Basic Trope: A character grudgingly admits that the other did a good job.
- Straight: Ichigo half-heartedly compliments Hiro for defeating Emperor Evulz.
- Exaggerated: Ichigo grudgingly compliments Hiro for not only defeating Evulz, but also slaying his three-headed dragon and destroying 300 of Evulz' most elite henchmen.
- Downplayed: Rather than phrasing it as "not bad," Ichigo phrases the compliment as "good", but clearly without any enthusiasm.
- Justified:
- Ichigo dislikes Hiro so much that giving him a full-hearted compliment will wound his pride.
- Ichigo believes, correctly or not, that he could have done a better job than Hiro.
- Inverted:
- Ichigo is a huge fan of Hiro, nearly hero worshipping him, and it takes a lot for him to admit that Hiro's actions weren't perfectly moral and/or logical or that his execution of them was flawed.
- Ichigo takes his praise of Hiro way overboard when all he did was open a door for the other members of the team.
- Subverted: Ichigo says: "Not bad. You did pretty damn well, in fact."
- Double Subverted: "... No, Hiro, not you. Saburo. You just did so-so."
- Parodied: It becomes a Running Gag for Ichigo to give everyone but Hiro heartfelt thanks.
- Zig-Zagged: Ichigo has to thank Hiro at various points in the story. Sometimes Ichigo does so freely, sometimes it has to be forced out of him, and his tone and voluntarism have no relation to Ichigo's position or progress in his Character Development arc.
- Averted: Ichigo either gives Hiro the full respect he deserves or an insult trying to shield his pride.
- Enforced: "We can't have Ichigo be too chummy too soon with his rival! What would the fans think?!"
- Lampshaded: "Not bad? Even some ultra-high-standard nutcase like you should admit that defeating the ultimate villain was awesome."
- Invoked: Hiro deliberately does well, but not perfectly just to see how Ichigo will react.
- Exploited: The Remnant of Evulz' loyalists try to win over Hiro (possibly in conjunction with promising him the position of emperor) by calling Ichigo an Ungrateful Bastard.
- Defied:
- Ichigo tells Hiro that he did a terrible job in defeating Evulz.
- Ichigo is interrupted or shut up before he can give Hiro a "compliment" of this type.
- Discussed: "Hey, do you think Ichigo ever gives credit when credit is due?"
- Conversed: "Aaand there went all his Character Development. He's still too proud to care about anyone else. Fuck this ending."
- Played for Laughs: Ichigo gives Hiro a "not bad" compliment moments after having committed an Epic Fail in trying to do the same thing himself.
- Played for Drama:
- Ichigo's apathetic "praise" gives Hiro a crisis of self-confidence leading to a Heroic BSoD.
- Ichigo and Hiro's teammates give the former the What the Hell, Hero? treatment.
- Deconstructed: Ichigo is a Miles Gloriosus and/or Know-Nothing Know-It-All who can't do anything for which he's criticizing Hiro. Eventually, this occurs to Hiro and he says, "Okay, Ichigo. Let's See YOU Do Better!"
- Reconstructed:
- Ichigo turns out to have been Obfuscating Stupidity at what he criticized Hiro for doing imperfectly, even if he's still a complete idiot otherwise.
- Alternatively, Ichigo is no better than Hiro at those activities, but he doesn't internalize that lesson.
- Implied:Saburo: Did Ichigo thank you for saving him in the great Noodle Incident?Hiro: Yes.Saburo: How?Hiro: He said, "Not bad."
Huh. You figured out how to get back to the main page. Not Bad.
