So a pretty good chapter overall, Hitsugaya went out like a boss, Komamura looks cool enough for me to stop calling him various dog related joke names and the Quincy have unleashed Vollstandig! I'd say that's a pretty exciting 20 pages! As for WHY the Quincy would steal the Captains Bankai when it stops them using the (in their opinion) stronger Vollstandig, that's obvious.
Not only was it a serious psycological hit, stealing Bankai and using it against the captains, but it also significantly weakened them. Sure the Sternritter MAY be a little weaker in Bankai than they are in Vollstandig, but the captains are SIGNIFICANTLY weaker in Shikai than they are in bankai (obviously
) so even if it weakened the Sternritter slightly, it's still a sound tactical move, as it weakened the Captains more.
Lets add some totally arbitraty, made up number to it... for clarifictation purposes.
Say a Captain and a Sternritter, both sealed, are 100%
a Captain in Shikai is 125% and in bankai is 200%
a Sternritter in stolen bankai is 150% and in Vollstandig is 200%
I'm sure NO ONE here would disagree that it's a sound tactical decision on the Sternritters part to steal as many Bankai as they can? sure it means they're at 150 instead of 200%, BUT the Captains are at 125, or even 100%. And then WORST case scenario, as happened, the captains steal their Bankai back, regaining full power, but at the same time they unlock the Sternritters full potential. It's a win win for the Sternritter.
Of course they didn't account for the captains being awesome , so even though they have their Vollstandig back, they're still fucked.
Bring on next week and the a return to Ichigo and crew! Hopefully to find out more about the true Zangetsu, plus the fate of Renji and the Kuchikis!
MMO EDIT: as for the fights, alot haven't been set up yet, but from what we know so far...
Komamura Vs Bambi
Shunsui Vs Haschwalth
Kurotsuchi Vs Askin
Add in Byakuya Vs As Nodt and Zaraki Vs the first person he sees and that's 5, with two left over for some combination of Renji, Rukia, the Vizard and anyone else with Bankai