I've been thinking about 166 in the light of Transfer's comments about everyone needing to have someone shout "Gunbare!" at them at some point in their lives. Not only is he dead right, but it suddenly struck me that up to now Ichigo has virtually always had to face his biggest opponents alone. Ikkaku, Kenpachi, Byakuya, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra… maybe this is why 166 moved me to tears, because finally someone was crying out their support for the boy.
Having now had such a moment it makes you realise that it's something we've never really seen in Bleach before, and that in turn makes you dwell on how lonely life must be for Ichigo. You rarely consider him in that sense because he's never spoken about it, never moaned or complained or even got philosophical about it. But even if he's fighting someone as likeably nasty and near anti-heroic as Grimmjow Jaegerjaques you're always totally in Strawberry's corner, totally behind him, and always subconsciously cheering for him on at least some level. Someone at some point had to cheer for this brave, kind hearted, pig headed kid, and so when it finally happened it was a real moment.
As perverse as it may sound, Ichigo is probably the most underrated character in Bleach amongst those I know who love the show. It's almost as though people have decided that *that which is understood does not need to be discussed.* In most other hands he'd be nightmarish to write, and it seems Kubo has worked a kind of magic to make him likeable and sympathetic. He's the main characer but to the best of my recollection he has never laughed once. He has a sense of humour but his brow is perpetually furrowed, partly from what Isshin referred to as a pain beyond his years that doesn't suit him yet, partly because of a deliberate studied teenage image. He's goofy, prone to idiocy, stubborn beyond belief and not the sharpest tool in the box. He wrestles with his dark side with barely a moment of whinging or self-anaylsis, treating it purely as a matter of willpower and strength. His saving graces are his willingness to throw himself into the firing line, his basic human goodness and the insane lengths he will go to in order to look out for those he loves.
In a similar manner to Kamina from Gurren Lagann there's a huge amount that any right thinking person could apply to their life by asking themselves *What Would Ichigo Do?* But Ma'at and I are in agreement: the character that Strawberry most closely resembles is Anakin Skywalker. Not Anakin as he was in the three dreadful, dreadful Star Wars prequels, but Anakin as he should have been. Imagine if Lucas had set up someone like our beloved protagonist and then turned him into Vader, how much more powerful those films would have been. That's what Kubo has created, and it's well past time that we sang the boy's praises in this thread.
Triplets: I've got no idea if The DiamondDust Rebellion is any good. The first time I tried to download it I got scat porn and Dattebayo's torrent turned out to be a baseball match. I suspect it is at best mediocre. Hitsugaya doesn't have much mileage for me as a character unless he's in an episode with Karin and it involves football, or unless Momo Hinamori is in the mix somewhere (which she almost certainly won't be for the film).
Changes in the animation quality for different episodes comes down to cost. The vast majority of the adaptation can be handled cheaply, it's the story and characters that are most important. I rarely feel the penny pinching outside of the large amount of recapped material. I guess I've just seen a lot worse in other anime shows. |
