Story: The first 50 episode were very good and very promising. The beginning of the series was extremely mysterious that made you want to watch more and more to understand the world of Bleach a little better. But...you would need to know more...and more...and more, until it got out of hand and there was no way to keep up with all the unexplained crap that went on. The main premise of the show deals with shinigami and 15 year old Kurosaki Ichigo getting involved with the world of the Soul Society, the place equivalent to our idea of heaven. Of course, if there is heave, there is a hell, the Hueco mundo, where demon like existences that feed off of souls that have not been sent to heaven. As you can see, there is plenty of potential and mystery to make you go, "Whoa, i really want to know what goes on!" Sadly the story only deteriorates, or should i say there is a lack of real plot. This show is very typical shounen, and sometimes that's not bad at all, but in Bleach, it's absolutely disgusting at how cliche it gets. Ichigo, and really every protagonist, except Urahara, Kenpachi and the Visored, is 1. A bitch 2. They want to protect everything 3. Can't do sh!t (only Ichigo can fight) 4. Broken record, absolutely no maturity throughout the entire series. The only characters that are memorable are a few short lived antagonists. There are like ten to twelve arcs in total, and i will tell you what happens in each one in a simple listing:
1. New, mysterious bad guy
2. Ichigo and everyone that's supposed to be strong get their asses whooped by said bad guy
3. Bad guy is so OP it seems hopeless
4. In a matter of days or hours or minutes even, Ichigo powers up beyond most other experienced and older fighters and learns some move that's OP as sh!t
5. Ichigo either one shots the baddy or facerolls like no other
6. Bad guy throws away his own ideals he fought for and spews some sappy line like "i wish you had saved me earlier" or "I finally understand"
7. Ichigo become the hero
8.Repeat the process
As you can see, this gets ridiculous after a while, especially in the later arcs where the antagonists are ridiculously powerful, and yet Ichigo seems to be the only one that can actually do something, and that is sooo frustrating to watch as everyone who is supposed to be strong get absolutely creamed on.
While Bleach does manage to close most important loose ends and explain everything, this all happens in a matter of a few episodes in like the 300th episode so if you actually stuck through that long, you no longer care a thing about the plot anyway. After that, there is like 60 episodes in the end that is pointless, even in the manga. In the end, if Bleach had ended at episode 300, it would have been acceptable with a proper conlcusion. But nope..the manga is still ongoing and let me tell you, its garbage, the antagonists in the current arc are literally living manifestations of overpowering, unbeatable foes that, yep, only Ichigo can beat because he is special. ridiculous
The only redeeming quality of Bleach is the art and sound. The art is very solid and smooth, and in my opinion, it is probably the best out of the other long running series's as it stays consistent throughout every episode. This makes the battle scenes, no matter how cliche to the story, extremely pleasing to look at. The sound is amazing, from the effects to voice acting and especially the unforgettable soundtrack. It's just a shame that the show itself couldn't be at the same level.
So, should you watch it. ehhh. The beginning is very memorable in my opinion and memory, it gave me a strong and good first impression. You get sucked in wanting more and more hoping that you will get a explanation, but in the end you get let down. Let me put it this way, once you start watching, you will want to finish it, but when you look back at the whole thing, you realize how stupid the show really is. So if you like the first few episodes, yeah go ahead and watch it. If you don't even like the first few episodes, don't bother at all you will regret wasting your time.
