Bleach

Reviewing Bleach is a hard thing to do, due to its inconsistency. The first 50 episodes contained some of the best storytelling I've ever seen. Interesting characters,astonishing fights, shocking plot twists, awesome soundtracks, and a good animation for the 2006 standards. If I had to rate the first seasons, I'd honestly give it a 10/10. Objectively, it might be just an 8 or a 9, but up to this point, it was the anime I enjoyed the most. After those 50 first episodes, Bleach took a huge dive downwards, airing a complete filler Arc with about 40 episodes. To be fair, it wasn't terrible, but didn't fit in the universe at all. Vampires invading heaven? Yeah, that's just a terrible idea. The character development was non-existent, and knowing that there won't be any consequences for the protagonists going into a fight, it was a pretty boring arc. I'd give it a 4/10, because it wasn't enjoyable at all to me. After that, the series got better, reintroducing the actual story by Tite Kubo. Many new interesting characters were introduced, creating great tensions. The feeling of a war coming up was intense, and created a great atmosphere at first. But as soon as things came down to the final fights, you could see that the plot stood in front of the characters like a huge shield. None of the protagonists faced any danger from the eyes of the viewer. The fights weren't one-sided, but the tension from the first arc ws lost entirely. All the newly introduced characters were kinda shoved away, and semmed like canon fodder. This arc displays the main part of the series with about 150 episodes. To be fiar, these 150 episodes were paced pretty good, unlike in other series. There was always something new per episode, progressing the story. Bleach had many ups and downs during that time, with some great scenes bing followed by complete trash. There als o were many filler arcs around 15 episodes per Arc, which didn't bother me although. They were written in a good style, and fit to the universe. They also weren't attempting to extend the plot, but played in some sort of parallel timeline, which I think was very good. If I had to rate these 200 somewhat episodes, I'd give a 7/10. And then there is the last arc... In my eyes, it's complete trash. Bad character design, too complicated plot which made it pretty boring, and full of excuses and convenient coincidences. The quality of the animation got way better, but that's the only good thing about it. I'd give this arc a 4/10 So, to sum it up. Great beginning, which then got pretty bad pretty fast, with some highlights, which couldn't make the series better as a whole.

So, Bleach is a very over rated anime, people either really love it or really hate it. I personally really love it, but that's probably because it's the first anime I watched, so it does hold a special place in my heart. Story- 8: I love the story, it's well developed and has a lot of backstory to it. What made it less good... THE FILLER! They needed to calm down. Step back. Wait for more of the manga to be published, not add a filler every few episodes. Art- 8: The art was nice but nothing special, until it came to fight scenes. When there was fights the art was really pretty *cough* senbonzakura kageyoshi *cough* Sound- 9: The music fits so well and just makes fights really intense and yeah, bleach has some of the best anime music I've heard. Character: 8- Some just need more air time, like c'mon if they're going to make 366 episodes with a tonne of filler can they not make some of that filler useful? Enjoyment: 9- I've re-watched it a couple of times. Overall: 8

This anime is absolutely amazing. The series is jam packed with awesome and dazzling fights. It is one of the funniest action anime series I've ever seen. Not to mention the emotional part of it is really effective. The characters are really nice in my opinion. The story is really good, and the english version is one of the best dubs. Even though i have seen the subbed version i know that dubbed are great from my friends experience. I would say this is a must see for anime fans, and for folks who like naruto, I bet you'll like this too!

Personally, I do not recommend Bleach. The first 3 arcs were good, but when it got to the bount arc I really lost interest. The farther i went into the series the more bored i became with it. The art style changes so drastically from the first episode compared to the last and the new art style looks absolutely horrid. Another thing about Bleach is that it is a very predictable anime.

"It's that voluptuous babe." -- the following is a discussion on how wanting to retain an audience with no stops is detrimental to pacing and counterintuitive to what is set out upon, problems with power scaling, poorly written women, and a mixed celebration of what there is left. there's an assumption that one is already familiar with the basic structure and world building of bleach. reader discretion is advised. -- Bleach is a behemoth. It's been around for a long time, one of the big three, and with enough pop culture staying power that there are older fans who watched it as kids when it originally aired that continue to speak praises and newer fans who want to educate themselves on what 'peak' was and, for many, still is. Kubo's art style and the nobody->the one story are very appealing at first glance, and I cannot deny that I glanced and couldn't stop myself from picking this up... almost four years ago. It took me four years to finish Bleach. Bleach has the classic anime filler problem - anime original storylines not allowed to mess with the status quo - and it has it in DROVES with long and pointless arcs taking place in-between big stake moments. "Oh wow, the culmination of all this build up... right after we personify our swords! This will mean nothing." There are standalone episodes on this level as well, hidden in as joyous distractions while actively undermining the mangaka and what was set out to be done in the first place. It creates these immense stakes, "the soul society has never encountered something like this before!", and then the handling of what happens, what ACTUALLY happens, feels weaker by comparison. "Yeah, so? This guy is bad? Well, Gronile the Greasy was too, and they defeated them!" Bleach is constantly having to start and stop and start and stop at the sake of pumping out an episode for that week, the consequence of refusing to stop to wait for the one who truly understands the material to craft what should actually come next... Yet, with what is actually here... is using the terminology "carefully craft" really apt? Because there seems to be so much lost as we move from arc to arc with few and far between bounce-backs. I'll ignore filler in this next bit, even though there is no Bleach (2004) without it. The start of the series feels typical, safe, and expected done right, and there's definitely some retrospect bias in using those descriptors when viewing through a more modern Shounen lens. The Soul Society arc is everything I'd want from one of the genre - unrelenting, constant fighting and world building and continued establishing of themes and expansion upon those. The introduction of the Visored and these new concepts feels like a natural expansion with the continued building anticipation, and while Hueco Mundo starts off solidly, it soon churns into what the show becomes and stays until the final, Fullbringer arc: repetitive, an endless hand-stacking game of "check this out that you did not expect." Was that there before? Yeah. Can it be done well? Anything can! Does it reach deadly proportions at this point? Bingo. After introducing the Gotei 13 and characterizing all of them, to varying levels of success, the personified-Hollows just seem... lamer by comparison. There are good designs here and interesting characters, there is no denying that Kubo remains skilled at presentation, yet the diminishing turns start to pile on especially with knowing that the Captains and Lieutenants will continue to be important and around while these new adversaries feel like fodder, just more goons to get through before the main meat & potatoes that was built up during the Soul Society arc that came before. The idea of these power-ups, Bankai and Resurrección, become comical as these new forms look offputting and over-exaggerated and the constant usage of them, including their overusage in the filler arcs here and in the side-by-side films (I lied, I had to mention them), become a joke upon themself. Soon, fighting without these powers is gone and the serious aspect of appreciating them as "now THIS is serious!" becomes every fight's default stance, every encounter involves these powerups so we're always at this level so now... the extreme becomes the baseline, I get harder to please and harder to be involved. There are still interesting parts in this second half, how Ichigo gets his last one-up is cool and Shunsui and Urahara getting time to show off their highest levels is great and I'm no doubt forgetting things that I appreciated in this aspect and yet... I feel tired. Everyone has a way to change the tide, it starts to come from down under as the series goes on and on. There should be long, extensive video essays about Yammy and how he destroyed any sort of anticipation for this kind of thing. I haven't mentioned a single woman yet, and there's a reason for that. The women in Bleach are continuously and consistently sidelined for their male counterparts, usually Ichigo, and fail to make an impact outside of their appearance. The women in Bleach are hot, there, I SAID IT, and well, with a lot of them... what else is there? Rukia has story reasons for not being strong at the start, and she's still able to be a driving force - a mentor to Ichigo to bestow wisdom upon as well as establish that mainline theming of the show: friendship - and then, when she gets her powers back she... does nothing!? She has a few fights, she wins a few of them, and yet her role, as well as that of others, is mainly reduced to being a longing face with one line: "Ichigo..." THAT'S IT!? This Lieutenant-ranked Soul Reaper is suddenly only able to lean on her junior that, well, everyone leans on, yet she's rarely able to act independently!? Why!? The same goes for Orihime. She starts as a damsel-in-distress archetype, she's not a Soul Reaper and doesn't have powers but wants to support the people that she loves. She starts to get powers, fantastic! She starts to develop these powers and starts to be able to defend herself and others, not only being a healer but also being able to do some damage, that's also fantastic! And then... she's back to that powerless role, and she only uses her powers for defense and, way more often, just a healer of other people. She's constantly healing Ichigo, constantly being cut to for a long, drawn out and introspective and hopeful "Kurosaki-kun..." or a loud and stressed "KUROSAKI-KUN!" What happened!? Why did she regress!? And while she's regressing as a character, she (a minor btw) continues to get more and more sexualized. Other women follow the same fate. Rangiku harps on Gin and annoys Toshiro, that's her character. Momo harps on Aizen and Toshiro harps on her, that's her character. Harribel serves Aizen and, before and after she power-scales, she's either on equal-footing or just getting absolutely swamped. Riruka just wants Ichigo, that's kinda it. Nemu is a sexdoll. Nanao's only job is to clean-up after her Captain. Aivirrne HATES Orihime because Aizen likes her, and is just there to kick her ass and then die. Is it wrong for people to rely on others? Absolutely not. Is it wrong for their to be gender dynamics in media? Absolutely not. Is it wrong to rely on someone of the opposite sex? Again, no, and I could go on and on... and there's absolutely no denying that Bleach has a trend of poorly written women where their only purpose is their relationship to or with a man and, more commonly than not, she's on the losing end of that dynamic. That's not to say Kubo is unable to write a woman. I think Yoruichi is great! She's, maybe fifty percent of the time, in a package deal with Urahara, a man, but their relationship is one of mutual respect and both are constantly one-upping the other, it doesn't feel one-sided like a lot of these other's do, and she's also able to have relationships with other characters outside of it, mainly with Ichigo and Soi Fon, another female character that I think is pretty goo…

As someone who grew up watching Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach. Out of those four, Bleach was always my least favorite growing up. Not because it was bad (I loved Bleach) but compared to the other 3 I felt like it was a lot slower. That being said, I feel like Bleach deserved WAY more recognition than it gets today. The fact that the biggest anime’s that are changing Anime today (2026) all drew inspiration from bleach (JJK, DS, MHA) just shows how underrated it really is. First I will go over why I believe Bleach deserves more recognition Then I’ll explain why I think it never reached the same level of popularity as Naruto and One Piece. One thing Bleach never gets enough credit for is its world building. While Naruto focused on ninja villages and One Piece focused on pirates and adventure, Bleach created an entire supernatural universe that felt unique from anything else at the time. You had Humans, Soul Reapers, Hollows, Arrancars, Visoreds, Fullbringers, Quincies, and countless factions spread across different realms. The Soul Society alone felt like an entire civilization with its own laws, military structure, noble families, politics, and history. The power system was also one of the coolest in anime. Zanpakuto weren’t just weapons; they were extensions of their users’ souls. Every Shikai and Bankai reflected the personality of its owner. To this day, Bankai reveals remain some of the most hype moments in anime. I think a lot of this isn’t appreciated today because we’ve seen similar ideas so many times in modern shonen that they don’t seem special anymore. But that’s EXACTLY the point. A lot of newer anime fans don’t realize Bleach helped popularize many of these concepts before their favorite modern series even existed... and that is why Demon Slayer (which is fireee) can never replace Bleach in the Big 3 (bruh that’s what makes them the BIG 3… sorry that whole thing bothers me so bad) Then there’s Tite Kubo’s art style. Bleach always had a level of style that very few shonen series could match and is still legendary to this day (the detail and dip pen shading was crazy) And the soundtrack? Absolutely exceptional. In my opinion Bleach and Naruto has some of the best overall soundtracks I have ever heard in Anime. So why didn’t it reach the same heights as Naruto and One Piece? Here is why I think it got so overlooked. First the big one is the story never finished…. The fact that we had a cap between approximately 2012-2021 (aka when Naruto Shippuden blew up) I think Bleach lost a lot of watchers and missed the chance to keep up with Naruto and One piece. First—and probably the biggest reason—the story never got finished in the anime. The original anime ended in 2012 and didn’t return until Thousand-Year Blood War in 2022. During that decade-long gap, Naruto Shippuden exploded in popularity, One Piece continued building momentum, and an entire new generation of anime fans grew up without Bleach. I think Bleach lost a lot of viewers during that period and missed its chance to stay in the spotlight alongside the other Big Three series. The second reason is pacing. Yes, One Piece has pacing issues too, but Bleach had a different problem. The filler arcs became excessive and often appeared at the worst possible moments. At one point, viewers were hit with around 45 straight filler episodes… Imagine watching weekly and suddenly having to wait almost an entire year before getting back to the actual story. Just when a major battle was reaching its climax, the anime would completely derail the momentum and I genuinely believe a lot of anime-only fans dropped the series because of this. Another issue (that I personally loved about Bleach) but might of lost a lot of casual watchers was: Bleach embraced Japanese, Spanish, and German influences more heavily than almost any mainstream shonen series. Soul Reaper terminology was heavily Japanese. Arrancars and Hollows incorporated Spanish naming conventions. Quincies later introduced German terminology. So it might of sounded more complicated compared to Naruto’s Shadow clone jutstu or One piece Flame Flame fruit etc… As an adult, I think that’s one of the coolest aspects of the series. As a kid, however, I can see why it may have been harder for younger American audiences to follow compared to Naruto and One piece’s simpler terminology. Even with those flaws, I still believe the original Bleach anime was fantastic. Its characters, style, music, worldbuilding, and power system were elite. Its biggest weakness was never the story. It was the Hiatus and the pacing.

The Bleachverse actually takes itself seriously, It honestly was a breath of fresh air compared to other shonen. Ichigo is the only Shonen protagonist who actually shows fear, throughout the series he's constantly reminded that he's weak or not the strongest by his opponents and in some cases isn't afraid to run or retreat. Bleach was such a unique series that actually felt like it was written for teens and at times felt a little more mature, And the music was amazing from its OSTs to the openings, (Chefs Kiss). (Flaws): Unfortunately, Bleach lost most of its momentum because of filler but primarily after the Sousuke Aizen arc. Bleach as a series had such rich and unique characters, but unfortunately, we don't get to see them a lot because the series loved focusing on boring and forgettable characters (sometimes it's done right tho). Furthermore, the Bleach Anime doesn't look like it's coming back and it's a shame since we got such a lacklustre anime-only ending. Man, can they please finish the anime properly the manga is well ahead and ending soon...

Bleach is an interesting and exciting anime thats loses youserlf in the middle of a lot of fillers, lazy or lack of character development, very convenient use or lack of powers and rules that can be easily broken if the character is just stronger. Story: 6/10 It starts really good, but uses repetitive justifications as an answer for every challange, some characters at the end say that Ichigo never change and its literally true, he NEVER changes despite getting more and more powers and all of it just seens so easily given that its so frustating sometimes. Tite Kubo couldn't get tired of the formula fight + almost die fighting + get new boss power = show up with a badass face like a imortal shinigami that crushes the enemy. There's those powers that show up saving the day without never being mentioned before, enemys that often get weaker when they should get stronger, because they JUST got a new power or transformation, but no, not enough to defeat Ichigo. Also, there's those enemys with abysmal powers that forget a little of it after some episodes, like THIS ONE that's absolutely so broken and stop being used by THAT GUY after he gets his "god transformation" and everyone stops worring about it when they were worried about it for almost 300 episodes. However, fights are great even if you take all of this in consideration, at least most of them, some are just boring fights from characters that nobody cares. Bleach also has a lot of fillers arcs that show up in the middle of the main stuff, so watching this every week should have been hell, gladly its mostly arcs and not one filler + one canon + one filler + one canon like other anime did, THAT was definitively torture. Art: 7/10 While some characters designs are awful, most of them are unique and brings a lot of charisma to the anime. Animation is at least good 99% of the time, without memorable deformations. Sound: 9/10 Openings are good in general, soundtrack is a highlight that Studio Pierrot seens to love. Bleach's soundtrack seens to focus on the greatness of fights. which fits very well, because empowered fights is the best that Bleach has to offer. Character: 6/10 The development of characters is basic for most of them, what's frustating is that supposedly big characters end up having very poor explanations on some cases, so the animes lacks pay off for watching so many episodes hoping to get just a spark of development that justifies why they do what they do. Some characters that have excellent designs are so shallow and the development that matters stays with the main protagonist for the first arc, then there are just sparks between a lot of good fights. There's no deep in emotions and not much time to know characters, because the anime is fast paced despite having 366 episodes and what is given isn't convincing enough. Enjoyment: 6/10 Bleach in fun to watch, but don't go waiting for strong connection with characters. The anime doesn't seen to care about wasting time getting at the heart of the viewer and there's not much effort here besides trying to deliver amazing fights at the end. Most of the characters that show up a lot or a little are barely emotionally developed for more than a few episodes or a few minutes, they are cool because of design or attitude and that's it, but there's a lot of uninteresting ones and it's hard to even care about the fight if you think both characters fighting are boring.

*No Spoilers* Summary: This is a show that's very popular and for good reason: It starts off with an interesting plot and characters. The problem is that everything in the story is a cycle. The main character doesn't make any significant choices, the character development is abysmal, the power system is inconsistent, and it's basically just a formulaic plot-line in which the character magically gains powers, predominantly through unknown means, to overcome antagonists who are completely stronger than him. And then, those foes decide that instead of dying or seeking revenge, they join him in his quest to...... no one really knows. The main character doesn't have consistent goals after the first part of the story unravels, and that leaves this as a 90% plot-driven story with 10% character-driven story with stagnant characters. The anime is based off of the Bleach manga, which is a better use of your time than the anime. This anime review does not include comparisons between the manga and anime. Story: 4/10 (excluding the endless fillers) The story is quite captivating and unique at first. As the protagonist explores a new type of world, we see some interesting world-building. After that, the plot falls apart. There are a ton of fillers (more than any other anime, as of 2022) that add nothing to the main plot, and even the canon plot is formulaic. In fact, some of the fillers are more captivating than the canon episodes because, either way, there’s no clear aim of the plot through the eyes of the protagonist. Ichigo doesn't make important decisions, he just talks about being stronger and then some unexplained ability is made available to him and he obliterates an antagonist that decimated him at the beginning of the arc. Characters don't work together, they also formulaically split up for one-on-one fights. None of the main characters die, it's unrealistic, and the plot twist towards the end is ridiculous. Because it is so plot-driven, we don't really get to know what is important to Ichigo, and we don't care after the first few arcs. Ultimately, the story started great with a unique world and premise, but it fell apart once it started using a formula to "force" Ichigo to win fights and focused on the plot over the characters. Art: 7/10 The art style is interesting and works well for the setting. Some episodes have lacking quality, and the fight scenes are sometimes just a few frames repeating to show Ichigo magically overpowering his enemy. As with most anime, the art quality was inconsistent, but it worked nicely for the show's concept. Sound: 8/10 Shiro Sigisu did an excellent job with the music. The voice acting is poor, and some voices are just whiny for no reason. The music is one of the best aspects of this show, so I weighed that quite heavily for this sound section. Character: 1/10 This is a show in which most characters are useless, annoying, don't contribute to the plot in a meaningful way, don't make any important decisions, and allow the plot to fling them around like a juggling ball. As aforementioned, this is a plot-driven story, and the characters don't develop. The worst part is that we know nothing about the main character or his thoughts/feelings. He is thrown into a unique situation, but they don't talk about that. Instead, he just does whatever he wants, is almost killed but can't die due to some magical ability that isn't explained until the end (and very poorly at that). Ichigo's friends are mainly annoying, they don’t develop in a meaningful way, their powers make them useless most of the time, and there's a weird rivalry that’s vaguely explained but inconsistently portrayed between the main character and his “friend.” Even the characters that you are initially intrigued by and care about are so flat and pointless that they don't matter. Basically, the main character is just going to win no matter what, you don't know why, and that's how it goes until the end. Enjoyment: 2/10 This show was interesting and captivating at first, but it completely fell apart once it focused 90% on the plot, started its formulaic battle/decision/power system, and spent 10% of the time poorly trying to develop the characters that started off somewhat intriguing. Overall: 4/10 This is a show that's very popular and for good reason: It starts off with an interesting plot and characters. The problem is that everything in the story is a cycle. The main character doesn't make any significant choices, the character development is abysmal, the power system is inconsistent, and it's basically just a formulaic plot line in which the character magically gains powers, predominantly through unknown means, to overcome antagonists who are completely stronger than him. And then, those foes decide that instead of dying or seeking revenge, they join him in his quest to...... no one really knows. There are plenty of anime in which this happens, but the watcher knows enough about the characters' interests, development, skills, abilities, training, and abilities to keep them understanding what is going on. The main character doesn't have consistent goals after the first part of the story unravels, and that leaves this as a 90% plot-driven story with 10% character-driven story with stagnant characters. This could have been an excellent show with memorable characters, story, visuals, and music; instead, it fell apart and never recovered.

Bleach is one of the most popular anime of all, is this why you should watch it? not really, bleach has too many good points and too many bad points despite that it is a story worth watching Story: The story of bleach is simple shinigamis vs hollows, but the more the story progresses, the more will be discovered, new races, new powers, and better construction, in fact bleach has one of the best sagas of the neketsu, also it has some arcs a little slow already Sometimes it seems that the story will not advance but with its lots of plot twists it makes it enjoyable, it may remind you a little of Yu Yu Hakusho with the theme of spirits, but Bleach has a unique style that no other anime has. One of the biggest problems with bleach is that the story often focuses too much on its protagonist, but many times secondary and villains are also given importance so it is not so bad. Another big problem that is not the fault of bleach, but of the pierrot company, is its massive filler, there are filler arcs of 40 episodes in a row and it was one of the great bleach problems, its first filler arc is lousy and boring but it was put just after the end of a great saga so the weather was not so bad, which did not do his next two arcs, which put in the middle of sagas or important moments damaging the whole experience, his final arc is very good and was put in a good moment but the error of the other arches is incredible so much that it helped its cancellation, so although these arches have moments that are worth it and the last arc is great with great animation they were a great damage for the fans by bleach. As several nekketsu follow a known formula, so comedy and ecchi are expected, in terms of comedy bleach stands out, it has very funny moments around the whole series thanks to good characters who contribute it, but although it has comedy they do not put it in serious moments or important moments for the plot so it is very enjoyable, in terms of ecchi it is debatable for each person, personally I do not like ecchi since it seems unnecessary in an anime and bleach despite having ecchi are very few scenes, and for the large number of episodes it is not felt to bother. The mystery is present in bleach and is very well handled especially in its second and last arc, it keeps you aware of what is happening and then everything changes with a great plot twist, this is very exciting when you see it for the first time and not know nothing that happens If we talk about problems in bleach, it may be that it has several deux machina that damage the anime a lot, that sometimes things are resolved because yes, because a new power came out, like in lots of nekketsu, there are two great ones that I will not speak for spoilers but yes they are a big mistake And to end the story, there is no spoiler that bleach was canceled, because of this it is not the same ending that exists in the manga, despite this I think it is a nostalgic ending for all the people who see it, they leave the Possibility of a new sequel, and although it is more like a season finale than a series finale, it can be considered a good and endearing ending. Art: This is one of the strongest points of bleach, the character design is incredible and unique, no bleach character looks alike and there are a lot of characters, tite kubo's style is unique and has given bleach great recognition. The animation studio, although it could not match the incredible art of tite kubo, did a great job considering the studio that it is, there are great battles with very good choreographies and throughout the series the animation was improving showing its highest level right in the last Stand. Scenarios such as the society of souls and las noches are very recognized, even the design is incredible and nothing like it has been seen. Sound: This is undoubtedly one of the best bleach points the voice actors of bleach are quite good, they do an excellent job, they really convey the feelings of the scenes, the screams the powers are acted in an incredible way The bleach ost are simply a masterpiece, the bleach music is incredible ost like senna is extremely epic, and they are always put at the right moments, not to mention their openings that all are not incredible, highlighting the 13, the 12 and the 2, and endings as the last one with which the series was dismissed. character Bleach has an incredible number of characters, not only human, spirits and other races, it is a very large universe, and although the variety is good, it is a great bleach problem, due to the immense number of characters, there are very few characters that they have a good development or contribute to the plot, it is undoubtedly the biggest problem with bleach, even so it has endearing and very good characters, starting with the main villain who is also considered one of the best in anime without a doubt bleach has quite a few memorable characters Enjoyment I think that people who see bleach are going to enjoy it a lot, in addition to that if they do not like the filling there are several pages to skip it, even so it is very enjoyable, of course if you like nekketsu genre animes you will enjoy much more, fights, action and blood, I would see it again but for scenes since the anime is quite long, I would still enjoy it again to relive fights and memorable scenes, so bleach despite the years has too many fans who love the series In conclusion, I highly recommend bleach, it is an anime that despite its declines has very high points, it is worth seeing it at least once you will enjoy this great story a lot, which I raise a point for the love I have for it, even with what bad bleach is amazing

Strap yourselves in for an honest review of Bleach! One of the nostalgic anime classified among “The Big Three of Shonen”. Many of us (me included) might have watched Bleach at some point when we were young and it may have influenced us and our anime tastes just as much as it influenced the industry of Shonen anime to come. But from a more critical eye, does it have some worth beyond just nostalgia? Story: 4.88 / 10 Unfortunately, Bleach fell into two big traps. First, it didn’t know when to end. Second, it couldn’t deliver on its climax. Both of these problems come from the manga, so it isn’t strictly the adaptation’s fault. As for the first point, after the first big arc (which was pretty great), it becomes clear that filler arcs would just be plugged in to make up time and nothing would happen of consequence to the main story set up in the first arc for hundreds of episodes. Now, I didn’t personally mind most of the filler arcs, I think some of them had great ideas and I enjoyed the stories. However, the placement of these filler arcs was terrible. A 15-episode filler arc would begin in the middle of a climactic battle or event and that is unacceptable. Not knowing to end after the first great arc and plugging the rest with horribly timed filler was an annoyance. The second point was Bleach’s nail in the coffin for me. The big climactic arc that was built up to ever since the end of the first arc was horribly handled. None of the villains that were built up to be massive threats were threatening at all and instead of stepping up the stakes and using interesting team-ups and techniques to overcome the threats, they just ruin their powerscaling entirely and retread the same tropes as before. The way they ruined this important arc literally made me want to drop the series the first time I watched it in entirety. Art: 5.42 / 10 Being from the early 2000’s, the animation isn’t amazing to begin with, but gets the action done well enough. Fortunately, thanks to the length of the series, the animation became better as it went on and by the end it looked pretty good. Altogether, I’d say it looks above average; never terrible enough to want to claw my eyes out and never great enough for me to rewatch a scene purely for the visual spectacle. Sound: 7.22 / 10 The soundtrack is a little repetitive, but the tracks that they use are memorable and fit the tone, with some great theme music for the protagonist and good usage of the more ominous tracks when introducing villains. The openings are of a generally high quality, given how many there are, and even the ending songs were pretty good overall. The voices are also pretty good, for both the subbed and dubbed versions, with some characters standing out more than others. The soundtracks and songs might be the aspect of Bleach that I have the most nostalgia for because of how memorable it is. Character: 7.73 / 10 Bleach has a wide variety of characters. The upside to running for more than 300 episodes is that there is a lot of time to spend with interesting characters to learn more about each one of them. The powers are also very interesting and unique. Watching so many characters with complete backstories and interesting abilities interact – be it in combat or not – was fun. Bleach is also the origin of many of the coolest anime character names I know of. Enjoyment: 6.14 / 10 Nostalgia aside, I’m not crazy about Bleach. Every badly placed filler arc prompted me to stop watching for a few weeks and after the big climactic arc, I was so insulted that I stopped watching for 4 months before I picked it up again and finished the last 50 episodes. Don’t get me wrong, there were enjoyable aspects – like I mentioned – but overall, I can’t say that Bleach was very enjoyable. I appreciate the fact that I watched it, but not much more than that. Overall: 6.28 / 10 Truthfully, if the climax arc was done well, Bleach could have been above a 7 out of 10. With the climax as it is and with the badly placed filler, I can’t help but feel generous in giving Bleach this score. I can understand that some people love Bleach, be it for nostalgic reasons or because they just liked the cool fights regardless of the stakes or scaling, but unfortunately, this is as far as I am willing to go for Bleach.

WARNING: SPOILERS Bleach was the first anime I picked up after having taken about a 3-4 year break from watching anime. The first season was so good, so intriguing, there was something to be had by watching this. Who are these mysterious blade wielding spirits, and what are they doing here fighting monsters that seemingly nobody can see? Well after the first season you pretty much learn everything you need to know about them. The second season is just the first season with different enemies. The bounts were pretty cool, and they still had potential for the series, however after this there was no justification in watching this anymore. Having invested so much time into the series already I felt I had to stick around for the art if not the story. Everything just repeats itself and it feels so redundant and just a waste of time. Favorite Character(s): Byakuya Kuchiki, Yoruichi Shihouin Byakuya is my favorite purely based on aesthetics, nothing else. Yoruichi is such a cool character that continues to surprise as a ninja master. Why they are a male cat and a female woman is beyond me and unnecessary, but doesn't take away from the brash character that many respect.

Bleach: One of the mainstays of the shounen genre. Bleach's contribution to popular culture cannot be argued. It's quality, however, definitely can. Even before I became a gigantic anime weeb a few years ago, I had heard about Bleach. It was always right up there with Naruto, One Piece, and Fairy Tale in terms of easily recognizable animes. Bleach has it's fair share of good points. The cinematography is pretty good, the voice acting is incredible (in the sub at least), and the OST's are high quality. The show also does an acceptable job in terms of character development (other than the main character, who get's a ton of development). It's nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. I've had a few problems throughout the life of the show that I think are worth pointing out. First off, the length. I've generally found that throughout my anime experiences up until now, length can be a significant contributing factor to how enjoyable the end product is. Obviously, how much the length affects a series depends on a variety of factors, namely genre and story pacing. For example, if Show A is a comedy/slice of life with no complex plot, you will be more likely to have success with a smaller length than you would with Show B, an action/adventure with an ensemble cast and heavy character development. Even after taking this in to consideration, I just found myself loosing interest in Bleach more often that I expected. It can get hard to watch a show when you need to watch 30 episodes before seeing anything significant happen. What can I say, I'm just impatient that way. Bleach was just too lengthy for me. Another concern I ended up having with the series was the overly cyclical plot. After a couple arcs, once the novelty of the series had worn off, I found the same cycle repeating itself. Step One: The main character gets destroyed by a powerful opponent, Step Two: The main character develops an awesome new power, Step Three: The main character barely beats the same opponent in a long, drawn out battle, Step Four: Repeat. The show did a decent job of making the fight scenes somewhat suspenseful (mostly done by trying to make us hate the villains by giving them all uniquely irritating personalities), but in the end you knew what the result was going to be. Finally, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the filler arcs. Oh the filler. Wow the filler. SO. MUCH. FILLER. I kid you not, 45% of Bleach is filler. Why so high? Well.... mainly because of the fact that the producers were repeatedly catching up with the author, Tite Kubo, and they apparently felt that it would be better to show terrible, meaningless filler just to keep milking the fans for money, rather than take a break for a while to preserve the integrity of the show. Is anyone going to stop watching Attack on Titan just because it took a break so the manga could get ahead? No. What I would recommend is looking up a filler arc guide before starting the series, so you can be ready to skip the filler. If you are absolutely insistant upon watching the filler, please limit yourself to only watching the Gotei 13 Arc (eps 317-342). It was, in my opinion, the only filler arc worth watching. Overall, decent show, way overrated, not for everyone. Give it a shot though. Regardless of it's shortcomings, Bleach is something everyone should experience.

This will be ridden with personal bias. I will do everything in my power to explain that bias so as to best relay exactly why I feel the way I do, but I can't say I'm terribly apologetic if my values do not coincide with yours. Bleach's strong suits became very apparent in the earliest stages of its existence; the stellar fight choreography, creative and dark designs worked around it, and tasteful themes managed a level of accessibility that was pretty impressive for its 'type' of shounen. The characters didn't show any kind of excessive depth, but really it never became anything too consequential, since at this point the immersion of the world (which, very interesting as a concept, at least at this stage) carried nicely. As the Soul Society Arc began to open up, almost everything got an overhaul; more (and better) fight sequences, an immersive setting, and an overarching plot that held everything together so precisely it hurt a little. This was, as I see it, when the show was at it's peak, having set up these set of circumstances nicely and allowed itself the liberty to play out and focus on what it did best. No spoilers, of course, but as all the elements of this arc began to draw together, it set up one of the best finales of its time, plain and simple. It was an amazing display of long-term writing and concise story-telling, and was it not for the obvious set-up it established, I'd have been entirely satisfied with the series concluding there. However, it kept going, and as it did the issues with the anime began to show. That focus the seasons prior showed to where exactly the series was headed was no longer apparent, showcased no better than by a blatant rip of Vegeta and Nappa's descent to Earth established in the very opening of the Arrancar arc. The events proceeding felt more like segues to the next fight sequence than they did development of a greater plot, and coincidence seemed to drive far more elements than one might like. Furthermore, as the character cast began to expand and receive more time for development, Tite Kubo's lack of depth as a character writer began to show, with more and more one-note antagonists began to pop up. The plot now felt much more tied to convention than before, which sliced into what was a real strong-suit of the more liberal, previous arc. It was at this point that I think fans began to see the writing on the walls, and while many would still follow it on the merit of still-solid fight sequences and decent atmosphere, a lot of what made the series great had been lost. The filler arcs and the "canon" proceeding the Arrancar arc were acting extensions of the issues previously established; as the lore of the world expanded, the tone and portrayal of it all did not, leaving a gap of uncertainty that really cut into the overall immersion of the anime. Kubo has been trying to intertwine similar elements of his early successes into his proceeding arcs (significantly the ideas of in-fighting between factions), but none of them really tend to go anywhere, which is upsetting for someone who saw it done so well by that very person. In spite of all the negatives I note with this anime, I feel strongly that it does have a lot of enjoyable qualities to it, and I'd argue that the Soul Society arc is something of a modern masterpiece. It is heavily overrated for sure, but there is an obvious appeal to aspects of it, and if you can forgive the plot contrivances and somewhat underwhelming character focus in the later bits, then Bleach can be a pretty fun watch.

Ah Bleach , one of the big three animes that people are sure to know of or get exposed to . I felt that I had to write this review as Bleach was the first anime that got me watching other anime ( silly me ) . Okay , now for the review itself . This anime , has it's pros and cons . The anime started off with an interesting plot and this made me watch one season per day that was until the bount arc which was so dull , it killed me off and made me seriously reconsider dropping the series . But over time , the plot was like a roller coaster ride , going up and reaching its peak at Aizen's arc and then deteriorating after . As for the art , the anime started off with mediocre or even , bad art style but as it progresses on , it gets better and better so it's not much of a problem . The sound , however , is great ( an understatement ) as they have awesome soundtracks when an enemy is faced , a hollow appears and so on , not forgetting the theme songs which are sure to leave an impact to the audience . The character development is bad as there are just way too many characters and not only that , the anime focuses mostly on the main characters ( Ichigo , Inoue , Chad , Ishida , Rukia ) . This neglects the other characters ( Captains , Vice-Captains , etc ) . One example is when Ulqiourra dies , I didn't even know how to feel as Ulqiourra barely had any screen time and then bam , he's dead . I did enjoy watching this anime initially but as it progresses , it started to get repetitive and when I was at the final arc , I was thinking when will it end which never occurred to me when I was watching it before . But this is covered up by the awesome fight scenes backed up by the beastly background music . Overall , this anime deserves a 6 as it starts to be repetitive and lack character development but since it started off with a bang and has great soundtrack , I decided to give it a 6 .

This anime is an odd one, so lets jump straight into this pool of death and decay. Bleach had potential (and still has if it ever gets the Dragonball Kai treatment), the first few seasons were great, all of which have to do with the Soul Society (further more called SoSo by me, because SS might be a bit to offensive) and Ichigo's struggle against the hollows, which are evil spirits who have holes in their body (The show quickly explains why so I will not do it). The SoSo is where people go when they died, not exactly heaven, but you do not age, have hunger and no pain. The SoSo is protected by shinigami/reapers/soul reapers, who are the collectors of lost souls. Ichigo is a "normal" teenage punk, with the exception that he can see spirits, he deals with it better then I would. One day his family gets attacked by a hollow and almost get saved by areaper called Rukia, who gives her powers to Ichigo, who then becomes a reaper and kicks some ass with a giant sword. The rest of the story will be told by me like a speeding train, so no details. Rukia gets captured, Ichigo loses his powers, regains them with a friendly shopkeepers help, learns to activate the swords secret power, goes to the SoSo, fights normal reapers, number 3's, lieutenants and my favorite character of the show Ken-chan, unlocks the more secret power of his sword (bankai), tries to save rukia, fight, fight, fight, reveal of the big evil guy! And then the story goes down the hill of decent to "lets have a tournament" level (Same amount of effort put into it, no actual tournament takes place) and loads of fillers will take place (the only filler worth a damn is the beach episode). The fights though go slightly uphill though. Now lets get back to Ken-chan, Ken is the character that got me to sit through 366 episodes (including the filler), because when he is on the screen you know something will go down. When he fights, he laughs and it is contagious as the common cold. My second favorite character from the show was Retsu Unohanna and I have no idea why, she just has an aura that gives me enjoyment. So overall it becomes a 6, in my opinion a story and the characters are the most important aspect of an anime and the main characters stop being interesting and quick too. If the fillers were out of the picture it would overall be a 7. So lets hope that in 7 or 10 years we will have something like "Bleach, yes we took the fillers out, 2022".

Bleach is a good anime. However, being a major shonen anime, it has a lot of spoiler arcs to fill time until the manga gets a bit ahead. The main arcs are all quite good, but the filler, for the most part, are sub-par. ------ The characters in Bleach are extremely one dimensional. There's little to no true character development for anyone, and most pretty cookie cutter. Overall, Bleach is a decent anime. Just don't go in expecting a masterpiece and you'll like it.

Bleach is a long running series as you probably already know or will find out soon enough, it also go's down as my gateway anime but not my first, I simply got into anime because of this one. Now before I get started I'm going to get two animes that may come up with this anime, If you have already seen naruto or one piece you may or may not like this anime, it's really iffy, but as for me when I watched this show I kinda never looked at the other two the same way, this show tended to be a bit more mature which was a good thing and then I never watched the other two again (sorry Luffy) but anyway onto the review. Impression the initial story is not actually bad and it has a very good approach to the super natural world the story transpires in however the only thing that I would say was a real hindrance to the show was the filler episodes, actually they didn't only have episodes they had entire story arcs to get in the way of the story but you can look up online which episodes to watch and then you can have a more pure and less frustrating experience because the writing in the initial story isn't half bad however it isn't the greatest either it's simply entertaining which is what it is supposed to be. Characters there are a lot of characters in this show, some you like some you hate and some you can really relate to, but I'm just gonna talk about the main ones. We start out with Ichigo Kurosaki who is your average teenager that can see ghosts and the whole story just goes from there, but ichigo has some of the typical shonen main character traits of having spiky hair, love for his family and friends and his cliche desire to protect everyone, but Ichigo seems to play it off well and actually differently, Ichigo is sort of what I call an already perfect character though perfect isn't the word but he seems to already have developed into the character that we wanted to see some snot nose brat from the beginning of another shonen anime, this is actually his biggest problem he doesn't develop at all, the only thing that really changes is his perspective on the world and his animation quality, but I can admit that it was refreshing not to hear some spiky haired kid yell "BELIEVE IT!" or something and despite his flaw of already having matured, I still liked him but he may seem boring to some. next you have Rukia Kuchiki a shinigami from the soul society, there's not much I can say here but she tends to be useful in introducing the world and is the first character you see in bleach but she does help move the plot along for the first 60 or so episodes, over time rukia and ichigo grow closer as they work together but like all anime, it just never happens. then there's orihime who is a regular human until later on that is kind of a ditz and brings in some comedic value but also has a crush on ichigo for which he is completely unaware of and she never really confides to him. Second to last is chad who doesn't really say much and is a giant (compared to the japanese) but like most big people I know he is a rather gentle giant with a good set of morals but unlike most characters with those he has actual reasons to be the way he is and he makes for one of the best written characters of the show. finally there is Uryu who is you typical glasses character, with a grudge and rivalry with ichigo, despite having a similar personality. there are many more characters for which you will see in this anime which will help push the story along some being my personal favorites. Sub vs. Dub It's that time, that time for me to openly accept the dub and be picky as hell with the sub, but this time I can say despite some other opinions I would have to say that the sub and dub seam to be evenly matched however are pretty much the same but I did find both of them entertaining in their own way's. Final verdict about a 7 for this one this is an anime that tends to hold it's self up and can actually be taken a little more seriously than others but it's not the greatest but I could blame the filler for that.

Bleach... has everything you're looking for in an anime/manga. Story: Outstanding. Like many anime series, it does start off a bit slow, but as usual, this is needed to develop the story into something greater. Remember if an anime doesn't have a strong and developed foundation, then it's not going to be able to develop a deep and long lasting story that actually makes sense. YES, there are mini-filler series after each story-arc, but this was needed to keep it from catching the manga. Also, many people advice skipping the filler episodes, but I would highly advise against it. My reasoning for this, is character depth, and a change of pace that gives you something lighter to enjoy for a short time before getting back into another deep and serious story arc. I think you may get slightly burned out on constant life & death struggles if you skip them. Also, some of them were actually really great, and most were very funny. I felt there was a little too much silliness from time to time, but remember this series is meant to attract 13 year olds as well. Also... while yes action and storyline is the "main attraction" (theme song you'll hear a lot in main battles), there IS actually an interesting love triangle thing going on, just hints here and there, but enough to make Shoujo anime fans appreciate it and enjoy. (I mention this as some have said there is no romance, including the writer, which isn't the case). Character: This is the TRUE strong point for me in Bleach, I REALLY love these characters... not just the main character, or the 3 characters you see the most, but most all of the characters, as they are so different and interesting... I'm a hardcore Light side/good guy fan, but I even found myself finding redeeming qualities in the bad guys... they kind of show how they became that way, and you feel kind of sorry for them, and the ones who have to die... or possibly not die... as is the case with Grimmjow (you'll see, no spoiler). Yes Ichigo is awesome, but I have to say, Kenpachi Zaraki is just so cool... And MY personal favorite, is and always will be Sui-Feng (soifon)!!! I claim her, she's mine. Animation: Early in season 1, the animation is around a 6 or 7, kind of meh... but it doesn't take long before it steps up it's game and becomes an 8 or 9, and quite beautiful. So just bear with it for the first few episodes before animation alone pushes you away. Voice acting & Music: One of the best I've experienced. Voice acting for both dubbed and original is fantastic, I personally couldn't ask anymore from it. Music soundtrack is spectacular, the intro and credits song changes every season, and it ALWAYS grows on you, fight music is great, slow music is great... you'll appreciate it. I've watched my fair share of good anime as is evident from my list, and I'm pretty fair with my scoring, and I have so many that I really loved, and I know a lot of people just insta-troll and call fanboy, but in all seriousness, it's really great, and I feel that if you didn't at least watch one full season before quitting it, then you really missed out and I don't feel you can accurately judge the series otherwise, making your point rather invalid... My final point is... Anime series DO NOT last this long unless they are pretty good overall, I've seen too many series that only go 13 episodes, or 1 or 2 seasons when they are soooo amazing and deserve more time... THIS is one that got more time, and really made it a good ride. The anime recently ended... for no reason, since it's killing the market, and the manga is still going and just reached what is adding up to be the best story arc yet... I can't believe that something so epic won't reach animation, so I expect the series to be picked back up soon.

Bleach is the first anime I ever watched and since then I have gone through around 50 other series'. This is what started everything off for me, and I absolutely love it. I recommend it to anyone. Although, I'll admit it takes a while to get into (bearing in mind there are currently 366 episodes haha) but its well worth it. You get very attatched to the characters, it makes you laugh and cry, its just amazing :) The artowrk has also progressed a lot since it began. I'll be lost without this series haha :')