User blog comment:Bloody Bankai/The Plot and Characters in Bleach ( Spoilers inside, please avoid this post if you do not read the manga as well as watch the anime )/@comment-1650414-20091018054706

First off ichigo vs Kenpachi. This only happened for real one time when ichigo first entered the sereiti. Ichigo did win but only by the help of his Zankpaktou which Kenpachi did not have. Kenpachi in my opinion is stronger and would win in a normal swordsmen fight. 2nd Ichigo vs Byakuya. Ichigo, as you said, was clearly underestimated and was tooken by suprise. Byakuya is a strong fighter but he had no reason to fight that match other than honor while ichigo had saving rukia. I think this gave Ichigo the edge aswell as the suddeness of some of his hollow coming out even though he quickly regained control. Third the espada. Stark was not killed off easily as you said neither was number 2, Barragan. Harribels fight disappointed me greatly, and she only died easily because of Aizen. And if you ask why barragan's fight was actually in depth... read the manga again please. He fought Soi Fon and her vice for a good 4-5 chapters until Hachigen came to fight as well. That also took 1-2 chapters. Also the reason stark was in a way easily defeated was that Shunsui has never once showned his true power and still hasn't. He is much stronger than he lets on and took Stark out with his shikai. I do not believe in the slightest that Ichigo is the strongest character in this series. And about Hitsugaya.. the reason he has advanced so greatly is because of his popularity. If it wasn't that everyone liked him he wouldn't be played out and made so great so fast. Lastly about the filler in the anime i can not tell you for i really only read the manga the most. I watch the anime as they come out in english. If i spelled anything wrong in this im greatly sorry and hopefully you understand what im saying.