Is watching the original Bleach so you can watch the new, much appraised, seasons worth it?
That's what I did and here is what you are looking at if you plan on doing the same.
Plot: 4/10
As a short summary: Ichingo Kurosaki is thrust in the world of hunting bad ghosts called Hollows and as the story advances evil plots are uncovered and his job becomes saving the world - more or less. The story has a promising start, but the writing direction is plain bad as it's too focused on the action battles.
The basic plot is not bad but the story just fizzles along the way.
...
The main problem is that the anime has too many "important" characters it wanted to show the power abilities of. And by too many I mean there are at least 20 characters whose fights we have to witness before we learn even the tinies bit of information about someone's backstory, motivations or aspirations. In the second arc, there are around 35 episodes of pure fights before we learn any information about why things are happening the way they are.
I understand fights are the staple of shonen but even according to the mid-2000s standards the battles remain under average. It’s a parade of people you barely know duking it out for what feels like an eternity. There’s no choreography, no strategy, no teamwork—just flashy attacks and lots of yelling. Forget clever power combos or strategic thinking. Nope, in Bleach, it's all about brute force. And for some reason, everyone fights one-on-one like it’s an unspoken rule of the Soul Reaper universe. Teamwork? Who needs it when you can shout out the name of your attack and hope for the best, right?
At least there is none of that "power of friendship" victories.
The fact that the power system itself is never fully explained (in the canon episodes at least) just adds to the confusion. Especially since the anime introduces new and unexplained power systems all the time. The last arc makes absolutely no sense, clearly, nothing screams "solid writing" like reworking your universe’s rules in the last episodes!
And speaking of dragging things out: subplots appear, disappear, and reappear when you’ve almost forgotten they existed. This isn’t so much of a series as it is an obstacle course where the obstacles are your brain cells trying to keep up.
These many fights also put a damper on the time given to character development.
Characters: 6/10
The main and supporting characters in Bleach start off with solid foundations and interesting dynamics—emotional characters paired with more logical ones, which is fun to watch and there are some unique characters worth watching. But character development moves slowly, and the timeline for when we learn more about them is chaotic. We are left confused by some characters' choices, betrayals or sacrifices because the show didn't explain in a timely manner their inner feelings and history.
Even the MC doesn't actually have any tangible and intricate objective or ambition. He just wants to get stronger to protect people. There is no justification about why he would go through so much trouble, no goals, except for "that's who he is", which is a bit lacking.
If we take another important character, Inoue, supposedly the most powerful healer who could potentially rewrite reality—yet, she spends the entire series being annoyingly useless. Her main role is standing on the sidelines, sobbing dramatically, worsening the situation for everyone and then maybe throwing a shield here or there like a confused Pokemon. It’s almost impressive how she manages to do so little with so much potential. Also, most of the female characters, not all, are often damsels in need of protection.
The characters' development is also hindered by one of my biggest pet peeve in anime...comic relief gimmicks. If you think you’ll get a break from the action with some deep, heartfelt conversations—think again. The show insists on inserting ridiculous comic relief into even the most serious moments. A character could be on the brink of an emotional revelation and another one will roll in with a tasteless joke or a physical punch to interrupt it.
Then we have the villains, who are more focused on giving long, dramatic monologues and twirling their metaphorical mustaches than actually using their absurdly overpowered abilities to wipe out the heroes. Their development makes no sense either, and by the time they do anything, you’ve already stopped caring.
Art 7/10:
The design of the characters is impressive especially given the variety of characters. They each have stylish outfits and powers to go with it. The art of the swords and their evolution is creative and beautiful.
The animation itself is good considering the period the anime aired.
Enjoyment: 4/10
Even if the show drags on and on, I can't say I am completely indifferent by it and it did crack me a smile from time to time.
OVERALL:
Bleach crumbled under eight of it's own ambition, taking it - and us - all over the place. The early episodes are fun, with an interesting concept and cool designs but it doesn't make up for the lack of emotional development of characters that progress every 50 episodes. Without getting into a review of the new seasons, I think it's worth watching the original Bleach if you are a patient person really into fights.
5/10. I just can't bring myself to give more to the execution of the anime seeing how it is either confusing or boring most of the time.
But hey, at least the swords are cool, right?
Oct 20, 2024
Is watching the original Bleach so you can watch the new, much appraised, seasons worth it?
That's what I did and here is what you are looking at if you plan on doing the same. Plot: 4/10 As a short summary: Ichingo Kurosaki is thrust in the world of hunting bad ghosts called Hollows and as the story advances evil plots are uncovered and his job becomes saving the world - more or less. The story has a promising start, but the writing direction is plain bad as it's too focused on the action battles. The basic plot is not bad but the story just fizzles along the way. ... 
Sep 17, 2024
The style, direction and art of the anime is good. If you are into easy-going romances you can give it a try! However, some choices regarding the characters don’t sit right.
Akane is older than Yamada yet she is only portrayed as a cheerful hot mess. Her other personality traits are not very developed. Because of this, he is always the one saving her even though he is still in high school and the opportunity for a mature female lead is missed. The way they portrayed her as a drunk in need of attention more than once isn’t cute and other means to « deepen » they bond ... |
