#newcaptain

With a longer running anime series there will be a number of issues. The biggest issue though is catching up to the manga. Once an anime gets close enough to its manga then it will no longer have any source material which can lead to one of two things usually. The first is to simply put the show on hiatus until there’s enough time for the manga to progress. The second is to create filler, a method that most anime decide to go for with some even becoming notorious for it. And Bleach is no exception.

The New Captain Arc takes place a bit after Aizen and his group’s betrayal. With three open captain positions Soul Society is trying to figure out how to fill them up. Enter Amagai Shuusuke, the leader of Soul Society's expedition unit and new captain of the Third Division. While at first many are hesitant about this new captain, he’s able to quickly earn their trust and become accepted by them. At the same time Ichigo meets Kasumoji Rurichiyo, the leader of one of Soul Society's clans who is being targeted by assassins. After getting to know her Ichigo decides to help protect her from this threat. Is it just a coincidence that Shuusuke and Rurichiyo are both appearing now, or is there something more going on? And what is with this mysterious weapon that Shuusuke is wielding?

This arc is fairly good despite being filler. In fact, it’s the perfect example of filler being good enough to be considered canon. With an interesting villain and an engaging story, you’d be surprised to find out it was filler. Of course, it’s hard not to know since the show outright tells you it is. You see the problem with this arc isn’t its quality, but instead its placement in the show as a whole. Due to Bleach catching up to the manga it had no choice but to put this filler in at a climatic moment of the show, thus ruining its momentum. As a result fans now have a negative perception of the arc despite it being overall good.

If you look at the show as a whole, this arc would seem almost unnecessary as it derails from the overall story. However, I believe that because of its placement, its quality was heightened in order to make sure that fans wouldn’t be too upset about getting a filler arc when they did. That’s why I recommend skipping the arc for now in order to keep the main story consistent, but coming back to it later as it is an overall great watch.