User blog comment:Silver-Haired Seireitou/Sake Time with Sei - Alternate Takes on the War/@comment-4666155-20140905171431

Shit Kubo could have done in this arc differently? Oh sweet Noire, where to begin?

Let's start with Kidou, why don't we? I don't care what kind of control Quincy have over Reishi, it's a very sad moment when the entire Gotei 13 is all "WITHOUT BANKAI, HOW CAN WE HOPE TO BEAT THESE QUINCY!?" and not one of them — not even Rukia and Byakuya, arguably experts and masters in this field, have considered using Kidou in the slightests. All it would have taken for Byakuya to end As Nodt was a Rikujokoro, then flash step his ass over to the freak of nature and send a Byakurai through his eye. I don't care what kind of control Quincy have over reishi, it would have taken As Nodt more than a second to remove a Rikujokoro would someone as strong as Byakuya. It's sad when the only time Kidou has been used, it was by Nanao and Yumichika. The FUCK Kubo?

Handling Gremmy better. Kubo gives this kid the power to create anything from his imagination — and proceeds to go absolutely nowhere with it. This kid could have done anything from created a BLIZZARD of fucking rusty nails and glass to making it rain BLEACH and the most he did was perform several jutsu from Naruto and create machine guns and nukes. ''STOP USING LINEAR ATTACKS YOU LITTLE PUNK AND USE YOUR IMAGINATION TO BE FUCKING CREATIVE! ''The closest he came to actual creativity was the Galaxy Room and in a fight that took several chapters, that's sad. He didn't even bother to make LIFE again, despite showing he could create an independently thinking Quincy with his own in-depth ability. Fuck Gremmy. Fuck him in the brain casing.

Unohana's death scene. Am I the only one who felt it felt rushed? Hell, forget that he killed off the best healer in the Gotei 13 — what are you thinking, Kubo? — and let's look at how damn rushed it felt. Even when she used Bankai, Kubo didn't even bother to change the name. Yes, he changed the Kanji but the name was still the same, and barring some pretty awesome fan theories, we know more about Yamamoto's past than we do about Unohana's Bankai.

Wasted characters galore. I'm not sure if I should blame this on Kubo or the editors, but I've gotten to know my instant ramen better than I've gotten to know the characters he's introduced in this arc. In the last few chapters alone, Candice died, Discount Tousen Died, Colonel Sanders died, and Shuhei said he handled one. There goes several characters whose backstories  (and in the case of Colonel Sanders, NAMES) that we will ''never get to know. ''One of the best things about the Arrancar Saga, no matter how long it was? Character! When it came to the Espada, there are only a few who we don't know even a LITTLE about their past. Even Szayel we know wasn't an Espada during a previous generation — and guess what, that's a hell of a lot more than we know about Colonel Sanders. Grimmjow had FLASHBACKS dedicated to him, so did Nnoitra and even Ulquiorra, when Kubo couldn't fit his backstory in — probably due to time constraints — got a section in the latest databook SPECIFICALLY FOR HIM! I don't care if your editors are rushing you Kubo, I don't care if they've threatened to dock your pay; please fucking retain some integrity and give your characters SOME FUCKING CHARACTER!

When did passing the idiot ball become the standard for BLEACH characters? Because it seems like they didn't just pass it; Soul Society puts  it in pre-war rations and forces every character to eat it. Logic was thrown out the window in this arc for the sake of drama and that's never a good thing. Ichigo's battle with Ivan sets the standard for just how stupid everyone is going to be. Ivan goads Ichigo into using his Bankai, despite being obviously weaker and Ichigo KNOWS that Ivan is goading him. So what does Ichigo do? HE USES BANKAI LIKE A FUCKING DUMBASS AND NEARLY GETS IT STOLEN! He had NO REASON to go Bankai; he decked this fucker in his HUMAN BODY and yet he decides "Hey, he's asking me to go Bankai, I should be nice and do it". It gets even worse then the CAPTAINS DO IT! They're specifically warned not to use their Bankai against these Quincy....and then they go and do it, getting their Bankai stolen. It's even worse when Byakuya and Sui-Feng are among the Shinigami who do this; Byakuya, who has proven himself fully capable of handling opponents with Kidou and Shikai, and Sui-Feng, who LOATHES HER BANKAI BECAUSE IT IS AGAINST EVERYTHING SHE STANDS FOR! It goes against even the most BASIC LOGIC to use the VERY WEAPON your enemy wants to steal against them...and then be surprised when it's stolen.

"A Quincy uses no other weapons but bows and arrows." This one is a biggie for me; I don't know what Kubo was smoking when he made these Quincy but they're all Quincy in name only. The identifying trait of any Quincy besides their ludicrous clothing is the fact that they wield bows and arrows to be the stark opposite of Shinigami. Barely any of these Quincy have touched on this, and the sad thing is, every Quincy who uses a bow and arrow are the freaky ones (Bambi's slut brigade, Pepe, etc). Just...MAKE THEM FIGHT LIKE QUINCY!

Stylistic choices. I won't even go into this one, I'll sum it up in six words:

Mask de Masculine and Pepe Waccabrada 

This'll be the last point I make so far: introducing plot points that have yet to go anywhere. Kubo is good at this; just look at Orihime's resolve to destroy the Hogyoku and never actually doing it and you'll see what I mean. But in this arc alone, Kubo has teased us with Grimmjow, Aizen, the Fullbringers, Ganju, an Arrancar army, the Soul King, and tears in the fabric of reality and none of these have gone anywhere. We;ve seen Grimmjow in ONE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CALL and that was it. Aizen was vaguely mentioned and forgotten. The Fullbringers and Ganju haven't been mentioned since they were first shown DESPITE THE FACT THAT WE NOW KNOW ICHIGO IS GANJU'S COUSIN AND THIS COULD LEAD TO INTERESTING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN HIS FAMILY! Kisuke's training an Arrancar army? No, that's just his side project for what he was really doing; creating pills that contain Hollow reishi. Did you know he's a drug pusher now? The Soul King. WHAT IS HE DOING!? The tears in the fabric of space and time? Oh no, these will just be used to power a giant firework instead.

Am I the only one who sees missed potential in all of these? Fuck you, Kubo.