Was Ichigo UNDERUSED in The Thousand-Year Blood War Arc? | Bleach DISCUSSION

What did you think of Ichigo in the final arc? Do you mind spending a lot of time with the supporting cast and not with him? Let me know and don't forget to subscribe!

Ichigo is pretty much goku was on namek and siyan sagas

Reiki

Yeah he doesn't have a rival, but he didn't need one, he just had to have a LONGER fight, he comes in, powers up and instantly loses, then he goes down to the seretei and then heads down, tries and fails horribly, really sucks haha, he just needed to be shown doing stuff, have him eliminate all the unnecessary sternritters instead of having ywach beating them all

I honestly like the fact the series doesn't revolve around the fact that it has to be all Ichigo, all the time (and Ichigo is my favorite character), which is one of the things that bothers me a bit in, say, Dragonball Super (and to some extent, Dragonball Z), where Goku has to be involved in EVERYTHING! Also, it's funny you mentioned the Fake Karakura Town Arc, because the anime virtually made it a running gag, especially in some of the shorts that followed the episodes, on how little Ichigo was involved until the end!

Ichigo could've at least been allowed to kill some of those sternritter in that 8 on one seeing as most of them are given terribly written, unceremonious deaths anyway

It kinda seemed like that rival was going to be Hash wolf seeing as he was the one who destroyed the original zangestu

I think it’s actually cool that Ichigo can have his fights, but the series isn’t totally reliant on him. Remember some of Byakuya’s supposed “last words” were “You shouldn’t even be here.” Meaning to me that this fight doesn’t DIRECTLY affect him or he didn’t initially have a dog in the fight because like it was stated, the Sternritter is the true enemy of the Gotei/Soul Society. Ichigo has no connection or want of revenge against the Quincy until he arrives at Soul Society and sees Byakuya on his death stone slab

I don't feel that Ichigo was missing per se, he had an active role. I just wish there was a proper fight where he actually managed to beat someone to a pulp. Every fight he enters when reaching soul society doesn't reach that point, because he only fights the main villain. When he arrives to save Kenpachi I wish he could've had some more mayhem time, to really show off his new powers. There's no moment where I actually feel that he's become amazingly powerful. I fell that a solution to this might be an extended fight with the eight Sternritters. He needs a proper fight against someone at least before facing Yhwack again.

As you mentioned it feels so strange that he arrives in Soul Society to then just turn around and head back up to the Royal palace. That makes it feel so useless that he came down there at all, even if he managed to save Kenpachi. That's what's missing, him leaving an actual impact when descending from the Royal Palace. I hope that the anime will do something about this, add some type of major battle for him in his new form. Not one where he'll actually need to use his bankai though, he needs that for Yhwack.

no not at all

I feel like Ichigo should have taken down a couple of sternritters. As far as I remember he kills Shaz Domino and that's it.

I personally love it when the author gives attention to any other character other than the main. Ichigo has already had enough moments in previous arcs and I love it how in TYBW the attention is not always on him.

Ichigo sold

What Ichigo needed was a proper fight that ended with him winning in order to showcase in a convincing way his training and controlled powers because apart from Ebern who he beats, his main fights against Quilge and Candice get interrupted just when Ichigo was dominating them beforehand. There is also barely a clash with Uryu even if I can understand that Kubo didn't want to overextend the drama of his "betrayal".

Maybe Kubo realized that by that point in the story Ichigo was so powerful he would’ve just torn Ishida to shreds.
I can see TYBW Ishida being even with Hueco Mundo arc masked Ichigo that fought Grimmjow (if that even).

It kinda wasn't his fight

Yes basically it was everyone getting f"ed up by Nappa waiting for goku to show up vibes

@MrTommo2304
I see it like this:

I do wish Ichigo had maybe oneeee more fight before Yhwach. Either win Uryu or Jurgram. But I don't mind it not being there as well.

The main focus of the story IS ICHIGO. Bleach is a character driven plot not a story driven one. We are supposed to learn about ICHIGO and himself. Throughout the manga he learns about himself, we learn about him, and thus we learn about ourselves.

So I think it was great that we got to see Kubo finally complete Ichigo's self actaulization fully. Those moments of despair with old man zangetsu and his self acceptance are far more valuable to me then a few more fights with some no name sternritters he could easily mop up.

Ichigo's journey is one of the best in shounen manga. It was crafted extremely well by Kubo. So to conclude I wish there was one more fight or so, but I wouldn't have it any other way if that meant his character would be mitigated because of it. Also, Kubo was rushing and working under limited time so it does make a lil sense.

Ichigoat never disappoints! But on another note I'd love more background/info/lore on the Shiba clan, fingers crossed we get something in the anime if not the Hell arc 🤞🏿

I have a feeling that something else will happen in the future of Bleach. Fan demand is too high overall and sales are very strong for merchandise and will only get better once the anime for TYBW arc hits.

I actually like that Ichigo can be absent from action, in both fake Karakura and the 2nd invation, because, I think it shows that despite being the prota, he is not the main and only "thing" that drives the story forward. The story is good enough to leave the main character on the side and still be captivating.

I think you pretty much nailed it right on the head. I believe his involvement was pretty much ideal. I mean I think there’s way worse things you could complain about with the arc…like you said he is aligned with the gotei but he’s never been like a integral part of their system and this is very much everyone else’s war as much as ichigo. It makes sense for him to go to heuco mundo and fight to help nel and scout the situation, and I think he does enough throughout as a whole

I know he was the main character but I feel like this was more the Gotei 13 arc more than a main character type of arc

In my opinion,
Yamamoto had the perfect death, it set the tone for the arc and was a similar feel to Erwin's death in AOT
Unohana had a really interesting twist to the end of her character and it was really cool to see
Komamura had a great sendoff, very interesting and his battle with Bambietta Basterbine with his full bankai was awesome
Soifon didn't get quite enough action, I thought her battle with BG9 could have been more climactic
Ukitake's sendoff was out of nowhere, it added to the story but it would have been nice to see him fight a Sternritter
Kenpachi had a lot of great fights but was insanely overused
Mayuri is in a similar boat, his fights with Giselle Gewelle and Pernida Parkgias were incredible (but did they really have to kill Nemu):( and he was used a bit much
Byakuka should have died fighting As Nodt and Rukia avenging him would have carried more weight. And instead of Rukia taking Ukitake's place as a captain she could have taken her brother's
Kyoraku was handled very well, and he deserves to be head captain. Nanao even having her moment in the fight against Lille Barro was dope to see.
Hitsugaya was used appropriately but could have had at least one volume that focuses more on him, and he never really had a true one on one fight with a Sternritter

Shinji did a good bit plotwise but dang it would have been nice to see him in more action, same with the rest of the Visoreds other than Rojiro and Kensei

It would have been cool to see Nel and Grimmjow fight a Sternritter one on one, as well as Chad (He could have fought Meninas cause they have similar powers)

Renji's Soo Zabimaru was super cool and he had a great fight against Mask, but I felt he could have had some more screen time

Urahara and Yoruichi's fight against Askin Naak le Vaar was great, and their full Bankais were super cool

Ichigo, lastly, definitely could have fought more and been part of the captain battles before he charged the Royal Palace. The only real fights he gets are against that one Arrancar dude and then Quilge in the beginning, and eventually Candace, but until the end where he faces Yhwach, that's all we really see of him

Overall it was a great arc but hopefully they will make the ending more climactic in the anime

I actually don't mind that Ichigo doesn't have a big fighto-fighto rival in this arc. Throughout his arrival on the second invasion and his ascent to the Royal Palace, I actually wanted to see what would happen if Ichigo and Ishida would do if they were on the same room together.

Would Ishida's words in the first arc, about his disdain for the Shinigami come true? Or would his bonds be stronger? Ishida seems hesitant and a stranger to the Stern Ritters, but he also got a Schrift...

Yeah, their confrontation was something I was very much looking forward to

I think ichigo did enough in tybw arc his character developed alot in my opinion i loved it tbh and i think that when ichigo was on screen it was the best

I just finished reading the arc an hour ago, and coming from someone who is not a fan of side character fights, I'm all about the mc, I loved this arc and the captains fighting even if it was 40 chapters without him, It got me out of my chair, seeing kempachi using his bankai or the captains being controlled by the quincy

I just wish his few fights got proper closures, his only sternritter 1v1s were against Ritters J and T and he didn’t get the Win in neither

Though I’m glad Quilge got to use his letter, Ichigo should’ve finished him. And he
deserved to low diff Candice instead of Byakuya unceremoniously offscreening her

I think not having a rival character in the final arc makes sense considering the one he had in the soul society and Arrancar arc were revealed to be machination by Aizen. I would have been fully satisfyied with his role if only the final fight lasted longer, but that was ultimetly out of Kubo's control.

I think Kubo had so many characters by the end that it was inevitable that certain ones weren't going to get highlighted to the same degree as others, so there was always a risk of fun or popular ones getting left behind as the story moved forward. I know I wanted to see more of Ichigo's new double sword/bankai powers getting used to kick ass, but alas.. Considering how rare duals swords were, apparently, it was extra exciting.

I certainly read through it thinking he'd wind up sacrificing himself to be the new soul king as he had all the pieces of hollow, Quincy, shinigami and human within him. Glad it didn't go that route though.

A quick side note, has anyone considered that Ichigo is related to Ganju, Kukkaku and Kaien Shiba due to the fact that Isshin, Ichigo’s father, is also a Shiba? I wonder if MrTommo will make a video on that little flashback when Isshin was Captain of squad 10, with Rangiku as his Lieutenant and Toshiro as the 3rd seat. It would be interesting

IMO he did Just enough... just enough. him having one good one on one battle would have been cool. Even if it’s was against like uryu, but what we got was acceptable.

Ichigo was definitely underused. He is the main character and he didn’t get 1 proper fight in arc that last 200 chapters. Kubo wasted so many chapters on other fights that dragged way to long and we don’t even get to see his bankai’s abilities. Such a shame because all of the early stuff in the arc with him learning about him mom and confronting zangetsu was so good and developed his character.

Me personally I don't think the way ichigo was involved throughout the series I actually dont have a problem with it. Ichigo in the tybw arc I felt like it was cool to see the soul society be able to get some shine (some more than others). I'm a person who doesn't like when the main series is mainly focused on their main character and dont give their side characters not that much shine, but I think bleach does it pretty well with ichigo

He was not underused, but misused. Remove Askin soloing him from the history and give us a full bankai fight and it is all fixed.

Im fine with Ichigo. I would like better fights in the end and more exposed ending.

If we saw more of Ichigos training, nobody would complain. Also squad 0 would get character development

I see no bad for other character getting their own spotlight and with so many good characters, it doesn't need to be only about Ichigo. He can't be in every single fight all the time.

I think he was we dident hes baneki ichigo had still a fair bit of potential that was not ahown that should have been due to the manga rushed ending

I just finished reading the Thousand Year Blood War arc and I do think Ichigo could’ve done more fighting in the arc! I feel like I watched more supporting characters fight the enemy than Ichigo!

Yeah bleach is about all characters, unlike naruto. Where the protagonist is ichigo,hence why series isnt called ichigo. It is called bleach for reason as it involves whole cast rather single character and they do good job in exploring supporting characters as well as linking to same narrative and MC story in excellent way

"We just have to hold out until kurosaki ichigo arrives"
"I know i'm asking a lot, but please, kurosaki ichigo, protect soul society, it doesn't matter if you answer, i already know what you'll do"

When ichigo was actually being treated like a captain is when you can truly understand why he's fighting for the shinigami, soul society is his family in a way

Ichigo is most boring character, thus worst main character for me. Bleach is “good” because of all the gimmicky fights and character designs.

I think people keep forgetting that Kubo was under incredible time restraints, fighting constant sickness/stress, fighting the studio on finishing the manga way before it was supposed to be finished.

I think you all forget this when talking about this shit because Kubo had plans to add another huge amount of chapters to bring all the pieces together. The studio said fuck that finish this story now or get fucked and Kubo was like " all right " and we got the ending we got.

Instead we should of gotten way more backstory and development with the Uryu family since they are literally the only fucking Quincy in the story up until this point and hash out more info on Ichigos Mom and Dad more, on top of that actually giving us a legitimate ending instead of the shit show we got.

I just wanted him fight at full power just once. Horn of Salvation, Bankai, trying his hardest.

I became a fan of bleach through the anime about 4 years ago while recovering from shoulder surgery. However, I wasn't sure about the manga until I started watching your channel. I am now half way through the final arc. I never mind spoilers because it has only ever made me want to read it for myself.
To the point now, so far where I'm at, I'm personally not upset with his showing thus far.

The whole TYBW Arc was building Ichigo's power level up only to have his long anticipated True Bankai broken right at the end before even getting a chance to use it. Pathetic!! Kubo I love you but that was was some weak writing just like the ass pulled plot device 'the silver arrow head'.

I thought Kubo missed the mark with Ichigo in the final arc, I thought he would lean into his quincy side more. In the first arc he gained a large power bump by attaining is Bankai, then he got his next power bump by tapping into the hollow inside of him. I thin instead of a true Bankai he should have attaind a holy form as part of the quincy in him.

Honestly I love animes where there is a wide range of characters that get screen time instead of just a giving couple main guys all the air time.