Bleach

Bleach (Japanese: ブリーチ Hepburn: Burīchi) is a Japanese anime television series based on Tite Kubo's manga of the same name. The series ran for a total of 366 episodes. Bleach was produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Noriyuki Abe. It was aired on TV Tokyo from 2004 to 2012, before returning with Thousand-Year Blood War which was aired on October 10, 2022.

Plot

Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper (死神 Shinigami, literally, "Death God") — a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper — from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki. His newfound powers force him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife.

Why It Rocks

1. Lots of very entertaining, well-written story arcs, most notably the Soul Society arc.
2. Strong voice performances in both the original Japanese version and the English dub.
3. Many likeable and relatable characters like Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Byakuya, Yoruichi, etc.
4. Good comedy.
5. Tons of incredible fight scenes littered throughout the show.
6. Incredible animation with 3D CGI animation using Alias Wavefront Maya software.
7. The villains of the Soul Society Arc, the Shinigami, end up becoming protagonists later on.
8. Most of the opening and ending themes are really good.
9. Excellent soundtrack by Sony Music Entertainment Japan with Aniplex.
10. A decently complex and intricate battle system, which is one of the biggest things that people look for in a Shonen battle anime.
11. Good pacing.
12. The show has an incredibly large cast, so it's almost impossible for you to not find at least one character that you like.
13. Decent world-building.
14. This anime does a decent job of giving us morally gray characters, even in the protagonists. For example, there's Mayuri Kurosutchi, who most people would agree is an immoral, despicable person, but after the Soul Society arc, he becomes someone of a minor protagonist, especially during the Arrancar arc, in which he fights against someone who's equally as evil as him: Szayel Aporro Grantz.
15. Lots of unique and creative abilities.
16. Sosuke Aizen is often considered one of the most interesting and intimidating villains in all of Shonen anime, even if his downfall was kind of disappointing.
17. The filler arcs that aired towards the end of the anime's run (the "Zanpakutō Rebellion" and "Reigai Uprising" arcs) are very well-animated and have interesting storylines.
18. After a ten-year hiatus, the series has returned in 2022, known as Thousand-Year Blood War, which was a continuation based off the manga. Compared to the original series, this series will now allow to use less censorship, such as blood, gore, etc.

Bad Qualities

1. Sosuke Aizen was a great villain for the majority of the show, but his downfall at the end of the Arrancar arc was kind of disappointing and we never learn more about his motivations.
2. In some scenes, the profanity can be very inappropriate for some people.
3. The first filler arc, the "Bount Invasion" arc, was notorious for its extreme length and sub-par animation.
4. Chad and Orihime were almost flanderized in the Lost Agent arc, where they joined the Xcution organization to steal Ichigo's Fullbringer powers (though it's later revealed that one of the arc's villains altered their memories).
5. The anime adaptation ended with the Lost Agent arc, which was the worst-received arc in the entire manga. Thankfully, the series returned with the TYBW in 2022.
6. The series became more repetitive after the first arc, making the show dis-promising to watch at times for some people.
7. While the original series does used some of the violence stuff, they removed it for the later episodes, compared to the manga, due to its being censorship for younger audiences, despite the fact it was aimed for teens.

Trivia

• The anime series is set to return in October of 2022 to adapt the "Thousand-Year Blood War" arc. This was announced at the "Bleach 20th Anniversary Project & Tite Kubo New Project Presentation" on 20th March 2020. The anime continuation begins airing on TV Tokyo on October 10, 2022 and later on Hulu and Disney+ (international) for both subbed and dubbed. It will be 52 episodes, making it a total of 418 episodes.
• Tite Kubo himself originally worked on Zombiepowder, another Shonen Jump series. However, it was cancelled due to low sales, thus ending any possible chance of an anime adaptation.
• Along with One Piece and Naruto, this was one of the big three Shonen Jump series during the 2000s.
• Before it aired on the Toonami revival block, it began airing on Adult Swim on September 9, 2006 (after debuting in Canada as part of YTV's now-defunct Bionix block the day prior) as part of its Adult Swim Action block, along with countless other gems such as Cowboy Bebop, Yu Yu Hakusho (the spiritual predecessor to Bleach), Inuyasha, Trigun, Fullmetal Alchemist, Samurai Champloo, Paranoia Agent and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.