the fact that zangetsus identity was hidden from us from day one shows its been at least somewhat planned

it was all planned lil bro

@camimaou I agree with what you are saying especially with this recent episode. I feel like maybe the situation with Zangetsu and Ichigo's true Zanpaktou wasn't planned and at the same time it was, but at a later time. Either way I think it was a nice save.

Youd be wrong then. All of this was planted since the beginning, thats clear if you re-read.

You guys are high on copium if you think when the first chapter was published that everything was already planned. That's not how it works for long serializations. He probably began to think about those things when the manga became popular.
You're starting to get ridiculous.