A typical shonen anime will always start with the tragic backstory of how the main protagonist’s family is dead or estranged from them. You see it in Naruto and the Dragon Ball series, maybe to add more character depth without having to explain a lot. So, despite being a shonen, why does Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach get to have a happy family?
It seems that Tite Kubo has forgotten that happy families aren’t allowed in this genre. While Ichigo’s mother, Masaki, is deceased, the rest of his family is completely fine throughout the story.
Ichigo, the orange-haired soul-reaping savior, has a father, sisters, and, for a brief moment of his life, even a mother. Meanwhile, Goku has to deal with Vegeta, and Naruto has Sasuke, who more than makes up for an emo teenage brother. But still, the heroes could do with some sibling rivalry to help with dealing with their other halves. Did Kubo forget the golden rule of the shonen genre or is this some daring side of him we didn’t know about?
Does Ichigo Kurosaki Have It Easy?
The entire reason Shonen protagonists don’t have a family is to connect with their pain and suffering. Goku’s planet was destroyed and thrust into the care of an old man. He spent his time screaming and training rather than having any safe “family time.” Naruto never had a parental figure and his entire village hated his existence. Sure, the ninja at least had pervert mentors like Jiraiya and Kakashi to make up for a father, but that doesn’t really replace a mother’s love.
Now comes in Ichigo Kurosaki. The orange-haired soul reaper has a safe little house in suburban Japan, living with a loving yet hilariously eccentric father and two younger twin sisters. While he has hot meals and childhood memories of laughter, Naruto has to deal with Sasuke’s mood swings and his first friend ever is a nine-tailed fox demon that lives within him.
So, at this point, fans are asking, “How is Bleach even qualified to be a shonen? Where is Ichigo’s tragic backstory? Where’s the pain of eternal loneliness that fuels his inevitable quest for greatness?” Well, his mother died, no thanks to Yhwach and the Grand Fisher.
What’s Next in Shonen, Therapy?
Tite Kubo is setting a standard for emotionally mature protagonists with no unresolved trauma. How will the shonen genre thrive if the protagonists aren’t starved for validation and unjustly traumatized by the death of their loved ones? A well-adjusted hero with a purpose that isn’t driven by undiagnosed PTSD from seeing their homes destroyed isn’t very shonen of them. Kubo could’ve at least made Ichigo’s father a deadbeat dad to compensate.
If other creators follow suit in Bleach’s footsteps, the shonen genre will not be the same ever again. The genre isn’t the same without stubborn, traumatized heroes who refuse to grow or ask for help because their families were murdered brutally or their planet was destroyed. Or maybe Bleach is actually just a magic girl anime under the guise of shonen?
Bleach is available on Crunchyroll for streaming.
