Lets begin. The story. This is the most notorious aspect of Bleach. I, like most people, understand how that one went down. Yes, I'm also convinced that the Agents of Shinigami and Soul Society Arc were the greatest. But I still stuck with it even after those arcs. No, I didn't watch the filler. (Honestly, the filler did also damn the story and pacing but since the anime is so long since over now, it's easy to find a reference list that can help you avoid filler episodes). Back to the point. I kept reading and watching the canon arcs regardless of what flaws there were. Why? Because I wanted to debunk all the hate. Honestly, it was still enjoyable. Even without much progression, it seriously had some truly amazing aspects that I appreciated. Even with similar formula's, each arc had at least a few distinguishing features. So let's move on to them, shall we?
One of the most stunning aspects of Bleach were its' art style. In terms of characters, that is. I loved the character designs for Bleach. The casual, mature and gritty art style always separated Bleach from the norm of generic Shonen. From start to finish, the characters always looked fantastic and attractive, with fantastic proportions for a majority of the cast. As for scenery and background, that's where Bleach lacks in quality. The later volumes of the manga began lacking backgrounds and became less detailed than early chapters of Bleach. Far less detailed. Comparing early Bleach backgrounds to modern is like comparing a Wheres Wally? book to a sheet of A4 paper. In terms of animation, Bleach has always been the long running Shonen that steals the spotlight in terms of animation quality. This especially applies to later (and non-filler) Bleach where every fight was satisfactorily fluid and badass. Sadly, excess censorship prevents certain scenes from fully expressing what the manga intended to. But knowing Studio Pierrot, an animation company with ups and downs all over its name, this'll obviously be a feat. Filler is a different story... hehe... avoid it.
There really isn't much to say for sound in terms of effects. They're not ridiculously overused but they're not breathtakingly realistic either. As for music. Whoa, boy, where to begin? Bleach's OST is among some of the most astonishing soundtrack for a Shonen. Shiro Sagisu is a renowned anime music composer, and his score ranged from all sorts of rock, to authentic Japanese instruments to fantastic and epic choir themes. What the editors need to work on is making sure the music fits the scene that is unfolding - that was something unsatisfying about Bleach, too.
Now for the characters. Bleach had such perplexing characters in its' early stages. There weren't too many but not too much either. But as time went on, more characters were shoved on board and it became too difficult for the author to develop characters, old and new alike. So this is the part where I kind of diss Bleach a little. The series spreads itself too thin with characters. They have spectacular designs and amazing personalities, combined with a variety of unique abilities... but with too many of those characters in a very long running show, obviously it'd be nearly impossible to properly develop them all. But I still think some Arrancar and Sternritter are badass as shit. Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Bazz-B, etc.
I truly enjoyed Bleach. It was a legendary series that seems to have unfortunately fallen victim to an incomplete story, with declining sales and increasing hate. It wasn't always a smoking pile of ash, and if people would have given it a chance, it obviously would be up there to this day. I understand the many godawful flaws it dons, but hating on it and acting all sophisticated, calling it out and shaming it is no way to perceive an anime with a still existing fanbase that also wish it met the expectations we all wanted but never got. In the end, nothing is perfect. Bleach isn't the greatest Shonen with its' lack of plot and development. But it has redeeming aspects that people ignore. I just wish we could pay more attention to them so that this anime isn't one of those that end up getting tormented and spat on.
With all this in mind, I'll give it a fair, but not perfect, 7/10.
