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My problem with Ichigo & Bleach.


MidnightBliss

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I don't want people to feel like I am just being unfair to the orange haired hero in any way, shape or form, and I definitely don't want to be attacked by the rabid Ichigo fan-girls (grabs anti fan-girl device a.k.a. Aluminum bat) but I feel like I need to vent this(maybe it belongs in rants and if it does I am sorry), because lot's of stories suffer from these problems. Also there shouldn't be any spoilers in this if you are up to date in Bleach and if you aren't I mean whose fault is that.

The first problem I have with Ichigo is more of a problem with the decisions that have been made concerning his power. I can understand that he just has a huge reservoir of untapped power that he can tap into whenever he is in trouble (much like the Kyuubi's Chakra), but what I don't like is that instead of improving any skills he has already in order to become stronger he seems to just fall ass-backwards into new skills (At least Naruto went from Rasengan to Rasen Shuriken). For example:

Ichigo:"I need to fight Byakuya Kuchiki who is more powerful and better trained than I am"

Youruichi:"What a coincidence, I have something that will put you on the same level as him" *proceeds to sprinkle magic powder on him*.

I am dreading his fight with Ulquiorra because I know not only will he discover some new power not yet known to us, maybe he can use the Gran Rey Cero or maybe when he sneezes everything in a five mile radius dies, but that they will refuse to justify this with any sort of lead up, instead opting into the tried and true "his intense love for his friend allowed him to do it", which is about as tired as introducing a giant monster as a result of nuclear fallout.

Second, is it just me or does it seem like every fight Ichigo has gotten into his opponent has been not trying to kill him, the case in the Soul Society Arc. I can understand Byakuya holding back, not wanting his sister dead, but Kenpachi is not the type to hold back so I don't know how to account for Ichigo beating Zaraki, with a.) no Bankai and b.) from what I can recall no help from his hollow self. If they aren't holding back they have decided to "play with him for some unknown reason" despite it being a.) against their orders (Ulquiorra, despite being anal about following orders) or b.) not in their character.

Third, I feel like despite him being the main character and thus deserving of the most "airtime" some characters have taken a serious backseat to him despite them doing more interesting activities, when earlier in the series the action was split a little better. Why would I want to watch Ichigo run on a modified Eliptical device when I could be watching Sado and Renji duel or Orihime and Rukia spar as well? Apparently someone decided that since he was the main character that everything that he did was so vastly interesting that people would prefer watching him make a sandwich as opposed to watching a character with believable power growth train. Then again I have noticed that I am not the only one who felt that way which led all his friends to train so they could acquire some air time for themselves. The best example is the case of Orihime who went from best friend/possible love interest to at best the equivalent of the DragonBalls and at worse a band-aid with mild antiseptic. I had such high hopes when Aizen kidnapped her, I thought "finally someone else is important again" but it turns out she wasn't, but instead was a trap for Ichigo, what a big surprise.

Finally, I feel that Bleach, much like Naruto before Shippuuden, has given its characters Main Character Invulnerability and that anyone who is viewed as being popular by fans is incapable of dying even when it is the logical conclusion to a fight. Why didn't Grimmjaw run in and snap Ichigo's neck like a twig when he first met him, when he was quite capable of it. Why despite all of their spirit energy disappearing (e.g. Why wouldn't Nnoitra finish Sado off, when he has stated that he doesn't show mercy to the weak?). The only difference between Bleach's Main Character Invulnerability and other Manga's is that if a character is extremely popular in Bleach they will be given so much base power that it makes you wonder why anyone would fight with them to begin with (i.e. Zaraki Kenpachi), but don't worry they aren't above raising people from the grave using Orihime's power of Delorian-esque time reversal.

I think that is the reason I enjoy Gantz and its writers so much, because they aren't above killing the main character and everyone he knows like an accomplished mafia hitman would. Oh and don't take this the wrong way I love Bleach. I am sure that if this belongs in rants I'll be informed.

Edited by MidnightBliss
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totaly agree. Bleach has become DBZ. ever since the bount arc watching bleach has almost been a chore. I get 2 months behind and then watch all the episodes in one shot just to get through them. I keep watching b/c i'm hoping that somewhere along the way the greatness of the soul society arc will come back. But seriously, some of the characters need to die off, they've introduced way too many of them to keep up with.

And am i the only one that wonders if the inhabitants of Hueco Mundo are so hardcore, how has soul society lasted this long? Ichigo has no trouble whooping up on the strongest of captains but barely squeaks by the tripple digit espada??

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I stopped watching Bleach ages ago - I scan the odd episode now and then to keep up. But it's pretty much a case of they're fighting a bad guy, he's defeated...oh there's another bad guy who's stronger...let's fight him. I can't stand it - at least Naruto has a storyline that ties in to things back at the very start of the series. There's a whole massive history for it and my friend has the (lack of) balls to say that Bleach is better.... PSH! PSH I SAY!

But I agree with all above statements...the other characters deserve more time and less 'lackey-of-Ichigo' plots

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  • 1 month later...

And thus the reason why I like screwing with these things!! *cackles as her muse tries the move 'inch worm' to get away again*

Personally, I don't mind watching bleach or naruto. It's mindless and simplistic and I don't have to pay to much attention to keep up with the main plot, unlike Death Note, where I'm scratching my head and going "who the heck is this guy?!". Yay, anyways...

I like a few of the episodes where Ichigo get's his as* handed to him and someone has to obviously save him.

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  • 1 month later...
Guest chocolat

Yes, there will be spoilers up to the Huecho Mundo arc...

I agree that Ichigo seems to just end up with all these crazy powers even after Ishida did that thing around episode 12 where he shot off spirit arrows to get rid of the huge build up of Ichigo's energy. He finds his own shinigami powers which are uber strong, then he get's bankai, then hollow powers (technically the hollow powers came along with the finding of his shinigami powers, but whatever). It may just be me, but I feel like all of this is building up to something. Ichigo's Hollow has already tried to take over more than once, and he said that if Ichigo slipped up again, that he would be taking over as the new King. What I think, is that the Hollow is finally going to take over Ichigo.

I also somewhat disagree about Ichigo just ending up with powers randomly. He has had to work hard in order to get those powers, and if it weren't for other people interfering with his life, it would have been a long time until he ever became a shinigami in the first place. The transfer of Rukia's powers into him sparked his own powers, and when hers were taken away and Ichigo was left for dead by Byakuya, Urahara stepped in. Urahara's motives for helping Ichigo were to save Rukia so his experiment could be kept out of the hands of Aizen. He helps Ichigo tap into his hidden powers, but in order to do this, he puts Ichigo in to some stressful and deadly exercises. Ichigo has to figure out in the end how to be come a shinigami or end up as a hollow, though in the end he ultimatly becomes both.

Next is his short training session before he goes off to Soul Society. Then he had to go through some hard two day training with Yoruichi in order to reach bankai. But before that he has been fighting with all of these powerful shinigami, thus improving on his own skills.

...I have to get off now, but I will be back with more!

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Guest chocolat

Back... Once again, spoilers up to Huecho Mundo!

And even after he reached banki, Ichigo found that things weren't that much easier. Yes, he did beat Byakuya, but there was that short moment when the hollow took over for a bit. As the series goes on, you can see that the more power Ichigo gets, the harder it is to control. I think that is one thing we need to remember. Ichigo has hardly any skill with controling and focusing these huge amounts of power, which gives me even more reason to think that he is going to lose control.

Then there's the bounto arc, but I'm going to ignore that because it was basically pointless. (though I do love Nova ^.^)

Enter the Aarancar! Ichigo has the fight with Yammy (Yami, however you spell it) and then has issues with his Hollow. Then there's the whole Vizard thing which once again leads to more training and more Hollow insanity. And after that he goes to Huecho Mundo and fights some powerful dudes.

I'm looking forward to the fight with Ulquiorra. I don't think Ichigo will be able to beat him. Grimmjow is 6 and isn't a match for Ulquiorra, and Ichigo had trouble when he faced Grimmjow's released form. That whole confidence boost with Orihime cheering him on was ok, but I doubt it will be enough to beat Ulquiorra. Ichigo has only faced Ulquiorra once and the espada didn't even go into his released form and he nearly killed Ichigo. Yes, he could call upon his hollow powers, but it won't be enough since it was hardly enough to fight against Grimmjow. This leads me again to the idea that his hollow will take the opertunity to take over Ichigo's body once again. If this will be enough to fight Ulquiorra, I have no clue. My last thought on this is that I think Aizen has something waiting for Ichigo.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is my two cents for this whole Ichigo power thing.

In truth, if you go by what has been stated in the past episodes and the story line, Ichigo can't get no stronger. Yes, he has achieved bankai, yes, he now has control over his vizard form but that's it.

Aizen stated to Ichigo ( can't remember the episode but it is the one where he is taking that jewel thing out of Rukia and yes I am too tired to look up names) Once a shinigami achieves their top level of power there is only one other way to get more powerful. Become a vizard/hollow. That is the highest level of power you can go to and low and behold, Ichigo is already there. ( Thanks to the training from Urahara and the Vizards) There is no where for Ichigo to go now to get more powerful, unless he becomes a god.

He does have those untapped powers but he has to train to tap into them. Right now I don't see him training because of these arcs the poor boy is going through. Bless his poor soul, he can't win for loosing.

That's the only thing I don't like about Bleach with the anime, the arcs. At least the Bount Arc and the Vizard Arc fit in with the story line. However, the current Arc they are showing, has absolutely nothing to do with the series and poor Renji is still stuck in Hueco Mondo fighting alone. I wish they would just get on with the storyline. Yes I understand they need to keep the people's intrest but these arcs when they have nothing to do with the story line is old. I just want to see the outcome of the Hueco Mundo arc.

But that's my two cents worth on this.

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  • 1 month later...
That's the only thing I don't like about Bleach with the anime, the arcs. At least the Bount Arc and the Vizard Arc fit in with the story line.

wow. i've never seen anyone defend the Bount arc. That story was probably the lowest point i have ever seen an anime that i enjoyed go to without me turning it off.

But i will say I do like the current arc. They're back in soul society and its politics as usual. Someone's trying t make a power grab and playing a whole family for fools. but how the hell did they escape hueco mundo? he fights blue haired guy and saves orihime and then all of a sudden they're out. weren't they all still separated?

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  • 1 month later...

I just made a quick realization about Bleach. The whole thing is one large Damsel in Distress story,including fillers and movies, there has not been one arc that does not involve saving a girl. Except maybe the new one because I did not watch it but 3/4s of the story has been a white knight saving a helpless girl from at one point an Actual Tower, just like Rapunzel.

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I just made a quick realization about Bleach. The whole thing is one large Damsel in Distress story,including fillers and movies, there has not been one arc that does not involve saving a girl. Except maybe the new one because I did not watch it but 3/4s of the story has been a white knight saving a helpless girl from at one point an Actual Tower, just like Rapunzel.

they didn't save any female characters in the bount arc. but yeah, i hadn't thought of it like that, there is quite a bit of it. I guess you go with what works?

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  • 1 month later...

I don't give a rat's ass bout the anime but I've been reading the manga.

And yeah, it is DBZ all over again. Ichigo gets more and more powerful with minimal effort while his friends work their ass off for just a little power.

Ichigo just bearly beat Grimjow, #5 Espada and now he's being called Ulliquiora's rival? WTF? How has he gotten magically stronger to stand a chance in hell of beatting Ulliquiora who beat his ass in TWO FUCKING ATTCKS just chapters ago?

Clearly the author will make Ichigo beat Ulliquiora some how, what a load of bullshit. These Shonen mangas just make me wanna rape.

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  • 3 years later...
Guest JulCan1987

I think Ichigo shot up too fast, in my opinion there wasn't much character development for him. He got too strong to fast. Like in Naruto, they took their time explaning things with him, like when he was training with Jariya to learn the summoning jutsu and the Rasengan. They took their time with it. Like during that crappy Bount Arc, instead of having him fighting, they should've had him training some more. Like in Naruto Shippuden, while most of the battles with Akatsuki were going on, Naruto was training to learn the Rasen Shuriken. But that's my opinion.

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