about the Bankai thing... everyone thought it was stupid (Rukia, Ishida).

also, i want to state that, as far as the anime is concerned, the Bounto arc IS part of the original story. it would make no sense for them not to reference it, when Ichigo faced the guy that may have been the most interesting villain so far in the series (not counting the Arrancar that we know nothing about). I personally don't care whether or not such character was included in the manga format, i don't read the manga.

about this particular arc. well, i see it as a movie. i actually liked the first episode but this one was kind of weak, but they always do this in the beginning of an arc, so we'll see what happens next (hopefully they'll get out of this school nonsense).