@.access:
Hmmm… no, I didn't?
I said that all the way up to the end of the manga they were still used as a parameter/reference of strength and perceived by the fans as the elite of warriors. This doesn't mean they are the strongest characters, just like the Gold Saints are not the strongest character in Saint Seiya but are perceived as the measure of strength because they are still regarded as the symbol of power in the series. Even by the end of Bleach, the readers would still judge if a character was really strong by comparing them to the Captains.
This statement makes no sense because there were characters considered to be beyond Captain level, they were never considered to be the standard for strength given characters like Kenpachi was considered above and beyond the level for Captain and was held back by his own petard due to boredom to becoming outright broken once he unlocked his shikai.
When you have the first antagonists still perceived as that as the manga ends, you don't have a power creep. A power creep would be them being completely useless by the end of the manga.
Except that was the case.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@glass:
Great fighting ability not compensating for a lack of power was exactly what I was trying to point out and why power creep is a concern for the series.
Except there's characters who still lose despite having great power due to their lack of fighting ability (Midoriya, Shigaraki, Momo, Denki, etc.) so how the hell could they be a power creep?