Bleach’s main hero is often criticized for being “reactive”, but could it be his strength as an MC?
In the holy trinity of the early 2000s shonens – Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach – one main hero stands out: Kurosaki Ichigo. What makes him different is his perceived lack of motivation, a lack of an ambitious, overarching goal that would drive his story forward. But is it really a bad thing?
Let’s start from the beginning: who is Ichigo? Born in the fictional town of Karakura in Western Tokyo, Japan, Ichigo is a regular teenager living his mostly normal teenager life. Upon being granted the powers of Shinigami by pure accident, he awakens in the dangerous world full of conflicts that he gets caught up in, something he never asked for. For Ichigo, normalcy is now a thing of the past.
In the eyes of many, such an origin story makes Ichigo a victim of circumstance rather than a true hero. In some ways, they are correct: Ichigo isn’t in control of the narrative. He is, however, in charge of his own destiny. Whatever life throws at our hero, he gives his all to protect what truly matters to him – his loved ones, something he failed to do as a child when his mother died. That is his only drive, and everything else is secondary. He is not a puppet without agency.
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Sure, he has no desire to become the next Pirate King or Hokage, but that doesn’t necessarily make him bland or unidimensional. It makes him more human. At the heart of Bleach is a story about a teenage boy on a journey of self-discovery, channeling his grief and guilt into a power that saves lives. He navigates the complexities of the like a teenager would: asking questions and relying on mentors on the way, making mistakes and even going through his own “emo” phase during the Fullbringer arc.
As a bonus, the more ambiguous nature of its main character gives Bleach an element of unpredictability. Had Ichigo had a clear-cut goal from the beginning of the series, we would’ve seen the finale coming from a hundred miles away, just like we did with Naruto.
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Not every shonen character needs to have a grandiose vision, as long as his story is still engaging to the fans. And, considering Bleach’s unwavering popularity, we can safely conclude that Kurosaki Ichigo’s story is one worth telling.