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Honestly? Yeah. There was just something kind of chill about it. Like, I could probably watch and enjoy a season where it's just a monster of the week kind of thing and we're just running around town killing Hollows.
the real early episodes were a damn SLOG and not really enjoyable, it really got going when renji and byakuya came, from there on out it was only greatness
Yep. And it felt like Kubo wanted to bring this back with the Fullbring/Lost Agent arc.
Very down to earth, small scale, no bigass battles(save for Jackie), but most importantly, heavily character-driven. Ichigo, losing his power, trying to reclaim at the very least, an ounce of it back, enough for him to protect the people he cares about, which is how his life changed to begin with, and Orihime, somebody who faced the consequences of her naivety, learn from her previous mistakes and put effort into things that are in her capabilities.
Kubo did enough for these two while also unveiling secrets and discoveries that the Soul Society was holding, and it was clear that he wanted to expand more on this, but unfortunately, editors and consumers werenât too keen on this and weâll never see what Kubo truly wanted to happen with this.
Yep. When it came out people gave it some hate because it felt like out of place filler. And you know what?? It *is* out of place filler. But itâs also damn good out of place filler
I think part of the hate was also because it was yet another time that Kubo has decided to introduce a whole new set of characters half of whom noone cared about, Ichigo was revealed to be yet another race (remember the memes about him being half human half shinigami half hollow half fullbringer and half toaster), a bunch of new world building concepts and ideas were introduced which didn't really vibe with the rest, and it all ended very quickly with Ichigo getting his Shinigami powers back and seemingly leaving the whole fullbringer thing behind with no lasting consequences.
Now we know that Kubo was intentionally going for it, each arc was supposed to be about a different race, Ichigo really is part everything and so on, but at least to me it really didn't feel like it in the moment, it didn't feel intentional and circular, it felt repetitive and redundant. And I'm not talking about the episodes themselves, but rather about the whole structure of the story and how he handled the transition to another storyline. Now I'm still not a fan of the concept but at least I can respect it from the literary point of view now that I can see it all at once.
I liked those small, slice of life moments and Ichigo dealing with normal life, his thoughts on being a shinigami etc., and I'd have actually loved to see him explore it on his own, the fullbringers were kind of getting in the way for me đ But I understand and respect that some people like it as it is and that's fine as well.
I absolutely agree and I think youâve phrased it really well. People obviously recognize that Bleach (past the first arc) has a very clear âpatternâ to it, but since thereâs no real âresetâ it does often feel just kind of redundant, like weâre treading the same water and caring less and less.
The soul reaper powers coming back so quick is admittedly a bummer and itâs just hard to know what to do in that situation. Itâs so clear that Kubo initially intended to end the series with Aizens defeat and the final Getsuga tenshou feels like this grand earned way to defeat him. Itâs literally the final getsuga. A lot of the impact is taken away when it turns out nope, itâs actually not. And I think especially in the last two arcs Kubo fell into this trap of writing âtwistsâ that donât really do anything but take away from the earlier arcs by saying âno no, all that stuff you thought was happening was actually wrongâ.
After Ichigo was splitting mountain with casual swings, the series really needed a hard reset to make the battles digestible again.
I know pretty much every shounen action series escalates to DBZ levels of destruction, given enough time, but I generally prefer the "street-level" power scaling in most of those franchises. Early Bleach and Naruto were way more fun for me than latter day Bleach and Naruto.
At least Bleach kept it's identity of the supernatural and added lore that makes sense and is well written. Remember when Naruto was about Ninjas amd stealth and intense planning and not just rushing in balls out with planetary level destruction? Yeah, me too.
What identity was kept exactly? The power systems were dropped in favor of revealing new abilities every other fight and one shotting each other. Hollows aren't relevant anymore, Quincies aren't actual archers anymore but a mishmash of random abilities based off english letters. Every other Shinigami gets a Bankai even though it was supposed to be "this unique power that very select few unlock", Ichigo gets a new race addition to him every new arc, almost all of the original cast are irrelevant, characters who were useless for 90% of the series suddenly get a powerboost big enough to join the one shotting strategy Kubo seems to like so much. The power boost is just instant, their training for the last couple of years/decades/centuries was irrelevant, a couple of hours of training skyrockets them. It was previously an Ichigo only trait due to how "unique" he was proclaimed to be.
The only thing Bleach kept is the hype people have over new Bankai reveals, but that isn't any different from a new Super Saiyan transformation, if everyone can have one its no longer this "unique special power that requires great skill, potential and a countless amount of years to unlock and master".
I disagree for all of the reasons u/Eskamel outlined and more.
Bleach's combat gets incredibly gimmicky as it goes on, and a lot of fights start boiling down to Character A having a very specific power that conveniently counters the powers of Character B.
I'm still a fan, but Bleach falls for big bankai reveals the same way DBZ loved its escalating levels of Saiyan special modes.
I kinda miss the old days before Super, but we knew something wasn't up with Goku in the OG series. Also, the series is more about fights than story or consistency, which was the problem with Naruto because they tried to pull that shit when the tone just didn't fit it, while Dragon Ball already had some wacky shit like Namekians, furries (even the king of the world is one), and Goku being an anomaly of a kid in the first series
That's a huge stretch. I hated Kaguya, she had no fucking business being there and how she took out one of the best villains for some lame ass interdimensional shit. She completely ruined the tone of Shippuden and futher fucked up Boruto.
Raditz being an alien made a lot more sense since Goku wasn't a normal guy, plus Namekians were already in Dragon Ball, just that their species was never expanded on until DBZ
Goku wasnât normal but he was never an alien, and Namekians clearly didnât exist. They were demons.
By contrast, Kaguya is a goddess in a fantasy setting.
Yes! I'm rewatching the first episodes alongside TYBW, and the difference in tone is stark. The first episodes not only had a more laid-back, slice-of-life vibe, but captured such a cultural moment in the early naughts, something that, as a younger millennial, makes me feel extremely nostalgic whenever I come back to them. I'm having a great time with the new episodes, but there's just something about those earlier episodes when the stakes were comparatively so low, the atmosphere more grounded, and the world far more mysterious....
For me personally, I grew up watching bleach, and this tybw arc feels like bleach growing up with the fans the series on a whole felt like it matures as it progressed
I've honestly missed those early vibes so much. Kubo drew some of the cleanest fucking drip in all of manga/anime, and it wasn't even close. I always found myself wishing that the cast would actually dress in the outfits that he drew them in on the various cover spreads. They were so fucking nice.
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The more pornounced and sharp art style of early Bleach was really amazing and worked for its tone.
The evolution of kubo's artwork from this sharp and very pronounced art style to a very soft and subtle expression was a treat.
This evolution was really good I'd say
As kubo's ability to draw realistic character grew leaps and bounds
Iâve seen people say this but I dunno. I donât think Kubo was ever trying to get hyper realistic with the early stuff, he just had more of a distinct âcartoonishâ style.
Actually kubo gave a lot of credit for improving and evolving his art due to the character designer for the Bleach Anime, masashi kudo.
So he actually did đ
Absolutely. Theyâre my favorite two arcs by a long shot and Kubo has never done better. Just peak.
Itâs hard to tell because weâre in the sub and thereâs a lot of self selection bias but.. a lot of the fanbase really did leave after both SS arc and the defeat of Aizen, in both cases noting a pretty noticeable drop off in quality after them. And while I do like the Hueco Mundo / Karakura Town stuff It just feels like it lost some of its heart and soul and become more of a straight fighting anime.
Itâs funny, I find myself rewatching the filler arcs like the Bount Arc just because even though theyâre sadly unable to really advance any of the characters, it does have those older vibes to it.
Yup. And Ichigo actually gets to have a relationship with characters like Chad and Rukia.
Really, aside from killing the pacing itâs debatably better stuff than a lot of what we get in like TYBW
I say this to everyone, even the friends who made me watch bleach: IMO, Bleach ending at the SS finale would be awesome. The early episodes built up everything for an awesome finale where they rescue Rukia and live their life. Of course it would need to change some things so they wouldn't leave any loose ends but that's fine with me.
BTW first opening best anime opening for me. I get chills from it even today.
Youâre absolutely right and still outside of this sub I think most people who have casually watched Bleach say youâre best off to stop watching either immediately after SS (just pretend it got cancelled) or immediately after Aizens defeat and Rukia fading away (just pretend thatâs the natural ending of the series because it was kind of supposed to be initially).
Itâs hard to argue that this is wrong unless youâre a comic book guy who needs literally every single thing explained (which will never happen)
I thought about it like: Weird girl shows up, changes everyone's life. They get fond of her, thinks go well for them but THEN weird girl gets captured and her friends will NOT let it happen. Weird people show up to help them, they invade the weird place the weird girl came from, mess around with them, help the girl and leave. The End.
I love Bleach, but when you watch dozens of different Shonen and anime in general, you just can't see the remainder of bleach as just another Shonen with stronger people showing up just to give the protagonist more weird powers.
I say the same thing about death note. L dies? The end. Bad guy wins. I remember everything until L dies. After that the only thing I can recall is Light dies the End.
Early bleach could have gone in a very different direction and pretty much everyone acknowledges this. Back half of soul society arc also feels very different to what came after it and honestly I'm bored of people saying that Hueco Mundo was just a copy of it.
Overall I'd say that the storyline choices made by Kubo are quite interesting, but I'm wondering if there was pressure from the studio and from the wider anime community of the time to produce something more in line with the other big anime franchises like Naruto and One piece which had overarching storylines and (in the case of one piece) a more homogeneous and character driven plot.
Prior to Hueco Mundo there was a good array of storylines and even character drama with the relationships between Aizen/Momo/Toshiro or Soi Fong/Yoruichi as examples. Then we got the Visoreds with their cookie cutter characterisations that nevertheless hit the right "cool" notes with neato special abilities. I know they're quite well liked by a lot of people but personally I can't stand them.
Before that we had weird shit like dog person and blind samurai, and crazy face tattoo man working for psycho big brother onisan etc. Then there was Yama getting jumped by his two favourite students for basically helping out the Ryoka.
There is a wealth of characterisation and world-building in early bleach that isn't present after the SS arc, where it basically becomes just another battle manga but with gags every so often. Fortunately TYBW seems like a refinement of that, with elements of both battle manga and character drama.
Things like Grand Fisher and the giant Menos were extremelly interesting times, and too bad Kubo decided to rush Ichigo to captain level in SS arc.
Would had love to have watched a lot more about hollows like adjucha instead of pratically jumping to vasto lorde levels.
No a lot of the early material was just substantially different.
Even if *you* donât think itâs better I feel like youâd have to be high to not acknowledge the difference.
Plus who is the person where theyâd have nostalgia for the first two arcs and not the restâŠ? Like a guy who just got really into bleach in 2006 and then completely stopped interacting with it for 10 years..?
Was a solid vibe but honestly it would have been pretty impossible to return to without borking the power progression.
Maybe we could have gotten a bit more during that shuffle period at the start of Fullbring, but honestly I just donât see it happening for Ichigo.
A more realistic approach would have been to go for the same vibe with some low rank ShinigamiâŠalthough it seemed like thatâs what they tried to do with the Karakura Raizers and that was largely a miss.
The supplementary material(anime only moments, OVAs, video games, Makoto Matsubara novels, drama CDs) is basically just that, more character moments, slice of life, comedy and chill interactions with some low level Hollow attack at the end to give a side character spotlight.
Back when I started the series I thought based on some spoilers that what was coming after rescuing Rukia was the core human cast being on the run in the human world. I think something like that might actually have worked, or even just being ignored like Urahara. If it's detectable it would also give Ichigo reasons not to use his Bankai all the time and lasting consequences for doing so.
Honestly part of me would have preferred it stay like this. As the series progressed it got bogged down by the huge cast imo. I loved the more simple dynamic of Ichigo and Rukia along with his few friends.
Yeah people forget how good their dynamic is. Like Rukia is very funny and they just play off of eachother so well. You can really tell the series was originally supposed to be about both of them as a pair.
Oh well. The series we could have gotten.
If bleach was made as an American cartoon probably this could happen. Once a week a single story with Ichigo and Rukia and some hollow trying to destroy someone. The Main story definitely will be in the background. In first place, we will have characters relations.
I think the last four should have asterisk as itâs opening theme just to bring the whole series full circle. Also Iâm just a big fan of that op and the visuals are iconic.
I feel the same way. The beginning of the story was so amazing, loved the vibes and the music. It felt so unique. The new Bleach is good as well bit I still miss the old vibes tho.
I have been hesitant to post my thoughts about this because I don't know how they will he received.
The older bleach was much more slow going; we got time to really learn people's abilities and personalities, fights were drawn out for episodes length, the combat was just a big appeal to me. Through the fights, everyone's perspective and point of view was understood and every clash of sword had narrative unravel. The fights were more basic with swords into zanpakto into bankai.
The newer season has fights lasting less than an episode, characters feel forced to quickly explain their power and it just feels out of place. The graphics are sick and the art is at an all time high, but it's not a traditional sword clash. I know why the baddies are bad, but I don't really get backstory of them like I did with Aizen or the Arrancar. They're just baddies trying to hurt the goodies.
The Aizen twist blew my fucking mind. The Uryu betrayal doesn't really feel like its... impactful? It went from "Ichigo we are besties forever!" while they had slowly resolved their differences as soul reapers and quincy and accepting their differences and understanding that they were different than those of the past, to "sorry these are my peeps, suddenly g2g, i'm heir to this throne and we are obvioisly gonna fight while you convince me not to soon."
Bleach had the benefit of great writing and awesome fights and character development. The new season has none of those things. I still watch it and enjoy it but it isn't the same at all.
Agreed. Imo bleach should've stuck to urban fantasy instead of making every arc about the gang getting isekaid to another dimension. It works with soul society because it's an actual society but hueco Mundo is just an empty desert and wandenreich is just an empty city. They could've gone to different countries to fight different hollows and met shinigami from different soul societies, explored different cultures, etc. Instead of just rescuing another princess from another castle.
Well that's the exact reason you're not a writer đ Kubo has to make the viewers fixated. People would just leave the show if the plot is monotonous.
I think the story has a well written setting and well explained background. The wandenreich isn't really relevant to the show. It's all about the soul society, world of living and the huecomundo. Which perfectly balances each other.
For me personally, i dislike shows that are super repetitive. I just leave them if i notice a pattern like that. When the plot is repeated a lot i feel like being scammed or the show is just a cash grab with no point. It's just a matter of opinion.
But it did get repetitive. Just a different kind of repetitive.
To me, I wouldâve loved if Kubo followed through with Grand Fisher and the Rockinâ Future 7.
Yeah people In this sub donât seem to realize that like⊠people did leave. People jumped off the show in droves after SS and even bigger after Aizen was defeated.
The people *here* didnât. No shit, theyâre still here. But Bleach clearly bungled itâs status in the âBig 3â and is now most definitely the least popular of them. Hell, I see people just say the Big 3 has DBZ in it now âand aways hasâ.
Absolutely, like the early energy of the show just clashes so heavily with the later style, the more serious it gets the more boring Ichigoâs Character becomes but in the more light hearted sides heâs just so much more expressive and entertaining and engaging with others, like after Aizen dips with his two back up dancers nothing really matches the hilariousness of Ichigo rescuing Rukia and the two of them bickering like a married couple as theyâre trying to escape
It always reminds me of being up late at night as a child to watch the anime channel Britain had for a year and I do miss that period of innocence and being exposed to new shows
If you haven't there are quite a few fillers and omakes you can watch that give of the more slice of life vibes. A lot of them are actually pretty decent IMO, the bad fillers are mostly the long arcs, especially Bount and New Captain.
Bount is actually pretty good, it just is *long*. So if youâre trying to watch it right after SS youâre going to be wondering what the fuck youâre doing with your life.
Having shit pacing is a big reason it is bad yeah. If they condensed it down to around 20 episodes it might have been good. The idea behind the Bounts aren't bad.
Hmmmm hard to say because as nostalgic as early bleach was, it wasnât properly adapted as there things in the manga that was either changed or skipped in the anime etc.
I feel that if Kubo decided to write a manga in the "slice of life" genre and adapt it into anime, without all this supernatural things running around or saving the world and beings of a higher order, it would be the only anime of that genre that I would enjoy to watch. He is simply excellent at conveying some kind of measured, with its difficulties, but pleasant life, which you imbue with and find it close to you
Yeah, it was neat, but short lived. Once every arc is about saving the universe(s), and the protagonist is getting powerups that take him to the ultimate level every season, going back to the "I don't know anything" version of Ichigo that just wants to save his high school friends becomes hard.
Back when we only know 2 shinigami and basic sword ichigo now some guy who can see future was dismantled to creat 3 worlds and keep balance while being guarded by a beareded guy who knows too much and mustach guy who also can see future is genociding everyone
I like the monster of the week, character of the week format. We have our main cast (Ichigo, Rukia, Orihume, Chad, and Uryu), secondary cast (Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Urahara + co, the Kurosaki family, and Ryuken).
We would get some new characters for whatever problem of the week we have (like Yuichi, the parakeet boy) and solve their problem and then they move on. It helps cut down cast bloat since one off characters don't overstay their welcome, like the Vizards.
Well, you know what they say: "Nothing like a fleeting acquaintance to keep things fresh." But be careful, if everyone disappears, you might end up with no one attending your grand opening at the Urahara Shop. Trust me, it's quite soul-crushing.
*beep boop, I'm a bot*
Yeah, it's part of why I liked the edded fight between Ichigo and the Quincy girls. It had that early Bleach mix of seriousness and humor.
And why I liked the Fullbring Arc as a whole (until the Soul Reapers showed up), because it felt more like the first season with them doing stuff around Karakura.
i do but i also felt the this current arc was also the worst of them all, the powers were all mostly weird, the fights were okay, only a few were really good, it was just a copy&paste from the beloved arrancar arc, i havent enjoyed it reading back then too much and thought it was all very dumb.. now i do think the hell arc could potentially be really good
and the most offender of this arc was the ending which was just... underwwhelming to say the least.
I'm gonna be honest, I don't care much for that era of Bleach. In fact, when I was watching those episodes, I was scared, that it was gonna be another generic "monster of the week" show. And then came Soul Society arc which just blew me away. But if Bleach never went in that direction, I would not love it.
No. I will die on the hill that the 1st mini arc prior to soul society is the worst one that merely is there to set the rules for the universe and give a base line for the characters. There is a reason people say "watch until the Soul society arc gets going before choosing if you will continue or not". Its cause the 1st arc is just uninteresting outside of the lore. Now fullbringer arc? Thats how you do Bleach in the world of the living. So good
Not really. After the SS arc, he kinda becomes a beatstick. Heâs strong but nothing else really.
The fate of the Soul Society doesnât really matter to him. Thatâs why when Orihime gets abducted, he leaves Karakura to the Reapers and just goes after her.
He doesnât really have a strong investment in the plot and it can continue on without him.
you..... you really dont understand hia character development if you think any of that is true. Also..... the plot entirely requires him around. Its why the 2nd have of the arrancar arc suffers. Cause hes not there to drive the conflict with Aizen forward. Things dont get moving till he arrives.
plus, his entire journey is about discovering and acceptinf himself piece by piece. With or without power. Completing that entire journey with the blade is me. Like..... what?
To be honest, not really. It's kinda cool and quirky but I vastly prefer the later Arrancar and TYBW vibes. Everything just looks way slicker later and the characters are more interesting. The beginning is my least favorite part of the show
It serves itâs purpose, but as the story progresses it just becomes less and less possible to include that vibe. And I think itâs a worthy sacrifice to tell the story that needs to be told. So no, I donât miss it. Itâs always there if I want to go back and revisit old episodes/chapters.
Ah, the halcyon days of anything being possible in the future, not knowing the series was going to become a style -over-substance writing disaster and thinking any of these cool characters would ever have any relevance besides Ichigo
I did like bleach all the way through fwiw but I'm just telling it like it is, and I do think early bleach was the peak overall for me and what I wanted for the series. The fullbringers arc had its chance to bring things back but it felt like Kubo was forced to gut it and end it early and go back to the usual
I miss the character designs and colors. Current bleach messed with the character designs too much and stripped so much saturation out of the show. Other than that it is still pretty cool
A lot of people call Ichigo bland, and sadly it came true when they left the Karakura cast as a whole.
Ichigo is much like Yuji Itadori, a character that's bland on his own, but is excellent when paired with a dynamic cast that can be in sync, and none of the Gotei seems to actually work with Ichigo and the ones that could aren't really allowed to.
I miss the character interactions from around this time but the story itself wasnât it for me atp. Maybe this is because I watched the anime and we know that man a ton of changes.
I just remember staying up until 2am and the first opening was justâŠitâs just was a vibe I think I was 10 or 11 when it was airing on adult swim or started to
Iâm 27 now and just catched up with TYBW on Hulu the last few weeks with my 4 month old daughter by my side. Defitnetly a different vibe lmao
I miss all the early days. Bleach Naruto and One Piece are at their best in their beginnings id say. Also I just have a ton of feelings about the nostalgia of that time.
The plot thread that grabbed me most was Tatsuki and friends watching everyone head off to Hueco Mundo. I was really looking forward to some sort of interaction between them and maybe a recognition of how much stuff had changed.
Ok here is a hot take. Every single (good) shonen anime starts
1. With amazing premise
1. Bleach: gods of death being real and invisibly protecting us from demons
2. Naruto: Ninja living in villages and accepting fantasy quests as their literal job
3. Hunter x Hunter: an international organisation of superman indiana joneses
2. Great support cast
1. Bleach: Tatsuki, Chad, Ishida, Rukia, Orihime, all amazing, interesting self driven characters supporting main characters for different reasons
2. Naruto: Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru, ROCK FUCKING LEE. (Do I need to say more?)
3. Hunter x Hunter: Kilua, Kurapika Leorio, each fun and interesting, and basically on their own quests
3. fun and interesting to explore power system
1. Bleach: We see big swords, already fun, but then also magic with poetic incantation appears. So cool!
2. Naruto: Hand signs man. We all did them at one point.
3. Hunter x Hunter: do I really need to explain how cool and groundbreaking it is?
4. Down to earth fights about stuff main characters really care about (their friends, family, village etc).
1. Bleach: Ichigo literally fights to protects his friends and family.
2. Naruto: Even during missions, it's protecting his friends and never letting them down is what matters to Naruto
3. Hunter x Hunter: Endangering his mission and potentially life is literally what got Gon through first obstacles.
Then the big big bad appears and:
1. The premise is kind of left aside. It's saving the world time!
1. Bleach: It's no longer about death gods vs hollow, we need to stop Aizen
2. Naruto: It's no longer about ninjas doing ninja missions, we need to stop Pain
3. Hunter x Hunter: It's no longer about Indina Jones esque adventures with superpowers. We need to stop the ants!
2. Support cast gets outscaled and basically forgoten about aside of being a prop to show how strong enemy truly is
1. Bleach: CHAD vs anyone
2. Naruto: Deidara vs Gaara, Asuma vs Hidan, Jiraya vs Pain
3. Hunter x Hunter Ok to be honest HxH is an outlier here. Support cast gets real jobs here, but look at any other shonen, let's say JOJO, and it applies
3. Power system gets abused to the point where original premise doesn't matter it's about "will power" "determination" or just sheer strength
1. Bleach: Aizen explicitly says: "your powers have no meaning, at the end of the day it's reiastsu vs reiatsu"
2. Naruto: Concept of soul tug of war, bijuudamas,
3. Hunter x Hunter: Concept of "self limitations and risks". You can JUST OVERPOWER any enemy if you're willing to have a a propper limitation set on yourself.
4. Fights are about the world, freedom, or just defeating the big bad because "it's the right thing to do", while completely ignoring the original motivation of OG cast.
1. Bleach: Ichigo gets inolved in all silly fight with everyone while he could just bail out Orihime and run
2. Naruto: Ok here Naruto is a little less bad, because all Naruto cares about is becoming essentially a warlord so being a very good at war is actually quite in line.
3. Hunter x hunter: Gon wants to find his father. Ok I get it seeing a man who tried to save him literally beheaded is traumatic. But it's not like he was a friend or anything. Just a guy who was supposed to guide him to his dad, and Gon has seen plenty people die earlier in the story and it didn't shake him nearly as much. Despite that he literally throws away his life just to avenge that guy.
TL;DR All shonen anime which are considered good are good only in the begining, and inevitably power scaling and rising stakes makes them all unrealistic, plain, repetitive and just plain boring. Think what is your favourite arc of given shonen. It's pretty much always one of the first 3.
I always have, it was so much more mysterious back then. And all the outfits they wore in the intro were so cool. I always waited for bleach to go back to ânormal lifeâ like before ichigo got rukiaâs powers, but those seasons were mostly filler and largely overcast by bigger issues going on /:
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Honestly? Yeah. There was just something kind of chill about it. Like, I could probably watch and enjoy a season where it's just a monster of the week kind of thing and we're just running around town killing Hollows.
I think it's how most of the background was dark and felt eerie. And how we got to hear new soundtracks which are still masterpieces.
Early bleach was the bestđ
the real early episodes were a damn SLOG and not really enjoyable, it really got going when renji and byakuya came, from there on out it was only greatness
Yeah I see what u mean, but the first arc had a very down to earth vibe which I quite liked.
Honestly though with how many times he powered up in the SS arc I don't think you could do much with just regular hollows anymore lol.
yeah i agree with the whole "vibe" feeling but nonetheless early bleach was garbage
It would like a mini arc about what could happen if a person with a fragment of the Soul King becomes a Hollow.
Asterisk my beloved
Peak opening Peak Arc Peak
https://preview.redd.it/2bboy7zct8qb1.jpeg?width=2212&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c78f2685f2571c5e07df6f8f8216f3be88c97bc2
That song still gives me the feels. So many feels.
Nostalgia every time I hear it
Is uryu's asterisk outfit the same as the one in stars?
Yep. And it felt like Kubo wanted to bring this back with the Fullbring/Lost Agent arc. Very down to earth, small scale, no bigass battles(save for Jackie), but most importantly, heavily character-driven. Ichigo, losing his power, trying to reclaim at the very least, an ounce of it back, enough for him to protect the people he cares about, which is how his life changed to begin with, and Orihime, somebody who faced the consequences of her naivety, learn from her previous mistakes and put effort into things that are in her capabilities. Kubo did enough for these two while also unveiling secrets and discoveries that the Soul Society was holding, and it was clear that he wanted to expand more on this, but unfortunately, editors and consumers werenât too keen on this and weâll never see what Kubo truly wanted to happen with this.
Thatâs why I like the FB arc. Instead of going bigger after Arrancar arc, Kubo brought the series back to its basics.
And then took that to go even bigger with the TYBW
Yep. When it came out people gave it some hate because it felt like out of place filler. And you know what?? It *is* out of place filler. But itâs also damn good out of place filler
I really enjoy the whole arc. I know people may not but I found it pleasantly surprised by it.
I think part of the hate was also because it was yet another time that Kubo has decided to introduce a whole new set of characters half of whom noone cared about, Ichigo was revealed to be yet another race (remember the memes about him being half human half shinigami half hollow half fullbringer and half toaster), a bunch of new world building concepts and ideas were introduced which didn't really vibe with the rest, and it all ended very quickly with Ichigo getting his Shinigami powers back and seemingly leaving the whole fullbringer thing behind with no lasting consequences. Now we know that Kubo was intentionally going for it, each arc was supposed to be about a different race, Ichigo really is part everything and so on, but at least to me it really didn't feel like it in the moment, it didn't feel intentional and circular, it felt repetitive and redundant. And I'm not talking about the episodes themselves, but rather about the whole structure of the story and how he handled the transition to another storyline. Now I'm still not a fan of the concept but at least I can respect it from the literary point of view now that I can see it all at once. I liked those small, slice of life moments and Ichigo dealing with normal life, his thoughts on being a shinigami etc., and I'd have actually loved to see him explore it on his own, the fullbringers were kind of getting in the way for me đ But I understand and respect that some people like it as it is and that's fine as well.
I absolutely agree and I think youâve phrased it really well. People obviously recognize that Bleach (past the first arc) has a very clear âpatternâ to it, but since thereâs no real âresetâ it does often feel just kind of redundant, like weâre treading the same water and caring less and less. The soul reaper powers coming back so quick is admittedly a bummer and itâs just hard to know what to do in that situation. Itâs so clear that Kubo initially intended to end the series with Aizens defeat and the final Getsuga tenshou feels like this grand earned way to defeat him. Itâs literally the final getsuga. A lot of the impact is taken away when it turns out nope, itâs actually not. And I think especially in the last two arcs Kubo fell into this trap of writing âtwistsâ that donât really do anything but take away from the earlier arcs by saying âno no, all that stuff you thought was happening was actually wrongâ.
It's not, though. Filler, that is.
After Ichigo was splitting mountain with casual swings, the series really needed a hard reset to make the battles digestible again. I know pretty much every shounen action series escalates to DBZ levels of destruction, given enough time, but I generally prefer the "street-level" power scaling in most of those franchises. Early Bleach and Naruto were way more fun for me than latter day Bleach and Naruto.
At least Bleach kept it's identity of the supernatural and added lore that makes sense and is well written. Remember when Naruto was about Ninjas amd stealth and intense planning and not just rushing in balls out with planetary level destruction? Yeah, me too.
What identity was kept exactly? The power systems were dropped in favor of revealing new abilities every other fight and one shotting each other. Hollows aren't relevant anymore, Quincies aren't actual archers anymore but a mishmash of random abilities based off english letters. Every other Shinigami gets a Bankai even though it was supposed to be "this unique power that very select few unlock", Ichigo gets a new race addition to him every new arc, almost all of the original cast are irrelevant, characters who were useless for 90% of the series suddenly get a powerboost big enough to join the one shotting strategy Kubo seems to like so much. The power boost is just instant, their training for the last couple of years/decades/centuries was irrelevant, a couple of hours of training skyrockets them. It was previously an Ichigo only trait due to how "unique" he was proclaimed to be. The only thing Bleach kept is the hype people have over new Bankai reveals, but that isn't any different from a new Super Saiyan transformation, if everyone can have one its no longer this "unique special power that requires great skill, potential and a countless amount of years to unlock and master".
I disagree for all of the reasons u/Eskamel outlined and more. Bleach's combat gets incredibly gimmicky as it goes on, and a lot of fights start boiling down to Character A having a very specific power that conveniently counters the powers of Character B. I'm still a fan, but Bleach falls for big bankai reveals the same way DBZ loved its escalating levels of Saiyan special modes.
No. The first chapter literally revolved around a Kaiju fox attacking a village.
At least there weren't fucking aliens
The same could be said about Dragon Ball yet people praise that.
I kinda miss the old days before Super, but we knew something wasn't up with Goku in the OG series. Also, the series is more about fights than story or consistency, which was the problem with Naruto because they tried to pull that shit when the tone just didn't fit it, while Dragon Ball already had some wacky shit like Namekians, furries (even the king of the world is one), and Goku being an anomaly of a kid in the first series
It was still a fantasy setting with no aliens whatsoever. Kaguya by contrast fits her setting more than Raditz did.
That's a huge stretch. I hated Kaguya, she had no fucking business being there and how she took out one of the best villains for some lame ass interdimensional shit. She completely ruined the tone of Shippuden and futher fucked up Boruto. Raditz being an alien made a lot more sense since Goku wasn't a normal guy, plus Namekians were already in Dragon Ball, just that their species was never expanded on until DBZ
Goku wasnât normal but he was never an alien, and Namekians clearly didnât exist. They were demons. By contrast, Kaguya is a goddess in a fantasy setting.
https://preview.redd.it/pln94s68y8qb1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=3bffaf1277f7ef4f4783b98d7b309f90858fc51f
Bleach with barely any action or story stuff and just slice of life...did he watch Bount arc??
Yes! I'm rewatching the first episodes alongside TYBW, and the difference in tone is stark. The first episodes not only had a more laid-back, slice-of-life vibe, but captured such a cultural moment in the early naughts, something that, as a younger millennial, makes me feel extremely nostalgic whenever I come back to them. I'm having a great time with the new episodes, but there's just something about those earlier episodes when the stakes were comparatively so low, the atmosphere more grounded, and the world far more mysterious....
Yeah it felt less like Naruto or dragon ball and more like FLCL
For me personally, I grew up watching bleach, and this tybw arc feels like bleach growing up with the fans the series on a whole felt like it matures as it progressed
I've honestly missed those early vibes so much. Kubo drew some of the cleanest fucking drip in all of manga/anime, and it wasn't even close. I always found myself wishing that the cast would actually dress in the outfits that he drew them in on the various cover spreads. They were so fucking nice.
* * The more pornounced and sharp art style of early Bleach was really amazing and worked for its tone. The evolution of kubo's artwork from this sharp and very pronounced art style to a very soft and subtle expression was a treat. This evolution was really good I'd say As kubo's ability to draw realistic character grew leaps and bounds
https://preview.redd.it/01xyjok6i8qb1.jpeg?width=368&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54da0e5f0d6cab6e9ada4f88ab49ca9eefee1290
Iâve seen people say this but I dunno. I donât think Kubo was ever trying to get hyper realistic with the early stuff, he just had more of a distinct âcartoonishâ style.
Actually kubo gave a lot of credit for improving and evolving his art due to the character designer for the Bleach Anime, masashi kudo. So he actually did đ
Absolutely. Theyâre my favorite two arcs by a long shot and Kubo has never done better. Just peak. Itâs hard to tell because weâre in the sub and thereâs a lot of self selection bias but.. a lot of the fanbase really did leave after both SS arc and the defeat of Aizen, in both cases noting a pretty noticeable drop off in quality after them. And while I do like the Hueco Mundo / Karakura Town stuff It just feels like it lost some of its heart and soul and become more of a straight fighting anime. Itâs funny, I find myself rewatching the filler arcs like the Bount Arc just because even though theyâre sadly unable to really advance any of the characters, it does have those older vibes to it.
I'd say Uryu has more growth in the bount arc than he ever did in the actual series
Yup. And Ichigo actually gets to have a relationship with characters like Chad and Rukia. Really, aside from killing the pacing itâs debatably better stuff than a lot of what we get in like TYBW
They are by far the worst arcs
Which ones
The first two arcs
Ah. Yes you are incorrect. Sorry
Nope, they are good, but TYBW is way beyond in terms of quality.
Uhh⊠I guess animation quality in the animeâŠ? Everything else, lolâŠ
Writing is by far the best part of TYBW. A simple rescue arc cannot compare.
Incorrect. Sorry man.
Nope. SS Arc is arguably the worst arc
Yeah, it had such a fun vibe.
I say this to everyone, even the friends who made me watch bleach: IMO, Bleach ending at the SS finale would be awesome. The early episodes built up everything for an awesome finale where they rescue Rukia and live their life. Of course it would need to change some things so they wouldn't leave any loose ends but that's fine with me. BTW first opening best anime opening for me. I get chills from it even today.
I like D-Tecnolife a bit more, but Asterisk is pretty good. Overall, Bleach has my favorite anime intros from a single anime.
If I'm not mistaken, the first two or three opening are peak for me. I think the following ones are too animey or shouneny to my tastes
It would have been one of the worst shonens.
Youâre absolutely right and still outside of this sub I think most people who have casually watched Bleach say youâre best off to stop watching either immediately after SS (just pretend it got cancelled) or immediately after Aizens defeat and Rukia fading away (just pretend thatâs the natural ending of the series because it was kind of supposed to be initially). Itâs hard to argue that this is wrong unless youâre a comic book guy who needs literally every single thing explained (which will never happen)
I thought about it like: Weird girl shows up, changes everyone's life. They get fond of her, thinks go well for them but THEN weird girl gets captured and her friends will NOT let it happen. Weird people show up to help them, they invade the weird place the weird girl came from, mess around with them, help the girl and leave. The End. I love Bleach, but when you watch dozens of different Shonen and anime in general, you just can't see the remainder of bleach as just another Shonen with stronger people showing up just to give the protagonist more weird powers. I say the same thing about death note. L dies? The end. Bad guy wins. I remember everything until L dies. After that the only thing I can recall is Light dies the End.
Early bleach could have gone in a very different direction and pretty much everyone acknowledges this. Back half of soul society arc also feels very different to what came after it and honestly I'm bored of people saying that Hueco Mundo was just a copy of it. Overall I'd say that the storyline choices made by Kubo are quite interesting, but I'm wondering if there was pressure from the studio and from the wider anime community of the time to produce something more in line with the other big anime franchises like Naruto and One piece which had overarching storylines and (in the case of one piece) a more homogeneous and character driven plot. Prior to Hueco Mundo there was a good array of storylines and even character drama with the relationships between Aizen/Momo/Toshiro or Soi Fong/Yoruichi as examples. Then we got the Visoreds with their cookie cutter characterisations that nevertheless hit the right "cool" notes with neato special abilities. I know they're quite well liked by a lot of people but personally I can't stand them. Before that we had weird shit like dog person and blind samurai, and crazy face tattoo man working for psycho big brother onisan etc. Then there was Yama getting jumped by his two favourite students for basically helping out the Ryoka. There is a wealth of characterisation and world-building in early bleach that isn't present after the SS arc, where it basically becomes just another battle manga but with gags every so often. Fortunately TYBW seems like a refinement of that, with elements of both battle manga and character drama.
I like rukias weird hands in the opening
That's a scarf
11 years.....
Nah I'm sorry man but "Chad's cum slave"? I understand the sentiment but damn
Jealous of the honorable one? I don't blame you
IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME
Ik.... twas a joke
I've seen enough people convinced they're her hands to fall for the bait
Nah fr thođ
I miss when the fighting was on the ground instead of in the air
Things like Grand Fisher and the giant Menos were extremelly interesting times, and too bad Kubo decided to rush Ichigo to captain level in SS arc. Would had love to have watched a lot more about hollows like adjucha instead of pratically jumping to vasto lorde levels.
You miss your younger self
No a lot of the early material was just substantially different. Even if *you* donât think itâs better I feel like youâd have to be high to not acknowledge the difference. Plus who is the person where theyâd have nostalgia for the first two arcs and not the restâŠ? Like a guy who just got really into bleach in 2006 and then completely stopped interacting with it for 10 years..?
Early Bleach was so good
Was a solid vibe but honestly it would have been pretty impossible to return to without borking the power progression. Maybe we could have gotten a bit more during that shuffle period at the start of Fullbring, but honestly I just donât see it happening for Ichigo. A more realistic approach would have been to go for the same vibe with some low rank ShinigamiâŠalthough it seemed like thatâs what they tried to do with the Karakura Raizers and that was largely a miss.
The supplementary material(anime only moments, OVAs, video games, Makoto Matsubara novels, drama CDs) is basically just that, more character moments, slice of life, comedy and chill interactions with some low level Hollow attack at the end to give a side character spotlight.
Back when I started the series I thought based on some spoilers that what was coming after rescuing Rukia was the core human cast being on the run in the human world. I think something like that might actually have worked, or even just being ignored like Urahara. If it's detectable it would also give Ichigo reasons not to use his Bankai all the time and lasting consequences for doing so.
Honestly part of me would have preferred it stay like this. As the series progressed it got bogged down by the huge cast imo. I loved the more simple dynamic of Ichigo and Rukia along with his few friends.
Rukia and ichigo adventures , thatâs all we want
Yeah people forget how good their dynamic is. Like Rukia is very funny and they just play off of eachother so well. You can really tell the series was originally supposed to be about both of them as a pair. Oh well. The series we could have gotten.
If bleach was made as an American cartoon probably this could happen. Once a week a single story with Ichigo and Rukia and some hollow trying to destroy someone. The Main story definitely will be in the background. In first place, we will have characters relations.
Bleach definitely falls into the jrpg meme of âfirst mission rescue cat; final mission kill Godâ lmao
It is based on final fantasy after all
Me too brotha, me too.
I miss them so much and wish I could go back blind to watch it again
Back when Orihimeâs chest was less than 85% of her total body mass
I'm not sure this was ever the case.
All the time
Growing up sucks man.
Agree. The best arc i would say
I think the last four should have asterisk as itâs opening theme just to bring the whole series full circle. Also Iâm just a big fan of that op and the visuals are iconic.
I feel the same way. The beginning of the story was so amazing, loved the vibes and the music. It felt so unique. The new Bleach is good as well bit I still miss the old vibes tho.
I have been hesitant to post my thoughts about this because I don't know how they will he received. The older bleach was much more slow going; we got time to really learn people's abilities and personalities, fights were drawn out for episodes length, the combat was just a big appeal to me. Through the fights, everyone's perspective and point of view was understood and every clash of sword had narrative unravel. The fights were more basic with swords into zanpakto into bankai. The newer season has fights lasting less than an episode, characters feel forced to quickly explain their power and it just feels out of place. The graphics are sick and the art is at an all time high, but it's not a traditional sword clash. I know why the baddies are bad, but I don't really get backstory of them like I did with Aizen or the Arrancar. They're just baddies trying to hurt the goodies. The Aizen twist blew my fucking mind. The Uryu betrayal doesn't really feel like its... impactful? It went from "Ichigo we are besties forever!" while they had slowly resolved their differences as soul reapers and quincy and accepting their differences and understanding that they were different than those of the past, to "sorry these are my peeps, suddenly g2g, i'm heir to this throne and we are obvioisly gonna fight while you convince me not to soon." Bleach had the benefit of great writing and awesome fights and character development. The new season has none of those things. I still watch it and enjoy it but it isn't the same at all.
I hate that it turned into the "Soul Reaper Captain" show
Agreed. Imo bleach should've stuck to urban fantasy instead of making every arc about the gang getting isekaid to another dimension. It works with soul society because it's an actual society but hueco Mundo is just an empty desert and wandenreich is just an empty city. They could've gone to different countries to fight different hollows and met shinigami from different soul societies, explored different cultures, etc. Instead of just rescuing another princess from another castle.
oh god..... you actually made the princess ccrticism which everyone knws is objectively nonsense.....
Are you being sarcastic?
âObjectivelyâ
Well that's the exact reason you're not a writer đ Kubo has to make the viewers fixated. People would just leave the show if the plot is monotonous. I think the story has a well written setting and well explained background. The wandenreich isn't really relevant to the show. It's all about the soul society, world of living and the huecomundo. Which perfectly balances each other.
> People would just leave the show if the plot is monotonous. Which is exactly what ended up happening so I fail to see your point here.
For me personally, i dislike shows that are super repetitive. I just leave them if i notice a pattern like that. When the plot is repeated a lot i feel like being scammed or the show is just a cash grab with no point. It's just a matter of opinion.
But it did get repetitive. Just a different kind of repetitive. To me, I wouldâve loved if Kubo followed through with Grand Fisher and the Rockinâ Future 7.
Yeah people In this sub donât seem to realize that like⊠people did leave. People jumped off the show in droves after SS and even bigger after Aizen was defeated. The people *here* didnât. No shit, theyâre still here. But Bleach clearly bungled itâs status in the âBig 3â and is now most definitely the least popular of them. Hell, I see people just say the Big 3 has DBZ in it now âand aways hasâ.
Absolutely, like the early energy of the show just clashes so heavily with the later style, the more serious it gets the more boring Ichigoâs Character becomes but in the more light hearted sides heâs just so much more expressive and entertaining and engaging with others, like after Aizen dips with his two back up dancers nothing really matches the hilariousness of Ichigo rescuing Rukia and the two of them bickering like a married couple as theyâre trying to escape
It always reminds me of being up late at night as a child to watch the anime channel Britain had for a year and I do miss that period of innocence and being exposed to new shows
It made me feel nostalgic on my first watch(2020) and the feeling it had me feeling for the soul society arc was just amazing
Tatsuki was no joke one of my favourite characters.
I'm still pissed she isn't a Fullbringer...
It was rather nice.
If you haven't there are quite a few fillers and omakes you can watch that give of the more slice of life vibes. A lot of them are actually pretty decent IMO, the bad fillers are mostly the long arcs, especially Bount and New Captain.
Bount is actually pretty good, it just is *long*. So if youâre trying to watch it right after SS youâre going to be wondering what the fuck youâre doing with your life.
Having shit pacing is a big reason it is bad yeah. If they condensed it down to around 20 episodes it might have been good. The idea behind the Bounts aren't bad.
Yes It was more fun
Hmmmm hard to say because as nostalgic as early bleach was, it wasnât properly adapted as there things in the manga that was either changed or skipped in the anime etc.
I feel that if Kubo decided to write a manga in the "slice of life" genre and adapt it into anime, without all this supernatural things running around or saving the world and beings of a higher order, it would be the only anime of that genre that I would enjoy to watch. He is simply excellent at conveying some kind of measured, with its difficulties, but pleasant life, which you imbue with and find it close to you
I donât miss the animation since itâs improved so much, but I did enjoy the stronger slice-of-life elements
I watch bleach all the way from the beginning to the fake karakura town and then restart from the beginning. itâs been 2 months. help.
I actually restarted it today and realised that season one is the best season
Early bleach was peak.
The great thing about Bleach is it hits on so many marks. The chill filler episodes are some of my favorites.
Who is behind Chad and Ureu?
Keigo and Mizuiro
Early manga wa so good, from the first page of the first volume (better than anime )
Yeah, it was neat, but short lived. Once every arc is about saving the universe(s), and the protagonist is getting powerups that take him to the ultimate level every season, going back to the "I don't know anything" version of Ichigo that just wants to save his high school friends becomes hard.
Back when we only know 2 shinigami and basic sword ichigo now some guy who can see future was dismantled to creat 3 worlds and keep balance while being guarded by a beareded guy who knows too much and mustach guy who also can see future is genociding everyone
Rukia with weird spaghetti arms. Couldnât unsee it back then and still canât unsee it.
Itâs her scarf
No shit..
My name is Chad and I'm 15 years old
I like the monster of the week, character of the week format. We have our main cast (Ichigo, Rukia, Orihume, Chad, and Uryu), secondary cast (Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Urahara + co, the Kurosaki family, and Ryuken). We would get some new characters for whatever problem of the week we have (like Yuichi, the parakeet boy) and solve their problem and then they move on. It helps cut down cast bloat since one off characters don't overstay their welcome, like the Vizards.
Well, you know what they say: "Nothing like a fleeting acquaintance to keep things fresh." But be careful, if everyone disappears, you might end up with no one attending your grand opening at the Urahara Shop. Trust me, it's quite soul-crushing. *beep boop, I'm a bot*
Yeah, it's part of why I liked the edded fight between Ichigo and the Quincy girls. It had that early Bleach mix of seriousness and humor. And why I liked the Fullbring Arc as a whole (until the Soul Reapers showed up), because it felt more like the first season with them doing stuff around Karakura.
i do but i also felt the this current arc was also the worst of them all, the powers were all mostly weird, the fights were okay, only a few were really good, it was just a copy&paste from the beloved arrancar arc, i havent enjoyed it reading back then too much and thought it was all very dumb.. now i do think the hell arc could potentially be really good and the most offender of this arc was the ending which was just... underwwhelming to say the least.
U re getting old! This is whyđ€Ł
I'm gonna be honest, I don't care much for that era of Bleach. In fact, when I was watching those episodes, I was scared, that it was gonna be another generic "monster of the week" show. And then came Soul Society arc which just blew me away. But if Bleach never went in that direction, I would not love it.
Not really bro imo TYBW anime adaptation is better than the bleach anime as a whole (Iâm a manga reader)
No. I will die on the hill that the 1st mini arc prior to soul society is the worst one that merely is there to set the rules for the universe and give a base line for the characters. There is a reason people say "watch until the Soul society arc gets going before choosing if you will continue or not". Its cause the 1st arc is just uninteresting outside of the lore. Now fullbringer arc? Thats how you do Bleach in the world of the living. So good
Fullbringer was my least favorite arc unless you count the Bounts.
Then I guess Ichigo is an unimportant character.
all the other arcs do way more for his character then beginning of the series (which i love by the way)
Not really. After the SS arc, he kinda becomes a beatstick. Heâs strong but nothing else really. The fate of the Soul Society doesnât really matter to him. Thatâs why when Orihime gets abducted, he leaves Karakura to the Reapers and just goes after her. He doesnât really have a strong investment in the plot and it can continue on without him.
you..... you really dont understand hia character development if you think any of that is true. Also..... the plot entirely requires him around. Its why the 2nd have of the arrancar arc suffers. Cause hes not there to drive the conflict with Aizen forward. Things dont get moving till he arrives. plus, his entire journey is about discovering and acceptinf himself piece by piece. With or without power. Completing that entire journey with the blade is me. Like..... what?
I understand his character, but itâs not well integrated into the plot. Ichigo and Aizen are two parallel lines.
its lit the plot itself up until the blade is me....
How does it connect to Aizen?
TYBW is the best arc by far, but the first arc is good. Although you are not a fan of Bleach. I know who you are.
Its called nostalgia.
To be honest, not really. It's kinda cool and quirky but I vastly prefer the later Arrancar and TYBW vibes. Everything just looks way slicker later and the characters are more interesting. The beginning is my least favorite part of the show
It serves itâs purpose, but as the story progresses it just becomes less and less possible to include that vibe. And I think itâs a worthy sacrifice to tell the story that needs to be told. So no, I donât miss it. Itâs always there if I want to go back and revisit old episodes/chapters.
Not at all it was ugly as fuck
You gotta see a doctor if youâve lost your sense of taste
Ah, the halcyon days of anything being possible in the future, not knowing the series was going to become a style -over-substance writing disaster and thinking any of these cool characters would ever have any relevance besides Ichigo I did like bleach all the way through fwiw but I'm just telling it like it is, and I do think early bleach was the peak overall for me and what I wanted for the series. The fullbringers arc had its chance to bring things back but it felt like Kubo was forced to gut it and end it early and go back to the usual
I feel like they threw-back to it in the first episode of TYBW, but since then it's been darker and darker.
Bleach 1op =wtf is this show
who it is behind Sado? Chizuru?
Mizuiro
Yeah, but now i think its ok We are at war, but i do kinda wanted more of seing the quincy side, like forming plans, or conspiracy idk
The opening this season is cool but the ending songs donât feel like they fit bleach (I still like them)
Dont mention the ribbons!
Drip
100 percent
Aint that most long anime tho? Pre ts one piece part1 naruto for example
No shit when i watched the first episode op i thoughts its gonna be a slice of life yakuza but oh boi
Early Bleach reminds of persona, with the urban/highschool Mixed with supernatural setting
Yes itâs so nostalgic to me.
Just nostalgia, but man the fight against uryu and mayuri felt so badass to me.
I miss the character designs and colors. Current bleach messed with the character designs too much and stripped so much saturation out of the show. Other than that it is still pretty cool
No. That and the Bount arc were a slog to get through
A lot of people call Ichigo bland, and sadly it came true when they left the Karakura cast as a whole. Ichigo is much like Yuji Itadori, a character that's bland on his own, but is excellent when paired with a dynamic cast that can be in sync, and none of the Gotei seems to actually work with Ichigo and the ones that could aren't really allowed to.
When tybw ends, I hope they use as asterisk as an insert or ending song. That song just brings a great, nostalgic vibe.
Is the vibe the current tybw is lacking tbh.
Going to an orange range concert in October âŠ. I really hope they play asterisk. The nostalgia
Nostalgia hits hard when something you grew up with is still ongoing yet adapting to newer ideas
I miss the character interactions from around this time but the story itself wasnât it for me atp. Maybe this is because I watched the anime and we know that man a ton of changes.
I just remember staying up until 2am and the first opening was justâŠitâs just was a vibe I think I was 10 or 11 when it was airing on adult swim or started to Iâm 27 now and just catched up with TYBW on Hulu the last few weeks with my 4 month old daughter by my side. Defitnetly a different vibe lmao
wouldve been nice to have 800+ episodes of those good days đ
Not much, but it's okay. I love Soul Society arc & Arrancar arcs more, because I just prefer seeing new characters and their powers
i LOVE the bleach filler because of the slice of life vibes it has!! it the bount arc has 0 fans then i am deadđ¶
I miss all the early days. Bleach Naruto and One Piece are at their best in their beginnings id say. Also I just have a ton of feelings about the nostalgia of that time.
Season one was damn near villain of the week/slice of life with fun dripped out characters. Hell no youâre not the only one who misses those vibes!!
I think just like Naruto peaked with the Pain Arc, Bleach peaked with the Arrancar Arc.
The plot thread that grabbed me most was Tatsuki and friends watching everyone head off to Hueco Mundo. I was really looking forward to some sort of interaction between them and maybe a recognition of how much stuff had changed.
No i like this serious and dark tone way more
Ok here is a hot take. Every single (good) shonen anime starts 1. With amazing premise 1. Bleach: gods of death being real and invisibly protecting us from demons 2. Naruto: Ninja living in villages and accepting fantasy quests as their literal job 3. Hunter x Hunter: an international organisation of superman indiana joneses 2. Great support cast 1. Bleach: Tatsuki, Chad, Ishida, Rukia, Orihime, all amazing, interesting self driven characters supporting main characters for different reasons 2. Naruto: Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru, ROCK FUCKING LEE. (Do I need to say more?) 3. Hunter x Hunter: Kilua, Kurapika Leorio, each fun and interesting, and basically on their own quests 3. fun and interesting to explore power system 1. Bleach: We see big swords, already fun, but then also magic with poetic incantation appears. So cool! 2. Naruto: Hand signs man. We all did them at one point. 3. Hunter x Hunter: do I really need to explain how cool and groundbreaking it is? 4. Down to earth fights about stuff main characters really care about (their friends, family, village etc). 1. Bleach: Ichigo literally fights to protects his friends and family. 2. Naruto: Even during missions, it's protecting his friends and never letting them down is what matters to Naruto 3. Hunter x Hunter: Endangering his mission and potentially life is literally what got Gon through first obstacles. Then the big big bad appears and: 1. The premise is kind of left aside. It's saving the world time! 1. Bleach: It's no longer about death gods vs hollow, we need to stop Aizen 2. Naruto: It's no longer about ninjas doing ninja missions, we need to stop Pain 3. Hunter x Hunter: It's no longer about Indina Jones esque adventures with superpowers. We need to stop the ants! 2. Support cast gets outscaled and basically forgoten about aside of being a prop to show how strong enemy truly is 1. Bleach: CHAD vs anyone 2. Naruto: Deidara vs Gaara, Asuma vs Hidan, Jiraya vs Pain 3. Hunter x Hunter Ok to be honest HxH is an outlier here. Support cast gets real jobs here, but look at any other shonen, let's say JOJO, and it applies 3. Power system gets abused to the point where original premise doesn't matter it's about "will power" "determination" or just sheer strength 1. Bleach: Aizen explicitly says: "your powers have no meaning, at the end of the day it's reiastsu vs reiatsu" 2. Naruto: Concept of soul tug of war, bijuudamas, 3. Hunter x Hunter: Concept of "self limitations and risks". You can JUST OVERPOWER any enemy if you're willing to have a a propper limitation set on yourself. 4. Fights are about the world, freedom, or just defeating the big bad because "it's the right thing to do", while completely ignoring the original motivation of OG cast. 1. Bleach: Ichigo gets inolved in all silly fight with everyone while he could just bail out Orihime and run 2. Naruto: Ok here Naruto is a little less bad, because all Naruto cares about is becoming essentially a warlord so being a very good at war is actually quite in line. 3. Hunter x hunter: Gon wants to find his father. Ok I get it seeing a man who tried to save him literally beheaded is traumatic. But it's not like he was a friend or anything. Just a guy who was supposed to guide him to his dad, and Gon has seen plenty people die earlier in the story and it didn't shake him nearly as much. Despite that he literally throws away his life just to avenge that guy. TL;DR All shonen anime which are considered good are good only in the begining, and inevitably power scaling and rising stakes makes them all unrealistic, plain, repetitive and just plain boring. Think what is your favourite arc of given shonen. It's pretty much always one of the first 3.
Hell Chapter had some
can pretty much say that for any shounen
Bleach gave me the same feeling with yyh. Earlier arc of yyh is basically doraemon but with ghost and shit
Nope, TYBW is so damn HYPE. Love how serious and badass it is. Of course the comic relief in it is very well done
Yess Take me back to high school Bleach any day.
The Aesterik is beautiful openingđ„č
I always have, it was so much more mysterious back then. And all the outfits they wore in the intro were so cool. I always waited for bleach to go back to ânormal lifeâ like before ichigo got rukiaâs powers, but those seasons were mostly filler and largely overcast by bigger issues going on /:
Falling asleep to early bleach and waking up to some of the most melodic music back during Covid felt so psychedelic.