ok maybe i do feel like writing an essay on it.
I think one of the things that really doesn't work about TYBW for me is that it's ought to be this coming-full-circle moment for Ichigo and his OG rival, Ishida. Time and again in Bleach, Ishida had these moments where he would say "I can't do this, I can't work with you, I'm a Quincy and you're a shinigami" and then he would do it anyway. TYBW should be the chickens of that coming home to roost--this is the time he's being called on to be a Quincy, the thing he's always wanted, and he can't put it aside (even if he secretly is). The problem is that, between that first arc and now, Ichigo has cultivated rivalries with about twenty other people and he's got all this other stuff going on in his own character arc, and it....it just doesn't feel to me like TYBW cares enough about Ishida. Like, obviously Ichigo does care about him, but Ichigo cares about everyone. That's kind of what Bleach is about. And clearly, Orihime cares for Ishida, too, that's very evident. But on the other hand, she was the girl Ishida had a crush on at the beginning of the series, and it became very clear that she was going to go for the other guy and that's just...it just feels terribly sad to me. It feels like Ishida's decision to go off and make a sacrificial lamb of himself feel very logical. Like, he's got friends that he loves, but he's always been kind of off to the side (partially by his own choice).
So what about Chad? Well, as far as TYBW goes, Chad has very little to do. He's just there. And that sucks! I mean, he has always been at Ichigo's side, so of course he's gonna come along. And, like, intellectually, we know he cares about Ishida, but TYBW certainly doesn't make us feel that way.
And that's really dumb!!! Back in early Bleach, back before he had too many characters to juggle, Kubo was always trying to make weird, unlikely friendships happen. Chad and Ishida had a whole bunch of weirdly tender shit going on back in the Soul Society arc. Chad doubting Ishida would come with them because he was "too fragile." Chad saving Ishida from the dangai cleaner and then carrying him over his shoulder. Chad giving Ishida to Orihime so she could protect him when the cannonball disintegrated. Then, in Hueco Mundo, they had that fight where they swapped enemies and it was very sexy. Actually, the entire trip to Hueco Mundo is a good example of Chad acting as this buffer between Ichigo and Ishida, where they never have to pretend to like each other too much or deal with the fact that they both care maybe too much about Orihime, because Chad is here and Chad is both their friend and Chad cares about Orihime, too. Hey, remember for like, 5 minutes when Kubo implied that Chad might have Hollow powers? How cool would it have been to make Ishida deal with that eventually???
So, anyway, then there's the Fullbringer arc, which primarily Ishida, but also Chad and Orihime filling in Ichigo's role to varying degrees. I sometimes see this arc characterized as Ichigo's friends drifting away from him, and I don't actually think that's the case. I think they were trying to carry a burden for him, which he probably actually needed them to do in the months just after the Winter War. The Fullbringer arc picks up an entire 18 months later, and I think it's more of an issue of Ichigo has recovered mentally and would like to pick up some of his own burden again, but he still doesn't have his powers, and doesn't know how to bridge that gap. I like the idea of the other Karakura kids strengthening their own bonds with each other during that time, which, unfortunately, didn't seem to be the case. I think it would have been pretty cool, actually, to see Ishida trying to reason with Chad about joining the Fullbringers. I can see him thinking it's a bad idea, but on the other hand, he respects Chad's desire to help Ichigo get his powers back and even moreso, Ishida can't possibly stand in the way of Chad finding people like himself, a thing Ishida has always longed for. Likewise, I think it would have been cool to see more of Chad's own decisions--being pulled between Ishida, who has been his comrade for a long time, but whose powers are rooted in a heritage and philosophy he can't share.
It would have both given more meat to the Fullbringer arc AND it would have led into the TYBW, where Chad, who has seen some sides of Ishida re: his loneliness and desire to be with his people, can see what Ishida is doing better than anyone else, and also see the wrongness in it.
Like, don't get me wrong! I like Ishida and Ichigo's dynamic! But I think Ishida deserves someone who cares about him *in particular* during his fake heel-turn arc, and Ichigo has too much else going on! I think it's a powerful Bleach message, though, that Ichigo doesn't need to do everything himself! It was Ichigo's heart that brought his friends together, and now they can care for *each other.* Giving Chad a meatier role in wanting to save Ishida and bring him back has parallels to Ichigo bringing Rukia and Renji back together. People's opinions may differ on this, but I don't really feel like Rukia has been "abandoned" by Ichigo, even as he goes on to make a 1000 other friends and rivals, because she's got her own stuff going on with her brother and Renji and her squad. I think Ishida does feel a little abandoned by the narrative because he *doesn't* really have the same thing. For a character who is sort of characterized by loneliness, I think that really sucks. At the same time, I think Kubo ran out of stuff to do with Chad, which stacked on top of the character beat of "am I really strong enough to be of use to Ichigo?" also really sucks. But giving them each other to care about and protect is really fun and squares the circle of all the love and confidence and care that grows outward from Ichigo's big stupid heart.
