User blog comment:Tinni/Ichigo/@comment-1723669-20091207054604

I have to agree with Tinni by saying that Ichigo is clearly not the most powerful character in Bleach. I don't know if there are people out there who are actually proclaiming him as such but in all fairness it is understandable given the fact that it is easy to confuse one's status with one's power. What I mean to say is that we generally believe that the "hero" of our stories is the "strongest" character as well.

That kind of thinking is flawed, to say the least. Tinni brought up some great points about the real reasons why Ichigo is special. Everything from his personality to his willpower to his astonishing reiatsu (not to mention that he hasn't witnessed Aizen's shikai) are valid reasons for Ichigo to be considered "special" but none is reason enough to proclaim him anything but that.

I personally, like others here have commented, think that the most important aspect of Ichigo is his potential. One needs only to remember the UTTER SHOCK displayed by 4th Division Capt. Unohana when she realized the true potential of Ichigo's power.

I don't know about you guys but I have found Unohana's own power level to be highly intriguing as it has only been hinted at and we have never seen her exert herself in any way and yet she is respected by all (even Mayuri didn't move against her when she almost instantly developed an antidote to his poison). So you can imagine how giddy I felt watching her come to the realization that Ichigo possesses untold amounts of reiatsu. That sequence alone made my day.