Why have they been dragging their feet on this series? It's not like they need to pause because they got to close to catching up with the original japanese realeases like Bleach. There is a 350 gap now! Hurry up, I say!
Depending on the eng dubbing, sometimes I prefer to watch the japanese version. But, in general I much prefer dubbed. My eyes hurt from reading subtitles after a while.
I prefer watching any anime English Dub. However, sometimes the acting sounds better in japanese. For example, the english voice actor for Ichigo is great when he's just talking, but his battle cries are just awful. Seriously, and they aren't getting any better. They sound so fake. The japanese actor does it better.
Maybe we'll find out. Kenpachi (along with some of the other captins) has gone through a bit of a change in apperance. Maybe he did some banki training during those last 17 months. That would be super awsome.
Ukitake is an ass. If you have read the resent manga releases, it is revealed, he did something really sneaky and low to Ichigo when he handed him that soul badge. I won't spoil the suprise, but if I were Ichigo I'd kick his ass.
Most of the fillers are terrible. However, I did like the one about the zanpakutous. Right now, in the main story, it's going to be a bit boring until Ichigo gets his soul reaper powers back.
One of my all time favorite animes was Maps. It was the first really anime I ever watched that wasn't like a Saturday morning cartoon like Voltron or Thundercats. It was only four eps long, but it covered a lot of ground.
I wonder if Naruto will be able to be in saga mode and use the nine tails power at the same time. Or, will we never see saga mode again because he'll have the nine tails instead. I wonder what form Naruto will take when he has complete access to all of the nine tails powers. I bet it'll be something like Yoko Karama from Yu Yu Hakusho, only with orange hair and of course nine tails.