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-1403595-20091018093506

I'll retry as I had to leave before I could complete what I was saying last time.

Ichigo's rapid development, from his birth as a soul reaper to bankai, in only a month or so, two at the outside is indicative of his massive potential. Byakuya took 60 odd years to become a captain, yet Ichigo could fight him as an equal in only two months. And we all know how immense Byakuya's spiritual pressure is. Likewise, Renji trained for those 40 years or so and in bankai was only marginally superior to Byakuya in shikai. Yes Ichigo used Urahara's method, but Urahara himself said that only someone with his talent could have mastered it and that Ichigo's potential was greater than even his. How does this all add up? Experience. He cannot use his spiritual force properly most of the time because of his lack of experience. His amazing strength when he gathers the resolve proves this, he matched Kenpachi with his eyepatch off, (it should be noted that while kenpachi is in shikai constantle, it actually weakens him because he and his sword lend each other no strength) and his fight against Grimmjow proved that when he actually masters his pressure, he far outmatched the 6th Espada, catching his hand and shattering his Desgarron to impale him. His weakness is that he too easily loses that concentration when surprised or even just when he can't muster the proper resolve. That whole monologue that Urahara gave him about his sword speaking of fear. In short, no Ichigo is not the most powerful character, far far from it. HOWEVER, he does have the potential to get a lot stronger and has shown glimpses of that power occasionally.

I agree about the Espada, some of them were disappointing especially as Grimmjow, Nnoitra and Ulquiorra lived up to their hype, in my mind at least, yet Harribel was really unimpressive. Barragan certainly was deserving of his title, as was Starrk. Starrk would destroy Barragan in a fight, those energy wolves would overwhelm his time field due to their speed and the explosion would damage him massively, think Soifon's bankai to the face, times as many wolves as Starrk wants. But whatever, that's just idle fanspec.

Hitsugaya I think, beat Gin in their short duel, had it been a true one on one with no Hinamori for Gin to take advantage of, he was in real trouble. And Aizen destroyed Komamura with the illusions trick as well so it could hardly be said that this is a sign of weakness. Yes he has improved somewhat but he was always a captain, and really, he was always going to be a match to Harribel, although considering the injuries the other Espada's opponents suffered, I was expecting him to come off second best. Nonetheless, people are writing off captains too easily I think.

Absurd amounts of power when he needs it? From the very start of the series he has shown the potential for vast amounts of power, but control has always been his letdown, so really, all you see is not an increase in power but an increase in control. Otherwise what would be the point of having him as the protagonist?