Hivemind Megamix: Ichigo Regains His Pride

This was my entry into a collaborative event I’m doing on my channel known as the Hivemind Megamix, which you can watch here:

If it rusts, it can never be trusted.

If its owner fails to control it, it will cut him.

Yes, pride is 

like a blade.

Amongst all of Bleach’s various themes and motifs, by far one of the most prominent is that of one’s pride. The pride of status as a noble, the pride of one’s abilities as a warrior, the pride of power above the gods, the pride of one’s lineage: all of these and more are an ongoing focus for many of the characters in the story, but it’s not merely the pride that one has that Bleach tends to focus on. Typically, the characters inhabiting this world of Shinigami are also frequently thrust into journeys of simply finding that pride. For Zaraki Kenpachi, it’s the journey to regain the pride of a monster with power above all others. For Kuchiki Byakuya, it’s to realize that his pride was not in his status but in what he loved in spite of his expectations. And if there’s anyone who embodies the search for and the meaning of one’s pride, it’s the character of Kurosaki Ichigo, and as such, there is one moment in the story of Bleach that stands out as my favorite.

And it’s the moment years after the young man sacrificed the power that changed his world, the beginning of the journey to regain his pride.

It’s no stretch to say that Fullbring, aside from Thousand Year Blood War, is the most misunderstood arc of Bleach. It takes place a year after one of the most long-running arcs in the series with the most world-changing events and big battles with crazy powers, but this time scaled back as far as Bleach could possibly go, having Ichigo without his power as the world more or less returns to a status quo. In fact, I’ve heard arguments that Fullbring feels as if the story of Bleach was just continuing beyond where the story felt like a definitive end, but such an assertion directly neglects something very important: while Ichigo had certainly grown throughout the story of Bleach up until this point, there is much that he still hadn’t learned. One of the most important battles for Ichigo was against Ulquiorra, a battle that ended in shame and a conclusion that Ichigo was in the wrong, the only one gaining something positive being Ulquiorra. His battle with Aizen ended with the sacrifice of everything that brought about that change, the perfect visual representation being the disappearance of Rukia before Ichigo’s very eyes. Aside from Ichigo gaining an understanding of Aizen and the world being saved, on the part of Kurosaki Ichigo himself there was no positive end, and in the way he carries himself throughout the beginning of the Fullbring arc we see that emptiness that his loss of power has left him with. 

We had always seen Ichigo throughout the story complain about his responsibilities as a Shinigami making his life more difficult and obnoxious, but now that he has his relatively normal life, all we ever see is him wanting to go back to that life while his friends continue to fight Hollows without him. Those people who he once was protecting are now the ones doing his job in his place, and knowing Ichigo’s entire character arc and goal, we know that he can’t stand having others protect him. It’s what started up the events of both Soul Society and Arrancar: he wasn’t strong enough to save Rukia and chased after her to rectify that lack of strength, training and fighting with people just like him in order to finally do what he wanted to and protect her. The same happened with Orihime, but in this case he was also battling the rejection of the Hollow within himself. It was a battle of desperation, but it ended with Ichigo losing it all, as mentioned before, reaching a negative end.

So here we have Ichigo isolated because of not only being unable to protect his friends, but also missing one of the things that previously he saw as a burden: the ability to see ghosts. It was a power that made him feel isolated and that he previously said caused him nothing but problems, and it hurts even more because even before he had his powers it was that ability to see ghosts that he had all of his life, but that too was taken away. Everything that formed his world in such a short amount of time was ripped away from him, and all he could do was watch on as that world he once charged into was outside of his grasp. Ironically, it’s when he lost it all that he desired that power the most.

So when Ginjo gave him the chance to fight back with the power known as Fullbring, Ichigo jumped at the chance to be able to protect his friends and enter that world once more. The threat of Tsukishima that was posed towards all that he loved was what he used to justify that desire for power that he craved. And thus the test to get his Fullbring began when he was forced to fight in Riruka’s dollhouse with the only hint given to him in order to draw out his power was through something he had a great connection to, and the only thing he could think of was his Substitute Soul Reaper badge that was given to him after he was acknowledged by Soul Society. It didn’t do anything except force his soul out of his body and warn him of Hollows, but otherwise he viewed it always as nothing but a dumb piece of wood. His powers, his ability to see ghosts and even that Substitute Soul Reaper badge held one similarity between them all: he viewed them as nothing but a waste of time and trouble until they were taken away.

And that’s when Chad calls out to him.

What’s notable about Fullbring is that it’s not the power of a Shinigami, a Quincy or even a Hollow. It’s the power of a human who’s affected by the world of spirits and forced out of them by their pride focused into a single object, igniting its soul. Be it boots, a watch, a handheld system or even a bookmark, their pride as a human and all of their past experiences become their power. For Chad, it’s the very skin on his arms that made him an outcast, got him bullied and made him feel alone that turned into the power that he used to fight and defend that which he loved. It was pride in his Mestizo blood–of his Abuelo that he loved and looked up to and told him to be proud of that filled his heart when he drew out his power. So Chad calls out to Ichigo and tells him to remember a moment when he was proud of his Shinigami powers…which causes memories of every single moment that Ichigo was a Shinigami to flood into his mind. That power that was a nuisance, that caused him nothing but trouble, that made him an outsider. That power that allowed him to protect everyone that he loved, that fulfilled his deepest desire and allowed him to meet people who changed his world. And as the image of Rukia disappearing before his eyes, this time from his point of view, fills the page, a single line is said.

“I can’t remember when I wasn’t.”

And then his Fullbring, the symbol of the manji that was the hilt of the Zanpakuto in his Bankai, ignites in his hands.

Above any other moment in Bleach, these two pages are what I feel embody the core of Ichigo’s growth as a character. Ichigo had no pride in himself that he was aware of, but even thinking back he was proud of even that orange hair that everyone made fun of him and demonized him for because it was a memory of his mother who he loved and failed to save. Thus his powers that he detested and grew irritated by were also the source of his pride because he was able to save so many people and connect with others who understood him. Pride in oneself is the core of one’s power and the road to maturity and self-improvement. It’s what he denied all of this time and rejected simply because he didn’t realize how precious it was to him.

Even more interesting is that this power came from the Substitute Soul Reaper badge that he viewed as worthless, because it’s eventually discovered that it was a way of Soul Society to keep track of him. It was a tool to spy on him, the same way Ginjo lost his trust in the Shinigami that caused him to spiral out. But when told this, Ichigo simply responded that he knew and didn’t care. He of his own volition came to trust those Shinigami that he fought against and alongside. It wasn’t something he was forced to do and he made the most of it. It’s a perfect representation of the pride he has in himself: the power that changed his world and that he chose to accept wholeheartedly.

But this moment isn’t done here. Ichigo eventually becomes even more isolated due to the plotting of Ginjo and Tsukishima, having all of his friends turn against him leaving him with no one but himself as Ginjo steals away that same Fullbring: the power he gained in order to regain his pride. He lost it all. His world was done for.

Until the one who changed his world and gave him his pride returned it to him once again.

The Soul Society that he chose to trust, to fight alongside, to change and to save came to return the favor tenfold and return those powers that changed his life. And similar to the moment when he remembered his pride and that image of Rukia dissolving filled the frame, this time when he was stabbed once more by a Zanpakuto, that image of that small girl in black kimono returned. His pride was returned, the pride that he gained because of his trust and his love that he inspired in those around him who saw that pride. It’s something that resonated with me more than any other moment in Bleach.

As someone who never acknowledges my own positives and only ever acknowledges the negatives, it’s in reading this moment that I came to understand a bit about myself. What you have pride in the most is often something you don’t actively realize. It’s not something you really choose, but the thought of it being ripped away is worse than anything else in this world…but more importantly, sometimes it takes the words and actions of others who see that pride to remind you of how much it matters. For Kurosaki Ichigo, that pride changed his world, and now it was his turn to defend it.