Six Hearts vs. Fullbringers: Rukia vs. Tsukishima

Yeah I’m legit mad this isn’t what we got.

Tsukishima isn’t the main villain of the story, but he pretends to be for a good portion of it, and he’s got an absolutely terrifying power that drives directly at the heart of the arc, the relationships between Ichigo and his friends. Tsukishima slowly tears them apart, first by participating in the assault on Uryu, and then by brainwashing every single human in Ichigo’s life, until he’s in a murderous state and actually fighting Chad and Orihime.

And then, in the semi-main event of the arc, he fights...Byakuya. A person who Ichigo has barely spoken to, and could probably go very happily his entire life without speaking to again. The guy who has spent this whole arc winning by subverting interpersonal relationships winds up failing, ironically, because Byakuya doesn’t actually value those relationships as much as he values abstract ideals, and so blasts his chest out without hesitation. It makes sense, I guess, but it doesn’t really do anything in the context of the story.

To the extent the Byakuya-Tsukishima fight does have symbolic relevance, it’s in regards to Ichigo’s relationship with Soul Society. Soul Society (and Byakuya) were going to execute Rukia. Ichigo fought to stop that, and reminded Soul Society that principles are more important than process, that governing isn’t just a mandate to preserve one’s government, but also a responsibility to do right by others. Rukia being sacrificed at the altar of justice would have perverted the very concept itself.

Which, cool and all, but if Rukia is the central character in all that...why isn’t she the one in this fight? If we’re going to test Ichigo’s relationship with Soul Society, shouldn’t it be through his oldest and closest ally? It’s a subplot that’s present in the earlier parts of the arc, though it gets forgotten. Keigo specifically brings up Rukia not being in touch as a reason Ichigo’s being such a grouch. He remembers her when thinking on his past pride as a Soul Reaper. He hears her voice when generating his Fullbring.

And in this final battle, especially when Ginjo is revealing how Soul Society was less then trusting of Ichigo, this should all be paid off! After all, Rukia might not have known about the badge when Ukitake gave it to Ichigo...but she’s Ukitake’s lieutenant now! I’d find it hard to believe she wasn’t told at some point in the last 18 months. So this fight should thematically not just represent Ichigo’s trust and relationship with Soul Society writ large, but also his friendship with Rukia specifically.

So much work has already been done to set it up! Rukia has probably the most well-developed past out of all the characters in the story-- we’ve seen flashbacks to her childhood, her academy days, and her time with Squad 13, and she’s been in the story since the very first chapter. So unlike Byakuya, we’ll have a wide range of old scenes for Tsukishima to insert himself into, to really scare the reader with how essential he can make himself to her life. Imagine Tsukishima giving her Kaien’s speech on heart, or Ukitake’s speech on honor, or saving her from Aizen on Sokyoku Hill. We were already a little worried about Rukia’s feelings toward Ichigo given her lack of communication, and what Ginjo has revealed about Soul Society...now that Tsukishima’s the most important person in her life so far, how could she possibly win?

Well, because of the Heart, duh. Tsukishima pretty consistently shows that he doesn’t understand or practice two-way relationships-- he was dependent on (and used by) Ginjo, something he reproduces with Moe, but there isn’t a sense of mutual support for either of those relationships. It’s one-way fealty. And he does the same thing when he paints himself into the pasts of Ichigo’s friends: it’s always as the provider, the beloved mentor, the patron.

And so in rewriting Rukia’s past I don’t think he’d bother to change her relationship with Ichigo much. Sure, he’d make it so that he came to Soul Society and stopped the Sokyoku, but all that stuff that happened before? Where it was just Rukia giving her power to Ichigo, and teaching him how to use it, and guiding him through this new life he was completely ill-equipped for? Why bother?

Well, because that’s where the bond was formed. Because personal relationships aren’t a transactional, tit-for-tat exchange of goods and services. Rukia might have had the power vis-a-vis Ichigo in those early days, but by being that person for him she grew, taking on a responsibility that allowed her to feel for the first time in decades like she was a strong, independent person. And this, combined with Ichigo time after time proving himself worthy of her powers and guidance, created such a trust that no pilfered monologue can shake. We saw it when Aaroniero was cosplaying Kaien back in Soul Society-- yes, he meant something to Rukia, but Ichigo means something to her today. She trusts him implicitly, because he earned it. And this fight is where that becomes explicit.

So yeah, this fight would have a whole lot of cutting Rukia without bleeding, and a whole lot of Tsukishima-insert flashbacks, and would maybe be intercut with Ginjo expositing to Ichigo about Soul Society’s nefarious spy device. And while Ginjo is trying to convince Ichigo that Soul Society (and by extension Rukia) are evil and out to get him, Tsukishima would be trying the reverse, avoiding Rukia’s established powers before trying to convince her that, considering Ichigo’s done nothing for her in her life, she should really be fighting him instead.

Rukia admits that Ichigo hasn’t done what Tsukishima has done for her. Then she blasts him through the chest with Soren Sokatsui, without the incantation. Something she admits to Tsukishima that she’d never even attempted before. But she believes in herself. Because she believed in Ichigo. And that’s why she still believes in him.

Six Hearts vs. Fullbringers: Orihime vs. Riruka

Yeah, this one is a little obvious.

Before everything sort of went to hell, Orihime had a pretty deep and meaningful conversation with Riruka, where Orihime’s good faith and decency managed to connect with Riruka, even though Riruka was disinclined to like her for reasons both personal and professional (or whatever you call it when you’re running a con on somebody). And after all the fights happen, they have another very sweet conversation, where Riruka shows how much she’s grown, and develops the resolve to be a better person going forwards.

And in between...she talks through her problems with Rukia? No offense to Rukia, but talking out feelings isn’t really in her bag-- she had a whole star-crossed romance that existed entirely because she and Renji wouldn’t talk to each other about their feelings, and her biggest emotional connection with Ichigo was an agreement not to talk to him about his past until he was ready. It’s no surprise, then, that after Riruka explains where she and all the other Fullbringers are coming from, Rukia just says “cool motive, still entrapment, assault, and battery” and threatens to freeze her to death.

I feel like Orihime would maybe be a little better at being a sounding board for the feelings Riruka’s trying to express in her fight. Like, can you imagine Orihime not being sympathetic to any of these people? She’d probably shed a tear for the eye Giriko lost after he tried to roll back murdering his wife. And she wouldn’t need to be stuck inside a stuffed animal to do any of it, either.

Not that Riruka would be sticking Orihime in any stuffed animal anyhow, because Orihime’s defensive techniques, strong even at the worst times, pretty much wall off Riruka’s powers. But that would actually make for a really neat fight, one where Orihime can win on her terms. After all, she’s not hardly ever one to go on the offense, but to connect with another person to the point they understand your point of view and stop fighting? That’s the kind of victory I think Orihime would want more than anything.

So the fight would have a heavy focus on the dialogue and the flashbacks, with Orihime santen kesshuning any attempts to stick her in a stuffed animal. If you really loved the stuffed animal comedy, it would be pretty funny to put Tsubaki in one, but I’m not sure that’s necessary. All you really need is Orihime slowly talking Riruka through her own feelings, to the realization that hurting other people is only going to make the pain inside her worse, and not heal it.

Six Hearts vs. Fullbringers: Uryu vs. Giriko

Look Uryu fans, I’m one of you. I don’t like this either. But somebody has to take care of this guy.

Giriko poses a big problem for anybody who wants to write a fight scene involving him: his powers make no sense. His Fullbring, formed by his love/association/relationship with pocketwatch, allows him to make a contract with the (possibly metaphorical? There’s zero worldbuilding here) God of Time that if violated causes the subject to be destroyed and is more powerful the simpler it is. In-story, he uses it to set a timer on Ichigo’s training session, and to become super buff, and in a flashback he uses it to kill his wife.

This is a complete mess, and also not particularly visually interesting. Rather that scrounge for a way to turn it all into something coherent, the story just throws him at Zaraki, whereupon he gets bisected with the quickness. And that was probably the best way of dealing with him! Cut your losses. Unfortunately, that also means one of our six hearts will also be ruthlessly squashing Giriko, and so won’t get the most interesting fight.

Uryu is the best candidate for this job. Unlike Orihime and Chad, he actually does have a few character moments in these final fights, providing emotional support for Ichigo in his battle with Ginjo. And if Uryu beats his opponent in just a couple of minutes, he’ll have time to hop over to Ichigo’s fight and dramatically shout at him, which is good, because I liked those interactions and thought they added something to the story.

Uryu also needs character development a little less because (spoilers) our next arc is about the Quincies, and so we can’t get ahead of ourselves in his character growth. But what we can do is use this fight to build up the Quincy rep a little, using Uryu’s demonstration of strength to make the audience quake when a whole bunch of evil Quincies show up.

Ideally what I’d like to see here would be Giriko giving a power-mad speech to Uryu, similar to the one he gave Zaraki, and then...idk, doing something with his vague-ass powers. I thought it was kind of weird he never uses those floating clocks he has around him after upgrading his powers, so maybe they’re bombs? That slow down time around them so the victim can’t get away?

But of course, Giriko’s powers don’t kill Uryu. They don’t even hurt him. He won’t explain why (it’s Blut, but we want that to be a surprise). He just tells him that the God of Time doesn’t compare to the God of the Quincies, and shoots him in the face.

Then he runs off to find Ichigo.

Six Hearts vs. Fullbringers: Chad vs. Jackie

So, one of these fights should probably address that there were more than just one perpetrator and victim to this whole scheme, right?

Something that gets lost when the Soul Reapers show up is the idea that the core betrayal here involved anybody besides Ichigo and Ginjo. Sure, Jackie’s fight with Renji winds up having some slightly redemptive aspects to it, but they get swallowed by Renji’s unfortunate attitude during that fight, as well as the fact that Jackie hasn’t actually done anything to him.

But Chad’s a different story! He was the first person Xcution targeted in their scheme to entrap Ichigo, a scheme that worked, which had to make him feel very used, even before Tsukishima stuck fake memories in his head and made him fight Ichigo. So if Chad gets to throw down here instead of being hastily written off, he’s going to have some deep feelings of betrayal towards the Fullbringers. And nobody, I think, will provoke these strong feelings like Jackie.

Because she doesn’t really have any excuses! She’s not a child like Yukio, or a teenager like Riruka, she’s a grown woman. She’s also not a sick, evil person like Giriko who just enjoys hurting others. And she doesn’t have Ginjo’s personal grudge against Soul Society twisting logic to justify her actions. She was the sane one of Xcution, and yet she still went along with their scheme, seemingly out of loyalty to Ginjo for picking her out of a rough place in her life.

And the funny thing is...that’s how Chad feels about Ichigo. They were that person for one another, back in middle school. But theirs was a relationship of equals, and together they developed strong, independent centers of morality that Jackie doesn’t seem to have. It’s easy to miss in all the Tsukishima nonsense, but Chad fights his best friend, for what he believes is moral principle!

So this fight becomes about Chad conveying that principle to somebody who he feels greatly hurt him, but who he also still has some positive emotions towards-- Jackie was easily the most welcoming member of Xcution to him and Ichigo, and I imagine Chad probably feels a connection with her foreign background as well. Chad’s not going to be shy about defending himself, but he’s not going to want to kill her.

Which is where the drama in the fight comes in, because the offensive half of Chad’s powers is “La Muerte”, which would probably be literal if he used it on Jackie-- I doubt she has Arrancar-level durability. The fight would revolve around him trying to win without using it, which would put them on a more even playing field.

I’m torn on how Chad wins-- using La Muerte on just Jackie’s fullbring would put her in the same place as canon, without her powers, but sort of seems to send the wrong message for me. He might just have to win with a straight, non-powered left hook, set up by a switch to using his right arm defensively instead of offensively. But where the fight as a whole ends would be right after that, where Chad extends that same hand with an open palm, giving Jackie a chance for redemption that actually feels earned, because she’s had to confront the things she did and the person she did them to.

Six Hearts vs. Fullbringers: Bonus Round

Alright, so now that you’ve all read my way-too-long post complaining about the Fullbringer arc, let’s talk how I, arrogant individual that I am, would have liked to see things go down. And it’s going to start in a bit of a weird place, but don’t worry, things will pick up once we actually get to our six hearts’ fights.

But before we do that we have to address a problem, which is that there are only six hearts, but there are seven Fullbringers. Somebody’s got to be the odd one out, and the very obvious candidate would seem (to me) to be the literal child of the group, who it would be very awkward if any of our protagonists beat up. Toshiro got away with it because he’s in a weird state of Schrodinger’s maturity where he’s simultaneously a petulant boy and a jaded soldier, but unless you want to have him third-wheeling Rukia and Renji out here, or give Karin a major promotion that the story hasn’t really earned...I’d find it a little ungainly to have somebody throw down with Yukio.

So we’re not going to do that. Instead, we’re going to marry the theme from Yukio’s fight with Toshiro (immaturity!) with a plot point that doesn’t really get tied up in this arc, which Isshin and Urahara’s roles and responsibilities as Ichigo’s parent and mentor. They sort of struggle with providing Ichigo with the right amount of support in this arc, trying to balance his obvious need for help with his equally valid need to be an independent agent in his own life. I think a good way to tie it off would be to have these two intervene with a kid who definitely isn’t old enough to be confronting the sort of decisions Ichigo’s been struggling with.

I imagine Yukio breaking the Six Hearts and their Xcution opponents into separate dimensions for their solo fights, much as in the original story, except here he’s by himself, and the idea is that he’d be able to tilt the playing field a little. But somehow (it’ll go unexplained, TYBW foreshadowing) Urahara and Isshin show up in his dimension and intimidate him with their Dad authority into not doing that.

And then after it’s all resolved we can hint that Urahara helped Yukio out a little after all this ended, which might help explain how he managed to become a business tycoon twenty years later, because I have a hard time buying him pulling that off on his own.

Six Hearts vs Fullbringers: Renji vs. Moe

This matchup, I think, works a heck of a lot better at accomplishing the goals of the original fights that these two were involved in.

I took Renji’s battle against Jackie to be an attempt to demonstrate how out of their depth the Fullbringers are against the decades of experience and professionalism possessed by the Soul Reapers. Renji doesn’t just beat Jackie, he’s super condescending to her, beats her without ever really being threatened, and then even overrules her attempts to help him get out of the dimension they’re trapped in. But it all comes off with a pretty bad taste thanks to the bizarre chauvinism he demonstrates throughout the fight.

Meanwhile, Moe’s battle with Ikkaku hits some similar notes, but plays them a lot better. Sure, he’s a momentary threat to Ikkaku, but Ikkaku quickly powers through, and demonstrates that he’s got way more depth to him than Moe does. His weapon gets broken? Fine, he’ll power up and beat Moe in a fistfight. And then he gives him a great talking-to about how relationships-- especially those you put your life on the line for-- need to be reciprocal. It’s great, except that this is all showcasing character development for Ikkaku that we didn’t see-- he’s very clearly grown as a person in the last 18 months, but we haven’t been around to see it.

But you know whose development we have seen? Renji! He’s Ikkaku’s old protege, so he hits a lot of the same notes as concerns the virtues of hard work (or, making your own luck) and persistence. But the difference is that we saw Renji grow as a person. Back when he first appeared, he really was willing to sacrifice his life for a captain who would not have done the same for him. But he eventually figured out his values (in a killer on-panel fight scene with Ichigo),  then he earned his captain’s respect (in another killer on-panel fight scene), and finally he and his captain came to an understanding about what they would both sacrifice their lives for (Rukia, and again, we saw this). So this message coming from Renji would hit a lot harder!

Not to mention fighting Moe would get all the weird chauvinism out of the story. And while you could still see him be condescending here, I think it would fit a lot better? After all, Renji acted awfully superior to Ichigo when they first fought, and Moe is the exact same age Ichigo was at the time.

And last but not least, the fight would be pretty compelling visually too. Zabimaru has loads of joints that Moe’s Lucky Knuckles can bust up, giving Renji the chance to fistfight him while he delivers his message. And then at the end...whoops, he still has Higa Zekko. I don’t see him using it all the way against Moe-- the psychological impact of just initiating it, combined with him winning the verbal argument, should be enough to get Moe to surrender. But I like the idea of that power being useful for once.

He’s being a bit of a jerk about it, but I do appreciate that Jackie and Yukio realize that what Xcution had was a real bond, even if they were employing it for nefarious purposes. They’re all each other have, you know? So it’s nice to see that neither of them are going to give that up, even if they may have to give up the “supernaturally powered gang” line of work.