STORY: 7
While Bleach starts off with the usual "_____ is a regular high school student who one day meets a strange girl/boy who gives him/her special powers and he/she is now dragged into her/his world." I still found it enjoyable. The Soul Society arc starts out well, and Kubo does a good job balancing out some of the mainstream elements by adding weird new ideas like pezz-dispenser type things that actually hold fake souls, and all of Kisuke's ridiculous paraphernalia that he sells at Urahara Shouten. That said, the story follows the endless train, fight, train, fight pattern which can really get boring after a while. sometimes I just skip whole chapters and/or episodes just to get away from it, and it's almost like Kubo was just stalling until he had another epiphany that would set the story back in motion.
ART: 10
The art in Bleach is fabulous. It is the cleanest, most realistic art I have ever seen in a manga. Kubo can sometimes make two entirely different characters look very similar, but manga tends to do that as an unavoidable consequence, and while his style starts out slightly blocky and square like his art from Zombie Powder, it does grow and develop into a truly unique and distinct style. One thing I have to commend Kubo on is His detail. I mean, I know there's a limit to how different one katana can be from another, so I really like how he was able to come up with tons of hilt designs and individual powers for each zanpakuto. The fight scenes are clean and easy to follow, although they are sometimes unnecessarily laced with huge explosions that can become over the top. The only other thing I would suggest doing less would maybe be drawing large breasted women. While I know guys enjoy the eye candy, F cups are just ridiculous.
CHARACTERS: 7
There is a huge cast in Bleach, and while lots of them have their own personalities and often turn out to be important characters, there are some that I can't stop wondering why Kubo even mentioned them. Like Yumichika and Ikaku. Don't get me wrong, this pair of eccentrics is very entertaining, but do they and actually ACCOMPLISH anything in the series? I would say....no. It's not like Kubo needs any more comic relief characters, so I sometimes wonder. Anyway, I think, despite what others say, that Ichigo is a very complex, well thought out character. He is, like many fictional characters, too much like one type of personality, in his case short tempered and obnoxious, and that is unrealistic, but at the same time, he has a kinder, more level-headed aspect that makes him a well rounded lead. Because he has such a tough exterior and hardly ever shows what he's like underneath, it means he does, like every real person, have insecurity, which makes him a very three dimensional character that people can relate to.
ENJOYMENT: 8
Despite Bleach's flaws and the dragging plot towards the end of the Aizen arc, I found Bleach very enjoyable. One thing that keeps it up beat is the assembly line of humour and the endless puns. Some people may think it's over the top, but I personally (yes I'm being biased here), think that it fits with the story and can add a LOL moment to an otherwise very serious plot. Bleach also has some good lines and phrases like Ichigo's hollow's analogy of the king and his horse. That really stuck with me, and I hope Kubo can dish out more of those in the Thousand Year Blood War arc.
OVERALL: 7
Truthfully, I think Bleach should have ended for good after Ihigo defeated Aizen. He would have lived a normal life, died and become a soul reaper. Everything works out. The fullbring arc shouldn't have even existed, and after that, things are a bit slow to get going again, but I hope Kubo can finish Bleach with flare and make Ichigo exit the stage with a good ending, and don't you dare rush it Kubo, like you did with the Aizen arc, because it you do, I will fly all the way out to Japan solely for the purpose of killing you. On a lighter note, I hope anyone who bothered to read this found it helpful. If you like random, crazy ideas, boys who have death god powers, and Mexican evil spirits, Bleach is the manga for you.
