Anime Blog 53: Bleach

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach_(manga)

Alright, because the English dub of Bleach finally ended, I'm going to do my blog on Bleach this go round. The anime is 366 episodes over 16 seasons. There are 4 movies and 2 OVAs along with 8 different types of Omakes (the shorts at the end of the episodes).

So we all know the story of Bleach. Guy named Ichigo meets a "soul reaper" named Rukia, gets powers from her, fights hollows, and becomes the strongest character in the existence of characters ever...simply because he beats everyone else. (exaggeration? maybe)
[If you don't actually know the premise of this story, just read the wiki page because I don't feel like talking about it since the show isn't very cohesive story-line-wise)

I just want to start out by saying that I really enjoyed the first season of Bleach. Then when weird arcs started appearing (the bounts, that weird one with the new captain of squad 3, the fullbring.......) I got annoyed with the show. I can't believe it took 15 seasons to kill butterflaizen! (if you don't know who that is...Google it...seriously). By the time I reached season 16...I was done. The only reason I watched the crappy fullbring arc was because I knew it was the last season and I'm a slight completionist. The final arc sucked. But at least the ending was good.

Overall I liked the show for it's amazing cast of characters. I loved the zanpakuto arc (to an extent...the story on that one sucked) and I take pride in knowing such a large cast of characters by name (AND their zanpakutos!)

As for the art (since you all know how I feel about art), it definitely got better as the show went on.
So art comparison!

(Ichigo: Season 1 (L) & Season 16 (R) )

I decided just to use one picture of Ichigo...there are just too many characters in this show and I can't find one that I like of all of my favorites :)

Bleach also has some openings and an ending that I really like the music to!

Season 1 Opening:

Season 1 Ending:

Opening 5:

These are my faves!

Now it's time again for pros and cons:

Pros:

• Great cast of characters
• Typically good music for openings/endings
• Much improved art!
• Yoruichi & Urahara! (faves!)
• Zanpakutos
• Good first couple of seasons
• Good ending
• Omakes galore!

Cons:

• Got way too long
• Filler arcs had no connection and made no sense (esp. the Karakurizer crap...)
• Butterflaizen...enough said
• It just plain got ridiculous
• No cohesive storyline connecting all the arcs/seasons

That last con is a big one for me. There is another long show that I'll blog about later on (not mentioning it's name...*cough* *cough* it involves ninjas *cough* *cough* where at least it forms a cohesive storyline if you connect it all (esp. if you consider the filler as flashbacks). But whatever, that's for another blog.

It is a good show. I just personally don't care about a lot of the arcs...they were just a bit over-the-top...Glad it's over. Honestly the omakes were better than most of the show & that's just sad.

Well thanks for reading! Until next time!

~Kei

**Shipping addition: I ship IchigoXRukia, RenjiXRukia, ToshiroXMomo, UraharaXYoruichi, and sometimes IchigoXRenji (or vice-versa)...**