Do Shinigami Threaten the Reign of Saiyans?

[Saint Mana]

Okay, I want your opinion on this. Now, I want no biased fanboy remarks. No Anti-DBZ comments. None of it!
That being said, I am sure many of you will blatantly ignore me, and do those things anyway. If you do, the words 'Thou sucketh royally' are directed at you.
At any rate...

Does anyone else other than me think that Shinigami, of Bleach fame, are the only ones that are slowly catching up to the power of Saiyans? Now, whether you like Dragonball/Z/GT or not, you cannot logically deny that Saiyans are the most powerful race in Anime. Shinigami though, their power is growing at an alarming rate, most notably Kurosaki Ichigo, and they do hold the potential to rival the power of Saiyans.
Even aside from that, the Bleach Anime grows more and more like Dragonball Z with every week...
Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?
Warning: Thoughtless morons will be flayed alive.

[Mugetsu]

You make a valid point. When you look at Ichigo's power at the beginning of the series and how he is now its kinda like going from Goku in Dragon Ball to Gohans SS2 during the Cell Games. Now with this "I have a Hollow inside me" thing going on he may become even more powerful. Plus there are characters in Bleach that are way more powerful than Ichigo is.
Just like Goku did, he's gonna keep finding opponents stronger than he is and will have to find new ways to get stronger to beat them. I just hope the power levels don't constantly fluctuate like they did in DBZ. One episode Vegita is destroying a planet like it's nothing and in another he is struggling to blow up a meteor. But I don't think they will let them get to Saiyan power levels. That will just be too much. Too much power is one of the things that almost killed DBZ. They (Goku) got way too strong. It got to be too unbelievable.

[Saint Mana]

I am glad someone finally responded. Thanks to you for that.
I see you understand my reasonings though, Shinigami are getting extremely powerful. Especially Ichigo, as you said.
Unlike Dragonball/Z/GT, Bleach seems to have a better handle on power levels. It is already blatantly evident that Bleach has learned from some of DBZ's failures. Not dragging out fights longer than they need to be, deeper character development, etc.
Still, I sincerely hope that Ichigo never becomes the strongest being in Bleach. That would more or less destroy the series.
Yet, I suspect that the day will come when anime fans can ask who would win between Shinigami and Saiyans, and actually have to give the matter a second thought.
Let us hope though, that we never see Ichigo blowing up planets...

[WhiteReaper]

If you think that the shingami that you have seen so far are powerful, my oh my, you are in for the rudest of awakenings.

I speak of a certain villain who will manifest himself very shortly in the anime (likely even at the end of episode 60, if I'm not mistaken). I will not spoil it though, otherwise many will shortly want me dead... When he arrives, I can say without a shred of hyperbole that he will make everyone (even Ichigo) appear as little more than ants! I kid you not, he is THAT powerful!

Even then, there are other beings introduced later on which can eclipse a Shinigami's power... I will say little else, but Hollow Ichigo was a taste of things to come...

Anyways, to answer your question, I do agree that Shimigami are approaching Saiyan levels of power, but I also believe that many characters in Bleach will shortly surpass that level of power....

[Mugetsu]

Is it just me or did Ichigo "Fly" recently. When I see Shinigami blowing up planets by POINTING AT THEM" then I will start to worry that they're going too far. There are people way mor powerful than Ichigo in Bleach. But the difference in Bleach & DBZ is that when Goku meets people who are more powerful, they ususally demonstrate it by having them blow up a planet or two and make it look easy. In Bleach, however, being strong seems to be more based on tequnique, speed, power & skill rather than just raw firepower. Reiatsu is important, but the tequniques they use often determine who wins the fight. Remember that Ichigos reiatsu looked very similar to Kenpachi's but at the level he was at the time Byakuya would have smacked him around.
I think the "wise" Saint Mana has a point about Bleach learning from DBZ's mistakes. Hopefully they wont let it go too far.

[Saint Mana]

Heh, yes WhiteReaper. Friend though you may be, you speaking spoilers would shortly result in your death. Heh. Well, I jest, but you get the idea. At any rate, I stand by my decision to catch up on the Manga once the filler arcs start. Then you will no have worries about spoiling anything for me at least.

Ah yes, Uchiha Mugetsu, when Ichigo was flying, he did so by the use of a mantle that was given to him by Yoruichi.(-dono. Heh.)
Yet, you make a great point, in DBZ, the only factors that determined victory were power level, and whether ot not your name was Son Goku...
In Bleach however, skill, technique, and experience all play a major part in determining victory. An improvement, I must say.
Even in Naruto, another product of Dragonball Z's influence, you can see more factors that determine victory. Good to see that more anime than Bleach, are learning from Dragonball Z's shortcomings.
Naruto however, has no need to worry about threating the power of the Saiyan Race.

[Mugetsu]

Naruto however, has no need to worry about threating the power of the Saiyan Race. Hey, don't underestimate Rock Lee. LOL.

[Saint Mana]

Heh, while Rock Lee does have a serious case of "DBZ Syndrome" his power still pales in comparison to even Shinigami. Yet, once we see him unleash all eight gates, maybe that will change. Personally I would like to see a rematch between Sabaku no Gaara, and Rock Lee. Rock Lee with Eight-Gate skills, and Gaara with -SPOILER- Kazekage Skills.
Mmm... Yet the overall Power Levels of characters in Naruto does hold promise, I seriously doubt they will ever reach the level of Saiyans. Somehow, I just don't see Kishimoto taking that approach.

[~Troublesome Woman~]

Heh, while Rock Lee does have a serious case of "DBZ Syndrome" his power still pales in comparison to even Shinigami. Yet, once we see him unleash all eight gates, maybe that will change. Personally I would like to see a rematch between Sabaku no Gaara, and Rock Lee. Rock Lee with Eight-Gate skills, and Gaara with -SPOILER- Kazekage Skills.
Mmm... Yet the overall Power Levels of characters in Naruto does hold promise, I seriously doubt they will ever reach the level of Saiyans. Somehow, I just don't see Kishimoto taking that approach.

Personally, I don't want to see any of the good guys fighting amongst each other.
On topic though, I think that the Shinigami are really almost there... almost as powerful as the saiyans. Yeah, Ichigo keeps getting more and more powerful, and I suspect that soon Goku will look like Konohamaru in comparison to Naruto.
I haven't seen all the episodes yet though, so I can't say for certain, but I think that the Shinigami are fast approaching Saiyan level.

[Gjallarhorn]

Heh, while Rock Lee does have a serious case of "DBZ Syndrome" his power still pales in comparison to even Shinigami. Yet, once we see him unleash all eight gates, maybe that will change. Personally I would like to see a rematch between Sabaku no Gaara, and Rock Lee. Rock Lee with Eight-Gate skills, and Gaara with -SPOILER- Kazekage Skills.
Mmm... Yet the overall Power Levels of characters in Naruto does hold promise, I seriously doubt they will ever reach the level of Saiyans. Somehow, I just don't see Kishimoto taking that approach. Yes, but we know that once Lee uses all eight gates, he will die. Far different from the "DBZ syndrome". And I have a strong desire to see Gaara and Rock Lee go at it again...I still believe that Chunin Exam fight was the best in the series.
Back on topic, ***SPOILERS INCLUDED*** once "a certain person" comes out, we will realize how little strength Ichigo has...at least as a Shinigami. As a Vizard we have no idea how strong he actually his. But I believe after this "certain person" is defeated, the series will be over. Afterall, this "certain person" has been like a puppeteer ever since the beginning of the series, even though he was not introduced until recently. He has been pulling the strings for the downfall of Soul Society and the Shinigami and the rise of the Arrancar and Hollows, similar to how Urahara has been pulling strings since he gave Rukia her false body to uphold Soul Society and the Shinigami...Although the level of strength of the Bleach Characters is slowly catching up to the DBZ characters, the level of character development, character depth, plot depth, morals, and themes puts Bleach on a whole other level of anime. DBZ pales in comparison.

[Showgan Jin]

I have a tribute drawing of the creater of Bleach that drew a drawing of dbz... He was a fan of the Series...take a look...i personaly think that all that bleach stuff with the races came form the saiyan race..( watch the bardock movie and u'll understand how strong the sayin race is... listen closly to what freza says about the sayian race, and why he destroyed it.)
http://www.animeforum.com/uploads/06-kubo_taito.jpg

[Showgan Jin]

so u see now...