Noblesse Oblige.

So basically the new Bleach filler arc is about the Shinigami's Zanpakutos. This new villain named Muramusa appears and decides that the Zanpakutos should rule over the Shinigami. He sets everyone free from their owners, and the Zanpakutos appear in Soul Society in personified forms. For now, we don't know his motive; which could be defeating all the Shinigami, or turning them into swords, or taking over their bodies (like in Ichigo's case). Anyways, Muramusa is pretty cool minus the super emo-ness. He has makeup, super long nails, and sheds tears as a form of attack.

Regarding the plot of this arc, I know Ichigo will have to jump in to save the day because he is the main character, but what we don't know is if Zangetsu will defect or not. At the beginning of the episode, he was relieved that Ichigo can still hear his voice (unlike Hitsugaya when he tried to speak to Hyourinmaru), but he mentioned that the voice was not his. So this remains to be seen. Also, people have speculated that Muramusa is Kenpachi's Zanpakuto because it fits its personality and can explain motive for revenge. I don't think they can make up something as important as this until the animators are collaborating with Kubo. Furthermore, in Japanese literature and anime, Muramusa tends to be a demon sword or a sword maker (which can explain his power over the Zanpakutos), so I think Muramusa is not under possession by someone from Soul Society. The plot can either become super cool or super predictable. It also runs into the risk of revealing something major (captain's Bankai or Kenpachi's Zanpakuto name) that has not yet happened in the manga. To make a better judgment we'll need to wait and see =]

With that aside, the fact that they managed to do all this with a filler is simply amazing. Usually, with fillers you expect shitty new characters with horrible design that appears out of nowhere or have existing characters do stuff they would never do (like baking cakes...). However, this new filler arc manages to debunk the negative connotations of fillers with awesome character design and relevant plot.

Speaking of character design, that is my favorite aspect of this arc. All the personified forms of Zanpakutos are really cool. For those of you who are interested or confused, here's what we have so far:

Kyoraku's Katen Kyokotsu

Unohana's Minazuki

Ukitake's Sogyo no Kotowari

Komamura's Tenken

Byakuya's Senbonzakura

Hitsugaya's Hyourinmaru

Mayuri's Ashisogi Jizo

Matsumoto's Haineko

Soifon's Suzumebachi, Hinamori's Tobiume, Sasakibe's (1st squad vice captain), Yumechika's, Kira's Wabisuke, and Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki (L to R)

Renji's Zabimaru - 2 people, Ikakku' Hozukimaru, Omaeda's, and Hisagi's Kazeshini (R to L)