User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 644 - BABY, HOLD YOUR HAND 7 (Never Ending My Dream)/@comment-5303512-20150924113750/@comment-24531362-20150925173859

Hitsugaya is, on a fundamental level, a fanboy/girl/other character at this point. He's around and relevant because he had a cool power (sorry not sorry) which made him popular. That power was grossly mishandled fairly early on, creating a captain who had amazing, nigh -limitless ice powers and who used it to fly (something he could do already) and for the occasional freezing slash. It wasn't until the Fake Karakura Arc that he had a remotely decent fight, and that was made possible both because of his partners in the fight and because his foe's powers were complimentary to his. The loss of his Bankai allowed him room to grow, which was quickly neutered by its almost immediate return. The handling of Hitsugaya's character is probably Kubo's biggest mistake thus far, IMO.