Ichigo Kurosaki

黒崎一護

Ichigo Kurosaki (黒崎 一護, Kurosaki Ichigo) is a fictional character in the Bleach manga series and its adaptations created by author Tite Kubo. He is the main protagonist of the series, who receives Soul Reaper powers after meeting Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper assigned to patrol around the fictional city of Karakura Town. These powers come at the cost of her own, and as a result, he concedes to work as her stand-in, fighting to protect people from evil spirits called Hollows and sending good spirits, wholes, to a dimension known as the Soul Society. Ichigo appears in other media after the manga series, including the anime television series, four anime films, two original video animations, rock musicals, several video games, light novels and the 2018 live-action film. Ichigo is voiced by Masakazu Morita in the Japanese anime adaptation; Johnny Yong Bosch in the English dubbing; and played by Sota Fukushi in the live-action film. Ichigo's character has been well received among both readers and reviewers. He featured often in Weekly Shōnen Jump character popularity polls, and was consistently ranked as the most popular character in Bleach. The 2007 Japanese Newtype magazine polls ranked Ichigo as one of the top 100 most-loved anime characters. He is also known as one of the big three anime characters, including Naruto and Luffy. Reviewers of the series have praised his personality, though some consider him to be a stereotypical anti-hero. Critics have expressed dislike, however, for Ichigo's anticlimactic fights in the latter half of the series' due to his lack of memorable scenes at those points. Merchandise based on Ichigo's likeness has also been released, including toys, clothing and action figures.