The advent of Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War has renewed interest in a series that used to be part of the Big Three along with Naruto and One Piece. The story of Ichigo as he transforms from a delinquent student into one of the most powerful shinigami of all time is a wild ride that is full to the brim with emotional moments, incredible powerups, and some of the best fights in anime history.

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Ichigo has played a central role in many fights across Bleach, fighting against adversity time and time again before finally using all his powers — including the ones he can't control — to win against extremely powerful foes who could easily wipe the floor with him. Given his status as a protagonist, it's obvious that his fights are the most climactic showdowns in Bleach, with the best of the bunch being mentioned below.

8 VS Ikkaku Madarame

bleach ikkaku

After Rukia is taken back to Soul Society to be executed, Ichigo and his friends break into this domain to try and save her. This leads to Ichigo having to fight a ton of battles against various shinigami, including Ikkaku Madarame.

This beastly shinigami uses brute force to get through most of his battles. His fight with Ichigo definitely pushes the protagonist to his limits, but he manages to get through this battle using his skills to break further into Soul Society.

7 VS Renji Abarai

Ichigo Kurosaki VS Renji Abarai in Bleach

When Rukia was abducted and brought back to Soul Society, both Renji and Byakuya outclassed Ichigo in every way. This prompted Ichigo to get stronger and hone his shinigami powers, leading to a rematch against Renji that was pretty riveting indeed.

The battle between Zangetsu and Zabimaru was a blast in every way, with both fighters putting both their skills and ideologies to the test. Ultimately, Renji's personal feelings revealed themselves and led to him losing this battle against Ichigo.

6 VS Sosuke Aizen

Aizen's Hogyoku Form in Bleach

The final showdown between Ichigo and Aizen should've been one of the best battles in the entire series. However, Ichigo received such a massive power-up before this fight that the emotional stakes were almost completely ruined.

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Even with Aizen revealing a new form that he attained after fusing with the Hogyoku, he still couldn't even scratch Ichigo. All it took was one use of Mugetsu to take out one of Bleach's most enthralling villains in the entire series.

5 VS Yhwach

Ichigo Stands Before Yhwach Throne Room

It seems that Bleach has a problem with trying to construct satisfying climactic battles against an arc's central antagonist. This was the case with Aizen as well, and the confrontation against Yhwach also suffered from the same issues.

The reverse was in play here, with Yhwach completely dominating Ichigo and the rest of the Shinigami before a special arrow from Uryu Ishida left him vulnerable to a final attack from Ichigo. It's a shame that the fight was such a bummer despite having its good moments, and the fact that Ichigo's new Bankai never got the exposure it deserved still hurts fans immensely.

4 VS Ulquiorra Cifer

Ichigo-vs-Ulquiorra-in-Bleach-1

Ulquiorra is one of the most interesting villains in the entirety of Bleach. He comes off as nothing more than an unempathetic and cold-hearted member of the Espada, but his interactions with Orihime actually paint him in a somewhat sympathetic light.

His fight with Ichigo is extremely one-sided until the protagonist's Hollow powers come through in full force. This causes Ichigo to go absolutely berserk and absolutely wipe the floor with Ulquiorra, which is a shame since he never really got to win on his own merit and didn't even remember beating Ulquiorra in the first place!

3 VS Kenpachi Zaraki

Kenpachi Zaraki in Bleach

One of the most memorable fights during the brilliant Soul Society arc is when Ichigo faces off against the mercurial Kenpachi Zaraki. This is easily Ichigo's hardest fight to date and he only manages to get through this fight by the skin of his teeth.

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The best part about this fight is that Kenpachi doesn't even fight to his fullest potential, using just one hand throughout this entire fight. It's revealed later on that he would've cleaved Ichigo in half had he used both hands to fight his opponent, which is a testament to Kenpachi's monstrous strength.

2 VS Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

Ichigo Kurosaki VS Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez in Bleach

Ichigo's rivalry with Grimmjow is a fascinating one that slowly simmers throughout the Arrancar arc. They both clash swords three times throughout the series, with Ichigo finally winning the final confrontation after developing his skills over the course of the last two fights.

It helps that Grimmjow is a pretty interesting character that fans slowly start liking over the course of the series. Even after losing to Ichigo, fans can't help but feel sorry for Grimmjow despite being in awe of the protagonist's new Hollowfied skills.

1 VS Byakuya Kuchiki

Ichigo Kurosaki VS Byakuya Kuchiki in Bleach

The final fight in the Soul Society arc personifies why many people consider it to be one of the best arcs in anime history. After being absolutely dominated by Byakuya's skills early on, it's satisfying to see Ichigo tackle Rukia's brother once again with a fresh skillset.

With his newly-formed Bankai, Ichigo manages to fight Byakuya on fairly equal ground before getting overwhelmed by his Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. This leads to his Hollow form coming out and beating up Byakuya quite a bit before the protagonist regains control and wins the final clash against the arc's major villain.

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