All very valid points and criticisms across the board, I can't disagree. Byakuya, Yoruichi, and Mayuri were my favorite Soul Society characters, I liked their layered personalities but a seemingly simple man like Kenpachi isn't far behind either, guy always manages to be a highlight. Aizen is Aizen, dude is a GOAT unattainable villain for me, just written so well that his aloofness is palpable. Honestly I enjoyed most of the "villains" including those who ended up not being that in the classical sense like my boy Starrk, Grimmjow, Halibel, and Gin.@LordDeathwatch Alright just finished OG Bleach. Its a great starter anime. Fights upon fights. Once Soul Society arc starts minus filler the series is always pushing the envelope forward. It does have the dilemma where Ichigo is always pushing forward and his friends in comparison can't keep up. So they get pushed by the side.
Ichigo and Rukia as far as the main cast is considered head and shoulders above them. Tho as far as the side cast is considered. Urahara, Yoruichi and Byakuya prob my favorites. Urahara and Yoruichi have a great dynamic especially when compared to the rest of soul society. Meanwhile Byakuya has a lot more depth then you expect. Hes a very ridged man in terms of his duty but considering the promise he made to his late wife whom is Rukia's sister the aftermath of the soul society arc bringing his story to light is great. Plus the way he gets under Kenpachi skin got me
Aizen is a great villain since it got full put out there. His demise felt a lil too fast for my taste, but not too much to complain for me. One issue with villains in general, which is a shounen problem supposedly we get to learn about them after they die. For me I wish I could learn about this stuff before hand. Unfortunately with characters like Gin and Ginjou the way their twists are written you can't really do that well. Tosen is one that absolutely was hurt by how late it happens.
The transition between Arrancar and FullBringer arcs makes me wonder if the plan was only till Aizen was defeated and mangaka decided to continue given the success of the manga. The origin of the fullbringer stuff is pretty poorly explained imo. I like how it makes you look at soul society in the sense can you really 100% trust all of them. The thing where they were originally planning to kill Ichigo after they take care of Ginjou was interesting. Gonna start TTBW soon.
The find out about the villain on the verge of death/defeat trope that's all over a majority of anime should have been dead a long time ago. It's a form of hand holding where you don't trust the reader/audience to be able to get behind the story of they don't believe the antagonist is 100% evil. Rooted in the traditional mode of storytelling but it often does more harm than good in the past 10 years at least, there's no surprise that those stories that step outside that tend to be better for the nuance.
Glad you're ready for TYBW, it's a clear tier above OG Bleach. There's a weight, a sense of finality it that's much needed and adds a sense of urgency. I will say OG Bleach had better music and comedy but that's it.
KAFKA
DOESNT REALIZE FITZ IS A GIRL 
dawg, you gotta do better. Do better, Rudy.
a better animated Helck could've been it but alas 
