User blog comment:Zmanstardust/Which of Ichigo's Powers is Better?/@comment-1393830-20110827045608/@comment-2048489-20110827071753

Must I repeat myself everytime this comes up? I am too lazy to rewrite my comment, so the following is an exact reproduction of my explanation I posted on said blog. Key words: BASE POWER

Let me explain my interpretation of the "raised his base power." Again. Kugo specifically said "the fullbring I gave him raised his base power." "Base power" means his power at his absolutely basic level. Ground zero, so to speak. You can build skyscrapers upon that base, but improve things at the foundation and the whole building is strengthened overall. As for how it improved, I'll just cite what Ichigo said earlier about his Shinigami powers: even though they were gone, some effects (eg: his insane reaction times) from having them still lingered. Likewise, I believe the Fullbring is gone, but having felt its touch Ichigo did not come out of the experience unchanged. Just my two cents on that. I don't know if that's precisely the case, but that's my best explanation.

On the X: manifestation of soul. Fullbrings, regardless that they are supposedly the opposite of who the people with them are, seem to still manifest aspects of the person's character. Huge speculation alert on that, but I think we can all agree that no matter what has been said, Ichigo's Fullbring especially has been a manifestation of his own soul. (eg: literally cloaked in power) As Shinigami powers are the same idea, it would be almost natural for some parallels to be drawn. And anyway, who knows where the cross came from? For all we know, that cross could just as easily been an aspect of his Shinigami power that leaked into the Fullbring along with Getsuga. We all agree that he partially merged the two, after all. It might be a two way street.