Bleach

Bleach is one of the three so-called "mainstream shonen animes"; together with Naruto and One Piece these three are immensely popular, and the topic of endless comparison among their fans set out to prove that their favorite is the best out of them. They simply refuse to exit their fanboyism to view the series in an objective light, which is a shame, because they are probably missing out on great adventures, which is the case of Bleach in many ways. If you want my review short and good, give Bleach a try no matter what people have said, as it, despite a lot of shortcomings, presents a most interesting and enthralling universe.

The concept seems pretty basic at first; there's the Soul Reapers (Shinigami), empowered souls who guide departed human souls to Soul Society, the afterlife deimension, formed after a Feudal Japan. They also fight Hollows, evil and malevolent spirits, to protect living humans and souls alike. So, I assume you have read the plot summary, which covers the basics of the first story arc, which is basically the arc where we are introduced to the main main cast of Bleach; the standard, headstrong, rash and protective teenage shonen hero, his voice of reason in the form of a girl, his arrogant beglassed rival, the ditzy klutz girl with big boobs, and the large, stoic type.

Towards the end of said arc however, a real plot appears, events are set into motion, and before long, it has escalated into an assault on said Soul Society a rescue mission from our team of 4-5 heroes, who fight their way through shinigami of all kinds trying to reach their goal, conveniently placed in the middle of this Society. In this arc, you'll get lots of great action and meaningful fights, bottled together with an extremely large and colorful cast of characters, flashbacks and an interesting plot. It all builds up one hell of an end to the arc, 60 or so episodes into the show, where a most intersting twist takes place. And said arc ending is in each and every way the climax of Bleach.

Which is its problem. From there it goes steep downhill to two arcs of slow-paced filler, which lowers your excitement a great deal of levels, and from there the show never manages to get you hooked as much as it did during the Soul Society arc. It does get some interesting new aspects and revelations durign the following Arrancar arc, but it never gets really exciting, nor does it get that much greater during the Hueco Mundo arc. It's just too much fighting, and a re-used "save the damsel in distress" plot. The colorful cast is not seen as much anymore, and aside some interesting emotional developments courtesy of the former klutz girl, there's not a lot to it, and most fights don't have the same enthralling depth to them which made the fights in SS so unique. Now it's more a display of unique powers, and whatever motivations the bad guys had for their fighting is revealed only after the actual fights, which in ways ruins things. Also, there's a few plot holes to speak of, but nothing large.

However, aside the completely random filler arc (which re-used several plot elements from the story), Bleach has shown potential for improvement lately, and it keeps expanding its cast endlessly, which makes the universe seem living in many ways, so we can all only hope that Bleach will improve gradually. However, I sincerely doubt that it will ever be restored to how great it was at its peak, namely the Soul Society rescue arc.

It does have a lot of shortcomings, yet it is a most enjoyable watch still. Now, why is that? The answer is the unexpectancy factor it has. Due to its vast cast and great universe, you can't really know what comes next, only make qualified guesses. What kinds of powers will that character have? What is the villain really up to? And what's with that guy? What will happen next? Who knows, who knows. So one could say that the true strength of Bleach lies in its cast, which can bring about mysteries, plot twists and other aspects of awesomeness, and cover up for a somewhat lacking storyline.

So what about the asesthetics? there's plenty of people who believe that the visual and auditory aspects of anime are just as important as any plot or character development. And Bleach delivers here, in many ways.

The animation quality is quite the hassle to discuss, because it is so varying in quality. At its worst it has low frame rates, offset character designs and framed action, while at its best it is vivid, meticulous and full of soft motions and beautifully animated special and lighting effects. Most of the time however, it is decent. Not average, but not in any way anything bragworthy. Expect some ups and downs in this department.

The soundtrack however, is very great. It is greatly varied, and is renewed per story arc, introducing new tunes often whilst keeping the old ones around too, and this variation is intrinsical of any above-average soundtrack. It stays perfectly in tone and atmosphere with the current events, and feature everything from upbreat, adrenaline-pumping electric guitar pieces to melliflous piano pieces, and standard comedic moment tracks. The opening and endign themes feature a lot of types and genres, from the serene and sentimental to rap and rock. And pop, of course.

I said it in the beginning, and I'll say it again; try out Bleach at least once, desptie what Narutard, shonen haters or anyone else have said. It's pretty enjoyable despite its lacks and faults, mostly in thanks to its great cast.

To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =) read more

Story:
Bleach is a mixed bag as far as story goes. The first arc (ep1-63), which covers the soul society, is interesting and engaging. It contains both action and a good plot. However, after episode 63 things go downhill. A lot. The Bount arc which follows it isn't even in the manga and has no relevance to the overall story, as well as being entirely uninteresting. It picks up a bit when the story shifts back to the plotline of the manga, but there isn't much of a plot to follow at that point. Basically, the main characters fight the bad guys from there on out with little else of interest to be found. If the action was great, it might make up for this, but it isn't. While it isn't terrible, it is never enough to carry the anime by itself. In addition, there are frequent fillers, which I would recommend ignoring entirely if you decide to watch this.
Aside from the generally uneventful plot, Bleach suffers from an unwillingness to kill off anyone. Despite having tons of shinigami, Bleach never kills off a single one. The only characters who ever die are the bad guys, and very few of them ever perish either.
If I were rating only the first arc, I would give this a 7 or an 8, but the decay which has happened since then forces me to drop it significantly to a 5.

Art:
Character design is excellent, overall very solid animation. It does occasionally have issues though.

Sound:
Sound is generally good, music appropriate to the mood. No complaints here.

Character:
This is where Bleach should shine, but doesn't. As said before, character design is great. However, there are so many characters that none of them get any sort of development. With the sheer volume of characters in the show, even main characters are often forgotten for several episodes. Most of the characters seem like they would be interesting if developed, but they simply aren't.

Overall:
I would recommend watching the first 63 episodes and dropping it there. Aside from the Turn Back the Pendulum story (206-212) there is essentially nothing of value plotwise after that point.
If you're only in it for the action, I suppose Bleach is a decent show. But even in that case, you could do much better. read more

Bleach has become one of the most popular anime around, and is commonly if not always, compared to Naruto. Hated by many, loved by many, this anime will be watched by virtually everyone who dives into the anime world.

Story: The story, or perhaps setting to be more accurate, is quite unique. Shinigami, or Soul Reapers, that have their own special society watch over the souls in the living world. Each Shinigami carries a unique sword(soul slayer) or Zanpaktou that has its own unique name and abilities based on the wielder's style and personality. Alongside them are the Hollow, and two subgroups later to be known as the Vaizard and Arrancar. It is this unique setting that gives Bleach the power to create so many characters under such a captivating environments, and this I believe, is one of the story's strong points. In terms of plot, it isn't very strong. The whole 'rescue a friend' is seen in pretty much every anime, and the whole 'I need to get stronger to protect my friends' is equally overdone. But I personally enjoy watching series with this type of theme, so I can't mark it down because of such overdone plot devices. But Bleach also comprises by adding a few twists into a seemingly transparent storyline, and it is here that I again am impressed. Bleach isn't just about mindless violence, its about friends striving to help each other, looking out for each other and improving themselves. Theres a bit of romance tossed in too, so thats a bit of a plus. The great setting and positive themes of friendship and perseverance made me give this an : 8/10

Characters: Bleach has a huge number of characters, some of them developed fairly well, otherwise poorly. But it is the huge cast of such unique and usually admirable individuals that makes this anime so captivating. You just hold your breath everytime someone pops into release their soul slayer or release their Bankai. It's because of all these characters and their own unique swords and abilities that makes the fights in this anime worth watching. You just can't wait to see what the characters are capable of. In terms of character development, I would say that it isn't bad, especially in terms of Ichigo who starts off as a badass that can take down most hollows with ease. In time, (particularly the current arc) he realizes how insignificant he really is, and tries his hardest to get stronger. The same is similar for the other characters such as Chad. Although most of the character development is in terms of strength and not so much in personality, I still rate the characters high for their largely unique cast: 8/10

Sound: This I find, is one of Bleach's strongest qualities. The soundtracks really intensify the battles and make even the smallest things seem cool. Thats that Bleach is good at - making things seem cool, and the soundtrack is a key and necessary component. But it isn't just the action scenes. It makes the sad and thoughtful moments come alive, in addition to the mysterious and tense situations Bleach presents. It's also accompanied by some of the best opening and closings I've seen in anime, in terms of both music and visuals. They greatly depict the story and the songs set the mood beautifully. 10/10

Art/Animation: I have little to say here. The art is quite good for the most parts, and I loved the coloring in the first few arcs, particularly the bright glowly/misty colors. Most of the fights are animated very smoothly with a variety of scenes and angles and such. Its on par with most anime these days: 8/10

Overall: Bleach is one of my favorite anime, being one of the first I ever watched. I know most people consider it over rated, repetitive and predictable, but hey, it presents some epic fights and follows them through nicely. Most of the fights are a good length (couple episodes) and I'm a fan of swords and people who power up, so what can I say, this anime is gold to me. If you're the type that doesn't care too much about a complicated story or deep compelling characters and you just want to see some epic fights, Bleach is right for you. This deserves an 8/10 overall (bogged down with fillers too much, although I didn't take that into account while rating. Fillers aren't part of the show, just don't watch them =/ ), but I personally love it and rated it a 10/10 on my list. read more

*NO SPOILERS*

Bleach had great potential, but became annoying with poor character development and random powers.

Bleach has one of my favorite concepts ever. The Soul Society is awesome and the Gotei 13 are probably the best part of the show. They are squads composed of a multitude of Shinigami(Soul Reapers) and the show focuses more on the Captains and Lieutenants of those squads that are the most interesting characters in the show. Although, their could have been less squads(like 6) with less members in them(like 5) to have a more focused cast of characters that get more development. Hollows are also very interesting, they are souls that have either decide to let themselves be taken by evil or have been capture by other hollows. The basic concept is that the Soul Society dispatches Soul Reapers to purify the souls of hollows to let them live in the Seretei(basically heaven) unless they were evil while human( then they go to hell). The Soul Reapers use their swords called Zampakuto, that have 2 transformations to purify hollows.

The story of Bleach is ok, it is basically a regular shounen protagonist (Serious while fighting and Over powered) vs a traitorous, power hungry, intellectual villain.

Bleach biggest problems are its disrespect of its own power level system, its useless side characters, its horrible explanations for certain powers and its fillers..

Bleach doesn't make sense when it comes to power levels, a character can be defeated by an opponent, and then can defeat someone that utterly destroyed that opponent without training or power ups. I don't know how to describe it without spoilers but the power level system is non existent and it is really aggravating to not see that system in place. Ichigo, the main character, will discover some new ability to beat his opponent that is portrayed as being way more powerful than Ichigo, this will happen multiple times. Ichigo is easily defeated by the main antagonist(villain), that same villain levels up 5 times and is defeated by Ichigo who trained for 3 months. What? at least don't make the villain level up 5 times so it makes more sense.

The side characters in bleach are useless. The Captains and Lieutenants aren't, but Ichigo's friends are. First off, Orehime Inoue, F**K is this character annoying. Shes is the typical damsel in distress, she is hot, she tries to be extra cute and she has stupid powers that have no explanation(Maybe Fullbringer). Orehime's only use is healing Ichigo so he can get back into a fight. Chad has *MINOR SPOILER* Fullbringer powers, these are probably the stupidest powers in the Bleach universe. Fullbringer is the abillity to control the souls found inside objects. WTF!! an object has a soul? I guess it does in the Bleach universe. Uryu Ishida is probably the on except-able friend Ichigo has. Uryu is a Quicy, they are similar to soul reapers, but instead of using a sword they use a bow and arrow. They also kill hollows instead of purifying them. The problem with all three of these characters is they become to weak to participate in battles except Uryu who can still provide support in battle.

Bleach is almost 50% filler. These can be skipped if you binge watch Bleach but on a week to week basis it can be really annoying to have to watch filler almost every other arc.

Although Bleach has a huge list of problems I was still hooked until the last cannon arc because the concept of Bleach was so interesting. The Soul Society and the captains are the main reason I continued to watch the show. The most annoying part of Bleach for me was its lack of explanation and logic for powers, Ichigo's friends that shouldn't have existed, especially Orehime and the fact that the main characters can just come full circle and defeat a character that should be way above them in terms of power.

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