โichigoโs true goal was to become a real shinigami and live in the soul society!!โ
No, it wasnโt. Ichigoโs goal was to protect people. Being a shinigami was an effective and useful way to achieve his goal, and also a part of his identity. He had opportunities to live in the Soul Society, to just stay longer while he was there, but he always rushed back home, because it was never about being aย โreal shinigami.โ
I donโt usually have a problem when people have different interpretations of a character, but this is canon. If you truly believe that Ichigo mourned the loss of his powers in the Fullbringer arc because he couldnt call himself a โshinigami~โ anymore, and NOT because he lost his ability to protect and support others, then you misread the manga. You misinterpreted his character.
What makes Ichigo unique from other shonen protagonists, what so many people seemed to miss, is that he doesnโt care about a title. Heโs not aiming to be the best shinigami, not fighting to become a captain, and not looking for praise or recognition. What Ichigo cares about is being a protector. It was established in his very first scene, and then over and over again throughout his story.ย
Part of his growth was fully accepting his heritage and identity; he is a shinigami, a hollow, a visored, a quincy, and a human. He holds a piece of every entity inside him and will defend them all with equal fervor. He has connected all of these groups and caused them to work together despite their differences, because he represents all of them and none of them at the same time, and thatโs such an important symbolic part of his character. Diminishing him asย โjust a humanโ orย โjust a shinigamiโ are both insulting.
Think about Bleachโs antagonists. An antagonistโs role is to block the protagonist from reaching their goal and create conflict. Think about what they were preventing Ichigo from doing.
The hollows attacked innocents. The soul society arrested his friend and was going to execute her simply for helping him save his familyโs lives. The espada kidnapped another one of his friends and framed her as a traitor. Aizen tried to enter the Soul Kingโs palace, likely to replace him and become king himself based on his later comments, and was attempting to murder Ichigoโs friends when he showed up. Ginjo and Tsukishima manipulated Ichigo, harmed his friends, and turned them against him in order to steal his powers. Yhwach tried to conquer and destroy the three worlds.
Every time, the antagonists were preventing Ichigo from saving/protecting someone, or the world itself. The only threats to Ichigoโs powers were from the full-bringers, and in that case, Ichigo was much more concerned about his loved ones than he was about himself. Stealing his abilities was just a final kick to the teeth. And though Ichigo gave up his powers to defeat Aizen, that was never the threat that Aizen represented as a villain.
Iโm not going to throw a bunch of manga caps at you, because the evidence supporting Ichigoโs canon core motivation is shown throughout the entire manga. Just go reread it. Stop cherrypicking moments from scenes you donโt even remember and using them outside of their context to defend your misunderstanding of the narrative.
Ichigo cared about his shinigami powers and he cared about protecting others. Itโs not even a competition, because those two things have become so tied together that theyโve become a part of Ichigoโs identity. But it was never about a title, never about status, and never about leaving the world he calls home for a new one.
#my god am i tired of having this argument#take off your shippers goggles for one damn second and look at this character as his own person#actually take the time to understand him outside of a ship
