Tite Kubo's hit series Bleach tells the story of hero Ichigo Kurosaki and his quest to save the day and protect his friends from all sorts of threats, but that tale is now done. After 74 volumes, Ichigo has fought his final battle against king Yhwach and has hung up the cape. Now he's got a son to carry on his legacy.
Bleach's final epilogue chapter introduced viewers to Ichigo and Orihime's young son Kazui, a budding Soul Reaper, along with Rukia and Renji's daughter, Ichika Abarai. They appear again in the recently released Bleach one-shot, and it's pretty clear these two characters deserve their own spinoff story.
What Kazui & Ichika Can Do In Bleach
Kazui and Ichika only made a cameo appearance in the final chapter of Bleach's original series, but both characters are fleshed out more richly in the one-shot. Kazui inherited his Soul Reaper powers from his father -- down to the manji shape of his zanpakuto's tsuba -- though he also has his mother's gentle and easygoing disposition. He is being raised in the human world, in Karakura Town, and likely only knows scant details of the Soul Society and Soul Reaper lore. Meanwhile, Ichika is being raised in the Soul Society and has a zanpakuto with a lightning bolt-shaped tsuba. She is the more outgoing of the two children, and more prone to outbursts.
In the epilogue Bleach chapter and the one-shot, Kazui and Ichika quickly develop an amusing dynamic, where Kazui mildly frustrates and annoys Ichika with his easygoing personality and lack of competitive spirit, while Ichika is determined to prove herself the best and is rather high-strung despite her youth. This gives them amusing and strong chemistry which, combined with their common ground as Soul Reapers and their parents' friendships, is all promising for future content.
Kazui and Ichika have a lot of room to grow as people, fighters and friends, and they are both compelling despite their youth and brief appearances. Ichika could teach Kazui about the Soul Society, and in return, Kazui can show Ichika how the people of Karakura Town live their lives. This could highlight what makes them different as well as similar. Ichigo and Rukia were people of two worlds, and their children are too.
The Precedent For Ichika & Kazui Having Their Own Series
The Bleach franchise and modern shonen as a whole set a precedent for all this, such as the ever-popular Boruto, starring the son of Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga alongside Sasuke and Sakura's daughter, Sarada Uchiha. Spinoffs and sequels starring the children of famed shonen characters allow readers to see what aspects of a hero can be passed on to their child and reveals what the next generation will do with inherited traits and powers. Kazui and Ichika are a reboot of Ichigo and Rukia, reassessing their nature through their children who are at once independent characters and reflections of their parents.
Bleach also sets a precedent for a duo like this through Ichigo and Rukia, who also have strong chemistry together even if they never became a real couple. Kazui takes after his father as a human with spiritual powers while Ichika is like her own parents, a rambunctious Soul Reaper who's friendly to humans. This formula worked once for Bleach, and it could work again for Kazui and Ichika with a new generation of readers.
A Kazui/Ichika story could also show how much stronger the connection is between the Soul Society and the human realm, which had been fairly estranged until the main events of Bleach. In fact, the one-shot depicts Soul Reapers borrowing modern technology and fashion from the human world, and Ichika and Kazui are in the middle of it all. These young heroes are the perfect narrators for a blended world. Combined with their chemistry and solid character designs, it would make them ideal new torch-bearers for the entire Bleach franchise.
