Ichigo’s Journey: Anime and the Monomyth – Part 4

Here is the fourth and final installment of my discussion on the Monomyth and anime. In this section, I’ll discuss the third group of phases, known collectively as the “Return.” If you missed any of the previous discussion, feel free to catch up on Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Return

The Return section of the Hero’s Journey is generally listed in the following order:

1. Refusal of Return
2. The Magical Flight
3. Rescue from Without
4. The Crossing of the Return Threshold
5. Master of Two Worlds
6. Freedom to Live

However, Bleach follows a distinctly different order because, whereas the Hero normally is working either with or against the gods’ blessing, Ichigo has some “gods” on his side and some who are working very hard to keep him from his goal.

What’s important to note is that not all of the phases have to be represented in a story in order to fit into the monomyth, nor do they have to be in the exact order laid out by Campbell. In fact, since its inception, a couple of variations on the monomyth have been developed.

Rescue from Without

While he is a strong-willed person with a powerful reiatsu (spiritual power), Ichigo does need to be rescued often in his quest to save Rukia. After his battle with Renji, he requires Yamada Hanataro’s healing powers. In his first confrontation with Kuchiki Byakuya, Yoruichi has to intercede in order to save him. And ultimately, he would be unable to complete his mission if several shinigami weren’t trying to help him.

Lastly, Ichigo has to rely on the favor of the Goteijusantai (the 13 divisional court protective squads), those he had recently been battling, to return to the real world.

“For the bliss of the deep abode is not lightly abandoned in favor of the self-scattering of the wakened state. “Who having cast off the world,” we read, “would desire to return again? He would be only there.” And yet, in so far as one is alive, life will call.”

Master of Two Worlds

From the very beginning, Ichigo has been evolving toward being what Campbell would call the Master of Two Worlds. As a mere mortal, to become a shinigami (death god) is exceptional, but to become one who can wield the power of a bankai is something very few shinigami ever attain. And so, the Goteijusantai grant Ichigo a Substitute Shinigami Badge, a charm that allows him to separate his spirit from his body so he can defend Karakura Town from invading Hollows. In doing this, they recognize him as both a human and one of their own.

“The individual, through prolonged psychological disciplines, gives up completely all attachment to his personal limitations, idiosyncrasies, hopes and fears, no longer resists the self-annihilation that is prerequisite to rebirth in the realization of truth, and so becomes ripe, at last, for the great at-one-ment.”

The Crossing of the Return Threshold

With the blessings of the Goteijusantai, Ichigo and his friends, Inoue, Chad, Ishida, and Yoruichi, are allowed to use the official Senkai Gate to return to the physical world. The challenge of this stage for the hero is the sheer impact of returning to “normal” life with the knowlege he has attained in the land of the gods. This is a challenge that not only Ichigo, but also Chad, Ishida and Inoue must face.

“The first problem of the returning hero is to accept as real, after an experience of the soul-satisfying vision of fulfillment, the passing joys and sorrows, banalities and noisy obscenities of life.”

The Senkai Gate represents the acceptance of this transition back into the real world.

The Magical Flight

Sometimes returning to the real world can be as big a challenge as entering the land of the gods for the Hero. In Bleach, this phase is most dangerous for those who accompanied Ichigo in to Soul Society – Chad, Ishida, and Inoue, who entered the spiritual realm in their physical form. The Senkai Gate into the physical world opens up in the middle of the sky, and the fall from that height would’ve surely killed all three of them.

Fortunately, Urahara arrives in time to save them on his magical carpet.

Refusal of the Return

Oftentimes in the myths and legends throughout history, the hero finds himself or herself in the paradise they had to break into in order to achieve their goal only to discover that they don’t want to leave. In Buddhism, it is often the case that those who enter the blessed state of Enlightenment prefer to stay there. The heroes who return, called Bodhisattvas, come back because they desire to bring the boon of knowledge back to humankind and show them the way to Enlightenment.

Returning home isn’t the challenge for Ichigo though. In fact, it’s obvious at the end of the Soul Society Arcs, as Ichigo stands in front of his darkened home, his sisters and father inside sleeping and unaware of his absence, and quietly says, “Tadaima” (“I’m home”), that this is where he has yearned to be throughout his entire adventure.

However, though Rukia is saved and his goal is accomplished, it seems that the gods have conspired to refuse Ichigo’s ability to return to a normal existence. Having transformed into a death god, Ichigo is now obligated to ensure the safe passage of souls of the recently deceased through Karakura Town. And he’ll be thrust back into the fray later as the (damnable) Bount Arc and the Hueco Mundo arcs begin.

Freedom to Live

The benefit of going through the Hero’s Journey is that the Hero no longer has to fear Death. They can live without being nervous about the future or regretting the past.

“The hero is the champion of things becoming, not of things become, because he is.”

And it is due to this change in perspective, Ichigo is able to face the many challenges that he will face in future arcs of the manga and anime.

Conclusion

The power of myth rests in its ability to instruct humanity and provide guidance in the turmoils of our own lives. Facts don’t carry such power because they reflect what has been and what currently is; not what is possible.

Ichigo’s story shows us the power of determination in the face of impossibilities as well as the inspiration that true friendship can provide in our darkest hour.  Within each of us is more potential that we know or can comprehend, and by fully embracing the various aspects of our psyches, neither over-stressing or punitively repressing  any of them, we can become whole, a process Carl Jung calls “individuation.”