User blog comment:GinIchimaru/Why Aizen is not "Over-Powered"/@comment-1087189-20100409010642

I agree that in terms of his smarts, Aizen is a talented antagonist. But that's not why I think he's overpowered.

Aizen is overpowered in terms of strength, not smarts. It's entirely plausible for the antagonist to be fiendishly smart and sly like Aizen is, which is why some of his moves are pure genius. For example, his 'death' in SS, luring Ichigo and the captains into Hueco Mundo, and finally, his defeat of Head Captain Yamamoto.

The fact that he succesfully incapacitates 4 (I think) captain class shinigami without even a scratch on himself can be explained by his zanpakuto, not that it excuses the fact that it is overpowered. The fact that he survived the ungodly explosion caused by Yamamoto can be explained (I assume) by the hogyokou, but again, that does not excuse the fact that it is intensely overpowered.

Put it this way, if you don't mind me refering to other mangas for a second.

If, in Naruto, Naruto fought all of the previous Hokages and beat them in seconds, he would be overpowered. Even if it was revealed that he was using all the power of the nine tailed fox, it would be overpowered, simply because defeating so many strong characters so quick should be impossible.

It's akin to Ichigo's "Last Minute, Save The Day YAY" powerups, in that it's a last minute plot twist that allows the character in question to do something they (as well as many other characters) would normally fail at doing. Just because they achieved a third level of sword release, or had some unholy artifact that made them invincible, doesn't mean that it suddenly is not an overpowered thing to do.

Or at least, that's how I see it.