Ah Bleach... I’m just going to leave this here...
So I don’t know if this has been pointed out before but I’ve been thinking about this scene in Bleach... (and I had to struggle to find what chapter it was again... and I believe this was Ch. 467?)
As lovely as Rukia (and her memories of Ichigo) are in these panels, seeing the latest chapter now (yes, the hell arc thing), can someone explain what exactly Ichigo changed in Soul Society? Aside from influencing them to change their hairstyles?
I mean, I know it’s too late to even discuss what Bleach could have been but I remember reading blogs and watching vlogs about how people said that one of the factors that affected the “fall” of bleach was the fact that Ichigo never had a clear goal except to protect people (or more specifically the people important to him) which means as long as the enemy was defeated then the main issue was resolved and we move on to the next arc.
But then again, I’ve always believed that that could have been utilized as a strength since the story could be flexible enough to go on so many possible directions... (in which it did haha in a very “heh?” manner I think lol)
And though I don’t want to compare shows but I’ve always pictured Bleach to be the kind of show that would have a more “The Good Place” approach when it comes to making a better system for souls but in a more action packed manner like maybe we can have the souls that were very badly mistreated in Rukongai revolt or something because Seireitei just had to go down because it’s basically the Capitol in The Hunger Games.
Just. Think. About. It. Shinigami girl meets this human boy and somehow she ends up having him involved in this world of the afterlife, which she initially endorsed as a good place for souls, but in the end it would end up in the two of them seeing the big picture like oh... this place really is garbage... we better fix it somehow. And they subtly and slowly get everyone involved (whether they want to or not) in this course of action and making them some sort of catalysts for something better.
But no.
Let’s get married and make babies haha I don’t know. Let’s take that approach instead haha I mean, not that I don’t want them to have families, I just felt like it shouldn’t have been a priority atm, you know? Like, it makes me think that the time skip and the families were supposedly done so that we can relate more to the characters now since most of the audience/readers of Bleach have grown and have their own families now too. So was that approach supposed to be relatable? Because I wouldn’t mind reading arc after arc about post mugetsu Ichigo without kids.
Like for Rukia, I mean, I love her to death but I would have thought that maybe after she became a noble and a high ranking officer, she would have returned to her roots and helped children in Rukongai not to suffer the same fate she did? Would that have made sense? If not, well, just think about how twisted it is that she’s working for the same system that tried to execute her in the first place.
And Ichigo, okay, I know it was supposed to be some sort of reward for him to have a “normal/peaceful” life because he’s been involved in so many battles and has gotten hurt so many times blah blah but come on, can you really just sit still at night, do your homework peacefully, knowing that there’s a whole world of the afterlife out there aside from the one that you’re living in. Can you still just go to work, day after day, knowing that after you die, you’ll end up there? In the Capitol?
I mean, it makes me think that maybe part of the reason why he ended up with Inoue was because the existence of Soul Society was a big piece of revelation that he’s exposed to (very early on in his life) and he can’t possibly share that with someone else that is outside the loop that’s not involved with Soul Society. That would be weird to the new person/girl (especially if they find out about Ichigo’s connection to Rukia).
Oh well, that got pretty long but as I said, I’m just leaving this here. And again, if you have time, feel free to let me know what the heck did Ichigo do again to deserve the lines in the panels above. Or just let me know that I’m not the only one having thoughts like this. Keep me sane Haha. Bye.
