The story starts off slow but introduces you about the world of Bleach and different types of characters such as Soul Reapers, Quincies and Hollows. And the Soul Society arc really makes the story engaging and brings forth some iconic lines that you've probably heard in social media. The anime has A LOT of filler, around 45-50%!? And some of the filler arcs aren't even that good! (*cough cough* Bount arc), as expected from Pierrot, So you'll have to either put up with that while watching, or you can just read the manga, But you'll be missing out on some very good parts of the anime.
The animation overall can be a pretty mixed bag. Again, as expected from Studio Pierrot (Before Bleach TYBW). At worst it has some mediocre, even bad looking animation with low frame rates, But it also has some highlights that are exceptionally good looking even to this day.
But the soundtrack is very nice, It has lots of music that matches the atmosphere of the situation at play and some songs that really stood out to me that i especially liked was "Going Home", "Number One" and "On the precipice of defeat".
I have been bashing Studio Pierrot a lot with this anime adaptation, But keep in mind they made the Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War arcs have really blown my expectations, But this review is about the original.
The anime has many shortcomings but overall because of how good the plot and soundtrack is, I say it's a smooth 7/10, You'll have to try it atleast once, Don't judge a book by it's cover. Yes, I'm talking to *you*, One piece/naruto fans.
