Grimmjow Jeagerjaques
If Naruto is Dragon Ball Z with ninjas, does that mean Bleach is Naruto with dead people? The colorful characters, numerous fights and high episode count make such comparisons tempting, and fans of one are often fans of the other. With the acclaimed Studio Pierrot handling animation duties, a storyline that dishes out cliffhanger after cliffhanger, and a rapidly growing fanbase, Bleach is clearly the Next Big Anime License. It doesn't aspire to be high art, but it doesn't need to—this is high entertainment, swords out and spirit energy blazing, ready to bring a modern sensibility to the classic shounen themes of friendship, challenge, and victory.
The story starts out like most others of its kind: take a boy in his mid-teens, bestow unique abilities upon him (a cool sword helps, too), and send him out to fight some nasty monsters. For the first several episodes Bleach goes through this methodical hack-and-slash, with sprinklings of comedy for good measure. Things start to pick up when Ichigo meets fellow classmates with Hollow-killing capabilities, adding some firepower and variety to their battles. Generic and boring so far? Good. That's when the real challenge kicks in, and boy does it kick: Soul Society infiltrates the human world, stirs things up, and suddenly Ichigo's on a mission to save Rukia. If you want to know where the series gets really good, it's right here. Ichigo isn't fighting souped-up spirits a few blocks away from his house anymore; now he's in the underworld with only a few friends as allies, facing trained warriors who could damn well kill him. With all of Soul Society as a battleground and no limitations on fighting style or attacks, it takes the familiar tournament formula to the height of creativity. This isn't just training and fighting anymore. This is adventure.
But wait, isn't there plenty of fight-centric adventure anime already? Yes, but Bleach sets itself apart with a cast of characters that couldn't exist anywhere else. Imagine the usual stereotypes, but skew them with odd traits, and give their personalities an extra edge of attitude: that's what makes these characters special. Ichigo isn't just an excitable, sword-swinging hero—he's a hero with a smart mouth and a chip on his shoulder. Rukia's equally strong personality is the perfect complement to that; together the two of them exchange some of the snappiest dialogue in the show. Ichigo's allies are just as interesting: pretty boy Ishida is cool in every way, from his attacks to his demeanor; girly-girl Orihime discovers her power through fashion accessories; strong and silent Chad proves that the only thing bigger than his frame is his compassion. Call them two-dimensional if you must, but these are some very unique dimensions. And that's not even bringing up all the entertaining side characters and opponents, like stuffed-toy sidekick K-ON!, eccentric shopkeeper Urahara, the thirteen battle squads of Soul Society (learning them all is easier than you think), and that shining example of modern-day parenting, Ichigo's father.
Studio Pierrot makes this show visually pleasing with a bold, mainstream style that most eyes will appreciate. Like the story itself, the animation doesn't pick up until the later episodes, where the budget increase becomes apparent: the second opening sequence is a flurry of high frame rate showboating, and the fight scenes become increasingly elaborate and dynamic. Through it all, the storytelling is always clear—if someone swings a sword, you know exactly who swung it and where it's headed. There are still plenty of shounen clichés like speedlines, special effects and time-dilated multi-episode fights, but the look of the show is one that isn't easily reproduced. Chalk that up to manga-ka Kubotite, whose artistic style still shines through despite being watered down for the sake of animation. Who can forget the funny logos on Ichigo's t-shirts, Rukia's single bang hanging over her face, Ishida's rectangular glasses, Orihime's hair clips, Chad's scraggly features, Urahara's green-and-white striped hat, Renji's visor that looks like a sleep mask... well, this could go on for a while. Although the staff does try to match some of the manga's style in the angularity of the artwork, their true strength is capturing the sheer energy of the series through animation technique.
The soundtrack also has its own distinctive style, employing electronic instruments and modern genres in a way that's easily as effective as a symphonic, full-orchestra track. Even if it's just waveforms out of a synthesizer, the music of Bleach is diverse enough to support the many moods of battle: tension to confrontation to all-out attack. The oft-changing theme songs also make for a fine primer on the world of J-pop; many fans can attest to discovering mellow-voiced singer/songwriter Rie Fu.
Ichigo Kurosaki is a 15-year-old boy with the ability to see spirits, something that he considers more of a bother than a gift. One day he meets a Shinigami (Death God) named Rukia, who's on the run from a Hollow—a destructive spirit with unfinished business on Earth. As a last-minute measure, Rukia transfers her powers to Ichigo, whose abundant supply of spirit energy makes him a far more potent Shinigami than she ever was! Soon Ichigo is vanquishing Hollows left and right, and meeting other friends at school with similar abilities. However, Rukia's transfer of power is forbidden by the Soul Society (the official name of the spirit world), and when their agents come to Earth to dish out the consequences, Ichigo finds that he might have to challenge the entire world of the dead to save her.
If Naruto is Dragon Ball Z with ninjas, does that mean Bleach is Naruto with dead people? The colorful characters, numerous fights and high episode count make such comparisons tempting, and fans of one are often fans of the other. With the acclaimed Studio Pierrot handling animation duties, a storyline that dishes out cliffhanger after cliffhanger, and a rapidly growing fanbase, Bleach is clearly the Next Big Anime License. It doesn't aspire to be high art, but it doesn't need to—this is high entertainment, swords out and spirit energy blazing, ready to bring a modern sensibility to the classic shounen themes of friendship, challenge, and victory.
The story starts out like most others of its kind: take a boy in his mid-teens, bestow unique abilities upon him (a cool sword helps, too), and send him out to fight some nasty monsters. For the first several episodes Bleach goes through this methodical hack-and-slash, with sprinklings of comedy for good measure. Things start to pick up when Ichigo meets fellow classmates with Hollow-killing capabilities, adding some firepower and variety to their battles. Generic and boring so far? Good. That's when the real challenge kicks in, and boy does it kick: Soul Society infiltrates the human world, stirs things up, and suddenly Ichigo's on a mission to save Rukia. If you want to know where the series gets really good, it's right here. Ichigo isn't fighting souped-up spirits a few blocks away from his house anymore; now he's in the underworld with only a few friends as allies, facing trained warriors who could damn well kill him. With all of Soul Society as a battleground and no limitations on fighting style or attacks, it takes the familiar tournament formula to the height of creativity. This isn't just training and fighting anymore. This is adventure.
But wait, isn't there plenty of fight-centric adventure anime already? Yes, but Bleach sets itself apart with a cast of characters that couldn't exist anywhere else. Imagine the usual stereotypes, but skew them with odd traits, and give their personalities an extra edge of attitude: that's what makes these characters special. Ichigo isn't just an excitable, sword-swinging hero—he's a hero with a smart mouth and a chip on his shoulder. Rukia's equally strong personality is the perfect complement to that; together the two of them exchange some of the snappiest dialogue in the show. Ichigo's allies are just as interesting: pretty boy Ishida is cool in every way, from his attacks to his demeanor; girly-girl Orihime discovers her power through fashion accessories; strong and silent Chad proves that the only thing bigger than his frame is his compassion. Call them two-dimensional if you must, but these are some very unique dimensions. And that's not even bringing up all the entertaining side characters and opponents, like stuffed-toy sidekick K-ON!, eccentric shopkeeper Urahara, the thirteen battle squads of Soul Society (learning them all is easier than you think), and that shining example of modern-day parenting, Ichigo's father.
Studio Pierrot makes this show visually pleasing with a bold, mainstream style that most eyes will appreciate. Like the story itself, the animation doesn't pick up until the later episodes, where the budget increase becomes apparent: the second opening sequence is a flurry of high frame rate showboating, and the fight scenes become increasingly elaborate and dynamic. Through it all, the storytelling is always clear—if someone swings a sword, you know exactly who swung it and where it's headed. There are still plenty of shounen clichés like speedlines, special effects and time-dilated multi-episode fights, but the look of the show is one that isn't easily reproduced. Chalk that up to manga-ka Kubotite, whose artistic style still shines through despite being watered down for the sake of animation. Who can forget the funny logos on Ichigo's t-shirts, Rukia's single bang hanging over her face, Ishida's rectangular glasses, Orihime's hair clips, Chad's scraggly features, Urahara's green-and-white striped hat, Renji's visor that looks like a sleep mask... well, this could go on for a while. Although the staff does try to match some of the manga's style in the angularity of the artwork, their true strength is capturing the sheer energy of the series through animation technique.
The soundtrack also has its own distinctive style, employing electronic instruments and modern genres in a way that's easily as effective as a symphonic, full-orchestra track. Even if it's just waveforms out of a synthesizer, the music of Bleach is diverse enough to support the many moods of battle: tension to confrontation to all-out attack. The oft-changing theme songs also make for a fine primer on the world of J-pop; many fans can attest to discovering mellow-voiced singer/songwriter Rie Fu.
It really just Naruto with dead people? Or is it an epic saga in its own right? The unique characters and look of Bleachguarantee that it will, at the very least, rise above the muddle of interchangeable shounen series and march on with its own unique vision of the afterlife. There are plenty of cool guys with swords out there, plenty of spirit worlds to explore, and plenty of Death Gods to vanquish, but there is only one Ichigo Kurosaki, one Soul Society, and one incredibly entertaining anime that will grab you and refuse to let go. For classic adventure with a slick, modern attitude, go no further than Bleach.
My Reaction:
I’ve seen this anime series just recently after my officemate recommended this to me. He said it likes it better than Naruto. I hear about it a lot and it’s pretty popular on different anime communities. So out of curiousity, I got myself a copy and watched it starting from episode one. After watching 20 episodes, I am now a huge fan.
Doing a quick search on my trusted Wikipedia, I found out that this series came out on October 5, 2004 and is still on-going. This started out as a manga (like most anime TV series) created by Tite Kubo that was published on 2001.
Bleach is an action TV series with a mix of comedy and drama. Currently, there are a little more than 100 episodes. Based on my observation, it seems taht the setting of the story is a modern day Japan. Even their outfits look like today’s current trend except when the characters are fighting either on the human world on the Soul Society’s world.
The main character in the story is Kurosaki Ichigo, a high-school student who lives with his father and two sisters. There is something special about Ichigo’s family. They can see spirits invisible to normal people. One day, the city was attacked by something no one can see except for Ichigo. Apparently, it was chasing after a spirit of a child who Ichigo used to talk to. Suddenly, a girl wearing a samurai suit with a sword knocks out the monster. Later on, Ichigo met this girl (Kuchiki Rukia) and found out that she’s a Shinigami (Soul Reaper) who’s mission is to hunt down Hollows (evil spirits) and bring good spirits to the Soul Society. Eventually, Ichigo will become a Soul Reaper himself. If you want to find out how, just watch it for yourself ’cause I think I’ve already given too much spoilers.
I’m currently watching the Fansub version and nothing else is available. I heard it was already dubbed in English and currently being aired in some parts of north America. One of the comments I read on anime forums is that they didn’t like the way it was dubbed. I know this happens a lot but since I haven’t seen the dubbed version, I couldn’t comment on it.
I can see why my friend likes it better than Naruto and that’s because it’s really good. I like both anime series and I don’t think one’s better than the other. But this series has got to be one of the few anime TV series today that can give me the excitement that I haven’t felt in a while. So far, I enjoyed every single episode that I watched and would recommend this to everyone who watches martial arts action anime.
The story has a close resemblance to YuYu Hakusho considering there are three worlds and the main character was chosen to search and destroy monsters from the evil world.
Races
In the vast world of Bleach, there exist many races outside the living Human beings. Below is a brief explanation of them.
Character types
- Human: The Humans of Bleach are much like the residents of modern Japan, and most cannot see or sense disembodied spirits in any way. Spirits can, however, inhabit artificial Human bodies called Gigai which are visible to ordinary Humans. One in 50,000 Humans is a medium with some awareness of nearby ghosts, but only a third of these are able to see them clearly, and only the strongest of mediums are able to speak with or touch ghosts. Certain unique Humans naturally have both the power to sense and the strength to fight with spirits. Ordinary Humans can gain the ability to interact with spirits by spending time around a large source of spirit energy.
- Plus: Benign ghosts in Bleach are known as pluses (wholes in the official English editions). A plus is the spirit of a person who has died. A chain, known as the Chain of Fate, protrudes from the chest and binds the plus to a location, object or person that they felt close to in life. The soul can move about freely if the chain is broken, but this also causes the chain to corrode. Normally, pluses are sent to Soul Society by Shinigami in a ritual called Konsō (soul burial) before this corrosion becomes significant. If the Chain of Fate is corroded entirely before a soul burial can be performed, a hole will form in the chest of the soul where the chain was once anchored. Such souls are driven mad and become evil ghosts known as Hollows. If the Chain of Fate is torn out deliberately, this also leads to spiritual degradation.
- Shinigami: Shinigami (Soul Reapers in the official English editions, Death Gods in most subtitled versions) are the psychopomps of Bleach. They are souls with inner spiritual power, recruited from the ranks of the residents and nobility of Soul Society. Like all spirits, they cannot be detected by normal Humans. Shinigami use their Zanpakutō, supernatural swords that are the manifestation of their owners' power, to perform soul burials on Pluses. Shinigami also use Zanpakutō and magic known as Kidō to fight their archrivals, the Hollows.
- Visored: A group of Shinigami who have also obtained Hollow powers through "illegal" means, gaining removable masks and access to certain Hollow abilities.
- Hollow: The Hollows are the major antagonists of Bleach. They are evil ghosts who reside in Hueco Mundo but travel to the living world to feed on the souls of the living and dead alike. Like Shinigami, Hollows are made of spiritual matter and cannot be detected by ordinary Humans. While the majority of Hollows can be overcome by the average Shinigami, there are some which surpass even the most elite Shinigami in strength. All normal Hollows wear white masks, but a small group of Hollows have broken them, becoming Arrancar. By shattering their masks, these Hollows regain the ability to reason, sometimes obtain a Humanoid form, and gain access to Shinigami powers.
- Quincy: The Quincy are a clan of spiritually aware Humans who once fought against the Hollows, using weapons composed of spiritual energy to slay them. As opposed to Shinigami, Quincy absorb and channel energy from their surroundings to fight. Unlike the Shinigami method of killing Hollows which allows the Hollow to enter Soul Society, the Quincy technique simply obliterates the Hollow's soul entirely. This method has the propensity to shatter the balance of the universe, because when souls are destroyed, the number of souls entering and leaving Soul Society cannot remain equal. This issue prompted the Shinigami to conduct a campaign to exterminate the Quincy about 200 years before the main storyline. At least two Quincy still remain.
- Artificial soul: Artificial souls are a type of soul mass-produced by the Shinigami. Issued in pill form, they are used to force Shinigami out of their Gigai during protracted stays in the Human World, and also to evict pluses that refuse to leave their bodies after death. They come with a pre-programmed personality that animates the host body until the owner returns. In addition to the mundane versions, a series of experimental souls authorized and created by Shinigami researchers exists. Known as Modified Souls, these were meant to hunt Hollows by possessing soulless Human bodies and supercharging a particular aspect of them (for example, strength or speed). The Shinigami decided to scrap the project due to the inhumanity of forcing dead bodies to fight, and ordered the destruction of all modified souls. Only one modified soul exists in the manga, but there are three more such characters in the anime.
- Bount: Exclusive to the anime, the Bounts are a clan of Human beings with high spiritual energy and special powers. They were accidentally created by Shinigami scientists looking for a way to create eternal life. Bounts consume the souls of Human beings to survive; theoretically, a Bount could live forever by doing so. Although the Bounts have a strict rule to consume only the souls of the dead, the final group of Bounts chose to drain souls from living Humans in order to become more powerful. Each Bount uses a "Doll" in combat, a type of familiar spirit possessing its own special abilities. Every doll is unique and is a manifestation of the user's power. If the doll is destroyed, its owner is destroyed as well.
- Blank: Exclusive to Bleach: Memories of Nobody, the Blanks are souls who have lost their memories and reside in the Valley of Screams. Blanks are instinctively attracted to memories. Ganryū of the Dark Ones wanted to use the Blanks in a plot to collapse the Human world and Soul Society together by luring them with Senna, aka the Shinenju (Memory Rosary).
- Togabito: First introduced in Bleach: Hell Chapter, the Togabito are the inhabitants of Hell. These beings are equipped with numerous chains spanning the entire length of their bodies, which imprisons them in Hell.
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