Death Battle Prediction: Yusuke is (Not) Number One
If you're reading this, you know who's winning, and have probably heard me say as such. If you want a laundry list of scans and calcs confirming that, go check any number of RTs, profiles and blogs. Instead of me adding another in that vein, I'm discussing my general thoughts on the matchup. The "debate" will be a part of that, but don't expect an exhaustive breakdown.
Is the Matchup Good?
...Kind of?
Okay, in a vaccum, yes. The theme is obvious while still being fairly specific. Sure, a lot of the connection fluff you'll see on the Wiki and Reddit is generic shonen bits, but guys going ghost and Ghostbusters is an effective hook. More importantly, YuYu Hakusho helped codify a lot of those shonen tropes, with Bleach's premise taking plenty of additional inspiration. That makes at least some of the usual connection shit more charming. Togashi's trademark series have both been real trailblazers, and enough time has passed to where Bleach has partially done the same. Its influence has definitely been overstated, but considering the most popular anime series out right now is very clear about taking notes, said reach is still notable. Plus, Togashi's fingerprints are felt throughout there too. In a way, the apprentice now stands toe-to-toe with the master, who has to show he's still got it. Ichigo's Vader, Yusuke's Kenobi.
That last comparison is a bit too fitting. When Yusuke hung up his boots, Togashi came back more powerful than we could possibly imagine. Bleach and Star Wars have become shells of what they once were, making the same mistakes over-and-over. Ichigo and Vader are vanguards of insufferable fanbases, in-and-out of the powerscaling scene.
I don't want to shit on Bleach too much, especially since YuYu Hakusho itself has similar writing problems, but this leads into a legitimate problem with this matchup, at least today. Its a fight positioned to celebrate both series as standing shoulder-to-shoulder, which just isn't true. Even putting aside quality, Bleach blends right-in with its contemporaries these days. To most watching this episode, Ichigo is the new hotness, and Yusuke is just some old-head MC.
I'd sing a different tune if this were a real slugfest with a ton going on, but that isn't the case for both the outcome and animation. For the former...we'll get that. Regarding the latter, let me be clear: we could absolutely get a cool fight. We've seen characters with less interesting abilities than these two get great and inventive battles. But from the perspective of 'why this matchup', there isn't much to make it stand-out. Ichigo and Yusuke have around the same amount of powers as your average fighting game MC. That means their most unique moves aren't likely to show up mid-fight, and that their fighting styles are very straightforward. Their spirit-based abilities are largely standard shonen MC lasers or just inapplicable against another spirit. Comparing that to...basically any pure anime fight they've done just leaves Ichigo Vs. Yusuke falling short of what we usually see; I'd say the same for it versus most episodes in recent seasons.
This is a problem only exacerbated by how analysis sections have been written since roughly Season 10. Get ready for DB to try and inject fairly typical shonen MC stories with more gravitas than they did Guts' second analysis, along with countless name-drops of characters and abilities with little room for elaboration. Season 11 consistently had the analysis sections drag way too long, and lengthy shonen are prime candidates for that issue.
That last part is absolutely operator error, but I think it drives the wider motif home: this episode would've worked a lot better in prior seasons. Results would vary depending on when it showed up, but even 2023 would've been a better fit just for the shorter analysis sections (and lack of categories). It's still legitimately refershing to see a non-Kickstarter legacy matchup (like with Ghost Rider Vs. Spawn and Blade Vs. Buffy), but in hindsight, swapping its placement with Naruto Vs. Ichigo would've been better. In 2017, Bleach and YuYu Hakusho were dead after being rushed to conclusions they didn't deserve for very similar reasons. It would've felt a lot more equal in celebrating both.
Ichigo's also returning with nothing new (no, a few sentences of new anime-scaling does not count) to fight someone far less versatile and rather obviously weaker than who he first faced. Not a gripping set-up from the returner angle, and lord knows we've had enough of those.
So overall, I can't say I'm a fan of this getting an episode. But at the very least, it's one that we know has some real passion behind it. Getting Lani and Johnn-Adam Park back is undoubtedly cool.
What I'd Like to See
The analysis sections are almost certainly a lost cause, and I'm saving research-talk for the end, so this'll be brief:
- From what little I saw of the first trailer, they're fighting in a town. Good choice for an initial locale, but eventually they should move out of there. As the fight escalates, it'd be pretty weird for them to stay fighting in an inhabited area. Would love if Ichigo tried face-planting Yusuke out of their like he did Aizen, only for Yusuke to knock him past the horizon Three Kings-style and chase after. Then you could have Ichigo start blasting Getsuga Tenshos from the sky while jumping on Reishi footholds that Yusuke starts climbing on.
- At some point, Ichigo's got to get disarmed, maybe with one or both of his swords broken. A rarely-discussed difference-maker here is Yusuke being a lot more experienced in hand-to-hand combat than Ichigo. When faced with someone on his level using two blades, he'd try and minimize that clear disadvantage quickly. Ichigo's a skilled brawler too, but not at Yusuke's level, so it'd be an organic way to have the tables turn.
- Following up from that, Ichigo's got to make things even again. This is where he should break out some Reishi wall-bouncing for badass acrobatics while Yusuke tries to nail him with the Spirit Gun, all to retrieve Zangetsu. When he does, Yusuke manages to line-up a killshot, the screen whites...
"BANKAI!"
- An awesome rock track. Pretty please.
- No "ghost of a chance" pun. It would've been cool, but Ghost Rider Vs. Lobo already did it.
Who Should Win?
Ichigo. If you somehow needed any more convincing, here's a brief rundown.
Combat expertise is a mixed-bag. Ichigo's smarter than YT poll comments would tell you, but the fact remains he usually just relies on swinging his sword hard and fast. Yusuke has come-up with more clever plans on a more consistent basis, so he's certainly got the edge in combat smarts. Ichigo has more training under his belt, though this isn't the biggest advantage given it was mainly to increase his spiritual powers (this second bit also applies to Yusuke). He's also faced much older opponents, albeit ones with less impressive accolades of skill. To me, Yusuke's more direct displays of fighting expertise give him the edge here, but you can make a case for Ichigo.
With that said, the fact remains that Yusuke's unarmed facing a guy with two swords. Those advantages won't matter if he doesn't have the abilities or stats to make-up for that massive disadvantage.
Starting with abilities...well, I covered most of them already. Both have generic energy-beams, spiritual powers that don't work on each other, and aura mogging. Yusuke's got a signature attack with more variations, but it covers less total volume. Aside from that, the few remaining distinctions are all in Ichigo's corner. He's got Advent Children-style flight, a more impressive aura-diff, and way better stat boosts. True Bankai is 5-10x, and True Hollow should give a similar boost given its stronger than his old Bankai. Ichigo technically still has Final Getsuga Tensho in his backpocket too, which could obliterate someone otherwise on his level. In an "equal stats" scenario, Ichigo will stomp Yusuke once these come-out.
Yusuke's Spirit Gun hits twice as hard compared to his punches, and he can charge it up, but that doesn't compare to adding a Cero or Gran Rey Cero to Getsuga Tensho. Yusuke gets rage boosts and can grow mid-combat, but Ichigo has done the same. Both can vaguely heal and truck through injury, but Ichigo regularly powers through being stabbed, and his Hollow-boosted regeneration repaired a hole through the chest. Ichigo can get tired from using too much Reiryoku, but Yusuke can entirely run out of Spiritual Energy. Using Life Energy as a replacement will gradually lead to death on its own.
So abilities are firmly in Ichigo's corner, but the only massive difference comes via Ichigo's transformations, which don't mean nearly as much if Yusuke has the better stats.
Spoiler alert: he doesn't.
Feats
Lifting strength: Ichigo lifted 5 iron pillars, and would be able to bench way more later. In a much weaker form, he blocked an axe swing that split a boulder beneath his feet, and later a giant phoenix attack. Yu Yu Hakusho lifting strength is...infamously sparse. The best you've got is early-series Yusuke helping hold up a gate, which he struggled to do.
Durability: Ichigo survived a clearly nuke-level attack that made a massive crater, then 12 of those at once. Yusuke's best durability feat is taking a punch barrage from Sensui, which gradually destroyed a plateau. Yusuke got stronger after this, but it's hard to say by how much. There's no reason to assume he could even match base Ichigo.
Speed: Ichigo blocked at least dozens of blades moving faster than the eye could see, and got far faster afterward. Yusuke's Spirit Gun quickly reached a plateau, and he flew into the horizon. These have been calced pretty similar, but again, Yusuke largely taps out here. Higher estimates of his Final Spirit Gun's speed in the Dark Tournament hover around this range, so he should be much faster, but again, it's hard to say by how much. Adding in his transformations means Ichigo still has a clear edge.
AP: Just by swinging his sword through the air, Ichigo pulverized the tops of nearby hills. In a far weaker state, he completely dispersed a rain cloud with one slash. Just the formation of his end-of-series base disintegrated a lake. Yusuke's best feats are destroying part of a plateau and forest with his Spirit Gun. Yusuke got stronger after this, but-you already read that part. Ichigo decisively takes this one too.
Does Scaling and DA LORE Change Anything?
Not really, save the gap more than likely widening.
We can be here all day trying to add-in estimates of area and realm sizes in Bleach to upscale all the Ichigo feats I just mentioned, along with other showings and statements in the series. Yusuke lacks the same luxury barring a handful of feats, which still end up far less impressive. Among other things, guidebooks make Gran Rey Cero >10x True Hollow Ichigo's normal attacks, and arguably give him lightning-level speed very early on (potentially without Flash Step factored in). He dodged an attack that was maybe Mach 500 in-series; including guidebooks confirms it. Yusuke's speed doesn't even get a boost.
The most you're going to see for Yusuke are dubious statements of him being country level, and even more questionable ones of characters threatening to shake and 'destroy' the planet. Planet-level Ichigo is a lot more believable, and placing both there means Ichigo still scales higher, especially with extra forms. If you want more specifics...go read the blogs.
But Who Will Win?
Expect Death Battle to still use the anime-only tree-laser that an obviously trash calc had kill lowballed Sasuke. It's about twice as strong compared to where they pegged Aizen. But even if they use the even-worse 40 yottaton version, it'll only be there to make the fight seem closer. Ichigo can get above this just via multipliers, let alone them trying to mental gymnastics Bleach realms being above planet level (which in all fairness, is far closer to being legit than the tree shit).
Speed-wise, they already had Ichigo at FTL in 2021, so expect more "dodged a laser early-on" stuff like we usually see these days. Yusuke will get the same treatment despite them correctly debunking the Spirit Gun being lightspeed nearly 7 years ago. This might lead to a "tie" in the Speed category, but I still think they'll give it to Ichigo off transformations.
The max wank I see them giving Yusuke is him holding the Spirit Orb being star level (news flash: any bright sphere of plasma is technically a "star"). They'll counter this with (insert large star or higher argument for Bleach here).
Category Guesses
Abilities: Tie
Skill: Yusuke
Speed: Ichigo
Strength: Ichigo
Final Thoughts
Hoping the episode’s good, but my expectations aren’t high. Sasuke Vs. Hiei has already been retconned, so the most they can do to further drive that home is scale Yusuke lower than previously, which I doubt will happen. Bleachers…you got your pity win, so hopefully this shuts up the bias accusations.
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