Bleach
Date of last revision: 05/18/04
Genre: Shounen | Action | Supernatural | Comedy
Company: Shueisha (Jump Comics: Weekly Jump)
American Liscensing Company: None
Format: Ongoing
Dates: ????
Original Creator: Kubotite
Age Rating: 13-15 years and up
How much I read: Entire story
Synopsis: Kurosaki Ichigo is not a regular 15 year old kid, because he has always had the ability to see spirits and ghosts. One day, a female Shinigami (God of Death) named Kuchiki Rukia appears before him, hunting for an evil spirit. But during the confrontation, the Shinigami's powers are transfered to Ichigo. Thus begins the adventures of Ichigo and Rukia and their mission to herd Hollows (fallen spirits).
SCORE: 95%
Plot: Bleach is a moderately recent title published in Japan's Weekly Shounen Jump. If you want an idea of what it's like, think of Yami no Matsuei, except it's shounen instead of shoujo/shounen-ai. The tone of this story is dark when it comes to the fate of souls, but this series isn't a stick in the mud either; it has it's own good share of humor.
Ichigo is an amusing and charming character (in his own way) who is down to earth, slightly aloof and has a somewhat bad attitude and temperment. But, his heart is in the right place.
Rukia knows her stuff and is a very respectable character (think of her role and most of her attitudes being like Yu Yu Hakusho's Botan, but not as bubbleheaded. Rukia can handle situations and kick a lot more ass just a bit better than Botan).
Inoue Orihime is the might-become-the-love-interest for Ichigo in the series, who is an utter dingbat, with a highly amusing imagination. Usually this kind of character would annoy me, but Orihime is well written, so its cool.
Ichigo's family is both respectable and hilarious. Usually hilarious. His sisters are cool, and his father is absolutely insane.
And huge but kind Chad is so cool! He rocks!
Visual: Kubotite's art is weekly, but well detailed. With thin, but cool characters, the fashion alone is very fun to look at, with it's very retro and punk sense. It's funny to see that Kubotite clearly likes to dress his characters up.
Creature design are bizarre and interesting and are like nothing else I've ever seen. The art on a whole reminds me of Shaman King (even though I have no idea why; possibly because they have similar story devices about ghosts and fighting with them), but it is more finely drawn (even rough looking) and the majority of the characters are more scrawny and less cartoony than Shaman King.
Detailing, character design and scenery is all very good. Most excellent.
Extra Rants and Bitching: Some of Kubotite's best material is his dry and oddball sense of humor, especially in his commentary scribbles. Ichigo is a great character and I find him more than cool. This series doesn't bore me in the least bit, which is a very, very good thing.
Score Comments: A well deserved score for a well created world of monsters and shinigami. It's not perfect, but still very good. Besides, perfect is boring.
Websites:
Viz
The American company who has licensed and is now publishing Bleach; out in May-June 2004.
Anime News Network
I've put in information about this series in their encyclopedia section.
Have a website about this series, or do you know of a good one? Want me to link to it on this review? Well, the feel free to email the sucker to me! Just make sure to put "Review Link" in the subject.