Any Bleach Fans Here?

[Kilvakar]

Bleach is one of my favorite animes (if not my top favorite). I know that like most long-running series it has ups and downs, but a 4 rating in the review section?

I was wondering if anyone else on CAA likes Bleach and would like to chat about it?

[Rzerox21xx]

I love Bleach and been collecting ever since Viz been releasing the graphic novels back in 04. so I started collecting before the anime was announced and been a loyal fan. Bleach definitely had its up and downs on both the anime and manga adaptation. Bleach is the 3 manga I keep up every week for the new manga chapters. I notice the fanbase got smaller since the end of the Aizen battle especially on the arc between Aizen and the Quincies, the fullbring. the one thing that annoy the heck out of me about reading Bleach is the pacing, Kubo does too many double page splash and blank backgrounds with a whole chapter of barely anything happened. that's called story decompression(where it takes the author to tell a scene in 5 chapters while it can easily be done in 1 chapter). its annoying. but yeah whats your favorite characters and battles. I have to go with Ichigo vs Grimmjow( one of the only fights he won without any help from his inner hollow). the current final arc is really good and a lot better than the fullbring arc but still, he seems to be dragging it out.

[Thunderscream872]

I actually just started Bleach, and I'm only two episodes in, but so far I like it. I've seen episodes on Toonami here and there, and most of the time it's kinda one of those "hit or miss" shows.

I started Bleach figuring I needed to at least watch one of the "Big Five" (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Fairy Tail, Dragon Ball Z), and I like the artwork in Bleach the best. I plan to watch Fairy Tail too, eventually.

Being that you're obviously a Fairy Tail fan too (unless there's absolutely no reason for you avatar, lol), what would you say are some aspects about Bleach that might make it better than Fairy Tail, or vice versa?

[mechana2015]

I'd be guessing that that 4 is due to the art and plot falling out of the show... Right after the second arc. It gets really drug out and repetitive after that point, and has practically no backgrounds for... (What seems like) hundreds of pages of the manga. I never watched that far into the anime due to the manga falling apart so I don't know if they fixed that particular issue in the animated scenes.

[Kilvakar]

Cool, glad to see some people here actually like the series! I agree with what people say about the manga having much less content after the Soul Society arc, I must say I don't really like Kubo's structuring in the manga. However, in the anime it's completely different, since you don't have to worry about pages and panels and what not.

I keep up with the manga since the anime has ended, but I'm not really a fan of the current arc. As much as I love Bleach, I think it should have ended after Aizen's defeat, or at the very least after the Fullbring arc. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: They even had sort of a homage to the beginning of the series with Ichigo getting his powers back after being stabbed by the sword that all the Captains and Lieutenants had put their spirit energy into. But the new arc is (imo) just everyone getting their butts kicked by Quincies in their first fight or getting a super power-up and defeating ONE enemy before being OWNED by the next one. I really hope he steps it up now that Ichigo is back in action!

My favorite fights are probably Ichigo vs Byakuya, Ichigo vs Grimmjow, Kenpachi vs Noitora, Mayuri vs Szayelapporo, and several of the battles that take place in the filler arcs in the anime.

Speaking of which, I really do enjoy most of the filler arcs in the anime, especially the Bount arc, the Reigai arc, and the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc. What I don't like, though, is how they just inserted some of the filler arcs into the main storyline mid-fight. If you've just started watching Bleach and you don't like filler interruption, watch the Bount arc and the Reigai arc when they occur, but skip the rest and watch them after the season they occur in.

I do really enjoy Fairy Tail, it may be close to overtaking Bleach as my favorite series of all time! Rather than comparing which one is better or worse, since I like them both about the same, I'll point out some differences between the two series.

Combat: Most of the combat in Bleach consists primarily of swordplay. While the Soul Reapers use Kido magic and Arrancars use cero blasts, everyone mostly uses their Zanpakuto in battle. Battles in Bleach tend to be very tactical, with each character doing their best to hold back their strongest powers until they've seen what their enemy can do. When someone uses their Bankai, it mean business! In Fairy Tail, everyone tends to go all-out from the beginning, creating a more "over the top" feel to the action. While Natsu in Fairy Tail sometimes gets a power-up in battle, most of the time when someone's getting beaten they come back through sheer determination for the win. There is quite a bit of blood in Bleach, but almost none in Fairy Tail. Also, people (usually villains) are killed regularly in Bleach, while almost nobody dies in Fairy Tail.

Fanservice: Almost none in Bleach, except for Rangiku who exposes a lot of cleavage and one beach episode. There is a LOT of fanservice in Fairy Tail, however. Especially focused around the main female character Lucy.

Art: The art in both series looks great to me, and both shows get better as they go on. If you go back and watch earlier episodes of Bleach after seeing the later arcs, you'll be surprised at how much the animation has improved! Fairy Tail definitely has a more cartoonish feel, but it's not off-putting at all. Definitely not as goofy-looking as One Piece, lol!

Storyline: Bleach's storyline is great, but sometimes slow. Fairy Tail has a lot of smaller story arcs, but they can be hit or miss. Some are really good, and some are not all that interesting. Fairy Tail always feels fast-paced, and the battles are epic. With Bleach, you definitely get the feeling that you're watching more of a drama series at times, but it's fights tend to take on a Clash of the Titans feel once they get going.

Characters: Both shows have great characters. Most characters in Fairy Tail get a fair amount of screen time, but other than Ichigo most characters in Bleach get one moment to shine and then are forgotten until a much later date. That's one of the reason I like the fillers, they often bring the focus back to characters that haven't gotten any attention in a while.

Comedy: Both series have a lot of it!

Music: Fairy Tail's soundtracks are my favorite anime music ever! It kind of has an Irish/Celtic rock vibe to it. The music in Bleach varies from rock to techno/pop to opera to Spanish-themed music Some of the tracks are great, some aren't, but generally I like the music in Bleach a lot too.

General Notes: Fairy Tail is a feel-good series about friendship, courage and loyalty. Bleach has those same themes in abundance, but they're not the focus. Bleach is a true Shonen anime that focuses primarily on the battles. Fairy Tail has battles aplenty, but they're the vehicle for displaying the themes of the show and not the prime focus.

[Thunderscream872]

Wow, great compare/contrast! You deserve an A+, lol, but seriously that laid out everything really well.

I gotta say, I'm disappointed to here that Ichigo is the only characters who gets allot of time in Bleach, but I kinda figured that already. Most people seem to say Fairy Tail gives each of its characters time to shine, which is a major plus for Fairy Tail.

Right now I'm sticking with Bleach, but I might start Fairy Tail soon (maybe when I get to episode 50 or so of Bleach).

Anyways, thanks allot for the comparison!

[PLCDreamcatcher14]

Wow! I agree with Thunderscream about that awesome compare/contrast! I've already seen the first four eps of Fairy Tail and loved it but I've decided to wait and save up the money to but the DVDs and get caught up with them like that. I've also seen a few eps of Bleach on Toonami and the first two I saw were fillery and I didn't like them that much but then I caught some eps that were more relevant to the plot and they definitely peaked my interest. Adds Bleach to already impossibly long 'to watch' list...

[Kilvakar]

Well, thanks for the compliments! I tend to get overly detailed when writing descriptions, lol!

I've been buying the Bleach: Uncut box sets as they come out. Haven't started buying Fairy Tail yet, but I probably will soon.

For those of you who've seen the series, who are your favorite characters? My favorite besides Ichigo is Kisuke Urahara. My favorite Captains are Kenpachi and Shunsui. And my favorite non-Soul Reaper characters are Ichigo's original "gang," Chad, Uryu and Orihime.

[Mullet Death]

I really love Bleach, but find it odd that someone who genuinely liked the filler arcs exists lol. Sure, I like the idea of characters apart from Ichigo getting screen time, but the major filler arcs are some of the worst filler arcs that I've ever been subjected to in my opinion-- and I watch every single episode of every anime I start, no matter how bad (I've even watched all of the Naruto filler *shudders*). I'm not ragging on your favorite show or anything-- I love Bleach. But, especially given that at least two of those veeerrry long filler arcs were right in the middle of a major story arc and significant battle, they were incredbiy and memorably bad. It was like, hey-- there's some incredibly intense action going on here; an anime battle for the ages! But let's put that on hold for over 40 episodes to cut to some nonsense that creates continuity errors and takes liberties with the cannon.

All that being said, Bleach is filled to the brim with awesome characters and fights that I'd love to see again, given the chance. I love the main characters and the Soul Reaper Captains and Lieutenants, as well as the Visored and Urahara Kisuke. A character that I feel is really underappreciated by Bleach fans is one of my favorites, Orihime. She's an incredibly sweet, thoughtul, even Christ-like character who extends her forgiveness and healing powers even to her enemies, and I always get a kick out of her weird food and other quirks. In my experience, a lot of fans seem to hate her for some reason I can't quite figure out. All of the Captains are awesome except for Kurotsuchi. That guy... is just plain evil. Huh, there are so many characters in Bleach that are cool and often don't get enough *canon* action that I can't really cover them all ha ha.

[Kilvakar]

Orihime is awesome! I don't see why people wouldn't like her, unless your dealing with shipping wars...

Don't get me wrong, I totally agree that it was a HORRIBLE idea to put filler right in the middle of two important fights. As for the filler arcs themselves, I thought the Bount arc was awesome! (yes, I said it, lol!) I could have done without the Bakoto arc, and while the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc was pretty fun, they stretched it out to long. The Reigai arc, however, did a better job of getting you emotionally attached, and it was nice to see another side of Kon. Also, I found it interesting that the fact that Kageroza and Nozomi's "original" was supposed to be the creator of the Mod Souls could still fit withing canon, because Kirio Hikifune is the inventor of artificial soul TECHNOLOGY, which predated Project Spearhead. So I guess I like the two filler arcs that fit between the main story better than the ones that interrupted it.

I agree, I like pretty much all the characters, even Mayuri to an extent. He seemed pure evil at first, but he's more of a useful mad scientist later on. But during the first arc it was kind of set up for you to think that most of the Soul Reapers were bad, I thought Byakuya was the main villain until Ichigo defeated him, lol!

[Panda4christ:3]

I just recently started watching this show and am currently stuck in the bount arc (It's not awful but...the character designs are so...).
I like Kisuke, Ichigo, Uryu, Rukia, (basically all the captains). Personally, I'm not even part of the shipping wars and I still have this deep burning hatred for Orihime. Maybe my horribly flawed personality keeps me from loving her glorious perfection but, eh. I've never been too big a fan of characters who do basically nothing during arcs and then get praise for having a big kind heart and just being there. Maybe she gets better later *shrugs*.

Show has some catchy openings, though.

[Kilvakar]

That's generally the criticism she receives, and as I said earlier, many of the earlier characters aren't used much in later seasons, so I can understand your point of view. Still, the concept of her character and her powers are just cool I also really like Chad, I hope that he gets to kick some bahookey in the current manga arc!

What do you guys think of the Arrancars? I know that some of them (Grimmjow, for example) have a pretty big following. I thought is was pretty interesting that SPOILER: Highlight text to read: not all of them are evil, so apparently even Hollows have a chance at redemption. I wonder if they might be able to arrange a peace between the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo eventually?

[Thunderscream872]

I just recently started watching this show and am currently stuck in the bount arc (It's not awful but...the character designs are so...).
I like Kisuke, Ichigo, Uryu, Rukia, (basically all the captains). Personally, I'm not even part of the shipping wars and I still have this deep burning hatred for Orihime. Maybe my horribly flawed personality keeps me from loving her glorious perfection but, eh. I've never been too big a fan of characters who do basically nothing during arcs and then get praise for having a big kind heart and just being there. Maybe she gets better later *shrugs*.

Show has some catchy openings, though.

Awe, poor Orihime--she gets way too much hate, lol. I like her, but I can see where you're coming from. Useless characters tend to annoy me, but its not like she's a pest to the other characters or anything like that. I'm only on episode 9, so maybe when I'm like 150 episodes in my opinions on certain characters will change, but right now I like them all quite a bit

A friend of mine once said: a useless character who is a nice, caring person is good to have around for the morale of the rest of the characters. A useless jerk is completely worthless.

lol, Orihime's not a jerk, so I wouldn't say she's totally useless.

And yes, the show as some awesome songs. My favorite right now is the ninth opening, "Velonica" by Aqua Timez.

[Kilvakar]

Aww, no one wants to answer my question above? Just kidding!

Anyway, I like a lot of the opening songs, but so far one of my favorite ending songs has been Alones, also by Aqua Timez! I also liked My Pace by Sunset Swish.

[skreyola]

Orihime gets a bad rap, I think. She's not useless, and she tries to make herself more valuable when she perceives that she's not on the same power level as the others. While she never really comes into her own, she does become more refined with her abilities later in the show. I'm not sure why the writers didn't explore her character more than they did, but I don't get why anyone hates her.

[Thunderscream872]

Orihime gets a bad rap, I think. She's not useless, and she tries to make herself more valuable when she perceives that she's not on the same power level as the others. While she never really comes into her own, she does become more refined with her abilities later in the show. I'm not sure why the writers didn't explore her character more than they did, but I don't get why anyone hates her.

I listened to a long interview with Vince Gilligan (the creator of Breaking Bad) in which he said that he feels that people tend to dislike helpless characters and/or characters who feel helpless, partly because they have aspects of their lives that they have no control over, and they want to watch a character who is strong and in control of the situation and/or a character who gains control of their situation (an example would be Walter White in Breaking Bad).

I don't how much I agree with that analysis (especially because he was trying to figure out why people disliked Walt's wife, Skylar, so much; and I don't feel she was a "helpless" character and I think that there are numerous other reasons to hate her other than that), but I could see how it could apply to other characters from different shows and what not. I could see how this could be part of the reason why some people hate Orihime. That, and I feel that in some cases some level of sexism plays a part...just had to throw that out there.

[ClaecElric4God]

I literally just started watching Bleach. Cheetah and my brother watched like...3 seasons and then were like "Hey, you should watch this with us, it's awesome!" And yet they didn't have the patience to wait for me to catch up, so they dragged me through character intros and a few crucial episodes, then skipped to...64, I think? So...I honestly have no idea what's going on, but it seems pretty cool. Uryu is my favorite. I always pick boring jerk characters, why?
But yeah, since I'm nowhere near understanding this show or what's going on, I should just shut up now.

[Kilvakar]

In my opinion, Uryu is neither boring nor a jerk, but he just tends to be a bit stand-offish since he's supposed to not like Soul Reapers. I like that whenever he fights he really tries to use his brains rather than just bashing away at the enemy and hoping for good luck.

That said, if you're only at episode 64, you aren't too far along to catch up on what's going on! I'd be more than happy to give you a little character and plot synopsis, if you'd like!

[ClaecElric4God]

Hey, that would be cool. I would appreciate that.

[GeneD]

And yet they didn't have the patience to wait for me to catch up, so they dragged me through character intros and a few crucial episodes, then skipped to...64, I think?

By some opinions you've missed the only part of Bleach that's worth watching...

[skreyola]

And yet they didn't have the patience to wait for me to catch up, so they dragged me through character intros and a few crucial episodes, then skipped to...64, I think?

By some opinions you've missed the only part of Bleach that's worth watching...

Yeah. Most of the good stuff does happen in the first arc, in my opinion. The last arc is pretty good, but I thought the first arc was the best, with Ichigo figuring out how to match a variety of challenges on a more or less equal level but requiring different strategies, rather than facing a series of stronger and stronger opponents in a superpowers arms race.

[Kilvakar]

Claec: Here's a summary of the first arc, which is what you missed. I'd highly recommend going back and watching it, though, if you can!

Since there's no "long spoiler" option available in this forum, I'm announcing a MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!

Once again, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT! Do not read any more if you don't want spoilers!

Ok, ready?

Bleach starts out by introducing Ichigo Kurosaki. He's a highschool student who has the ability to see and interact with ghosts. He lives with his rather goofy dad Isshin and younger sisters Karin and Yuzu. One night, a strange girl enters his room from the window. Her name is Rukia Kuchiki. She's a Soul Reaper (Shinigami in Japanese). Soul Reapers live in a realm called the Soul Society, which is part of the afterlife as that's where most souls go after they die. Soul Reapers are charged with helping souls who haven't passed on after death enter the Soul Society, and also with protecting souls and regular humans from creatures called hollows. Hollows are souls who become corrupted after death, and live to devour other souls. They live in another realm called Hueco Mundo, but they can freely travel to both the world of the living and the Soul Society to hunt.

Rukia is tracking a hollow, and assumes that Ichigo can't see her. To her surprise, he actually can see her and when the hollow shows up, he can see it as well. The hollow attacks Ichigo's sisters, so Ichigo goes to fight it. Rukia jumps in just in time to save Ichigo from being bitten by the hollow, but is wounded herself. Unable to continue fighting, she offers Ichigo the chance to temporarily take her Soul Reaper powers and fight the hollow himself. To protect his family, Ichigo accepts, but rather than taking some of Rukia's power, he ends up taking nearly all of it. He gains a Zanpakuto, which is a sword that all Soul Reapers carry for fighting hollows, and uses it to defeat the hollow. But afterwards, Rukia is completely drained of her power and cannot return to the Soul Society, so she demands the Ichigo take over her duties as a Soul Reaper until her power is restored.

The first part of the series is pretty much a "monster of the week" set up, with new hollows appearing and Ichigo fighting them off. We are introduced to some of Ichigo's friends, including Yasutora Sado (who goes by Chad), and Orihime Inoue. Another student joins Ichigo's school, and immediately seems to take a disliking to Ichigo. His name is Uryu Ishida. Uryu appears before Ichigo one day and reveals that he knows Ichigo is a Soul Reaper. He tells Ichigo that he is a Quincy. Quincies are a group of humans with spiritual power who trained to fight hollows. However, there was a war between Soul Reapers and Quincies a long time ago that resulted in the near-extinction of the Quincies. Uryu claims to be the last Quincy, and challenges Ichigo to a contest to see who can defeat the most hollows. Uryu uses a special bait to lure hollows to the town, but far more hollows appear than either Uryu or Ichigo can handle alone. They are forced to work together to defeat them, and Ichigo drives back a massive hollow known as a Menos Grande. After this incident, while Uryu always claims to dislike Soul Reapers, he and Ichigo are friends from then on. Later, Chad and Orihime discover their own developing powers while fighting off hollows, making Ichigo, Rukia, Uryu, Chad and Orihime the main team of the show.

Chad's power is his super-human strength, and the ability to cover his right arm in armor and fire energy blasts from his fist. Orihime can summon six fairy-like beings from her hair clips to attack, form a shield, or heal any injury. Uryu can summon a glowing bow made of spirit energy and fire deadly arrows that can destroy hollows. Ichigo, of course, fights with his Zanpakuto, which is a very large katana sword.

As the five friends develop their abilities while fighting hollows, they meet another very important character. Kisuke Urahara runs a local candy store that serves as a front for a sort of black-market Soul Reaper supply store. He is known as Mr. Hat-and-Clogs to Ichigo and his friends, as he always wears a striped hat and wooden sandals. He helps Ichigo and his friends train and develop their powers, and supplies them with useful items. He seems to know a lot about everything that goes on, but usually pretends to be ignorant.

Rukia doesn't tell her friends, but transferring her powers to Ichigo, a human, is considered a serious crime in the Soul Society, and eventually two powerful Soul Reapers are sent to arrest her and bring her back. When Ichigo tries to fight them off, he nearly overwhelms one of them, Lieutenant Renji Abarai, but is quickly defeated by Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, who also happens to be Rukia's older brother! They take Rukia back with them to the Soul Society, where she is sentenced to be executed for her crimes, leaving Ichigo beaten and stripped of his Soul Reaper powers.

Ichigo and his friends are determined to save Rukia, and with Kisuke Urahara's help Ichigo is able to regain his Soul Reaper powers, but he also gains hollow powers in the process. They enter the Soul Society on a rescue mission. During their infiltration of the Seireitei, which is the massive complex where the Soul Reapers live inside the Soul Society, the team is separated and everyone gets into various battles against the 13 Court Guard Squads, which is the Soul Reaper military. Ichigo and his friends are more than a match for most normal Soul Reapers, but those with the rank of Lieutenant or Captain are far more powerful, and even though they are able to defeat several powerful opponents and even manage to break Rukia out of prison, all of them except Ichigo are defeated and captured, and Ichigo is forced to withdraw, leaving Rukia still in line for execution. One of Kisuke's compatriots who traveled along with them tells Ichigo that to defeat Byakuya he'll need to unlock his Zanpakuto's ultimate power, known as bankai.

While Ichigo trains to unlock his bankai, we learn that one of the Soul Reaper Captains, Sosuke Aizen, has apparently been murdered, and the blame is being laid on Ichigo and his friends. Not all of the Soul Reapers are bad, however, and many of them actually want to help Rukia as well. Some are also not entirely convinced that Ichigo's team is responsible for Aizen's death, and begin investigating on their own. Renji Abarai reveals that he is Rukia's childhood friend, and trains for bankai alongside Ichigo. Later, he confronts Byakuya and tries to stop Rukia's execution, but despite using his new bankai, he is defeated and captured.

When Rukia is about to be executed, Ichigo shows up in the nick of time and saves her life. At the same time, several of the Soul Reapers spring their plans into action as well. One of the Captains, who considers Ichigo a close friend after their battle, breaks Ichigo's friends out of prison, while two other Captains reveal that they had planned to stop Rukia's execution all along by destroying the weapon intended to kill her. As a battle breaks out between Ichigo's friends and new allies and the remaining Soul Reapers, two other Soul Reaper Captains discover that Sosuke Aizen isn't dead, and in fact he is the one who has been masterminding the push for Rukia's execution all along. Ichigo battles Byakuya Kuchiki, and by using his bankai and getting a little help from his inner hollow, he is able to defeat him. But then, Aizen reveals himself and captures Rukia. It turns out, Rukia has had something called the Hogyoku implanted inside her soul by Kisuke Urahara to keep Aizen from getting his hands on it. No one knows what exactly the Hogyoku is or does, but Aizen claims it can break down the barrier between Soul Reapers and hollows, allowing them to achieve even greater levels of power. He intends to use it to make himself stronger then any Soul Reaper or Hollow, and has already apparently been working with the hollows, as several Menos Grande appear and transport Aizen and two other traitorous Captains to Hueco Mundo before the rest of the characters can stop them.

After realizing that they were being manipulated by Aizen the whole time, all the remaining Soul Reapers are revealed to be basically good guys and Ichigo, his friends, and Rukia are granted full pardons. Ichigo is allowed to keep his Soul Reaper powers and serve as a Substitute Soul Reaper in charge of protecting his home town. Rukia stays in the Soul Society to regain her powers, and Ichigo and Co. return to the world of the living, knowing that they will have to face Aizen and whatever evil plans he has created sooner or later.

Well, that about sums it up!

[Ryosuke]

I only watched the fist few seasons of Bleach but have read up to about this year on the manga. I consider it at least equivalent with Naruto, but there is obviously room for expansion on stories and characters