trying out something new…

If you review this solely reading the first volume and planning to read nothing else, you can easily add one or two more stars to it. The initial concept is fine, as is the art: Ichigo can see ghosts, and is more or less okay with that. He's a bit of a street punk with a good heart. It's similar to YuYu Hakusho: Goodbye, Material World!, Vol. 1 but with better art and better characters.

He then runs into Rukia, a girl dressed all in black in an old style uniform, chasing what's called a Hollow. Ichigo manages to steal her powers, and has to take her place fighting Hollows. It's not a bad premise at all, and for this volume it holds up nicely.

The problem is that the series itself diverges so wildly from its premise and is bloated and filled with endless story arcs, manga volumes that record events lasting a few seconds for a whole chapter, and constant "power-ups." It's actually worse than Dragon Ball Z in terms of filler, and it shows no signs of stopping or getting better. Endless circular battles that have none of the charm or the purpose of this first volume but exist just to waste space. This is what's called "The Shonen Jump Curse" as every manga that seems to be released in the States in Shonen Jump magazine suffers from it. But Bleach is the worst of the lot, even more so than One Piece, Vol. 1: Romance Dawn.

So while I can say this first volume is good, I can't rate it highly because the series as a whole quickly moves away from the premise and invalidates what could have been a great manga. It's also becoming a poster child for what is wrong in manga today.

No wonder it won a prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award (in boys category) in 2005. Well deserved!

I'm glad that I tried to open this manga in my 20s. I'm sure to myself that I wouldn't appreciate it when I was younger. The only action-packed anime I let myself be entertained with when I was a kid was Rurouni Kenshin, and 75% of that fact was because Kenshin is the most adorable human being I saw growing up. I've been a shoujo manga fan afterward.

Gosh, the tears I shed reading this halfway through is so worth it. I've been in a reading slump for two days after finishing Kaiju #8. And I can't find the perfect manga to get lost in. I'm so happy this one caught my eye. I instantly felt nostalgia since this is one definition of my cousin's childhood. It may not be mine, but I was around that cousin of mine half the time, so I mostly remembered seeing these black-haired and orange-haired black-clad fellas. I'm just happy that I'm finally able to appreciate this today.

Haha this is actually really entertaining!

Story & Plot: 5 ⭐
Characters: 3 ⭐
Writing: 4 ⭐
Art: 3 ⭐

I only watched the first anime episode and decided to check out the manga instead.

The characters are alright but no one really grew on me much during these few chapters for this volume.

The plot is quite interesting as we find Ichigo thrown into a new environment, one he didn't realise existed, even though he was already able to see ghosts/spirits. It was pretty cool to see Ichigo having a giant blade, signalling the amount of power that he can harness.

Looking forward to reading the next volume!

It's time to do this again... (02. 2022)
.
So, Bleach is my favourite anime so...

{3.8}

Read up to Volume 570+

Right. So it's been years since I've watched Bleach and let me tell you, THIS IS STILL ONE OF THE BEST ANIME/MANGA EVAH EVAH EVAH

I can't post too much spoilers because that would be unfair to the others but here are some of my favorites characters in the new arc:

Kuchiki Byakuya

I have such an intensive crush on this bastard and he has wonderful scenes on this ARC. I also love how he gives insults to people like diz,



And damn if that didn't tingle the things that should tingle in me.

Ichigo Kurosaki

What I really like about Ichigo is that he really grew up in this series. He used to be brash and cocky (he still is) but he lost that idiocy stuff that most main characters have.Unlike Naruto whom I never liked (the character, not the anime) because I find him annoying even in Shippuden, Ichigo became more cool and thoughtful and I'm like having orgasm when he fights with some bad guys in the latest Arc.

Kisuke Uruhara

100 out of 100. He's the weirdest yet most amazing thing ever.

Other things:

There are some mind-blowing secrets in this one and major major major changes happened in the latest ARC. I don't know how Kubo would fix it or how the series would go on, but DAMN, I can't wait for the series to continue.

2022: It's been more than 10 years since I read the manga so it's like reading it all anew. This time around, I think my favorite part was Orihime's story, it made me sniffle a little. And then Chad's!

---

2010: The anime was quite true to the manga when it started so I pretty much know what will happen. Still, it's fun to read the story in a manga format. But I'm glad that I've seen the anime first because I can now imagine the Hollows' terrible, chilling scream. This manga is definitely a nice mix of humor, horror and action.

Bleach is very popular, and it's easy to see why. There's some very cool paranormal elements, plenty of action, and mostly likeable characters. I just didn't get into the story enough to stick around for the 40+ volumes to follow.

Tirando MUY FUERTE de nostalgia adolescente y no siendo NADA objetivo, volver a los inicios de Ichigo y Rukia, aprovechando la nueva edición baratuela de Panini, ha sido un revival de mis primeros pasos en el mundo del manga y anime que han desbordado mis sentimientos por completo.

Por que a parte de ser un buen inicio, que presenta un poco de su rico universo de shinigamis y espíritus, tanto Ichigo como Rukia tienen esa MISMA chispa y gracia que perduraba en mi memoria. Estos primeros compases, donde la acción esta compensada con genio junto a la comedia, se sienten una vez más, como una base sólida sobre la que se construyen los cimientos de Bleach.

Que ganas de seguir releyendo a medida que salgan en esta edición, la verdad.

3/5

So far, just fine? Let’s hope I’ll like it more with each volume.