User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 562 - THE VILLAIN 2 (Mask De Masculine is a Mexican luchador in a German army)/@comment-5693502-20131217161348/@comment-28861328-20131218025052

That may be so, but, as is finally starting to show up on this wiki, and has for a good while on other Bleach sites, Kubo is ticking off the fans. Regardless of who's wrong or right, Kubo isn't doing a very good job of telling a story. The plot hasn't advanced at all since Ichigo forged his new Zangetsu. Its just been months of pointless slaughters, with even more pointless villains.

I felt despair in the first Wandenreich invasion (though that has since faded). I felt despair when Aizen was cutting through captains left and right, and not even so much as batting an eye when he did it. I felt despair when Tsukishima had turned the whole of Ichigo's friends on him, and a powerless Ichigo was forced to run from his own home, from his own family and friends.

I do not feel despair here. Only outrage that characters that had natural advantages are being purposely limited, either in their thought process or in their centuries worth of experience, in order to allow a bunch of half-assed villains a chance at the spotlight.

There is not excuse for it. Its not good story telling.

Then there's this argument that "its Kubo's story and he can tell it anyway he wants" that I've seen around. True. But part of being an author is that if your story sucks, there will be people that nitpick and point it out. Kubo doesn't get a write off just because it is his story. And I'm not saying he's a bad author, either.

Up this arc, Bleach was a suspenseful manga with an excellent plot and an even better cast to go with it. I don't know what Kubo's trying to show us with this arc. That's not a good thing either, because while some could argue that the story isn't over yet, so we're not supposed to know, a good author always leaves hints as to the meaning of his story and the direction he's taking it, without giving away the ending. Kubo completely threw that out the window with this arc.

Can anyone honestly tell me what the point of this arc is? Other than just proving that the big bad Shinigami can be trashed like yesterday's news? Does it actually have a point in it? I don't know, but I'm not nearly as optimistic as some about the direction of this.

Just my two cents.