So basically every plot hook for this arc that was actually interesting gets awkwardly swept aside for a time-skip "babies ever after" ending.
Jesus Christ.
What the fuck was the Soul King? Why did he have special eyes?
What was Aizen so angry about?
Why can't any of the Vizords have a fight without embarrassing themselves?
What was Ichibe "sorry" to Ichigo and company about? Why was he so sure Yhwach couldn't be defeated?
Who were those random two rookie Shinigamis that were literally the first thing we saw when this arc started?
What about Ichigo's "normal" friends back in Karakura town?
What about Ginjo's revelation that Ukitake created the Substitute Shinigami program and possibly had shady motives?
What was Ichigo's sister doing with Urahara?
What's the deal with Urahara? (This could be an entire section on its own.)
Why does Chad exist? I legitimately feel sorry for him as a character. His entire arc was wanting to catch up to Ichigo and be able to fight and contribute on a comparable level, and he never even got close. His final battle was against some random fodder and it didn't even happen on-screen.
Why did Shunsui imply that Ichigo would never be able to return home to his friends?
Why did Isshin know the Final Getsuga Tensho?
What the fuck was Yachiru? I guess we're just supposed to assume she was a personified Zanpakuto, sort of like Stark and Lillynette, but she had her OWN Zanpakuto and Shikai, and she was still around watching Kenpachi fight after he'd released Nozarashi. We...just never see her again.
What were the Shikais, Bankais, or even just Zanpakuto of like, 50% of the cast?
What are Orihime's powers? We went through the whole Fullbring arc without a confirmation she was a Fullbringer, but she never actually did anything besides her little shields and her plot-convenience-healing. Weren't her powers supposed to have deity-level implications?
Was there ANY fucking point to Yoruichi suddenly having a little brother? This actually happened to Omeada, too, come to think of it. Did he ever even hint at having a little sister before he suddenly had one as a plot device to protect? And then...neither of them were ever seen again, either. Hell, did Soi Fon's fight with the robot dude ever actually even finish?
Seriously, this arc ran for more than 4 years and just about nothing actually happened, and some of the stuff that DID happen was absolute bullshit.
Remember the zombie girl? Remember how Hitsugaya was fucking DEAD and zombified? Wow, what balls on Kubo, taking one of the most popular characters and killing him off while also making him a technical antagonist - oh, no, wait, Mayuri will fix it with the magical medical-afterlife-healing pods he's been hiding just off screen for like 30 chapters. (Which also heal the previously totally unforseen Quincy Schrift Zombification, by the way.) Oh hey, Is that Frankenstein Kira over there? Mayuri did it! Don't even get me started on what a bizarre metaphysical concept zombies in the afterlife are.
Did Uryu ever actually have a plan? The "Antithesis" was such an incredibly specific and convenient power for him to pull out of nowhere, but then Haschwalth hints that he could weaponize it against Yhwach somehow and Uryu is totally shocked by the idea. So, was he actually on Yhwach's side? Did he just think him so overwhelmingly powerful that there was no choice but to follow him? How had he never even spent a moment thinking on how he might be able to use his abilities? And then, the plan that he actually ends up going with is something he couldn't have possibly seen coming or planned for. (His father passing along the Deus Ex Arrowhead.) What was Uryu even DOING the entire time!?
This series ran for almost exactly 15 years, and we don't even know, like, the motivations or intentions of the two biggest villians, Aizen and Yhwach.
What an absolute joke.
