by Julius Albert Custodio

Created on: July 03, 2009

Soul Arena is based on the shounen manga Bleach, so it's only proper that this online browser game shines its brightest spotlight on the manga's main protagonist, Kurosaki Ichigo. He's a hot-headed and impulsive character in the manga and the makers of Soul Arena pay homage to the character by carrying over these characteristics in the game.

Being one of the game's essential characters, Kurosaki Ichigo is readily available at the very beginning. Despite his one-dimensional personality, Ichigo is a pretty complex character. He's usually ignored in team battles because he's a late-bloomer in terms of damage but he does improve upon his skills' potentials every turn they are used, so your enemy won't ignore him for too long.

Analyzing Kurosaki Ichigo's set of skills, one will notice that it's a well-balanced mix of reiatsu techniques and physical maneuvers. Ichigo also has a wider range of freedom than most characters because he utilizes two types of reiatsu: Reiryoku (yellow reiatsu) and Zanpakutou (red reiatsu). Unless Ichigo's team picks up other types of reaitsu, then the player is assured that Ichigo's skills are always available for usage.

All of his moves have their own pros and cons depending on the turn they are used, so a player who is using Ichigo for the first time should always make a mental note of which move is appropriate for the current turn. Here is a list of Ichigo's moves accompanied with an in-depth analysis of each one:

"Zangetsu Slash"

When Kurosaki Ichigo uses this skill, he deals 25 physical damage to his opponent and this damage increases by 5 every time he uses the skill. When Reiatsu Transfer is active while using this skill, the damage becomes piercing (ignores damage reduction). This skill costs 1 Zanpakutou and 1 Random reiatsu to use and it has no cooldown.

The advantage of using this skill is the damage increase which stacks indefinitely. If Ichigo manages to use this skill multiple times, he can potentially be a damage powerhouse! On the flip side, it does have a "specific" reiatsu cost so a player doesn't really have the liberty of executing the skill as many times as he wants unless he gets at least 1 Zanpakutou reaitsu each round.

"Hollow Slayer"

Kurosaki Ichigo's ultimate skill, "Hollow Slayer" deals 35 reaitsu damage and gives him 1 random chakra to boot! Like "Zangetsu Slash", this skill also increases in damage by 5 points each time it is used. Furthermore, it also deals piercing damage if Reiatsu Transfer is activated.

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