Bleach is a shonen anime whose protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki, undergoes plenty of changes over the course of many episodes/chapters. Like most shonen action leads, Ichigo Kurosaki started off as a total nobody, but through hard work, the power of friendship and love, and some trial and error, he became a true shonen powerhouse who could always be counted on to save the day.
In Bleach's story, Ichigo changed in many profound ways, both on the inside and outside, and sometimes, those changes were connected. Up to age 15, Ichigo thought he had himself figured out as a punk teenager who could see ghosts, but then he met the Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki, who changed his life forever. From that point on, Ichigo was a substitute Soul Reaper, and many more changes followed to make him stronger, wiser, and kinder.
10 Ichigo Became a Substitute Soul Reaper
Ichigo's very first transformation happened in the first episode of Bleach. One night, Ichigo met a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki, who fought a Hollow named Fishbone D, only to need Ichigo to help her in battle. Rukia lent Ichigo her spirit powers, transforming Ichigo into a substitute Soul Reaper, complete with black robes and a generic zanpakuto.
Even if Ichigo briefly lost his powers in the Xcution arc much later on, his glow-up into a Soul Reaper is the main difference between Ichigo in Episode 1 and the Ichigo Kurosaki whom Bleach fans now know in the Thousand-Year Blood War story arc. Only by becoming a Soul Reaper did Ichigo become worthy of facing foes like Yhwach and the Sternritter.
9 Ichigo Gets Along Better With His Father Isshin
In the first episode of Bleach, and indeed the entire Substitute Soul Reaper arc, Ichigo didn't get along with his widower father, Isshin Kurosaki. For humor's sake, father and son clashed nonstop, often kicking each other across the house while Yuzu and Karin watched with disbelief. Ichigo even butted heads a bit with Isshin while fighting Sosuke Aizen, but that didn't last long.
By the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Ichigo and Isshin got along better, and had long since stopped sparring or annoying each other. Both of them had much bigger concerns, and Ichigo appreciated his father much more after learning what Isshin had done as a Soul Reaper to save Masaki's life years ago.
8 Ichigo is No Longer Concerned About Slaying Hollows
In the early episodes, the Bleach anime was a "monster hunter" series, which may have helped inspire its spiritual successors, Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer, both of which depict their heroes fighting monsters for a living. In the first season, Ichigo and his new friend Rukia hunted all kinds of Hollows, but by the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, that no longer mattered to either of them.
By then, Ichigo and Rukia had both met and fought much stronger foes than any Hollow, including the Espadas and the Sternritter. In the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Ichigo had his hands full with the Wandenreich, and hunting Hollows seemed quaint by comparison. In fact, all of the Soul Reapers were too busy fighting the Quincy empire to bother with peacetime duties like Hollow hunting.
7 Ichigo Now Understands His Mixed Heritage
One of Ichigo's most important personal changes was learning the truth about his family. For years, Bleach fans didn't know much about Ichigo's late mother Masaki, and for that matter, neither did Ichigo himself. At the start of the series, Ichigo didn't even know that his father had once been a Soul Reaper, Captain Isshin Shiba of squad 10.
By the Thousand-Year Blood War story arc, Ichigo had long since learned the truth of his father's family, which incidentially made Ichigo related to the noble Shiba clan in the Soul Society. A bit later in that story arc, Ichigo learned the full truth of his family tree — that his mother Masaki Kurosaki had once been a Quincy, hence why Yhwach called Ichigo his son born in the dark. Learning that helped lead to another major change in Ichigo that set him far apart from his Episode 1 self.
6 Ichigo Has Overcome His Grief
Ichigo's personal struggle with grief was more implied than outright stated in Bleach, but if fans read into it, they can see how much Ichigo changed in that regard over time. Flashbacks showed Ichigo as a happy and carefree boy with his mother around, but after Masaki's death, Ichigo coped by being a tough, standoffish tsundere. He had clearly not fully processed his grief.
Halfway through the Thousand-Year Blood War story arc, Ichigo learned the full truth of his family, and it's implied that Ichigo overcame his grief and finally let go of the painful past so he could embrace the future as a fighter and as a person. That may be why Ichigo became more relaxed and had stronger powers, and by the final chapter, he was perfectly happy with his new family, no longer weighed down by Masaki's loss.
5 Ichigo Has Gained Many Soul Reaper Allies
At first, Ichigo had just one Soul Reaper ally to call his own, the reverse-isekai Soul Reaper Rukia in the first story arc. In the Soul Society arc, most Soul Reapers were Ichigo's enemies, most of all Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, but then Ichigo befriended them, and as of the Thousand-Year Blood War, the entire Gotei 13 is still friendly to Ichigo, especially with the Wandenreich as a mutual enemy.
Ichigo is far from alone in the Thousand-Year Blood War story arc. Even if he rarely fights alongside the Soul Reapers, he and the Gotei 13's members still rely on one another, and the Soul Reapers fought the Sternritter to buy Ichigo enough time to go after Yhwach. Ichigo often acts like he has to save the world alone, but not even he could deny the power of friendship in Bleach's later arcs.
4 Ichigo Has Obtained His Real Zanpakuto, Zangetsu
At the start of Bleach, Ichigo had a large, generic zanpakuto to fight with, and it didn't even have a name. In those days, Ichigo didn't know much Soul Reaper lore and thus didn't realize that his sword was weak and impersonal. A real zanpakuto is a named partner for its Soul Reaper wielder, which is the key to true strength.
Ichigo obtained the first version of his real zanpakuto, Zangetsu, right before he began his mission to the Soul Society. By the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Ichigo had reworked his powers to gain his true Zangetsu, which was made up of his inner Hollow rather than "old man Zangetsu," which was more related to Masaki's Quincy powers than Ichigo's proper powers.
3 Ichigo Can Now Use Bankai
Since Ichigo didn't have a real zanpakuto with a name in Episode 1, he certainly couldn't use shikai or bankai, nor was he aware of such things just yet. When Ichigo gained Zangetsu, he learned about shikai, since his blade was always in shikai mode. Then, during the fondly-remembered Soul Society arc, Ichigo trained to get bankai as well, Tensa Zangetsu.
As of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Ichigo has the bankai form of his true Zangetsu, an immensely powerful weapon that his Episode 1 self never could have imagined. That final bankai makes Ichigo the perfect warrior to take on the seemingly invincible Yhwach, and it makes him one of Bleach's most powerful characters of all.
2 Ichigo Can Use Getsuga Tensho
Shonen heroes often learn cool new techniques to fight with, from Rasengan and Luffy's Gears to Full Cowl with One For All. In Bleach, Ichigo gained a new power named Getsuga Tensho, or "Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer," his main ranged attack. Ichigo can use Getsuga Tensho with his shikai or bankai.
In Episode 1, there was no way Ichigo could have learned or used Getsuga Tensho, but as of the Thousand-Year Blood War story arc, that technique is like second nature to him when fighting the Sternritter. He usually wins fights with melee attacks, but even so, it's good to have the option to hit opponents at range, too.
1 Ichigo Understands His Hollow Powers
As of Episode 1, Ichigo Kurosaki had all kinds of innate powers and bloodline traits, but he didn't understand them and thus couldn't use them as a rookie Soul Reaper. Even in the Soul Society story arc, Ichigo was confused and terrified by his half-other powers, but then he trained with the Visoreds to master his inner Hollow and its powerful mask.
In the Thousand-Year Blood War story arc, Ichigo fully understands all his powers and can wield them with ease. He rarely uses his Quincy powers, but he can use his inner Hollow as a finely tuned instrument, easily tapping into its powers to get stronger in a fight. That's how Ichigo used his Merged Hollow form while fighting his strongest foes late in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, as anime-only fans will soon see.
