You know, one of the reasons I love Kubo
so much is that no matter how much I think I know about the content, he still
manages to blow my mind with new, interesting details. The latest of these mind-blowing
revelations is White Ichigo or White for short. The character archetype of White has become
somewhat of a staple in anime and manga. People see White and think, “Oh, it’s the cliché
dark side of the main character archetype”. Think Naruto and Kurama, Asta and Liebe,
and Itadori and Sukuna. But even though Ichigo and White along with Naruto are the
characters who popularized this archetype, I came to find that I did not understand White as
deeply as I thought I did. I believed White to be the hollow embodiment of Ichigo’s raw instinctual
battle instincts. Even though we later learn that he is the embodiment of Ichigo’s hollow and
Shinigami powers, I internalized that demonic image I had built into my mind. He was a monster,
craving power and control over Ichigo’s mind and body. He was a threat to the world and a pariah
meant to be fought back and subdued. And I know that there are tons of videos online that give
their own unique perspective on why this is true, but I implore you to hear me out. I will not claim
my opinion to be the one true interpretation of White’s character but at the very least,
I can offer you a different perspective. To understand where I’m coming from, we have
to go to the very beginning. Not chapter one of BLEACH, but rather the chronological
beginning- the everything but the rain arc, where it all began. Now, the prelude to this
flashback arc is quite simply- Ichigo has been thrown out of the Royal Palace by Nimaya
Oetsu because he failed to subdue the Asauchi. Nimaya tells Renji after kicking Ichigo out that
Ichigo needs to find where his soul truly lies. Upon returning home, his father seeks him out
with the intent to tell Ichigo the truth about the nature of his mother’s death. As the story
goes, Isshin heads to the world of the living on a mission and encounters a hollow. This particular
hollow was clad in black armor with white hair and a white mask. This hollow as we later find
out is called White. He looked like a hollow, but his hollow hole was blocked. And as Isshin
fights it, he notes that it has the appearance of a hollow but fights like a Shinigami. The battle
raged on and white ends up firing a Cero. At that juncture, Isshin upgrades his theory that this is
not just a hollow but a Menos. Now, fast forward a little bit and Isshin enters his shikai stateand
gets cut by Aizen who is cleverly hidden using Kisuke’s camouflage cloak. As Aizen prepares to
leave, Kaname and Aizen have an exchange that is extremely important. One, he asks Aizen
to call the hollow by its name- White. Two, he notes that White is on a completely different
level from the other hollows they created because he is the first hollow they created using the soul
of a Shinigami. And three, Aizen explains that the reason he is called white is because despite the
jet-black armor that covers him, what lies within can only be described as white. Now, I have a few
things to say about these three facts. Firstly, in my personal opinion, I believe that White
within a literary context alludes to purity in its uncontaminated form. It is neither good nor evil-
not necessarily, the point is that it is pure, and that is what white is. Secondly, Aizen calls
White a prototype- he’s not the final product, in fact, if he is indeed the first hollow
formed using the soul of a Shinigami, he is most definitely unperfected. In other
words, the white we see now, is a failure. He wasn’t good enough to meet Aizen’s expectations.
Keep these ideas in your mind as we progress. The next scene of importance is Masaki’s
intrusion. Masaki tries to save Isshin and gets bitten by White. After being bitten, she
calmly blows its head off. In the coming chapters, Masaki succumbs to the hollow hole being
formed on her. Ryuken and Isshin are then approached by Kisuke who has a plan to save her
life. Now, on the first page of Chapter 535,- in what might be the most important part of
this video- Masaki is falling down a deep, dark abyss, and she’s thinking to herself, “I’m
falling. Falling down a peaceful hole, quiet dark and lonely. But strangely, I’m not scared.
I know somebody down there needs me. Who?” She opens her eyes and gazes upon the shape of a
hollow mask but this time, White is not covered in black- no he’s in his purest white form. The White
soul trapped in Black Armor is no longer bound. What is the significance of this scene? We
may not know everything, but we do know a few things that are factual. Masaki’s soul is now
in the same location as white. In other words, when Masaki claims that she’s in a deep, dark
abyss that is lonely, we can assume that white, who shares this location as feels this emotion as
well. Beyond that, when she claims that she’s not scared- that someone down there needs her, who
else but White could be the one who needs her? And if White truly was this evil, demonic
monster fueled by instinct and lust for power, would Masaki conclude that he needed her?
Now, before we go on, there’s something we have to understand. Between Kaname and Aizen’s
description of White along with the timeline of White’s creation- which is not very long ago-
you could very easily think of white as a baby. A blank slate only acting on survival instinct. So
between his attacking of Isshin, the soul reapers and Masaki- he’s operating on the only logic
available to him- Instinct. So right before Isshin comes to save Masaki, just like a baby who
cannot comprehend his own thoughts and desires, he reacts on instinct and seemingly tries to
swallow her whole. Before anything happens, Isshin arrives and slashes him with
a getsugatenshou, saving Masaki. Now, there is an important detail to understand
about Masaki and White’s relationship. As explained by Kisuke Urahara, her soul and the
hollow inside her must be tied together with an incredibly strong reishi that ties the soul. In
other words, Masaki and White will be bound. Now, this might be a little bit of head canon, but
I’ll let you decide if this holds any weight. I believe that based on Urahara’s explanation of the
bond that will form between Masaki and White, this reishi tie is very similar to the bond between
a Shinigami and zanpakutou. The zanpakutou is born from the soul reaper and the two are one. So
while this isn’t one soul breaking into A and B, it’s a soul (A) being bound to another soul (B).
SO the origin is reversed but the end result is the same. If that is the case, that means that
the rules that apply between soul reaper and zanpakutou apply here as well. In other words,
when Old Man Zangetsu describes that he is able to share in Ichigo’s emotions- and feel the effects
of Ichigo’s despair which is the rain falling and the skyscrapers crumbling, it’s very possible that
White, in this new bound relationship with masaki can share in her emotions as well. If White
can indeed do this, that would mean that the subsequent life Masaki lived, filled with love,
warmth, light, and joy was shared with White. I’m not saying that White will automatically feel
the same thing Masaki feels-but now he knows. Now, the naïve baby can learn. He can experience, he
can decide for himself what he wants and desires. So, what does White desire? How
does he interact with ichigo? If we move forward chronologically, Ichigo
charges into Soul Society and battles Renji. After defeating Renji, Hanataro finds that a hollow
mask shielded Ichigo from the fatal blow. Now, I ask that you not assume anything yet. First, let’s
lay out the events as they transpire. After that, you can decide for yourself. So, Ichigo moves on
to battle Zaraki and after snapping Zangetsu in two and stabbing Ichigo through the chest, Old Man
Zangetsu arrives and takes Ichigo into his inner world. This is the first time we see White Ichigo.
Now, there are some very important things to consider here. First- what does White Call Ichigo?
Partner. He doesn’t call him by a condescending name- he calls him partner. What does he do
as they battle? He starts instructing Ichigo. He starts teaching Ichigo about the folly of
his notion and perspectives. Here is a hollow we think to me motivated by his desire to take over
Ichigo’s body and soul- if he truly wanted to, why bother teaching Ichigo at all? I’ll let you
answer that after considering all the details. Their battle rages on and ichigo has a resolution,
earning back Zangetsu’s blade. After he leaves, White and Old Man Zangetsu have a small
conversation. Zangetsu apologizes to White and White responds by saying that Ichigo is the
king of this world. I’ll help out anyway that I can. (Again- this is the White who supposedly
wants to take over Ichigo’s body and mind). But here comes a line spoken by White that really
threw me for a loop. He tells Zangetsu as he’s fading away and he says “Raise him well.
Because his power will eventually be mine.” Many people see this line and just like myself,
assume that White is talking about taking over Ichigo’s mind and so on and so forth. But consider
this. In Chapter 541 entitled the Blade and ME 2, Old Man Zangetsu reveals his true intentions. He
tells Ichigo that he is the source of the quincy power inside him. He is Jhwach but he is also not
jhwach. He reminds Ichigo that the one who came to his aid whenever his life was in danger was never
him- but his hollow. He goes on to say that he did not want Ichigo to become a soul reaper. And for
that reason, suppressed his power that was not yet mature so he could personally become the center
of Ichigo’s power. Why did he do this? Because if Ichigo continued to walk the path of the
Shinigami, he would head into conflict and have to eventually be killed by him himself. If you want
to know who he means by “himself”, he’s referring to Juha Bach. But I’ll make a separate video
breaking that down so don’t worry. But moving on,we know that Old Man Zangetsu has a change
of heart and that’s all good but the point is- White Knew that Old Man Zangetsu was the center
of Ichigo’s power because he was suppressing him. And for that reason, when he says the power will
be mine, he’s not talking about Ichigo’s mind- but rather, he’s talking about becoming the center
of Ichigo’s Spirit energy. And why does White want to make sure he’s the center of Ichigo’s power?
Because Old Man Zangetsu before having a change of heart, would have inevitably led Ichigo to his
death. Again- I won’t force my belief on you but hopefully, you are beginning to see the trend.
We fast forward to Ichigo's battle with Byakuya and there are more fascinating details to go
over. In one of the most iconic moments in BLEACH, as Byakuya strikes his blade down at Ichigo, White
catches it and says a few words to Ichigo. He says "fool. I told you, I can't allow you to die". Yet
again, there are two ways to interpret this. This is either White looking out for his own personal
preservation or- he actually means it when he says I cannot allow Ichigo to die. There's an extremely
important detail hidden here that we will come back to. We head into the Arrancar arc and with
the arrival of Yami Llargo and Ulquiorra Schiffer, Ichigo heads into battle. He makes quick work
of Yami but feels his hollow start to take over and Ulquiorra makes the comment that Ichigo's
reiatsu is fluctuating. When it's low it's garbage but when its high, it's stronger than
mine. Luckily for Ichigo, Urahara comes for the save. White's next manifestation is when Ichigo
fights against Hiyori in the Vizord hideout. Now, Hiyori fights with the intention of drawing
out Ichigo's hollow and Ichigo is hellbent on preventing himself from hollowfying. White does
manage to take over Ichigo's body once he blacks out but he doesn't just black out, in the manga,
she actually slashes Ichigo right across the chest and Ichigo is profusely bleeding. Hiyori
put his mortal life in danger and that draws White out once Ichigo blacks out who then
chokes Hiyori until she's saved by the others. So we move forward and Shinji has Ichigo train
to overcome his hollow. Ichigo enters his inner world and sees White. Now, what does White call
Ichigo here? King. He calls Ichigo KING. Ichigo asks where Zangetsu is and White says a line that
we did not believe until a lot later in the story. He says "I AM ZANGETSU". I won't reiterate the
plot specific details here. You guys know the story. White gives his instinct speech which I
will assume you already know but there are some important things to note from their encounter this
time. 1. I'm conscious of the fact that this is a manga and sometimes that happens in battle but why
does White explain to Ichigo what he is lacking? Why does white point out, yet again like he did
against Zaraki, the flaws in Ichigo's mental perspectives. First it was believing the only one
he had to train was himself and now, it's this. Why does White Ichigo constantly assume the
role of teacher when interacting with Ichigo? Think back to their previous encounter. He swung
Zangetsu by the cloth on the blade and what does Ichigo do on Sogyoku hill, he imitates White and
does the exact same thing. White uses the black Getsuga against Byakuya and what does Ichigo
do? He copies White and in this very battle, White accuses him of merely copying
his move. During this battle, White clashes with Ichigo and then, while
their swords are clashed, he releases a Getsugatensho. What does Ichigo do against
Grimmjow the very next time they see each other? He clashes swords with Grimmjow
and THEN uses Getsugatenshou. As White and Ichigo fought, White flash steps to Ichigo
and palms him in the face before hurling him away. What does Ichigo do against Aizen?
Palm him in the face and hurl him away. Why is this happening? White performs a move,
Ichigo copies it. White teaches Ichigo a concept, Ichigo learns it. This being who is supposed to
be a demonic beast of rage and anger who wants to overtake Ichigo seems to be doing everything
BUT that. I won't force my opinion on you- but you can see the hints Kubo is laying down.
So, after Ichigo impales white, without even feeling like he lost andwith a grin on his face,
he just accepts Ichigo as King and threatens Ichigo that if he shows weakness, he'll overcome
him. And his final warning to Ichigo is this- If you really want to control my power, until our
next meeting, make sure you don't get killed. Now, I have a question. More examples lay ahead
but what is the one commonality when WHITE takes over Ichigo's body? When Ichigo's mortal
life is in danger or at least- when Ichigo blacks out. If White truly wants to take over Ichigo's
body, why is he telling Ichigo not to die? He's working against his very desires when he does
this. Remember that- we'll come back to it. So Ichigo masters hollowfication and powers
his way through Grimmjow in their second battle and battles his way through the prevaron espada
until he encounters Ulquiorra for the second time. Here, Ulquiorra overwhelms Ichigo and stabs a
hole through his heart. Many people point to this and wonder- If Ichigo's dead here, why isn't white
taking over. Well, I don't think Ichigo died here. Before Ulquiorra leaves, he tells Ichigo to leave
this world immediately if you can still move. If you can't, stay there and die. The words
Ulquiorra chooses alludes to the fact this fact- Ichigo isn't dead yet. But if he doesn't get
help of some kind, he will die eventually. So, Grimmjow saves Ichigo, and they have
their final battle but the next time we see White is against Ulquiorra. Ichigo dies and
White completely takes over ichigo's body, pushing him to a victory against Ulquiorra.
It’s important to recognize that Aizen viewed White as a failure. The Espada were all
considered as successful experiments and Ulquiorra’s second release- Segunda Etapa
stood at the apex of these new creations. White Ichigo as an entity within Ichigo surpassed
his creators and became a true Vasto Lorde, one powerful enough to overcome the strongest
Espada- who I believe is Ulquiorra. Interpret it however you will, but this is yet another
example of White intervening to save Ichigo and not only does he defeat Ulquiorra, he goes
one step further. Ulquiorra is universally accepted as the espada with the strongest
regenerative abilities but even he cannot regenerate his internal organs. Ichigo had a
hole blown through his chest. Without a doubt, Ichigo’s lungs and heart were absolutely destroyed
but White showcased regenerative abilities surpassing that of even Ulquiorra to keep Ichigo
alive. Again- you can see this however you will but we established that if Ichigo is blacked out
or in mortal danger, white is able to overtake his body. Why is White constantly doing things
that act against this supposed desire of his? Why heal Ichigo when it only makes your job
harder? Do you see where I’m going with this? Ichigo goes on to battle in the War in Fake
Karakura town and with the help of his father, fights against Tensa Zangetsu in order
to learn the final getsugatenshou. Okay, so the important thing to take note
of here is that when White sees Ichigo, he calls him partner- yet again. And two, it is
no small deal that Zangetsu and White suddenly, for the first time decide to work together. Before
this point, it was always one overtaking the other just so the other could do the same at a later
time but here, in this moment- the two become one. And so, when Ichigo feels nothing
but sadness emanating from their blade, not only is that Old Man Zangetsu’s
emotion- it’s also White Ichigo’s. And if it is, why is the supposed demonic hollow
feeling sadness for Ichigo? Why is it that Ichigo feels that this hollow along with Old Man
Zangetsu does not want to kill him? Why is that? Well, Ichigo goes on to defeat Aizen and we
don’t see White again- not until the reforging of Ichigo’s zanpakutou where old Man Zangetsu reveals
everything. Ichigo reaches full synergy with the manifestations of his quincy and arrancar powers
and that results in Ichigo attaining an immense amount of strength. That would be the last time we
see White Ichigo because he does not appear again. So, what I’ve done is try to refrain
from imprinting my own opinions onto you. I’ve tried to simply present you with
the details and context of the situation to allow you the opportunity to come to your own
conclusion. So please let me know your opinion in the comment section below- my personal opinion
when it comes to the character of White Ichigo is that he has been greatly misunderstood. I do
not believe that White is evil. I don’t believe he’s a demonic pariah hellbent on attaining power.
I believe that more than anyone in BLEACH, more than Old Man Zangetsu and maybe even more than
Ichigo’s personal family, White has always had one goal- to protect Ichigo in his own way. Think
about it. Kaname describes White as a pure being and gives him that name for that very reason.
When Masaki went into soul suicide she explicitly says that the hole she’s falling down is dark
and lonely but that she wasn’t scared because whoever was down there needed her. I believe that
Masaki saved White from his eternal loneliness. And when Kisuke bound their souls together by way
of the reishi tie, White was never alone anymore. White was able to share in Masaki’s joy and
happiness. And then, when White was transferred to Ichigo upon birth, he would have had a front row
seat to seeing Masaki giver her life to protect Ichigo. I won’t say that this is 100% true- this
is my opinion based on the story as I saw it. But when I look at the way White protected Ichigo,
when I look at the way he preserved his life by spawning his mask to protect his internal organs;
when I look at how he chooses to educate Ichigo on instinct and zanpakutou relationships, White
was never evil- he was only playing the part. By assuming the role of the demon chasing after
Ichigo, he was able to give Ichigo a reason to grow in strength and power in order to ultimately
keep him alive. Why would he tell Ichigo to stay alive if Ichigo’s death gives him what he
presumable wanted- more control. Why bring Ichigo from the brink of death when a dead- or close to
death Ichigo is perfect for overtaking his body and claiming control. It doesn’t make sense to me-
not unless he doesn’t actually want Ichigo’s body and is merely putting up a façade. In a summarized
version- this is what I think really happened. White Ichigo was nothing but a new born creation
when he was lauded as a failed experiment and discarded by his creator- Aizen Sosuke. In the
dark pit he existed in, he was lonely, scared and afraid but that he was saved from that solitude
by Masaki who formed a reishi bond with him. In order to repay that debt to Masaki who saved
him, he now took on the duties of protecting the one who Masaki gave her life to protect- Ichigo.
But, being the hollow that he is, his methods weren’t what you’d expect. Instead of being a
shoulder to cry on to ichigo, he preferred to be an obstacle for Ichigo to overcome- one that would
in turn grant Ichigo the power to protect himself. He accepted being viewed as a demon, as long as
it meant that Ichigo had a reason to get stronger. And he promised himself, that he would always be
there if Ichigo was in danger of dying. He would step to fight if Ichigo could no longer fight.
White, would become the protector of Ichigo, the one who protects and throughout the story of
BLEACH, he always made sure to keep Ichigo safe. Understanding this perspective on White has
allowed me to appreciate his character so much more. He’s more than the cookie cutter, dark
side of the main character. The white soul that was trapped in black jet armor, is no longer
bound. He is free. And with his freedom, chose to be the silent, watchful protector to the son of
the woman who saved him. It’s beautiful. Let me know what you think in the comment section down
below. It’s ya boy, Rebirth, signing off- PEACE.
