User blog comment:Godisme/Die Standing/@comment-5605202-20121010192308

"I can't even imagine right now how Kubo could have ever though this arc would last long. I really can't see it lasting more than till maybe February."

If you don't mind my saying, you seem to have a pretty poor imagination. (Not to mention the fact that when "Juhabach" was killed in 509 you said Bleach would be over in a matter of weeks; how'd that one turn out?)

The Repeat and Reboot info (that you yourself posted to this site) already outlines a good portion of the arc that has yet to take place. For example, Kubo has said that the final arc will take place in an "ice palace"—sound familiar? []

Do you know why the pacing in the arc feels so strange so far? It's because you're treating this as the climactic final battle. It's not. It's the curbstomp of Soul Society, nothing more and nothing less. Don't like it? Well, you're not supposed to. Kubo intended this to be the utter devastation of SS, and he's having his way. Where they go from here, how they counterattack—that, I think, will form the bulk of the next few weeks and months.

In a way, these chapters are to the final arc what the Arrancar incursions (led by Grimmjow and Ulquiorra) were to that arc. The real stuff—Ishida's role, Ichigo's bloodline, the Vandenreich's history and motivation, the characters' pasts, Grimmjow's possible return, the emergence of the Royal Guard, the Soul King, etc.—these are still to come.

By the way, Yamamoto didn't just stand there when his bankai was stolen: http://www.mangastream.to/bleach-chapter-524-page-15.html To me, this and the next page indicate that he started to charge Juhabach, only to stop short when J summons a giant bow. (By the way, if Aizen can stab Yamamoto, I don't see why Juhabach can't cut him in half. After all, this is a weaker Yamamoto than Aizen fought: not only potentially exhausted from using his bankai, but also already handicapped by the loss of an arm.)