>>281223436
There's a very simple middle ground one can take here. Kubo's problem is that he introduced a new expanded cast with every single major arc and never fully explored any of them. SS > Arrancar/Hueco Mundo > Fullbring(?) > TYBW each adding a new villain organization gave the existing cast no room to breathe. If Gotei was like 2/3s the size and there were fewer Shinigami overall, then Kubo wouldn't have had so many people to try to jam scenes in for. Similarly, the Quincy should have been a much smaller operation.
Ichigo himself suffered as a character in the final arc because his involvement really didn't have the impact you'd expect from the hero who did the lion's share of work defeating Aizen. If you look at the fights he had, he really has some of the more mediocre of the entire arc. Meanwhile, Kubo acts like he wants to start dropping name characters left and right to show the stakes, but he actually commits to killing off very few of them.
