kennikitty said:
Wasn't Rukia basically saying she can't sense fear, becasue she's dead? However, didn't we already see her experiencing all kinds of different emotions, including fear of death and hopefor rescue, when she was held captive during the Soul Society arc?
In other words, all this stuff doesn't make any sense at all.
Consider the following: Beforehand she did not go through the rigorous training with Renji and the Royal Guards. Like Renji, she was unable to use the full-potential of her Zanpakuto just as Renji and the others so her powers were always based on fighting with ice, but she could never actually control it (i.e. temperature). This, like Renji is to show how much she has mastered her Zanpakuto in that time of training, she is far beyond the level she was when she was once a prisoner like you stated, there has even been a time-skip since then, so it's not surprise she's not the same as she was before.