Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood Warhas made a strong impression with its first few episodes, boasting great animation and a compelling setup where the son of the Soul King himself comes as an antagonist.Ichigo has become a major part of pop culture again, with this orange-haired protagonist showing just how powerful he is. Given the lows of the Fullbring arc, fans are glad to see that a major conflict in the series is finally getting the limelight it deserves.
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Ichigo is a fun protagonist to hang around with, but there’s no denying that he can be fairly inconsistently written at times. For someone who is headstrong and never gives up, there aretimes when Ichigo acts completely out of character, which can get somewhat annoying at times. Here are some of the most egregious instances of the same inBleach.
5Defeating Kenpachi Despite Being Less Powerful Than Him
Ichigo’s trek through Soul Society led to him fighting with multiple shinigami before realizing that he needed to boost his powers to take on Byakuya Kuchiki. While he definitely held his own against characters like Ikkaku and Renji, his clash against Kenpachi was the biggest test of his strength at that point. This was the first time thatIchigo had encountered a Captain in Soul Society, and it was clear that he needed to bring out all of his power to even stand a chance against this berserker.
However, regardless of how much latent power Ichigo housed, there was no denying that Kenpachi was simply on an entirely different level in terms of sheer power. The fact that he lost to Ichigo is a joke since there was no way for Ichigo to eclipse this captain’s power at that juncture in the story.
4Being Unable To Answer Gin Ichimaru’s Questions
If there’s one thing that has been established time and time again, it’s that Ichigo is headstrong and confident about everything he does. Even if something does impact this self-belief in a major way, he never wavers in the face of adversity and tries his hardest to fight against the odds over and over again. So, when he wasbeing humiliated by Gin both verbally and physically, it was odd to see just how reserved Ichigo was with his responses.
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In fact, Ichigo didn’t even have an answer for Gin’s questions when the latter asked if he would be able to take on someone as powerful as Aizen. This is an absolute joke, especially since the Ichigo everyone knows and loves would’ve just told Gin that he would get stronger than Aizen and believe in himself to take this traitor down!
3Getting A Huge Power Boost Out Of Nowhere Before Clashing With Aizen
Aizen was easily one of the most compelling antagonists inBleachby a country mile. His betrayal of Soul Society was a genuine surprise that no one expected, setting the stage for him and his Arrancar to become the new antagonists of the tale and show the Captains of Soul Society what true power was really all about. Many fans wondered how Ichigo would be able to deal with this imposing villain, especially given how he couldn’t even give Gin a clear response about his resolve on dealing with Aizen.
However, this tension was conveniently nipped in the bud just after it took root. While traveling via the Dangai, Isshin Kurosaki conveniently reveals that the Dangai is a space not bound by time, where anyone can train for ages without any substantial time passing in the real world. This became a convenient solution for Ichigo to hone his powers to the max, becoming so powerful thathe was able to manhandle Aizen with easewhile also unleashing his final Getsuga Tensho. Given how powerful he was against Aizen during his confrontation, most people would argue that he didn’t even need to lose his powers in the first place!
2Giving Up After Failing To Damage Yhwach
Ichigo is easily one of the most confident shonen protagonists around. He loved the world and his friends, moving heaven and earth to save them if they ever came in harm’s way. Most people argue that Ichigo was boring because of this unflinching mindset, but he never really needed to grow as a character in the first place. However, all that came crashing downduring his fight against Yhwach.
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Ichigo was so hopelessly outclassed during their final battle that he was almost ready to accept defeat, which is something that no one can picture this strong character doing in the first place! While the advent of his friends led to Ichigo approaching the second part of this battle with a fresh mindset, the fact that he even gave up is hard to fathom for many.
1Never Showing The Amalgamation Of All His Powers
The sheer number of powers that Ichigo had by the end of the series was downright comical. He had the blood of a Quincy and Shinigami, along with dormant Hollow powers that ended up being the true form of Zangetsu as well! Suffice it to say, Ichigo should’ve combined all three powers into a gigantic spectacle of power that should’ve endedBleachon a high note.
However, not only did Ichigo fail to show the true nature of his powers, butthe final fight simply endedwith one clean sword cut without any flashy display of his powers. This was rather odd, especially when it was said over and over again that Ichigo was an anomaly who could potentially become the strongest fighter around when he combined all his dormant powers. The fact thatBleachended before the true nature of his powers could be revealed is a source of great disappointment for many and didn’t fall in line with everything Kubo had established for his character up to that point.
