Ichigo (Super Smash Flash 2)

Ichigo is a playable newcomer character in Super Smash Flash 2. He was one of the first four playable characters, along with, , and , confirmed in a trailer and demo. He is also the only playable representative of the Bleach franchise so far.

Ichigo is currently ranked 18th on the tier list (the lowest ranked Manga/Anime character); a small leap from his 20th place position last demo. Ichigo has a disjointed hitbox, strong air game, decent mobility and finishers in his forward smash, up smash, back aerial and neutral aerial. This, along with his small short hop and fast falling, allows him to perform SHFFL aerials to approach. The new Shunpo effect that Ichigo was given has increased his movement and range considerably.

However, Ichigo's vertical recovery covers average vertical distance. Also due to Ichigo's size, weight and falling speed makes him susceptible to chain grabs and combos. Ichigo's largest flaw, however, is his attack speed. This makes Ichigo over-reliant on hard reads and mindgames to start combos which many quicker characters do not have a problem with doing, and extremely weak to characters who can space away Ichigo with long range or stage control.

Ichigo's cons are on par with his pros which leaves him in the middle.

Attributes
Ichigo has good reach in the majority of his attacks. His neutral air, forward tilt and down tilt are excellent tools for spacing. Ichigo has good mobility with having the fourth fastest dashing speed in the current demo and having good air speed. Ichigo has a projectile in Getsuga Tenshō which has a lot of priority in it which can help him in canceling out other projectiles. Ichigo has KO moves in his forward smash, up smash, neutral air, back air, up air, forward tilt and a fully charged Getsuga Tenshō. Ichigo has a good grab game, possessing the fourteenth longest grab in the current demo.

However, Ichigo's weight, falling speed and size makes him susceptible to combos and chain grabs. His falling speed hinders his already poor recovery. Engetsuzan is his main horizontal recovery option, but it needs to be charged up to cover a good distance, his falling speed is unaltered when he is charging the move and when the opponent gets in front of him he proceeds to attack them and loses all momentum while becoming helpless. Kōtei-ki Tōshin is his main means of vertical recovery and makes him hard to gimp from above. However, it covers little vertical distance and combined with his falling speed makes it one of the worst vertical recovery moves in the game. Most of his attacks are slow and easy to avoid which can be problem when he is trying to KO his opponents.

Changes from v0.9a
Ichigo has received a overhaul in his movement and attacks. The new Shunpo effect has buffed Ichigo in that it gives his attacks more range and helps his recovery. Ichigo has received nerfs in some of his moves losing KO power, but the buffs he received greatly outweigh the nerfs.

Tier placement history
The tier lists for demo v0.6; Ichigo was seen as a top tier character ranking 2nd of B tier for the first list of demo v0.6 and 3rd of A tier for the second list. In demo v0.7; Ichigo was seen as a high tier character because he was stuck as 7th on both lists. In demo v0.8b; Ichigo rose to 3rd of A tier where he was seen as a top tier character. However, in demo v0.9a; Ichigo tier position dropped to 20th of what can be considered C tier where he is seen as a mid-low tier character (This is Ichigo's first time being outside of A or B tier). In demo v0.9b, Ichigo returned to B tier where he is ranked 18th.

Trivia

 * Ichigo was the very first character programmed for Super Smash Flash 2.
 * Ichigo was the last manga-originated character to have his sprites updated, with 's sprites being updated in a patch for demo v0.9a and 's sprites update were shown on the DOJO!!! for v0.9b. Ichigo's wasn't shown until a picture was posted on the McLeodgaming Facebook page.
 * Ironically, Ichigo was put into the game before Naruto and Goku were.