Bleach

Why were the top 3 espada so weak? Ulquiorra was destroying Bankai Ichigo without even releasing.

Harribel should have manhandled Histugaya.

Starrk should have been even stronger and crush all the other captains with his spirit pressure alone.

No.

Harribel wasn't in the top three, though.

Aizen was such a dick.

It's more or less his defining character trait.

This scene just reminds me how awful the writing in Bleach is. Aizen kills his only remaining soldier and then proceeds to solo all the captains except Yamamoto, who he disables with the help of Wonderweiss. What was the point of the espada, then? What did they even accomplish? Even if he hadn't trapped the four other captains in hueco mundo, I don't think they would have made much of a difference in the face of kyoka suigetsu. He could have had them all kill each other for fuck's sake. The espada were useless and Aizen just wasted his time depending on them when he could have just killed everyone and made the key before Ichigo and his dad could show up to stop him.

Yammy was just an embarrassment

>What was the point of the espada, then? What did they even accomplish?

Follow a nonsensical shonen pace where everyone needs their own individual disconnected battle for plot resolution

It's garbage.

>Ulquiorra
He was probably stronger than Barragan, on par with Starrk possibly. Remember: only he had a second release

>Starrk
He was holding back the entire time. It's impossible to say how powerful he really was, his spiritual powerful was said to be so immense that everything around him dies.
>Barragan
His power was menacing, he only lost due to bullshit weakness in his power. Classic case of Kubo making a character too powerful to lose and resorting to asspull to defeat him.
>Hallibel
She was just weakish, and toshiro used a powerful move to weaken her and she tanked it.

see Aizen uses others for his own personal gain, even if the advantage is only minor. Having the Shinigami focus on fighting fodder Arrancar bought him time to create Wonderweiss and perfect his Hougyoku; without which he'd never have reached his transcendence.

>Classic case of Kubo making a character too powerful to lose and resorting to asspull to defeat him.

Classic case of user using 'asspull' incorrectly.

Well, Ulquiorra was the only Espada who reached Segunda Etapa.

I think it was implied that Ulquiorra really was the strongest Espada all along since he kept Segunda Etapa a secret from Aizen.

Also, Starrk and Barragan lost because while they had strength, they lacked battle experience, and Kyouraku and Hachigen had powers that countered there abilities.

As for Harribel, she's strong but Aizen is a fucking monster.

That's why he made that entire speech about being disappointed in them. He expected better and they didn't deliver. Aizen made the Espada to be his servants so he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty, then they all failed and he ended up having to get his hands dirty. Halibel was nothing but baggage at that point. The Espada stronger than her had already lost, so what point would there be in keeping her around?

Man Tousen was a bitch ass. Cool as fuck mask for a blind Vaizard though.

Wait, whatever happened to Harribel at the end anyways? after she was captured?

his plotline was actually pretty good but Kubo fucked up and made the entire fight unimportant and underwhelming.

Also why the fuck did Aizen let Tousen tag around. Considering how strong he was alone. But I guess that goes for the rest of the espada.

Aizen is smug as fuck and new he could easily beat the captains alone, but he thought that that was boring so he formed his army with the Espada.

He was disappointed with the Espada though and said "Fuck it, I'll do it myself."

And Yamamoto was the only one strong enough to beat him, so he needed to find a way to nullify his Zanpakuto.

He was creating Hollows that could nullify the powers of Zanpakuto since he created Metastacia, which led to Kaien Shiba's death.

He specifically tailored Wonderweiss to nullify Ryujin Jakka.

How is this hard for you to fucking understand you fucking dipshit speedreader?

A. Rescued by Nel and company after their battle with Askin

B. Dead and forgotten

It's multiple choice.

>Also why the fuck did Aizen let Tousen tag around.

Tousen being blind = natural immunity to Kyouka Suigetsu, although Aizen manipulated so perfectly that it barely mattered.

>Well, Ulquiorra was the only Espada who reached Segunda Etapa.

That has nothing to do with his second resurrection. He wasn't even using the first one against Bankai Ichigo. Fuck how more obvious can I be in the OP. Espadas were raping captain level characters without even trying.

Even Zaraki was getting raped with his eyepatch off. He had to use both hands. That's the guy who defeated tousen without even taking the eyepatch off before.

>Starrk and Barragan lost because while they had strength, they lacked battle experience
Arrancars don't need to learn how to fight it's already deeply engraved within them. Starrks was displaying a deep understanding of Shunsui's moves.

>Fuck how more obvious can I be in the OP

Don't worry, you're still being obnoxious.

Because Tousen was blind and thus unaffected by Kyouka Suigetsu, which made him a potential threat. So he coaxed Tousen to his side so that he wouldn't be a threat and found the opportune moment to get rid of him.

>mfw Harribel jobbed to iceshota, who wasn't even fighting that seriously because he was scared of hurting his allies with Tenso Jurin.
>mfw she would've died if it wasn't for Wonderweiss' screech

Even disregarding Yammy, Harribel still gets knocked down a spot in the powerlevel ranking thanks to Ulquiorra's super secret second form.

>Tousen being blind = natural immunity to Kyouka Suigetsu

Or maybe you know he could have just killed him like everybody else before.

>in the powerlevel ranking thanks to Ulquiorra's super secret second form.

That he didn't even need to use. So that hardly counts.

those are some really long fucking legs

>Harribel jobbed to iceshota

Technically this had nothing to do with Harribel's Reiatsu and everything to do with her water abilities being a poor match-up for Toshiro's Daiguren Hyourinmaru.

On the other hand, Wonderweiss is truly underrated. His Reiatsu was on par with the Espada and likely rivaled Yamamoto's; how else would he be able to contain the power of Ryuujin Jakka?

And make him a suspect for murder in Soul Society and fuck up years worth of plans? No.

How fucking stupid are you? It's not that hard to figure out Aizen's rationale.

Yammy also had a secundo etapa

see >Aizen uses others for his own personal gain

He let Tousen do all of his dirty work while focusing on his experiments, just like he used Hinamori to cause infighting within the Shinigami ranks. He's a natural sociopath and knows exactly how to use others to the point they have nothing left to offer them.

No, that was just a resureccion.

>And make him a suspect for murder in Soul Society and fuck up years worth of plans?

Oh you mean like the hundreds of shinegami he was hollowfying, Soul sucking, murdering in company of dozens of accomplice and the 4 captains and vice captains he got rid off without even trying?

Or the 3rd seat he had Ichimaru almost publicly murder?

Yeah you're dumb.

Then why did he evolve twice?

Starrk was going to make Shunsui use bankai with a half assed technique

That's the only good explanation but it's also a dumb explanation.

Kubo just can't not ruin a good plot to save his life.

Maybe he just wanted them to die. Like, halfway through the Hueco Mundo arc when all the other Espada and their Fraccion were getting slaughtered, he realized that they were actually not that strong and wanted to get rid of them.

Honestly, Bleach falls apart right around this part.

There is a single chapter that has both "The Heart" and "Who said the Espada are numbered 1-10". It's probably the worst chapter of Bleach up to that point in the manga.
Even though Mexico are wasn't as good as SS, it still felt like the same manga.

Then the final fights with the Espada are very underwhelming and it almost feels the manga is leading to an ending after Aizen, but it didn't. It would've made the previous arc's pacing more understandable.
But the manga doesn't end, and launches into new mediocre arcs.

He always had an Alibi to keep himself from being caught. And as mentioned, Aizen's willing to use anyone he can use for his personal gain. He manipulates those he believes are useful, and quickly dispatches those he deems useless. He admitted that that's why he made Hinamori his Lieutenant and Kira Gin's Lieutenant while making sure Renji was separated from the group and stuck with Byakuya. And when those he deems useful no longer have any use and/or disappoints him, he kills them.

The answer to every question about Bleach is:
Because Kubo is a shit writer.
No point in discussing work that has LN tier writing

>That's the only good explanation but it's also a dumb explanation.

You're contradicting yourself, user.

They shouldn't even have had to use their powers.

Do you remember how Ichigo was assraped by GrimJow and Ulquiorra, even after he got control of his Hollow Powers? Without using his mask he was on Byakuya's level. While using his mask he was even further beyond and was still barely tying unreleased Ulquiorra.

Espada 5 got Kenpatchi more serious than he ever had been before.
Fuck Barragarn Blizzed Soi Fon in the first second of fighting but then Kubo forgot the espada were supposed to do that.

Following this logic, Espada 3 should have one shotted Hitsugaya in Bankai with her bare hand, and Starrk been as strong as Aizen.

I think you underestimate how powerful Shunsui is.

Barragan only lost because magic, without Hachi i don't think there would've been anyone there that could beat him, except maybe Ukitake, Shunsui or Yama.

Halibel sucked, but i think when she cut Hitsugaya in 2 Kubo did intend Hitsugaya to lose there, but editors got in his way. Bleeding ice clone is too retarded even for Kubo.

>Do you remember how Ichigo was assraped by GrimJow and Ulquiorra, even after he got control of his Hollow Powers?
Ichigo's Reiatsu is completely inconsistent in the early arc because his powers were still in development. Or did you forget that Ichigo went on to defeat both of those opponents?

>Following this logic, Espada 3 should have one shotted Hitsugaya in Bankai with her bare hand, and Starrk been as strong as Aizen.

See >Technically this had nothing to do with Harribel's Reiatsu and everything to do with her water abilities being a poor match-up for Toshiro's Daiguren Hyourinmaru.

Hitsugaya is considered top-tier among the captains, basically just under Byakuya. Basically he lucked out because they both used Water-based techniques.

Kubo does.

>Do you remember how Ichigo was assraped by GrimJow and Ulquiorra, even after he got control of his Hollow Powers?

He didn't have full control of his powers, also when Ulquiorra first showed up with Yammy and Yammy trashed Ichigo, Ulquiorra said that at points Ichigo's power surpassed his own. In the meeting with Aizen and the other Espada he said Ichigo would self destruct and Grimmjow called him a retard for letting him live.

And then he lost control of his power when fighting Ulquiorra and he tore his face off.

They were the results of his experiemnts and he used them to do his dirty work while he continued researching, kinda like how the vizard had no purpose to him outside of being test subjects.

It's like you didn't even read the manga.

okay.jpg

>I think you underestimate how powerful Shunsui is.

Kubo didn't make any effort to make it seem like he was more of a challenge to Aizen than those 3 other captains.

Fuck the last Arc he fought toe to toe with Yamamoto for a while, something that should place him near Aizen's level. But then Kubo forgot.

I think all of this has to do with Kubo being a retconning fanfic tier writer with no remembrance of his own plot.

He wasn't any more of a challenge to Aizen than any other captain because they were all under the effect of kyoka suigetsu. Even if Shunsui had been as strong as Aizen he would've gotten killed instantly.

>Ulquiorra said that at points Ichigo's power surpassed his own.

He said there was 2 people capable of destroying him in the city and ichigo wasn't one of them. Then Urahara shows up with Yoruichi and makes them retreat.

>He didn't have full control of his powers
The whole point of the Vizard training is that he regained control of his powers and got even stronger.

>Kubo didn't make any effort to make it seem like he was more of a challenge to Aizen than those 3 other captains.

He couldn't 1v1 Aizen with his Bankai without possibly affecting his comrades. This was actually mentioned when he and Juushiro were fighting Starrk.

Also note that nearly everyone besides Yamamoto and Unohana had spent most of their reiatsu fighting the Espada, ergo they were already weakened before they fought Aizen.

I dropped Bleach two years ago but decided to read up on the final villain. Apparently he was beaten by some plot arrow? I don't understand why he didn't just use Yama's bankai to save himself.

Bait.

>Aizen than any other captain because they were all under the effect of kyoka suigetsu. Even if Shunsui had been as strong as Aizen he would've gotten killed instantly.


Did Aizen slice off Yamamoto's throat instantly? Nope he couldn't.

If Shunsui had been significantly stronger he should have required more attention than that pure curbstomping.

Fuck Aizen is not even shown using Kyoga in that picture. He just outsped the 4 of them and slashed them. Just like how he then proceeds to destroy Komamura's bankai, tie up Rose with his own Sword, Crush Love's sword...
He doesn't even need to use Kyoga in those instances.

>Did Aizen slice off Yamamoto's throat instantly? Nope he couldn't.

What sort of argument is that? Yama is leagues above every other Shinigami sans Aizen.

Aizen wasn't using Kyoga Suigetsu to beat all these captains. He only used it as a party trick to fuck with them.

Gin states it, it's canon. The guy is just beyond every single of them sans Yama. But Kubo forgot Shunsui and Ukitake managed to stand against Yama for a while in the last Arc.

So really if we go back at the initial reasoning, the 3 Espada were stupidly weak for what they were hyped to be.

>Aizen wasn't using Kyoga Suigetsu to beat all these captains. He only used it as a party trick to fuck with them.

Technically they were all under KS, but it's also true that Aizen has mastered all of the Shinigami combat arts and was only equaled by Yama in terms of power. But as pointed out here Shunsui had already taken a ton of damage from Starrk and spent most of his Reiatsu. If he had used Bankai he could have one-shotted Aizen, but the chance of his comrades also being affected prevented him fro going all-out.

> the 3 Espada were stupidly weak for what they were hyped to be.

Not really, without the Vaizard coming to the rescue it's more than likely Starrk, Harribel and Barragan could have killed everyone but Yamamoto, who would've been neutralized by Wonderweiss regardless.

Aizen bankai could have helped him kill Yamamoto and Unohana with ease. Why didn't he assassinate them?

>everything around him turns to dust
>ranked below a man who controls loli wolves

Try reading the manga before posting in a Bleach thread.

>Implying that wasn't only done to piss him off

Reiatsu split into two beings > reiatsu contained in a single being.

>But as pointed out here Shunsui had already taken a ton of damage from Starrk and spent most of his Reiatsu

Fighting an engagement in Shikai only and taking limited damage is not ground for that sort of stomping. Stamina in Bleach was never shown to be a significant factor.

>but the chance of his comrades also being affected prevented him fro going all-out.
So uh Yamamoto blowing up the entire city doesn't count?

>Fighting an engagement in Shikai only and taking limited damage is not ground for that sort of stomping.

He'd taken a ton of damage from Starrk before even using his Shikai's ability, and he couldn't use his Bankai because it could harm his comrades, not because he was holding back his strength.

>Stamina in Bleach was never shown to be a significant factor.

It explicitly was, most notably during the Ichigo/ Byakuya fight where Ichigo started to lose since he couldn't physically handle the speed factor from TZ. Stamina has literally always been a factor in Bleach.

>So uh Yamamoto blowing up the entire city doesn't count?

That was to kill Aizen, not some random Arrancar. Yama is the only person in the Gotei that has the authority to take the lives of the other Captains.

Yeah but in the post it's about killing Aizen not some arrancar.

Read the second sentence, user.

>If he had used Bankai he could have one-shotted Aizen, but the chance of his comrades also being affected prevented him fro going all-out.
Yeah so he didn't use it on Aizen because it would have been dangerous but then they had a plan of blowing themselves up and possibly Karakura with them as well.

Sorry Wrong sentence. that doesn't really make sense either way. Besides he was about to use his bankai against Starrk. Then Ukitake advised him not to because it would be problematic with everyone around.
Then he suddenly beat Starrk without even trying.

None of it really makes sense.

Only the Commander has the authority to sacrifice the Captains, and only if the cause is worth it. You're making a comparison between two entirely separate cases and saying they're the same. Shunsui has no authority to sacrifice the other captains, and doing so would go against his character.

>Then he suddenly beat Starrk without even trying.

That's not how it happened, though. While Starrk was distracted with the Vizards, Shunsui managed to land a sneak attack on Starrk. Even with a Shikai ability that 'cheats' Starrk was able to keep up with Shunsui, who barely managed a win.

>and doing so would go against his character.
He made speeches about having to use dirty tricks and stepping over other captains to win a fight.

Fake Karakura and Deicide are almost enjoyable after the shitfest that was the Thousand Year War.

>He made speeches about having to use dirty tricks and stepping over other captains to win a fight.

That's not at all what he said, user. The actual quote is more akin to 'there's no good or bad when it comes to war'. He never said anything about wanting to sacrifice his companions, I think you're getting him confused with Mayuri.

Both arcs have their good and bad fights. I thought FK handled the small fights better while TYBW had better Captain fights overall. Deicide was drawn out as fuck but I think it's conclusion was better than the actual ending.

>Grimjow
>Espada 6
>Beats Ichigo in bankai as soon as he loses his mask
>with one arm and his bare hands

>Luppi
>Weaker than real espada 6
>Beats one captain and 3 vice captains without trouble (loses to stupidity)

>Harribel
>Espeda 3
>Loses to Icecunt

>Starrk
>Fukken Primera
>struggles against 2 captains in Shikai
>struggles against 2 weaker captains in Shikai, has to use ultimate technique to win
>loses to a single captain in shikai

Read the thread.

>He always had an Alibi to keep himself from being caught.
That actually makes sense.

Who cares whatever headcanon people come up with. It doesn't make sense and Kubo did nothing to improve it.

Just face it guys

Power levels are really inconsistent in bleach

>headcanon

this

How strong was Starrk in the first place? Could he have solo'd Yamamato?

Not only that, hax abilities like the ones from Barragan, Gerrard and Ichibei can also fuck up those power levels.

Dark souls boss ass lookin nigga

Power levels are consistenly inconsistent in Bleach; that's because Reiatsu is measured as a force that may fluctuate depending on the actual Reirokyu of the Shinigami.

>Could he have solo'd Yamamato?

No one can solo Yamamoto.

Stronger than anyone we've seen in Bleach aside from transcended beings but apparently Kubo has some sort of bipolar personality disorders and writes 3 different plots at the same time.

So what was Yammy supposed to be for?

To show the reader how weak and pointless the Espada was to begin with?

Yammy jobbed to Zaraki.

Good post and repeating 5.

>How strong was Starrk in the first place? Could he have solo'd Yamamato?


Weaker than Ulquiorria.

Starrk fought two of the most OP Captains. It's not like he jobbed to Hitsugaya or something.

IchigoXIchika or KazuiXIchika fanfics, images and Doujins when?

Yuzu raping or molesting her nephew doujins when?

Ichika and Kazui playing doctor. when?

Ichika lewds. when?

>Makes two entire arc about the Espada
>lol just kidding they were garbage

And this is why Bleach's ratings crashed down faster than Brendan Frazer's career.

I hope Kubo's reputation is ruined and he never gets the green light for a new manga.

That image is so wrong it's not funny.