All valid points you bring up.

No, the story telling hasn’t improved in the slightest. And the TYBW arc is perhaps the worst in canon. It’s even more flash and no substance than ever before. And as I said in the original post, Ichigo’s been reduced to a cog in the machine. So, you definitely haven’t missed a thing. I’ve seen the recent anime, and the pacing is awful too.

Because Kubo didn’t bother with interpersonal relations, this is people (like me) are coming to these conclusions (like Ichigo and Uryu being a better match); especially after Kubo had enough of rinsing and recycling the same idea over and over, leading to a epilogue where he just shoved Ichigo and Orihime together.

But yeah. Because of how Kubo handled interpersonal relations, it’s not to hard to see Icihgo as being gay, since he seems to have more chemistry with Uryu than he ever did Orihime; along with him looking horrified when any girl showed him some skin, or him not grabbing a hint when a female character was into him. Meanwhile, in that scene, with Ichigo talking to Uryu, it looked almost like subtle flirting that Ichigo himself wasn’t even aware of. And which gave me a creative idea for dialog.

It’s not surprising people are writing gay fics about Ichigo on AO3. And a lot of them are not even using canon in the slightest. Because I assume canon is just too much of a mess to pick up from. So, those writers are generally making their own AU with the characters in it.

Ain’t that the sad truth? The art was on point (for the main characters). The character development? No. But hey. It’s about money, right?

No wonder Kubo wrapped up the story abruptly. He was running on fumes and shoved Ichigo and Orihime together as a packaged deal. So much for that. No chemistry for that pairing to even make sense. Now, Ichigo and Uryu? Makes more sense. But Kubo would never do something creative like that. Because as you mentioned, the classic, boring trope came first.

And it wasn’t even a good trope. Makes me think of the TV shows and movies today; recycling the same crap because it’s safe and makes money. Western producers don’t take risks like they used to. And Kubo’s Bleach universe? It mirrors that.

Huh… Sounds so exciting. But wasn’t it Kazui, who came out of nowhere?

Actually makes a ton of sense; it was rinse and repeat. Ichigo had next to no development; especially after the Soul Society Arc.

The filler was better throughout. Except maybe the Bount Arc. But I didn’t really think it was that awful. Unlike the TYBW arc that’s been animated recently. Ichigo’s just not even there; even when he’s in any scenes. Except for when he looks like he’s low-key checking out Uryu (which gave me a creative dialog idea). That’s about it.