TheAncientCenturion

I will never forgive Oda
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Yeah maybe they'd be iconic if they played a role earlier

But all of the manga with super iconic groups of antagonist typically have them play a role in the middle of the story at the latest. You're comparing antagonists that were either setup from the very beginning of the story (like the Phantom Troupe and Akatsuki) and antagonists that were relevant when the main cast was significantly weaker (like the Espada) to secondary antags in the Final Saga

If you wanna argue that they should've been introduced earlier then that's one thing. Go ahead

But to say that other authors could accomplish more with the same structure is baseless
If Kishi introduced the Knights of God in the war arc instead of using Edo Tensei, I guarantee you they’d be well thought of, similar to the Akatsuki
 

ZenZu

The only one who can beat me is me
And they’d have been as iconic in a more competent authors hands.

Espada weren’t the main villains either, they are more comparable to the Beast Pirates All Stars + Tobi Rōppo
Espada were the main threat in the Hueco Mundo saga. The MC fought two of them all out, had a back and forth rivalry with one which spanned countless chapters and ended in a major climactic battle, the other one he actually died fighting. Holy Roppo are like the fraccion equivalents. Even All Stars I wouldn't compare to the Espada since Luffy had already moved on from commanders by then.
 

TheAncientCenturion

I will never forgive Oda
‎‎‎
Espada were the main threat in the Hueco Muendo saga. The MC fought two of them all out, had a back and forth rivalry with one which spanned countless chapters and ended in a major climactic battle, the other one he actually died fighting. Holy Roppo are like the fraccion equivalents. Even All Stars I wouldn't compare to the Espada since Luffy had already moved on from commanders by then.
The only important Espada were those who fought Ichigo & Mayuri, the rest were written off poorly and quickly once Ulquiorra died or humiliated before that.

Theyre carried by Ulquiorra, Grimmjow and Syzalaporro and 2/3 have zero relevance in the next 2 arcs and Grimmjow makes a cameo to be hype tooled
 
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