers, and he has quite a backlist by now.
Ultimately, I'm worried that while Bleach might have moments of greatness, in the long run I'll just be disappointed. What happens if this arc ends as anti-climatically as the Arrancar arc? At least when Deicide was over you could hold out hope that the series would get better, but this is all we're getting. I hope the series can finish strongly, but it'll be dogged by the problems it's always had until the end.
Given up on it...*BLOOD WAR SPOILERS*
I came into Bleach partway around the Fullbringer saga. I was well aware of the series flaws, and I was able to accept the bad parts because I was prepared for them. At first, the last arc seemed strong, and it looked like Kubo might finally have worked past his worse flaws. But towards the end of the initial invasion, things started falling apart again, and the usual problems reared their ugly heads.
One of the things I liked is that Ichigo could finally challenge the new bad guys without getting his butt handed to him the first time around. I was hoping that maybe his power would finally be more consistent. But then we're told that his broken bankai can't be perfectly restored, and it proves that no matter how many gains the characters make, Kubo will just end up downgrading them because he has no clue how to have characters win by strategy instead of brute force.
The Vandenreich seemed cool at first. They were powerful, and seemingly much more intelligent than their predecessors. But they lost any claim to being smarter when four of them thought they could take the Head Captain, the guy who beat their leader. I also find it irritating that after all Ichigo has done, they only see him as a weapon to be used (BECAUSE THAT WORKED OUT SOOO WELL FOR GINJO, DIDN'T IT?) Let's face it: Bleach villains are stupid. They'd underestimate God almighty himself if they fought him.
The conversation between Kukaku and Ganju made me realize...I'm just sick of all of the conspiracies in Bleach. Everyone's hiding something, and as soon as you find out one thing it turns out they're hiding three other things. I'm tired of Kubo adding more questions then he answers, and he has quite a backlist by now.
Ultimately, I'm worried that while Bleach might have moments of greatness, in the long run I'll just be disappointed. What happens if this arc ends as anti-climatically as the Arrancar arc? At least when Deicide was over you could hold out hope that the series would get better, but this is all we're getting. I hope the series can finish strongly, but it'll be dogged by the problems it's always had until the end.