Bleach

If I could sum Bleach up with one phrase, it would be "wonderful art, terrible story."

I'll start off with the good news: seven years later, Tite Kubo has not sacrificed a single bit of artwork quality for Bleach. One of the best things about Bleach is it's imaginative character design. No two characters have the same fighting style, and it really is amazing the level of detail that goes into shading, considering most mangas with over one billion kazillion chapters like Bleach tend to sacrifice art quickly in order to churn out more chapters with less effort.

But, that is sadly the end to the good. Because while Bleach has amazingly creative character designs, it falls horrendously short in original character personalities, or having a passable plot at all.

I'll be honest, the first few volumes of Bleach are quite good. The characters all have their own distinct and interesting personalities, the story is a bit random but solid, and the whole product gives off a cool samurais-meet-Ghostbusters theme. But sadly, all that is thrown down the drain when Rukia is taken to the Soul Society and Ichigo and the gang go and rescue her. At this point, Bleach makes the mistake so many other animes and mangas have made before, and that is introducing way too many characters way too fast, and as a result having dozens of creative characters who get almost no screen time whatsoever while a select few get more than the main characters.

Also at this point in the manga, the fights begin to suffer heavily from "Dragon Ball Z syndrome," in which all skill and agility is replaced by power levels and energy beams.

But the killing blow comes at the beginning of the next arc. I won't spoil anything, but let's just say that Ichigo is suddenly transformed from a punk with a heart of gold into a generic moody manga lead, Orihime is transformed from a pretty girl with a very odd personality into a centuries-old princess that needs constant rescuing, and Chad continues to never win any fight ever.

I loved Bleach when I first started reading it. It felt like such a breath of fresh air. But quickly that freshness gave way to the staleness that plagues the shounen genre so. The only solution is for Tite Kubo to end his shinigami magnum opus as quickly as possible, and try his hardest to give the manga a halfway decent ending (if it's even possible as this point).

Bleach is awesome, granted it may be a little fast paced but tha'ts one of the things i love about it, now i've heard ppl saying that it has gone downhill recently but if you are up to date on the manga you know that's horse poo, Ulquorra, i literally crapped my pants when he released, and my head literally exploded after what happened next.
dedicated to lylac, read the next 30 chapters just do it

There are a lot of mixed reviews about Bleach. What it all comes down to really is major BIAS. In fact, when you're writing a review on something, it's completely impossible to do it without even the slightest bit of bias. Anyway, so here I go with the stats, some people probably want to kill me, while others may want to hug me.

STORY: 7
While Bleach starts off with the usual "_____ is a regular high school student who one day meets a strange girl/boy who gives him/her special powers and he/she is now dragged into her/his world." I still found it enjoyable. The Soul Society arc starts out well, and Kubo does a good job balancing out some of the mainstream elements by adding weird new ideas like pezz-dispenser type things that actually hold fake souls, and all of Kisuke's ridiculous paraphernalia that he sells at Urahara Shouten. That said, the story follows the endless train, fight, train, fight pattern which can really get boring after a while. sometimes I just skip whole chapters and/or episodes just to get away from it, and it's almost like Kubo was just stalling until he had another epiphany that would set the story back in motion.

ART: 10
The art in Bleach is fabulous. It is the cleanest, most realistic art I have ever seen in a manga. Kubo can sometimes make two entirely different characters look very similar, but manga tends to do that as an unavoidable consequence, and while his style starts out slightly blocky and square like his art from Zombie Powder, it does grow and develop into a truly unique and distinct style. One thing I have to commend Kubo on is His detail. I mean, I know there's a limit to how different one katana can be from another, so I really like how he was able to come up with tons of hilt designs and individual powers for each zanpakuto. The fight scenes are clean and easy to follow, although they are sometimes unnecessarily laced with huge explosions that can become over the top. The only other thing I would suggest doing less would maybe be drawing large breasted women. While I know guys enjoy the eye candy, F cups are just ridiculous.

CHARACTERS: 7
There is a huge cast in Bleach, and while lots of them have their own personalities and often turn out to be important characters, there are some that I can't stop wondering why Kubo even mentioned them. Like Yumichika and Ikaku. Don't get me wrong, this pair of eccentrics is very entertaining, but do they and actually ACCOMPLISH anything in the series? I would say....no. It's not like Kubo needs any more comic relief characters, so I sometimes wonder. Anyway, I think, despite what others say, that Ichigo is a very complex, well thought out character. He is, like many fictional characters, too much like one type of personality, in his case short tempered and obnoxious, and that is unrealistic, but at the same time, he has a kinder, more level-headed aspect that makes him a well rounded lead. Because he has such a tough exterior and hardly ever shows what he's like underneath, it means he does, like every real person, have insecurity, which makes him a very three dimensional character that people can relate to.

ENJOYMENT: 8
Despite Bleach's flaws and the dragging plot towards the end of the Aizen arc, I found Bleach very enjoyable. One thing that keeps it up beat is the assembly line of humour and the endless puns. Some people may think it's over the top, but I personally (yes I'm being biased here), think that it fits with the story and can add a LOL moment to an otherwise very serious plot. Bleach also has some good lines and phrases like Ichigo's hollow's analogy of the king and his horse. That really stuck with me, and I hope Kubo can dish out more of those in the Thousand Year Blood War arc.

OVERALL: 7
Truthfully, I think Bleach should have ended for good after Ihigo defeated Aizen. He would have lived a normal life, died and become a soul reaper. Everything works out. The fullbring arc shouldn't have even existed, and after that, things are a bit slow to get going again, but I hope Kubo can finish Bleach with flare and make Ichigo exit the stage with a good ending, and don't you dare rush it Kubo, like you did with the Aizen arc, because it you do, I will fly all the way out to Japan solely for the purpose of killing you. On a lighter note, I hope anyone who bothered to read this found it helpful. If you like random, crazy ideas, boys who have death god powers, and Mexican evil spirits, Bleach is the manga for you.

It's deeply horrible where this story goes. It start as a interesting story and unfortunately lost his own propose. I mean, Ichigo never has a goal to start with, right? That's how Bleach kills itself from the very beginning. Ichigo has no propose, no goal, not a meaning in his life. He just came across with Rukia some randomly day and gets through Soul Society and the whole thing. As the series goes through, the author tries somehow get a meaning to the story, and end up loses how to guide you into it. It says throughout Internet that Tite Kubo only plans Rukia's rescue Arc and that's it, end of the story. But Shounen Jump convinced him to goes on. I dunno if this is entirely true but you've some clues when you think Ichigo is basically a Pokemon thing (HE HAS NO IDEIA WHAT HIS DOING ANYMORE) . I really enjoyed Bleach till the Aizen's fight, and I agree with everyone that's only get worse till the end. I mean, The Blood Thousand War it's supposed to be the grand finale, but doesn't work well. The comedy is good, the characters not so much (only in the beginning he cares about it, the second half he just forget it and that's it). Just sadly how isn't ended up well.

[MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS]
Bleach- also known as "Blah"

Intro:
Basic story starter. "____ is your typical high school student but one day his life is changed forever when he meets a "mysterious" girl who gives him the power to defend and save humanity. In the process he is practically dragged into her world and has no choice but to interfere." Does this sound cliche to you? No duh.

Story: Above Average --> Disappointing --> Nonexistent
Plot like most long running shounen follow the arc-based-plot. Okay.. I have to admit it the first quarter of the plot was good. Ichigo's introduction to the world of Shinigami's was quite amusing and entertaining. The Soul Society arc was imaginative and great in terms of fighting, suspense, dialogue and plot. But somehow in the end it turned out just about average. Along the way Kubo decided to throw in more cliches and glitches: the mystifying sensei, the damesel in distress, random super main character power ups, multiple transformations and the ever popular "Half-Demon-Half-Human" trope. Please don't tell me "well yeah... its a shounen." Let me say this, Shounens can be unique and special, take FMA and Death Note for example. Not all of them have to follow the "norm". Nevertheless the arc was again above average. Unfortunately it was the peek of the series. And this is where Kubo should have ended the series.
Everything after the the SS arc was honestly a waste of paper and ink. Kubo must havebeen thinking, "since, the SS arc did so great, why don`t I do it again but with a different premise..." Thanks Kubo. If you read past the SS arc, you know that Rukia gets captured right... well this time its Orhime's turn. The damsel in distress situation, how times have you seen that? This formula for this arc follows: Insane Powerful Villain Apears--->Ichigo gets owned---> Train--->Insane Power Up/Transformation--->Ichigo Owns--->Cycle Repeats
Boss battle after boss battle. Team A/Hero A vs. Villain A/Team Villain A. Another thing that is just pure idiocy is the fact that at the end of some chapters, we see someone seemingly "defeat" Aizen. But no, at the beginning of the next chapter he comes back unscathed and defeats that individual. Kubo does this for 3-4 chapters.. seriously talk about wasting your time. The ending of the Aizen arc is predictable and unsatisfying. "The Main Character Loses his powers in the end." I had someone ask me "Do you think he'll get his powers back?" "......." was all I said.

Characters/Development:
There is no major character development at all. If you count the "I want to protect friends and family" or "I want to be stronger to blah blah blah.." as development then your talking about the typical character development you would expect from this type of shounen. To be blunt most of the characters are one-dimensional and quite forgettable. Ichigo, the hotblooded, brave, strong, stubborn, hero. Yawn. Orhime, the useless heroine, Mary Sue and damsel. Chad, the strong yet gentle type. Ishida, the smart, tactical "rival". Azien, the god modding final boss. Yawn. And off course characters for fan service (Matsumoto, Hitsugaya, Hisagi.. etc). The only memorable, uniques ones are Kon, Grimmjaw, Ururu, Kisuke, Karin, and Chizuru. Too many characters does not equal good Kubo, especially when you completely forget about them (cough Nell, Kon, Grimmjaw..etc). Like what happened to everyone after the fight with Aizen? Characters are definitely not the strong point.

Art:
Looks decent. Although the environments are pretty bland and lifeless. Artwork changes overtime to a more mature look for the characters. Plus one for Kubo.

Enjoyment:
Mediocre. I keep telling myself it will get better, but I'm not sure anymore.

Overall:
My score would have been higher if the series ended at the SS arc with all the lose ends tied up. Right now, Kubo is miliking this cow for its worth.

It's addictive (I won't comment on what others had said). There are two arc.(s) till now as the manga is still on-going. While some may not fancy this Espada saga compared to the Soul Society arc. I, on the other hand, think that this arc is just as great as the previous ones. The fights, the sacrifice, the hardship.
Basically, what I think is that the author is trying to create the different points of view in each of the characters. Like "they feel the pinch when another is suffering" and stuffs like that. Also in this (Espada) arc in the manga, it creates a space of each battles and their distance from each other, seeing that their perseverance and determination to get to their comrades side once more is remarkable even though they know that they won't stand against the captain-level Espadas.We also get to know about how they really feel for each other. Such as when Rukia fights, she thinks and puts herself in Inoue's place and takes the effort to say that 'she won't be alone for long'. It's stretchy and a very long-winded way of bringing that effect. Also, we get the captains to show their points of view. As boring as it seems, the manga has truly brought the word 'comrade' in place and at good use.
One of the best manga (s) I have read.

The ending has offically came. After 15 years of publication which experienced a some big highs and many lows, the long winding series of Bleach has reached its conclusion.
Now before I get into the highs and lows of this series I will say its quite a mixed reaction in terms of its ending (without spoilers) because on one hand I was glad that a manga that has suffered more than it needs to at least got some form of conclusion albeit rushed and on the other it is really sad to see a series thats definitely helped bring people into the world of manga end in such a quick way without warning despite its success before things took a bit of a turn for the worst.
First off , the rating I have given the series overall isn't a true reflection of my opinion on Bleach. I personally think its very hard to rate the series because of the up and downs its experienced so I have given it that overall based on my enjoyment due to the fact it got me into reading manga as a whole.

Story: -

To provide a basis for the story without spoiling much for newcomers, Bleach follows Ichigo Kurosaki through his journey as a Subsitute Soul Reaper after obtaining his powers almost through accident. As with many shounens such as Naruto (another former big 3) it has story elements that are similar such as always have a new powerful enemy round the corner, hardships or things they have to learn to get stronger and when they get there powers they become borderline overpowered and provides many side characters back story. Now you may have noticed I am not giving the story any sort of rating itself, and thats because its very very hard to judge. Up untill the Sosuke Aizen final battle the series does very very well in my opinion, creating an overall good story thats interesting and develops characters pretty well. Judging after Aizens defeat is........very very difficult. On the one hand, its interesting to have a time skip, have the characters older, see the different people who are now Captains in the Soul Society but this comes with a consequence of having an arc span 4 and a half years (i believe it started just before the Anime stopped airing fully) which is too long if im completely honest and it felt dragged out for sure. Course I am gonna have to talk about the fact the ending was rushed and Kubo was given hardly any chapters to finish which some can contribute to being his own fault and others can say Shounen Jump were too harsh on a series that was once part of the big 3. Regardless the ending was rushed and kinda ends on a mellow note, but however now this is going to be the only spoiler of this review so skip onto the next section if you don't want to read some but Im very glad that when it came to the who gets together Orihime and Ichigo ended up together and a son too.........

Art: -

I think despite how much the series has fallen off, something Kubo always did successfully well regardless of what you think of his choices in story plot points and the fact things got dragged out, was create and draw the manga well. Bleach's art certainly deserves to be commended.

Character: -

Bleach is a very long running manga so many characters are introduced and many touched upon so I am only going to cover a few of the mains and my favourite characters.
First off is Ichigo the main character who for the most part is a really good main character, he has similarities to Goku and Naruto but isn't as a complete blockhead as them as he is shown to be pretty good on tests for example. He carries the show pretty well for the most part.
Rukia Kuchiki is the character that gives Ichigo his powers by mistake and is portrayed as a generally calm character who acts almost like ichigo's guide in how to be a soul reaper and also happens to be the soul reaper he has the most contact with.
Other main characters include people not related to having Soul Society powers such as Chad who eventually gets almost but on the back burner, Orhime who is the healer of Ichigos friends an over the course of the series falls in love with him and Uryū the calm smart one of the group who always attempts to act cool.
There are many other characters i could talk about but my favourites have to be Kenpachi, a brute force Soul Reaper who has a very terrifying demeanour for some and Shinji Hirako a somewhat comical Soul Reaper introduced a bit later than most others.

Enjoyment: -

I enjoyed so much of this series. I know for sure the story fell off and theres no denying that, but I enjoyed an awful lot of this series due to the fact it brought me in as a manga reader. I never read any manga before this and for that I am for sure forever grateful to it

Overall: -
So the ending has come and the 2nd of what was known as the big 3 leaving only One Piece standing tall (that won't be coming to an end any time soon) . I think regardless of its unfortunate downfall due to maybe going on too long or the story not being interesting anymore etc etc , Bleach deserves its place in history as a Manga that definitely helped introduce a lot of people into Manga as a whole (its the 2nd most popular on this site in terms of people that have read it, as of me writing this) . I guess we will have to see what the Live Action film holds for us (hopefully the anime comes back to finish off the rest of the story)