Back to Weebosquirtle_17's Profile Weebosquirtle_17's Profile

Simply re-reading the parts gave me some insight into this part and slightly changed my mind about it. Unlike the anime, the manga puts more emphasis on the mystery behind the mask and sets up Battle Tendency a lot better. Also learning that Johnathan did a lot of research on the mask further intrigued me with his character than before.

Lastly, his suffering at the hands of Dio felt like it was a build-up more than a montage of instances like it was in the anime. Seeing the character's thought processes, as well as making sense of the reason Speedwagon stayed out of a lot ... of the fights elevated this part a lot more... even if the other parts are better

I read this all the way in 2023 because the anime went away from my streaming service(plus at the time, TYBW wasn't a thing yet) and in my eyes, the end of this story makes it the weakest in the Big 3. I've watched Naruto, started on One Piece, and now have read Bleach and most of my issues with this series take place during the time skip(volumes 49-74). Up until that point, I had an amazing time with most of Bleach(Especially with Aizen). There are things about Ichigo's character that I like that differentiated him from his Big 3 compatriots in Naruto Uzumaki and ... Monkey D. Luffy.

As a whole, Bleach is tonally different from Naruto and One Piece which is great. My problem lies in the fact that the TYBW seemed to drag on even longer than Naruto's war arc, but it rushed its ending. I also felt that I never got a sense of the motivation behind the opposition in the War Arc's conflict so it was really hard for me to get invested. Naruto was the cycle of hatred, but what did Bleach have to say? In my eyes, not much. At that point of the story, with the level of power scaling and systems that is introduced, Ichigo feels like he grows more and more into a Gary Stu and that Kubo wrote himself into a corner(similarly to Kishimoto) when it came to the conclusion of the story.

I realize that also like Kishimoto, Kubo was also struggling with health issues during the time skip which definitely could've played a role in the writing quality for these weekly titles. Since Bleach is part of the Big 3, I'm sure he had high pressure coming from multiple angles and if it were up to me, I'd want any mangaka to write when they're at their best from a physical and mental standpoint. However, I have to be honest with myself: I finished the series more disappointed than ever before.

If you're looking for a series with a main character that's very nuanced and layered, Berserk is the story for you. Aside from the dark elements that may or may not be for you (as nothing is held back in this seinen manga), more than anything else, this is a story about characters. Berserk changed my life and continues to do so in so many ways as a young adult that I can't even go over it all. It changed my mind about where my list of the best protagonist and antagonists, my standards for storytelling in general, as well as female characters come from ... this series: Guts, Griffith, Casca, and Farnese.

What you'll learn and hopefully come to understand is that it's not necessarily the bad things that happen in this series that define this story, but rather it's the calm and intimate moments the characters share and fight for. Over time, you'll realize the subtle ways that Guts and his crew have changed and the many life lessons that this story teaches in such a beautiful way that you'll laugh and cry about. The relationship that's between Guts and Casca for example, is so real and multi-faceted to where every romance manga or story doesn't come close to what these two share and I'm not the biggest fan of romance whatsoever so that should say a lot.