Warning: Contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War.One of the major twists of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warwas Uryu betraying Ichigo’s group to join the Wandenreich, and from there, the series went to great lengths to tease a fight between Ichigo and Uryu. Uryu has always been the closest thing Ichigo has had to a rival, and with Uryu now working for the villains, their inevitable fight would be the perfect payoff to that dynamic of theirs.
When the Bleach manga finally got to Ichigo and Uryu’s fight, what happened was a very short confrontation that was mostly just pointless dialogue before it abruptly ended, none of which justified all the build-up given to their fight over the years. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War season 3, episode 4 adapted that same point, but unlike the manga, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War gave Ichigo and Uryu’s fight the action and depth it deserved to have in the manga. The anime has been making great strides to improve on the manga, and Ichigo and Uryu’s fight is the best example yet.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Gives Fans The Ichigo Vs. Uryu Fight Years In The Making
Ichigo & Uryu's Fight Is Finally Here
In both Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War season 3 and the Bleach manga, as Ichigo’s group did what they could to help Ukitake preserve the Soul King by invoking Mimihagi, the process was interrupted by Uryu, further reinforcing that he was now on Yhwach’s side. Ichigo kept trying to tell Uryu that Yhwach was going to destroy the worlds, only to be shocked to hear that Uryu was fighting with Yhwach well aware of that; from there, the Bleach manga had Uryu shoot Ichigo down from the Royal Palace presumably to his death, thus ending their fight.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War had the same development as the manga, with Ichigo still questioning Uryu’s motives until he’s shocked by Uryu’s willingness to go along with Yhwach’s plans to destroy the three worlds. Unlike the manga, though, Ichigo and Ury’s confrontation isn’t interrupted by the Schutzstaffel, as they’re given a small fight with Orihime, Chad, and Ganju, nor does Uryu immediately shoot Ichigo off the Royal Palace. Instead, Ichigo and Uryu had a proper fight that took up most of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War episode #30’s runtime, and the content in said fight was great to see.
How Bleach's Anime Made Ichigo Vs Uryu Better Than The Manga Ever Could
Bleach's Anime Makes Another Big Change To The Manga
It’s one thing for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War to give Ichigo and Uryu a proper fight, but the specific way they were depicted also went above and beyond. In general, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War season 3, episode #4 depicted Ichigo and Uryu’s fight with far better choreography than Bleach ’s fights are known for, with the two of them using close-quarters combat and techniques that were underused in the manga such as Blut, Licht Regen, and Getsuga Jujisho. It made it feel like they were both trying as hard as possible, and the accompanying animation made that even better.
Between the two of them, though, Uryu benefited the most from the anime’s take on things, as Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War finally revealed Uryu’s Vollsterndich during his fight with Ichigo. Uryu’s Vollsterndich was briefly teased when Uryu received a power-up against Senjumaru, and in its complete form, Uryu commands a legion of drones that fire powerful lasers that can come together to launch an attack almost on par with Getsuga Jujisho. Uryu’s Vollsterndich, especially, added a lot of variety to the fight, and it was great for both fans of the anime and anyone who was disappointed by the manga.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Finally Proves Who's Stronger Between Ichigo & Uryu
Who Won Ichigo & Uryu's Fight?
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War did a lot to make Ichigo and Uryu’s fight feel as big as possible, and in doing so, it also definitively proved who was stronger. Ichigo quickly overpowered Uryu at the beginning of the fight, but refused to kill Uryu because of their friendship, and even when Uryu used his Vollsterndich, Ichigo, despite overpowering Uryu’s strongest attack, purposefully missed hitting him with Getsuga Jujisho. Ichigo passed up two clear chances to bring Uryu down, so Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War finally clarifies that Ichigo is stronger than Uryu.
Of course, something that complicates things is how Uryu was also holding back. Uryu never used his Schrift, The Antithesis, to reverse phenomena as seen in Uryu's fight with Senjumaru in the season premiere, so Uryu holding back his abilities makes it less cut and dry who won between him and Ichigo than one would think. That being said, Ichigo held back not just because he didn’t kill Uryu, but because he didn’t use abilities like his Bankai or his new Hollow form, so Ichigo likely still had the advantage, even if Uryu not using The Antithesis did complicate things.
Whatever the case, thanks to Ichigo holding back so much, Uryu landed a decisive blow that tore through Ichigo’s flesh and sent him falling from the Royal Palace, just like in the manga. Ichigo losing another fight might be disappointing on a surface level, but at the same time, Ichigo losing to Uryu purely because he couldn’t bring himself to hurt his friend is perfectly in line with Ichigo’s character in Bleach, and it’s a far more satisfying conclusion than both what happened in the manga and Uryu simply overpowering Ichigo in their fight.
How Will Ichigo & Uryu's Fight Affect The Rest Of Bleach's Story?
Will Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Keep Changing The Manga's Story?
While Ichigo and Uryu’s fight ended in the same place as the manga, the anime’s take on things devoted much more time to their characters and the dynamic they share, and with how thoroughly Uryu tried to break things off with Ichigo, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War ’s take on Ichigo and Uryu’s fight could lead to far greater tension between them in the final stages of the story. Ichigo and Uryu have one final confrontation before the final battle with Yhwach, so that would be the likely place for any sort of heightened tension to come out.
Something else to consider is how Uryu was depicted in the fight. Uryu’s feats of strength against Ichigo both with and without his Vollsterndich are better than anything he had in the manga, and with everything that happened in the season 3 premiere still left unexplained, Ichigo and Uryu’s fight might be further proof of Uryu having a larger role in Bleach ’s final battle. Whatever the case, Ichigo and Uryu’s fight is yet another case of how well Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has been improving the manga, and it surely won’t be the last example of such.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War releases new episodes Saturdays on Hulu.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is a sequel series to the popular anime from creator Tite Kubo. This anime follows Ichigo and his friends as they investigate why people are disappearing while trouble arises in the Soul Society. The first season was released in 2022 and has been critically acclaimed since its beginning.
Cast Masakazu Morita , Johnny Yong Bosch , Takayuki Sugô , Richard Epcar , Ryûsei Nakao , Aleks Le , Karen Strassman , Neil Kaplan
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