My problem with Ichigo vs Yusuke(It’s still a good episode)
I know people really like this episode and I do like it more than i dislike it but Ichigo does kinda just, do nothing for 80% of the fight and it is a noticeable flaw of the episode imo.
Watch the portion of the fight I posted and really pay attention to how often Ichigo lands a hit if at all and when he does if it’s a meaningful or meaty hit.
Imo it is KINDA wack that Ichigo lands like barely any hits on Yusuke prior to the Speed Blitz and said hits are just a punch, a grab or he’s sending Yusuke towards a wall where it doesn’t even seem to damage him.
The rest are either blocked or negated.
Yusuke meanwhile: lands multiple combos on Ichigo, disarms him, shoots him in the balls, decks him in the face numerous times, speed blitzes and grinds his face across the wall before slamming him into the ground so hard it shatters a dimension, and wittles down his sword.
I get that it’s a stomp so they wanna make Yusuke look cool, but Death Battle HAVE done stomps and made the fight look even.
Perfect example? Roshi vs Jiraya.
Jiraya got plenty of good hits on Roshi despite it being a stomp by the episodes logic.
Weiss vs Mitsuru is also another perfect example.
Weiss should get BODIED by the episodes logic but she does some good damage to Mitsuru.
This isn’t even a case like Cell vs Metal Sonic where you could argue Metal getting bodied at the start reflects the resesrch where Base and Neo get destroyed by Cell but Metal’s higher forms don’t.
Here Ichigo vs Yusuke doesnt really have that excuse?
Ichigo gets bodied and barely lands any hits that cause Yusuke to react until the end where Ichigo suddenly remembers he stat stomps and one shots Yusuke.
TLDR, imo, I don’t enjoy when an stomp episode lets the loser dog on the winner for a large majority of the fight cause it feels like the team is, not intentionally mind you, but it comes across as them going “look fans of the loser here’s your guy doing something cool!” Ya know?
I would much rather have a stomp episode show the lose put up a fight against the winner who is giving them the fight of their life.
Like if I were to do this episode, I would keep the dynamic the same with Yusuke landing a lot of hits but Ichigo tanks them thanks to Yusuke’s superior skill but every time Ichigo DOES land a hit it hits like a truck.
It gives the impression to the viewers that Yusuke needs to fight carefully or he’s toast because any hit Ichigo lands could spell the end for Yusuke.
The episode nails the first part but doesn’t give Ichigo a good meaty hit until the kill. Which is kinda lame on its own but that’s a whole other issue.
Now I’m not saying how I would write the episode is inherently better, that’s a matter of opinion, but I’m saying how I think tweaking the dynamic just slightly would create a much more interesting fight dynamic without changing that much about the episode.
I still like the episode despite its flaws, solid 7ish/10 but I’ve seen numerous people express the opinion that Yusuke didn’t outshine Ichigo THAT MUCH in the episode and im sorry I just don’t personally agree with that perspective.
But that’s just my shitty opinion.