Bleach/Ichigo/Headscratchers/Headscratchers/Bleach-Ichigo

As for the speed of Ichigo's Bankai I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that, it isn't the fact that its speed dropped, but that Ichigo isn't using its full speed, because his body can't take. During his fight with Byakuya, when he noticed that Byakuya was getting faster, Byakuya corrected him by saying that it's not that he is getting faster, but it's Ichigo who is getting slower. Implied that his Bankai was so fast, that his body was breaking down, because of the strain of using it to move with that isane speed. So it's not that he can't move with that speed, he just doesn't do it so as not to weaken himself during battles. Well either that, or Kubo simply forgot about it...
 * Does it bother anyone else just how ridiculously crummy Ichigo is at fighting? I know he hasn't had much time for a super long training montage but...then again I don't think he's HAD a montage which might be my point. It just seems EVERY fight he gets into he either only wins by the skin of his teeth or outside influences coming into play. Also, learn a new move already.
 * Well the battles need to remain tough in order for there to be any excitement or suspense during them. So, the enemies need to keep getting stronger. And Ichigo's had training throughout the whole series (with Rukia, with Urahara, with the Vizards). As for new moves, he just got a new form with its own version of a cero and used Getsuga in a new way in the same battle. I think he's fine for a little while longer.
 * Also, normally it would take a Shinigami years to get to where Ichigo is now, with Bankai and all, and at this point he's already taken on like 3 lieutenants (with his bare hands) and two captains (one of whom is freaking Kenpachi). I think it's ridiculous how he's already outclassed pretty much everybody below captain in SS, when they've been training for waaaay longer than he has. Like years longer. I would guess everybody in Bleach is suffering from the Worf Effect.
 * He also defeats Dodonii, a former Espada, in one hit with his hollow mask and Bankai. He merely has the misfortune of getting the attention of some of the strongest opponents available, as well as The Worf Effect.
 * Doesn't bug me. He's fifteen for friks sake, he survives because he's got crazy amounts of 'spirit power' and because, in lieu of actually having to take the years they'd need to teach him to fight properly, Yoruichi and Urahara just keep piling on more spirit power upgrades. And this is why anyone he doesn't overpower by a huge degree kicks his ass.
 * Not exactly. He's naturally a good fighter. Good enough that he figures out Renji's weakness (can't attack more than three times in a row without redrawing his sword) during their fight. Also, it would make sense that he's ridiculously powerful. Humans have much shorter lives than shinigami and Arrancar, so they improve faster. Look at Chad and Uryu. They're not coming up as crazy-fast as Ichigo, but Uryu goes from being one shotted by Renji in their first meeting to being on par with him against Szayel Apporo. Chad powers up similarly. Why does Ichigo sprint ahead of them? We already see that combining two races makes them stronger than they could possibly be along (arrancar and vizard) and Ichigo has been a human-shinigami hybrid from day one.
 * Ichigo seems to be an odd case among Shonen heroes (as well as Naruto), for being simultaneously accused by different segments of the fanbase of being too powerful and not powerful enough.
 * How did Super Hollow Ichigo's cero (Or the ensuing explosion) do such a piss-poor job at eradicating Ulquiorra when it was fired at point-blank range? It's not like the super hollow was holding back, and Ichigo didn't weaken it or stop it by willpower because he was dead before the hollow even took over. Here you can see how big the explosion was and here you can tell that it was so powerful that it sent spiritual pressure down to everyone else.
 * This can probably be attributed to Ulquiorra's regeneration abilities.
 * That really isn't a good enough excuse when you consider how Hollow Ichigo aimed the cero so close above where his head is, and how huge the explosion was. It should have AT LEAST blown off Ulquiorra's head seeing how it got his innards, left arm, and left leg blown away (Which were all farther away from the cero than his head).
 * If Ichigo tripped while using Bankai, would it kill him?
 * ... no.
 * It would if Chuck Norris tripped him.
 * What I meant was, if he was moving as fast as he could when he was fighting Byakuya, would it kill him?
 * No more than getting thrown through buildings would, which is to say not at all.
 * What bugs me about Bleach is that Ichigo is, for all practical intents & purposes, dead, and yet he still lives in the real world. (Rukia stated back in the early chapters of Bleach that anyone who had their chain of fate cut was dead as a human, and couldn't be revived. We know that Tessai cut Ichigo's chain of fate, in order for Ichigo to become a soul reaper again) Why? Why wouldn't he join the Gotei 13, and really help the soul reapers/shinigami out? Also, why has Kubo "forgotten" Tatsuki again??? We get some really great interaction between the two after Ichigo returns from the soul society, and shortly before the HM arc, but now it's like she's vanished. Why? Also, for those of you who have the Bleach Book of Souls, you'll notice a picture of Tatsuki as a soul reaper/shinigami. Why not go ahead and make her a soul reaper/shinigami or vizard like Ichigo already? Plus, what about making Orihime a soul reaper/shinigami too? Or have her as a vizard also?
 * Because Ichigo has a life, family and friends he's not willing to give up. And he's not that good with the whole authority thing (see him disobeying Yamamoto and going to rescue Orihime). As for why Tatsuki disappeared: Because she's not that important and is probably asleep with the rest of Karakura Town. And for turning her or Orihime into Shinigami or Vaizards: WHY? Why would Kubo even want to do that?
 * Ichigo has twin sisters to help take care of. Leaving them would be downright irresponsible on his part. I really want to see Tatsuki become a Shinigami. She's been around Ichigo long enough (ever since she was four years old), and has been there when Ichigo fought the Arrancars, and he was using Bankai. She's probably going to be training with Urahara, and she'll be as strong as Ichigo. Make Orihime a Shinigami...? THAT IS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST IDEA EVER!!!
 * Ichigo's wildly inconsistent power bugs me. Let's look at Soul Society arc. Ichigo beats Kenpachi with his frigging Shikai. Afterwards, he gets two massive power upgrades - Bankai (incidentally, the effect of it at the moment seems to be looking shiny as I can't remember the last time that Ichigo was actually faster than anyone with the exception of Byakuya) and the control over his Superpowered Evil Side. This tells me that Ichigo at his current power level should be able to crush Zaraki without any effort whatsoever. So, the Espadas arrive. Ichigo gets his ass handed to him by Grimmjow multiple times. Only with every single shred of power at his disposal - with both his Hollow and Bankai active not to mention with supreme heroic motivation is he able can he defeat Grimmjow. But what's this? Zaraki - when he gets serious - owns Nnoitra, someone who's even more powerful than Grimmjow was. So, someone who got his ass handed down to him by no!Bankai no!Hollow Ichigo somehow pulls a win against an opponent even more powerful than one Ichigo was almost crushed multiple times by? Something doesn't work here.
 * Ichigo had just fought with Grimmjow, and that wore him out. My theory is he was just too tired to fight at the time and just wanted to grab Orihime, Rukia and the rest of the group and get the hell out. Kenpachi on the other hand, I have no clue...he's just that awesome...?
 * I'm not really talking about his fight with Nnoitra. I'm just comparing. 1. Everything points out that Ichigo is vastly more powerful than Kenpachi at the moment. 2. Nnoitra is more powerful than Grimmjow. 3. Ichigo had some huge problems dealing with Grimmjow. 4. Kenpachi - once he got serious - wiped the floor with Nnoitra. Something doesn't work here.
 * Yeah, something doesn't work here. One could argue that Kenpachi wasn't serious when he fought Ichigo the first time...but I don't think so, he looked incredibly serious. I guess he could have been training, but for now, this is a Plot Hole.
 * It's not that he wasn't serious, it's just that Kenpachi has a habit of matching his opponent's power to let the fight last longer, like he never takes his eyepatch of until his opponent proves his stronger than Kenpachi with it. The only reason his fight with Ichigo ended in a draw was because Ichigo's only chance at victory was a single exchange with all his power, and Kenpachi practically just said "Hell, why not" to it. If they fought normally Ichigo would've gotten cut to ribbons.
 * There are a few theories about the battle (though Plot Hole is more likely). We kinda knew Kenpachi was more powerful than he looked when fighting Ichigo after his fight with Tousen and Komamura (where neither could touch him once they started fighting, and before Tousen used Bankai). To fight Kenpachi, Ichigo drew on Zangetsu's power, which gave him a massive power boost. If that is a permanent powerup, and all shinigami have it, then the Captains would be horribly weak without their Zanpakuto (Ichigo went from above Vice Captain level to Captain level right away). So perhaps it was a temporary powerup, and Ichigo just fights with his own reiatsu later (and his Inner Hollow, after learning his Vizard powers). We also know that Zangetsu and the Inner Hollow are one the same, so when Ichigo draws on all the power of Zangetsu, its possible he is drawing on the power of the Inner Hollow too. So really, Ichigo in that fight was using all his reiatsu, and all Zangetsu's reiatsu (potentially all the Inner Hollow's reiatsu too) - when he fought Byakuya, he was using just his own, in Bankai or not, and even when he fought Grimmjow, he used his own and the Inner Hollow's. Sure, it doesn't take into account Ichigo personally growing stronger over time, but with all the talk of Ichigo's immense reiatsu...maybe he just pulled all of it out temporarily to defeat Kenpachi. An early version, powerwise, of the Uber-Hollow Form that wiped out Ulquiorra.
 * Could be. But this would make it a horrible case of Forgotten Phlebotinum. And didn't filler (yeah, I know, it's filler but still) imply that by using Bankai you're drawing on all the power your Zanpakuto can provide you with anyway?
 * As I interpret it, Bankai puts the power of the Zanpakuto to a certain use (so Komamura's would form the giant, Byakuya's the millions of petals). Ichigo's isn't that great, since all it does is compress his own reiatsu, making him faster and stronger (but it leaves room for improvements to the Bankai). On the other hand, what Ichigo did against Kenpachi converts all that reiatsu to raw power - effective against Kenpachi, maybe, but as Ishida said WAY back, anyone who is using 100% of their reiatsu constantly is going to tire out very fast. The power Ichigo used there could be an example of Awesome but Impractical.
 * The reason is because he's trying to fight with his sword now instead of just alone. He shifted philosophies after his fight with Ichigo, recall?
 * I interpreted that scene as a failed Secret Test Of Character on part of Zaraki. Remember that he said "*I" want to become more powerful" when talking to his sword? And it certainly looked like he was angry with it for not revealing his name? I dunno, this would be a pretty big character development, I think it would've been mentioned and that scene certainly looked like Zaraki failed to convince his Zanpakuto to work with him.
 * Kenpachi might have got a mild boost thanks to the Zanpakuto - remember when Zangetsu commented on Kenpachi and the Zanpakuto weakening each other? If he is at least trying to listen, both he and the Zanpakuto could be stronger, if that weakness is removed.
 * On the other hand, it's established that Zanpakuto are the external manifestation of a shinigami's reiatsu, so it always bugged me that Ichigo was able to draw upon Zangetsu's power as if it were an external power source.
 * And there's also the whole "two hands are stronger than one" thing. He was only matching Nnoitra at best until he started using two hands. It's only afterwards that he started wiping the floor with him. And, when Kenpachi was fighting Ichigo, he was just wildly swinging his sword around with one hand. And that battle was pretty much a tie anyway.
 * I figured that Kenpachi was always stronger than Ichigo; he just didn't use his FULL full power because that would've ended the fight and the fun. He knows no-one is ever going to survive his two-handed attack, so he just uses that as an 'Oh well I've got to stop this fight now' attack. He basically was getting his ass handed to him by Nnoitra when he was trying to have fun with the fight, but then he thought 'right, I'm going to die so this isn't fun any more'... or something.
 * Kenpachi was having trouble with Nnoitra for a fair portion of the fight, until he used his previously unseen "kendo" technique to kill him. He may have won against Tousen, but Tousen's Bankai was mainly about depriving the opponent of senses, and didn't have much in the way of attack, so once Kenpachi figured out the trick, Tousen was finished. According to Ganju, Byakuya's spiritual pressure is similar to Kenpachi's, so not only is he very strong, but he also has Bankai. Byakuya is also one of the faster captains, so while Ichigo got in quite a few hits on Kenpachi, he had to put more effort into dodging Byakuya's attacks, especially his Bankai. Kenpachi may have a lot of spiritual pressure, but Byakuya's more skilled, superior in other respects, and overall, the better warrior.
 * This is also important, because Byakuya vs Kenpachi reminds me of their Battle Data. You can't put it in clearer terms than that. To be precise: Kenpachi has 390. Byakuya has 510. Ichigo defeats Byakuya. So Ichigo has at least 510 as well. Kenpachi-390 defeats Nnoitra. Ichigo-at least 510 (he only defeats him when he jumps even higher than that, thanks to mastering his Inner Hollow) gets thoroughly owned by Grimmjow. Nnoitra>Grimmjow. That's pretty clearly a Plot Hole.
 * I don't think the battle data is supposed to be a 100% accurate indication of which character is better than which other characters. Besides, it's based on several completely different categories. Maybe one unit of strength doesn't have exactly the same value as one unit of speed, etc. I think there's more to the characters than just those numbers.
 * Yeah, you cannot compare the stats very well - look at Komamura, for example. He had, IIRC, 100 for strength and reiatsu - the same as Kenpachi. But as we saw before, even with the eyepatch on, and with one hand, Kenpachi was far superior to Komamura if he didn't use Bankai. Basing it all off those stats alone, Hitsugaya is better than Ukitake, who is supposedly, illness issues aside, on par with Shunsui, who pretty much said that he was better than Hitsugaya to Starrk.
 * Ichigo can only have, assuming all his other stats are maxed, at highest a 500. It's literally impossible for him to have higher than that by simple virtue of him having no knowledge in Kido, like Kenpachi. And really, I'd argue he's maxed too, as his defense more or less needs improvement and frankly his speed, which previously, excluding Bankai, was on par with Byakuya has experienced a downgrade (even in said Bankai, if ORIHIME can block something Ichigo can't react to, a guy who previously blocked thousands upon thousands of petals from all directions at once). Frankly if I were to estimate, Physical ability and Reiatsu at 100, speed at around 90, Defense 70, Kido 0, Intelligence (Ignoring CUT MY ARM AND LEG OFF) 70, Ichigo'd have around a 430. Though that can be argued.
 * It's not impossible for him to have higher stats. He's a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid, remember? The whole speech of Aizen's where he tells that this is how you bypass the limits of Shinigami body? But yeah, he has been nerfed after SS arc and this is why this bugs me so damn much.
 * Whoops, meant 500 counting only the shinigami side, my mistake. Much like the actual stats I didn't take into account extraneous powers like Zanpakuto abilities an the like, hence didn't take the mask boost into consideration either. Basically that's just the 'base' ability as it were. Like I said though, it can be argued.
 * The primary reason Kenpachi's overall stat count is so low is because of his 0 in Kidou-Reiatsu stat, which actually stands for "Reiatsu control", i.e. one's ability to focus and control their Reiryoku (Spiritual Power), regardless of its actual level, which is also the basis for Kidou proficiency; massive amounts of Reiryoku are totally useless if you can't prevent them from prematurely overloading your spells and ruining the precise balance that their success hinges on (Renji's a prime example of that). Kenpachi is known to have loads and loads of Reiryoku that is implied to be even greater than Ichigo's, yet self-admittedly has absolutely no level of practical control over it beyond some ability to apply minor focusing to it, as well as increasing his already absurdly high Reiatsu output. I am firmly convinced that if the characters' actual Reiryoku reserves are taken to account, things would very different.
 * How come, just before the fight with Byakuya, Ichigo took down three vice-captains with just a single solid blow each, even though to even get to that level, they would have had to have trained for years in how to even just get up from something like that. And that's not even bringing up the fact that Renji got back up after being sliced by thousands upon thousands of miniature blades with enough strength for another attack.
 * It's not unreasonable to say that the three vice-captains are on the lower end of the rankings. We have Isane, who is essentially a medic, Marechiyo, a lazy fat-ass (his brief show of prowess during one of the recent arcs could be attributed to him wising up to how rusty his skills were in the time between) and Sasakibe, none of whose combat abilities are known about aside from the fact that his zanpakutou is a rapier. Renji, on the other hand, has worked hard enough to achieve Bankai (which means he's getting pretty close to a Captain promotion) and was taking a turn being The Determinator.
 * Because at that time, he's already captain strength himself? Do you think that Zaraki or Byakuya or any other captain would have problems with destroying lieutenants like that? As for why he skipped those years of training - he's a shonen protagonist.
 * You missed one ability he's had since even before he became a Shinigami. Karate expert, remember? Yeah, that's right, Ichigo can beat Shinigami with power he got as a human.
 * How on Earth was Ichigo able to repel the soukyoku, a weapon that has the power of a thousand zanpakutos. By all rights, it should have just broken through and killed them both. Or is Ichigo's zanpakuto more powerful, despite it having been broken several times before?
 * It has the offensive strength of a million zanpakutos, but it's unclear what that means, exactly, or what a zanpakuto's strength is (Is it the strength of a sealed zanpakuto, or is it in terms of spiritual pressure?)
 * Theory time: I always figured that it may tie into Isshin's origins. Remember that soukyoku could be destroyed by something that belonged to the Shihoin family. My guess is that Isshin is probably related to them by blood (or has some other status - maybe a member of the Royal Family or is a noble in some other way) and the soukyoku couldn't hurt a Shinigami of such descent.
 * Wasn't the Soukyoku part of The Shihoin family? The same family that Yoruichi is a part of? I always figured that the medallion attached to Ichigo's cape (there's a good shot of it here and here) -which incidentally- looks an awful like the mark of the Shihoin Family was responsible for him being able to stop the Soukyoku.
 * It's stated just a few pages later that that cape was given to him by Yoruichi, but it just let him fly. I don't think it had anything to do with him breaking it.
 * I found Ichigo's crushing advantage over Yammy strange, especially since Rukia notes that Ichigo's eyes "are not the eyes of a man prepared to slice down the enemies to come," which would seem to indicate that he's fighting under a potentially crippling handicap due to feeling like his inner hollow won the fight against Ulquiorra for him, thus leaving no reason for him to be doing as well as he is. But then in the spoiler for the next chapter,.
 * You're saying Ichigo had an advantage over Yammy which shouldn't happen because he's under a handicap (that, and Yammy is the 0th Espada and should therefore be way stronger than he is), but then they fix it next chapter by showing Yammy barely wounded. That's not a "crushing advantage", then.
 * Which brings another issue to light: ?
 * Kenpachi probably has the Kendo 'hold the sword with both hands' thing going for him while Byakuya's got the element of surprise. I'm willing to bet that come next chapter, Yammy'll just admit that he got hurt because he didn't see them coming, wipe the floor with both Kenpachi and Byakuya, and people will still complain about some sort of power scale as if it matters.
 * Ichigo's heart isn't in it. No will to fight/win, no power.
 * If the above is true, that could really explain every imbalance we see in Bleach. All the "who's stronger than who" arguments make perfect sense if you just ignore Ichigo's fights.
 * The only reason it's not making any sense in the first place is because, IMO, you guys are treating this series like Dragonball Z, in which 8000 < 9000 and that's it. If you ignore all of Ichigo's fights, you might as well be ignoring his multiple handicaps, his being weakened by consecutive battles, his determination being a factor in his power, and other crap that explains his situation just fine.
 * However, it's gotten worse. Third Division Captain Whose Name Escapes Me implies that his power is twice that of a captain... yet he can't beat Panini or whatever his name is without his hollow mask, while the many other mask-less captains are easily beating Espada. At this point, I think he's a Saiyan.
 * Actually Kenpachi sliced it clean off. Which is either better or worse, depending how you want to look at it. Frankly, I say the powerscale only makes sense if you completely ignore all Ichigo's fights. He's both simultaneously too weak and too strong at the same time to make for a consistent scale.
 * It was definitely Byakuya that did it. Kenpachi complains that Byakuya stole the first attack and Byakuya responds that he arrived first.
 * Byakuya stole the first attack by firing off Sokatsui. But right after that, on page 20, you can see Kenpachi standing behind one of Yammy's legs - which is then cut off. His sword is drawn, Byakuya's is sheathed. He talks about cutting Yammy into pieces. Really, makes more sense if Kenpachi did the cutting.
 * Although Ulquiorra did say his power is in constant flux, so that makes it all better then.
 * While he did say that, the implication of the scene in question, as well as the fact that this fluctuation has never been addressed since, heavily implies it was due to the fact that when Ulquiorra noted it Ichigo was attempting to suppress his hollow from taking over his body.
 * It's more than just that. Ulquiorra commented that at the high point, Ichigo's power exceeded his own. Even if he was just talking about his sealed form, Ichigo couldn't handle Grimmjow's sealed form without his mask. Ulquiorra was including the hollow's power in that assessment.
 * Uh, I said suppressing his hollow from taking over his body. Kinda like what happened in his fight with Ulquiorra. It's pretty obvious that, had there been takeover achieved, that would have been the high point he was talking about.
 * Can't believe anyone has not gotten this but...Ichigo gets his ass kicked multiple times during an agonizingly slow 3 year arc that we all have to sit through, all to rescue Orihime...AND HE DOESN'T TAKE ORIHIME BACK!?!
 * In all fairness, no matter which world he takes her to, she'd be in danger. However, one location simply has a single Espada currently within it, while the other has, in the worst case scenario to Ichigo's current knowledge, a majority of Aizen's army, including MOST of his heaviest hitters. Even if he knew the slaughter the shinigami managed against the hollows, the place still has Aizen there. Frankly she'd be in less danger in Hueco Mundo at this point.
 * She also currently has Ishida there to protect her (once he gets his hand back, of course). He's possibly the strongest of Ichigo's rescue squad besides Ichigo himself and could easily take out any non-Espada level enemies.
 * Exactly. This guy shit-kicked a Privaron, and it was implied that he was holding back for a good portion of that fight because he didn't want to waste his best weaponry. The only way Orihime is in danger is if Yammy decides to go up to the roof of the dome.
 * I'm pretty sure in his current form, it's impossible for Yammy to get up there. But if he starts destroying the dome, Ishida's pretty fast, and could probably quickly clear himself and Orihime out of the way before serious harm was incurred.
 * How and why has Ichigo managed to keep that one portion of his cloak on this whole time? It's just a sleeve and a few strands of cloth. We can see that it's clearly not attached to the the rest of his clothes or wrapped around his neck, so shouldn't it just fall off?
 * Rule of Cool, possible Fan Service and Rule of Sexy for girls.
 * Well, from what Ichigo says, his coat is a part of his Bankai, so it probably just sticks to him.
 * Why didn't Ichigo get himself regenerated before going off to fight Yammy?
 * When he went out of "super-hollow mode," his high speed regeneration instantly healed the hole in his chest, and possibly his other wounds, too.
 * He also mentions in the latest chapter that he was in too much of a hurry to wait to be fully regenerated.
 * What's up with the seemingly wildly-fluctuating speed of Ichigo's Bankai? The whole point of it was supposed to be that it allowed him to move at ridiculously fast speeds, to the point where Byakuya couldn't even see his movements. Despite that, Ichigo in Bankai form has been consistently outrun and outmaneuvered by characters like Ulquiorra and Stark. Would Byakuya be unable to keep up with these two as well? Then why was Byakuya able to run laps around Zommari, who claimed to be the fastest among the Espada? It's entirely possible that Zommari was full of it when he said that, but this does not change the fact that the whole original point of Ichigo's Bankai has been consistently outclassed.
 * The reason Ulquiorra is able to dance circles around Ichigo is explained in a recent chapter, and Ichigo didn't really notice Stark until it was too late.
 * What was said reason?
 * He was unable to read Ulquiorra's movements.
 * Just a theory here: Maybe Ichigo isn't using the same Bankai anymore. I mean... In the fight with Byakuya the Inner Hollow is slower than Ichigo was at top speed (otherwise... just imagine the circular petal deflecting move with Getsuga behind each slash). Fast forward and Hollow Ichigo shatters Ichigo's Bankai after stabbing him... while within the mindscape. It is general amongst mindscapes for occurences to be more symbolic than in reality (see: Zangetsu's hatred of "rain"). So it is probable that Ichigo cannot access the exact Bankai he had against Byakuya - instead using the slower Bankai that can better perform Getsuga Tenshou (at this point I reference the Inner Hollow's constant superiority in the mindscape fight - technique to technique the white Getsuga overpowered the black one).
 * This Troper is pretty sure that the reason that the white Getsuga overpowered Ichigo's, is because Hollow Ichigo simply uses it better. Should be pretty obvious since, overall Hichigo is a better fighter than Ichigo in every aspect.
 * Hokay this isn't so much a Just Bugs Me for Bleach itslf, but more for the fandom itself, a lot of people have been saying that Ichigo's newest Hollow form was an Ass Pull. I respectively disagree, because it has been foreshadowed to, many a time. The first part I can remember was when his hollow told him not to die. Second, when Don-whathisface told Ichigo to become a 'demon'. Third was when Orihime was afraid of Ichigo in Visored form, saying that she didn't feel like she could see herself reflected in his eyes. Fourth was the colour spread seen here And then there was Ichigo saying either he was more human, or Ulquiorra more hollow during that fight, coupled with Ishida wishing he hadn't brought Orihime up there. So, point is...it's been foreshadowed the hell out of...just no one really expected it to be that powerful.
 * You do know that other than the picture (Which back then barely anyone knew what that was), all of your other examples can be interpreted in different ways? Hollow Ichigo did say that his and Zangetsu's survival were dependent on Ichigo staying alive. When Dordonii tells him to become a demon, that means that he'll just have to act as vicious and ruthless as the other arrancar, not literally turn like one himself. With Orihime, that was the first time she had seen Vizard Ichigo (Which is basically like a semi-evil version of Ichigo instead of a full evil version like when Hollow Ichigo takes over), and I seriously have no idea how you could get foreshadowing from that because she never said or thought anything like that when she met the other arrancar/hollows (Which Ichigo was a bit more like seeing how he's a Vizard). With him saying that he either became more of a hollow or that Ulquiorra was more of a human it was because he was able to control his hollow and stay in Vizard mode for more than 11 seconds since the fight with Grimmjow. With Ishida's quote, all that meant is that something bad was coming, and I remember that everyone was saying several theories as to what that thing was that made more sense than what actually happened (Like Orihime getting killed or seriously injured, or one of the Captains stuck in Hueco Mundo with them coming in to save them but ending up dying or seriously hurt as well). And when Ulquiorra pierced a hole in his chest earlier before he fought Grimmjow and killed him (Or at least put him real close to the brink of death), why didn't Hollow Ichigo take over then, like he did when Ichigo was about to die fighting Byakuya? Plus, you have to remember the fact that Kubo himself said that he forgets his own continuity and that he just goes with the flow and rereads past volumes to get new ideas, so you can't blame people for thinking that this whole thing was an Asspull, because there's a good chance that it actually is one with all of the pointless plot twists Kubo's been putting in the story for the past 30-40 chapters. Hell, even that mask you've shown and  could actually be hidden AssPulls that Kubo just made by rereading the past volumes.
 * I'll admit that the circumstances surrounding the upgrade have definite amounts of Ass Pull, but I still think it was foreshadowed quite nicely. As for the why didn't Ichigo go uber-hollow during first fight with Ulquiorra; It's made quite clear that uber-hollow!Ichigo is only concerned with protecting and 'saving' Orihime. So, I'm under the impression that this transformation was not to keep himself alive, but to keep Orihime safe. But  Sometimes I really think Kubo makes it up a few weeks before and goes with it.
 * I'm sorry but I still have no idea how you think it's good foreshadowing other than that link you shared which if you notice, the mask looks completely different from the one you've shown, and the fact that the only other foreshadowing I could see that even hints a bit towards what happened was Ishida saying that he'd regret listening to Orihime's request. Doesn't really look like good foreshadowing. And if I'm not mistaken, Ichigo died when Ulquiorra shot that Cero Oscuras straight through him. Which would mean that it was Hollow Ichigo that took over to become that Super Hollow for some unforeseen reason (Because everybody thought that Shirosaki would be coming out like with his fight against Byakuya). And I seriously doubt that Hollow Ichigo even cares about anybody or anything but himself. Then seeing how Ichigo miraculously came back to life with that high-speed regeneration (Which was another Ass Pull) without knowing what even happened from when Ulquiorra blew his chest open onwards makes this whole thing even more confusing, because that means that he had no idea what happened when he was Super Hollow, which leads us to the conclusion that Hollow Ichigo took over and for some reason wanted to protect Orihime (And if this is true, then that means that this is huge Character Derailment coming from Hollow Ichigo).
 * This troper thought of a possible reason (read: desperate handwave) Hollow Ichigo wanted to protect Orihime: He makes a great song and dance about how he's a being of instinct, not of reason. So if it's Ichigo's instinct to want to protect Orihime, he might end up doing that... and maybe Ichigo instinctively wants to put a sword through Ishida too, so... yeah.
 * The only problem with your handwave is that Hollow Ichigo doesn't really share the same type of instinct with Ichigo. That was made clear when he fought Ichigo during that Vizard training. And the fact that Hollow Ichigo pretty much does what he wants, so I don't think that he would try to accomplish Ichigo's goals of protecting Orihime without some huge character derailment thrown in there.
 * It's entirely possible that neither Ichigo nor Shirosaki were in control. Recall that the first time he Hollow'd out, he was capable of speech (from the Hollow side, but still.) The Hollow form seen in Las Noches just acts like an animal (which is also what happened when he was hanging with the Vizards, but that could be because both Ichigos were busy fighting.) This is because Shirosaki died along with Ichigo, and this is just his resulting butthurt about the ordeal. As both are effectively unconscious for the brief rampage, with the high speed regeneration saving them from death, the resulting Hollow form acts entirely on instinct. In this case that instinct is split between "protect Orihime" and "****** the clown up," with a scoop of "break Uryuu" thrown in from Shirosaki's side. Granted, this is about as desperate as the initial handwave, but it's something to at least consider.
 * This is my current theory. Or rather, the idea I support. Hichigo said that if Ichigo snuffs it, he does too, which is why those times he steps in, and eventually tries taking over, to survive. Additionally, we know Hichigo is intelligent, we've seen it, he talks. But, like said above when both personalities battle, he becomes a mindless animal trying to kill everything in his path. Berserker Ichigo is one step above that. He can say a few words, and doesn't just attack senselessly withough control. He knows what he's doing to kill Ulquiorra. Think back, what are Ichigo's "dying" thoughts? "I gotta protect her". What would Hichigo be thinking in this case? Probably something like "OHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRAP-We're dying! I don't wanna die!". And what is the result? Hollow Super Mode with one thought. Protect Orihime. That's why he shanks Ishida, because he's interfering with Ichigo's ability to finish Ulquiorra. Apparrently IFF isn't one of his new hollow powers.
 * I actually agree with both of the above tropers' theories (Even though the first one kind of sounds like a Deus Ex Machina of sorts). Let's just hope that Kubo explains at some point in the story what the hell that thing really is.
 * Frankly the only theory I've heard that makes sense to the point where, while still a Wallbanger, it's considerably less of an Ass Pull, is that Orihime was the one to do it. Ichigo was in her rejection barrier when she was having her breakdown, and in the context and order of the panels of the next chapter we notice him hearing her voice before she actually speaks aloud (It even goes out of it's way to show the barrier being formed from his perspective on the first page), and the context of her breakdown kinda says it all. "SAVE US, KUROSAKI-KUN!!!" Basically she managed to reject the fact that he was weaker than Ulquilorra, which followed to the most logical conclusion of using the Hollow for the process.
 * I think I have a theory on this: Hollow Ichigo said after he and Ichigo fought in the inner world that if Ichigo showed signs of weakness, and opening for Hollow Ichigo, he would buck Ichigo off, and crush his skull. He also told Ichigo to stay alive until Hollow Ichigo came back. Recent events (Ichigo unable to form his new mask), and Demon Hollow Ichigo, are signs of this. Demon Ichigo is basically Ichigo's basest instincts laid bare, like a savage animal. Meaning it WASN'T Orihime that wound up creating it, or anything like that; Ichigo's basest instinct, to survive and protect, were set loose. If given the chance, he would have gone demon crazy over anyone, not just Orihime. As to it's immense power, I think it's safe that Hollow Ichigo is at a power level equivalent to a High-Level Vasto Lorde, and it was also tapping into all of Ichigo's Shinigami power, creating the force of nature we saw.
 * That big thing Wonderweiss dragged with him? If you read the very next chapter, Komamura is shown remembering something all the way back to when  first fled to Hueco Mundo. So that rather disqualifies that one as Ass Pull, and makes it more "Whoa - great memory, Kubo!"
 * You do know that Kubo has admitted to not really planning anything out and that he only get new ideas for the plot by reading past volumes? So more likely than not, he forgot about that thing and then reread Volume 20 and decided to use it seeing how he never established what it was when we first saw it.
 * I'm pretty sure somebody have mentioned this, but this is kind of a complaint to the Shounen genre in general- how Ichigo, even though he is  and spent years being around ghosts, but come on; he did that for like 15 years, but how the hell is he the same level has captains and Espadas who are at least few centuries years old and spent those years fighting Hollows? I enjoy the fight scene and characters and all, but that aspect always bugs me.
 * Actually, it's been explicitly stated that Ichigo's rapid growth is extremely unusual and is in fact his greatest strength. Yes, it's a Hand Wave and it doesn't provide much explanation as to why he is able to grow so quickly, but it has at least been acknowledged.
 * Considering Tosen's recent little surprise, does this mean that Ichigo is going to get too? Or does the uber-hollow form already cover that? Just asking because it now seems kind of obvious that a Vizard can now have one. So, anyone want to guess if that is going to be Ichigo's next upgrade?
 * I'd presume he can, although I'm not sure it's the Uber-Hollow form Which means Ichigo may possibly   I also wonder whether
 * This has absolutely no concern to the plot, but is it just me, or does Ichigo's new hollow mask look significantly less Badass than his old one?
 * No, this one is bent towards a more Bishonen rather than monstrous appearance.
 * Okay...why the hell did Ichigo just float there and do nothing while the Captains were falling for Aizen's hypnosis?! Seriously, why didn't he say anything or tell them stop if he can see through it?!
 * Probably because Aizen's hypnosis controls all senses, including hearing. Ichigo could scream at the top of his lungs all he wants and they wouldn't be able to hear him unless Aizen wanted them to hear him.
 * Does anybody else think that Hollow Ichigo isn't exactly evil? (At least, by Bleach standards.) Ok, let's look at the first time he gains control of Ichigo's body. He taunts him. Renji and Rukia taunt him. That's pretty much the only negative thing he does. Now, of course, some people argue that he tried beating Byakuya because if Ichigo dies, he dies. Ok. Hollow Ichigo doesn't want to die. Moving on, the only other time we're pretty sure he's in control was when he attacked Hiyori. Of course, he doesn't say any dialogue, so we really can't be sure. Ok, so Hiyori has been trying to kill Ichigo - you can't really blame the guy for fighting back. I argue that Hollow Ichigo hasn't taken control of Ichigo's body since- Uber Hollow was just berserker.
 * Okay...why the hell did Ichigo just float there and do nothing while all the Captains fell for Aizen's hypnosis?! I mean, Ichigo could see through it so why didn't he tell the Captains to stop what they're doing sooner?!
 * Well, since Aizen's hypnosis controls all of the senses, it could be that Aizen didn't LET them hear him. For all we know, he could have been shouting the whole time, and Aizen didn't let them hear until it was too late.
 * What bugs me about Ichigo is his Bankai. I mean, it's cool, it's awesome, but I don't see how he is going to get more powerful with it, it's weak and it's stuck with low power level. So what happens next? Kubo throws all powerups in form of hollow upgrades? he already did that twice now, and the latest form was a creepy killing machine. My theory is that his bankai is fake. Yes, and my argument to support it is that both Ichigo and Renji got their bankai through the same process (those dolls Urahara made) and they were the first ones to actually try that. Besides, both of their bankai suck in terms of power. Ichigo never defeated anybody (important) with his bankai only (even his first battle using bankai was interrupted by his hollow form) and neither did Renji (he actually defeated a weak arrancar but that's it) while real captains don't even need a hollow form to obliterate Espadas. You can argue that Captains have more experience with all those years training, yes but Ichigo is supposed to be stronger than them in some point (remember Captain Unohana's words). As for Renji, and the rest of the nakama too, I think they are beginning to suffer from chronical Can't Catch Up syndrome, and if my theory is wrong, i dont see how Renji would be able to power up even a little (Is he going to sit and watch the next Arc from below? Like Kuririn from Dragon Ball Z or GT? )
 * Second and Third to try it actually, Urahara was the first. And it's pretty ridiculously strong when he can use it right (outrunning Byakuya's vision the first time he used it), he just keeps using it as a bigger gun rather than the fastest bankai in existance (probably because it's got a weakness in that overuse damaged his body).
 * We haven't seen Urahara's bankai for that matter either. But you have a point in saying Ichigo's bankai damages his body... although he never mentions it again, and it looks as if he would be outpowered anyway. Renji's bankai always sucked though.
 * Renji didn't use the doll, he just trained in the same cave as Ichigo. Renji was already on the verge of achieving bankai, so he didn't need the doll. The reason for the shortcomings in Ichigo's bankai (and Renji's, for that matter) is that he's only had it for a few months now. According to Byakuya, it takes at least a century to become proficient with your bankai, let alone truly master it. Ichigo doesn't necessarily need yet another new form, he just needs to get stronger with what he's got.)