This is one manga that would've gotten a 7 or 8 from me two years ago.
I have now been so thoroughly disappointed by recent happenings that I actually hesitate to give it a 2 instead of a 1.
I loved this series during the first arc. I felt that that particular arc had a nice balance of plot (enough for a shonen manga), battles, humor, and character development. I really liked a lot of the cast that was presented - of course, the artwork helped. But at least the plot was somewhat coherent, and it moved along quickly enough. If I were to complain about one thing back then, it would be how the female characters will all be at some point given the "helpless plot device" treatment. Rukia can obviously kick ass, and I believe Orihime has her good points too - but for some reason, they all get reduced to mere plot devices in their own respective arcs, damsels in distress to be rescued by our big manly Ichigo. ... Okay, alright, I would also complain about Kubo's tendency to overuse certain characters who have proven to be popular with the fanbase, and then make them lose to anyone and everyone. (Poor Renji.)
The second arc, however, is where everything starts to fall apart. New characters are introduced - no real problem there; I love the vizards and the Espada were interesting to watch. It is how Kubo uses these characters that makes zero freaking sense to me. There were some great fights - moments like Kurotsuchi Mayuri vs Szayel Aporro kept me reading the manga.
But that's really everything good I can say about arc two. There is absolutely no plot in this arc - in fact, I can summarize it in one sentence: big bad evil villain with god-like powers sets out to destroy Karakura Town for spiritual energy to make a key -- and be sure to emphasize god like powers, because Kubo seems to think that he hasn't emphasized it enough already. The entire cast is used like rag dolls to repeatedly establish that Aizen is pretty much god and can do whatever the crap he wants to because he is OMG THAT POWERFUL!!1!11!.
I can't really convey how disappointed I was to read 392. I think part of it is because I actually fell for it - I actually thought "nah, it can't be hypnotism because that's SO FREAKING OBVIOUS AND CAN BE SEEN A MILE AWAY AND THUS RENDER A CLIFFHANGER USELESS and really does he really need to establish the whole Aizen is god thing again?". I now see that I've been too optimistic - I really set myself up for that one, because I should've remembered that Kubo has proven that he has no real ability to write (or plan out his manga) logically - or at least, he's lost that ability over the years.
Anyway, I'm tired of being disappointed that the characters I root for are either randomly stabbed in the stomach, cut down in five seconds (Espadas were supposed to be captain level, or really powerful, and their fights were so dull it was almost an afterthought), or used as rag dolls to prove how omguberpowerfulnoonecanbeathim Aizen is. I'm not reading this anymore.
Btw, this Karakura Town battle has been going on for almost two years. I can't believe I read something with no plot for two years.
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