Feb 10, 2014
Bleach was an anime i got into after a recommendation from a friend. At the time I had caught up to naruto and was looking for another good shounen anime. I was introduced to bleach and I was hooked. However as time passed, the quality of the series took a significant dip. Here is why.
Story-
In the beginning Bleach had alot going for it. It had an interesting premise. Shinigami aka Death gods send Hollows or Evil spirits to the after life. It was comparable to ghost busters if i may say so. The 1st 15 episodes were of this nature, focusing on Ichigo Kurosaki the
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main character slaying hollows. The introduction of Renji And Byakuya shook things up and propelled the story into its 2nd arc, The Soul Society arc. This was were Bleach was at its peak: Brand new characters were introduced, The awe inspiring concept of Shikais and Bankais were jaw dropping at the time and a mysterious conspirator moved in the background. It was all very very good stuff. The infamous reveal at the end of the SS arc made me excited that big things were on the way for bleach
Then the bount arc happened. A 45 episode long filler, while decent for a filler made my interest in bleach drop. Sadly as the arrancar arc began, that interest never really picked up as the same damsel in distress plotline was rehashed, the plot devolved into 1 vs 1 battles every episode with no real story or character development and ludicrous plot twists arose. Kubos bleach train had long since derailed itself from its tracks by the time the Arrancar Arc ended and The fullbring arc began. Now the once impressive Bankais are no big deal since every character can use them. The damage had been done. 300+ episodes of pointless fighting had all but destroyed any hope i had for the series.
The fullbringer arc was a major letdown and is widely considered to be the worst arc in Bleach. With uninteresting villains, a plot clearly made up as it went along and a very weak conclusion, this arc destroyed the show and resulted in its eventual cancellation. Currently The Thousand Year War Arc is going on in the manga and while better than the Arrancar and fullbringer arcs, It has again fallen into the same old 'Forget plot, focus on 1 on 1 battles' formula that has plagued bleach since the arrancar saga began all those years ago.
Art-
The art is a major plus point for bleach. Certain fights are animated beautifully and i could sit down and watch those repeatedly. Kubo has always had an eye for great character designs. However the lack of backgrounds brings the rating down.
Sound-
Bleach has an excellent soundtrack. The arrancar arc especially has some catchy spanish tunes while the bounto arc has haunting music befitting the vampire theme of that arc. Overall id say its worth a listen.
Character-
Bleach has cool character designs but an overload of characters, many of whom overlap with each other. In other words in its like creating a new character but throwing in a personality of another old character. e.g Riruka and Hiyori.
There was alot of potential in bleach before. Now characters have just become caricatures of themselves with no real character progression. Inoue is still a damsel in distress. Chad still lies face down in a pool of his own blood. Mayuris mad scientist vibe which was once scary has been made into a running gag. Byakuya and Kenpachi are now jokes. Ichigo is the only character capable of holding his own to the enemy and thats in part due to kubos inability to decide what to do with him. Is he a hollow, shinigami quincy or fullbringer? Kubo has no idea what to do with Ichigos character and even goes so far as to negate everything we have learnt about the characters sword for the past 500 chapters in a major ass pull. Not good.
Enjoyment-
Bleach was once very enjoyable. Now i read it for the sake of it, just to finish it.
Overall-
Id recommend the 1st 63 episodes. Otherwise skip it. Its not worth the time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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