Anime Reviews Reviews

Anime Analysis: Bleach (2004) by Noriyuki Abe

"Bleach" emerges as one of the top classics of the genre, with the Soul Society and Arrancar arcs being among the best ever to appear in a shonen, thus making the title a must-watch for all fans of the category. Leaving out the fillers and occasionally moving the episodes fast-forward, definitely emerges as a necessity though.

One of the most iconic (shonen) anime of all times, based on the homonymous manga by , “” is getting a new release in 2022 (probably) which will focus on the last arc of the original, “Thousand Year Blood War”. Thus, it seems like a good time to take a look at what the anime was all about.

The article is filled with spoilers

The story, which eventually extended to 366 episodes (of which about 45% are fillers, which we will not deal with here), takes place in Karakura Town and focuses on Ichigo Kurosaki, a 15-year-old high school student. During a fateful night, Kurosaki becomes a substitute Soul Reaper when Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper, cannot fulfill her duties after engaging in battle with a particularly powerful Hollow. Although initially reluctant to accept the heavy responsibility, he begins eliminating Hollows in Rukia's place and during this time discovers that several of his friends and classmates are spiritually aware, and have powers of their own. Uryu Ishida is a Quincy who can use spirit particles to create weapons, mostly bow-like ones,  Orihime Inoue possesses a group of protective spirits known as the Shun Shun Rikka (which can block, heal, and attack) and Yasutora Sado (“Chad”) has strength equal to the Hollows encased in his tough right (and eventually left) arm.

The mystery, action and humor (unfortunately, the trademark extreme changes of the appearances of the characters and the loud voices Japanese otaku seem to like so much are not missing)  premises of the anime are presented from the beginning of these introductory episodes, which focus mainly on introducing the characters. Some of them, like Kon, end up being mostly comedic, but through the interactions with them, more details about the protagonists and their background are revealed, with the same applying to the fact that Rukia ends up attending Kurosaki, Ishida, Chad, and Orihime's classroom. The fanservice elements are also introduced here, although they are somewhat toned down, restricted on Rukia's rather short skirt and Orihime's voluptuous bosom. A brutal and also dramatic fight in episode 9 provides “prequel” of what is about to follow, but takes his time, giving space to the characters to unfold. Furthermore, what becomes evident here is how much the title, and particularly Masashi Kudou's character design has inspired later titles, like “Mob Psycho 100”.

Starting with episode 16 and the appearance of some of the rest of the Shinigamis, most notably Abarai and Byakuya, who turns out to be Rukia's brother, the “real” “Bleach” begins to show itself, with the battle here being a precursor of the epicness that was about to follow. A bit later, and as the humans begin to train, the role Urahara really plays begins to unravel, although the mysteries continue to pile up, with the presence of Yoruichi adding to both concepts. Eventually, Ichigo, Orihime, Chad and Yoruichi travel to Soul Society to save Rukia, who is to be executed for giving her powers to Kurosaki. It is this arc, where the legend of “Bleach” was truly cemented.

The character design ups several levels, particularly upon the appearance of the captains, all of which are impressively drawn and differ significantly from each other, in a testament to Kudou's work in the department. The battles here are truly epic, also showcasing another of the great traits of the series, that of pairing characters in one-on-one fights, in a way that truly adds to the overall context. The ones Kurosaki has are probably the most impressive, with the one with Kenpachi being one of the best ever in the genre, but the fact that each enemy the intruders stumble upon is stronger than the previous one, intensifies this element, resulting in additional great battles, as soon as the captains come out. In that regard, Ishida vs Mayuri, and Chad vs Shunsui are equally great with Kurosaki's. The masterful animation by finds its apogee in those scenes, with the movements of the characters matching their impact to their surroundings in the most elaborate way.

Furthermore, as the story progresses, Abe also allows for deep character analysis of the key members of Soul Society and the social structure of the realms. Particularly the relationships among various members and mostly of the captains with their lieutenants, add much depth to the title, while the way that something strange is going on is excellently handled by Abe, with the combination of the two and particularly the role of Aizen, Ichimaru and Tosen are revealed to play resulting in a rather shocking twist. Additionally, the concept of Bankai and the personification of the swords the Shinigamis carry add even more to both the aforementioned concepts, as they allow the characters to level up during the battles, extending the fights in the most impressive way. That with each revelation more mysteries are created also adds to the overall context, with Yoruichi's role and true appearance providing another shocking element.

The humor in this arc becomes somewhat smarter, with the fact that most characters in Soul Society and eventually, Kurosaki, also, talk and act like yakuza emerging as rather entertaining. At the same time, the need for slapstick humor and dumb moments does not miss also, essentially toning down the impact of the title, as Abe seems to try to relieve the tension and the drama and probably address the younger audience. The fanservice elements are also intensified here, with the appearance of both Yoruichi and Matsumoto taking the concept to a whole other level.

The revelation that  Aizen framed Rukia for the crime and has been illegally experimenting on Soul Reapers and Hollows, in an effort to take over Soul Society via the use of the Hogyoku, a legendary substance that can turn Hollows into half Soul Reapers and vice versa, increasing their powers greatly, brings us to the next part, which is mostly a transitional one. Aizen has escaped to Hueco Mundo, the realm of the Hollows, where he strengthens his army and his own power. Meanwhile, a number of high ranking Shinigamis have transferred to Karakura and are even posing as students in order to anticipate an attack by Aizen and his minions, in a concept that mostly moves into comedic directions, at least until the first foes appear. One of Aizen's henchmen, a rather powerful Arrancar named Ulquiorra, later abducts Orihime as she is instrumental in creating the Oken, a power that will allow Aizen to kill the Soul King, the ruler of Soul Society, thus kickstarting an arc that leads our protagonists to Hueco Mundo. Before that, however, Kurosaki is trained by the Vizards, other exiled Soul Reapers who were unwilling subjects of Aizen's experiments and developed Hollow powers, with the same applying to most of his allies, who also grow their power exponentially for the upcoming find.

I daresay that the Hueco Mundo arc and particularly the finale with the simultaneous battles in the Arrancar World and Karakura Town is even better than the Soul Society ones. Once more, the character design of the new characters is exceptional, the pairing of the duels top notch, while Abe also allows enough time for the villains and their interrelations to be thoroughly explored, with Grimmjow's story in particular being quite intricate, as much as the reasons the three former Soul Society Captains turned against their former comrades. Once more, Kurosaki's fights are probably the most impressive, but a number of others, like the one involving the actual leader of Soul Society, Yamamoto, the Szayel Aporro Granz vs Mayuri, the Kenpachi vs Nnoitra Gilga (yes, the names of the Arrancars are all ridiculous like that) and a number of others between Soul Society Captains and Arrancars, are quite memorable, to say the least.

The whole concept of Hueco Mundo and Aizen's taking over it adds another element to the series, as the exploitation aspect here is rather intense, with the dog-eat-dog premises, the torture, particularly the one Orihime experiences, the cannibalism revolving around the growth of Arrancars, the story of Nel and the overall role of Nnoitra being rather brutal but at the same time intently dramatic. This aspect allows the artwork to extend to another level, retaining, though the same, rather high level of artistry.

The last part of the series, which unfolds 2 years after the fight with Aizen, is not a filler, but might as well have been, since the Fullbringer arc sees an intense deterioration in the quality of the script, although the drawing and the animation are rather better here, 8 years after the series begun. The sole benefit of this arc seems to be to shed some light to the past of Kurosaki, his father's and Urahara, although the questions left unanswered are also a lot. Furthermore, after an arc like the one with the Arrancars, that the series ends up in such a note is truly disappointing, with the intensifying of the fanservice as exhibited in Orihime's overgrown bosom making the whole thing even sadder.

This last part can be added to the abundance of fillers, the lengthy recaps that accompanied each episode after a fashion, essentially decreasing their actual duration to less than 17 minutes, and the extended flashbacks, which dulled the impact of the series significantly. Particularly those who were watching the show every week at the time, must have been particularly annoyed with this tactic.

At the end, however, even if the annoying elements are quite a lot here, “Bleach” emerges as one of the top classics of the genre, with the Soul Society and Arrancar arcs being among the best ever to appear in a shonen, thus making the title a must-watch for all fans of the category. Leaving out the fillers and occasionally moving the episodes fast-forward, definitely emerges as a necessity though.  

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

My name is Panos Kotzathanasis and I am Greek. Being a fan of Asian cinema and especially of Chinese kung fu and Japanese samurai movies since I was a little kid, I cultivated that love during my adolescence, to extend to the whole of SE Asia.

Starting from my own blog in Greek, I then moved on to write for some of the major publications in Greece, and in a number of websites dealing with (Asian) cinema, such as Taste of Cinema, Hancinema, EasternKicks, Chinese Policy Institute, and of course, Asian Movie Pulse. in which I still continue to contribute.

In the beginning of 2017, I launched my own website, Asian Film Vault, which I merged in 2018 with Asian Movie Pulse, creating the most complete website about the Asian movie industry, as it deals with almost every country from East and South Asia, and definitely all genres.

You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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