Bleach is a
366 episode anime that follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki and his
friends. The show starts out with
mysterious accidents that occur around the town, you quickly find out that the
cause of these incidents are malevolent spirits called hollows that seek to
devour spirits. In an attempt to protect his family and friends from these lost
souls, Ichigo becomes a "Substitute Soul Reaper," learning to develop
his spiritual powers. While the basic premise is a far cry from profound or
original, the shows charm comes from the execution and the intrigue that follows
Ichigo and the nature of his powers.
The only
significant negative with “Bleach” is the multitude of "filler arcs"
that interrupt the main story. Taken on
the own merit, the fillers are fairly interesting (for the most part), their
timing can detract from the narrative and be fairly frustrating for the viewer,
but don't let it discourage potential viewers, because the fillers do add more
dimension to the characters. The other
potential detractor is the sheer number of characters, if you don't appreciate
any of them you'll have to bear them appearing repeatedly in the story.
While
Ichigo's enemies start to become more numerous and dangerous as the story
unfolds, perhaps the most interesting conflict is the one that takes place
within Ichigo's soul. Ichigo not only has to find a way to protect his friends
from the people that would harm him and his friends, but he also has to find a
way to deal with the reality that perhaps his biggest obstacle to overcome is
the darkness in his own soul that while threatening to consume him completely,
also shows to be the part of him that is willing to take the actions Ichigo is
normally unwilling to take. Another
recurring theme is often the villains have complex motives that delve into the
"shades of grey" of morality.
All in all, “Bleach”
has a simple basis with an exciting subtext supporting it. While suffering from
fillers that seem to drag out forever when eagerly hoping to continue the main
story arc, the show is overall full of impressive action that escalates to be
on par with some of the greats like “Dragonball Z”.
Good:
- Awesome
action scenes that you can't get enough of
- Compelling
characters, both good and bad
- Exciting
story with twists and turns
Bad:
-
FILLERS!!!! FILLERS EVERYWHERE!!!!!
- A list of
characters so long, there's a high chance you'll find yourself wanting to skip
ahead to get back to more preferable characters
Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Watch "Bleach" at: http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/bleach-english-dubbed-online-free
