(I apologize for the lack of images in this blog post. I didn't feel like going out to my computer to grab any pages off of my files and I wanted to get my thoughts out while they were fresh.)
So after a cool month and a half I have finished reading Tite Kubo's Bleach. Huh. Weird. This is a series that has had the reputation of having two good arcs and just declining and declining until a wet fart of an ending. I was also told the same thing about Yu Yu Hakusho. Also, people told me that the art declines in quality as the series goes on and that every arc after Soul Society is just Soul Society again. Why does the internet lie like this?
What I got, as I got with Yu Yu Hakusho, is a series I found myself getting increasingly more and more invested in, especially when the supposed "dip" in quality happened. My favorite arc is easily the Arrancar arc. Alongside that, the final volume of Bleach has hands down some of the best pages in the series, especially the spreads. Now, Bleach is nowhere near as good or consistent as Yu Yu Hakusho, that's for sure, but it's absolutely also nowhere near the level of bad that so many people say it is.
What I got, as I got with Yu Yu Hakusho is a core cast of lovable characters that all get their times to shine, with an ever-expanding cast of side-characters that are all interesting and unique in their own ways and they all have really interesting and fun designs. Like, wow, Tite Kubo can design the shit out of a character.
But yeah, I just want to touch briefly on the three BIGGEST critiques I always hear about Bleach and why I think they aren't really like, correct? Correct isn't the right word, since opinions are opinions, but that they're just not that rock-solid.
First, that the art declines in quality. Art styles evolve. The art at the end of Bleach, including the paneling and fight choreography, is just as good if not better than early Bleach. The tone is different, but that's because the tone of the story is different by that point. It's like Dragonball vs Dragonball Z. Or looking at Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1 vs Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 8. Well, the Jojo's one is a little drastic, but that's kinda the point. The art in Bleach is consistently great, with a sense of style and cool-itude that persists throughout. Also, Kubo from the start of the series was always super fond of using the "no background" trick, it's not overused in the final arc.
Second, that Kubo repeats arc structure. Which is like, wrong as far as the manga is concerned. Supereyepatchwolf, in his "The Fall of Bleach" video, describes the Soul Society arc as "Ichigo and his friends [entering] a world they don't understand [and] face down an ancient and patriarchal society in a desperate battle to save their friend." Which describes Soul Society, yes, but then he goes on to ascribe that exact same description to Arrancar/Hueco Mundo. Yes the arc includes Ichigo and some friends busting into Hueco Mundo to save Orihime, but the actual themes of the arc are different.
Soul Society has those themes of rebelling against society, coming of age, etc etc. Hueco Mundo is about the consequences of being a revolutionary so blinded by idealism that you lose yourself in the pursuit of power. Characters like Aizen and Grimmjow are so blinded by the want to be stronger that they'll do anything to get there. Tosen is blinded, literally, by his thirst for revenge against the Soul Society. Alongside that, the arcs set up in Soul Society for characters like Gin and Tosen get expanded upon and wrapped up. Aizen is cool as fuck.
Fullbring is just OBJECTIVELY not that at all, as it's basically a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure plot, coupled with a really cool explanation for Chad and Orihime's powers. Hell, the Thousand Year Blood War is basically a reverse Soul Society, while also doubling as this clear love letter to the series it's capping off.
A sub-critique I hear about Bleach is that Kubo's cast is fucking giant. Which is valid. There's a lot of Bleach characters. But like, not to be pedantic, but almost every fucking battle shonen has a huge cast. There's almost no repeats in characterization outside of a handful of mad scientists. They all also look cool. (My favorites are Shinji, Chad, and Grimmjow.)
Finally, people claim that the characters in Bleach, especially Ichigo, are static. Which is pretty Not Correct. Outside of typical things like powerups and whatnot, which in a battle shonen are used to physically represent emotional/spiritual growth alongside general strength, a vast majority of the characters introduced at the start and in Soul Society, those who make up the largest portion of the reoccurring cast, are different. Byakuya changes a lot. Orihime grows stronger and more independent. The end to Kenpachi's arc in The Thousand Year Blood War fucking rules. Uryu grows so much by the end. Ichigo, while not as full of attitude as he once was, is changed for, I think, the better.
Ichigo is no Yusuke Urameshi, sure, but he's still cool. The somewhat selfish delinquent-but-not boy is, by the end, a man with conviction to help those he cares about. Cliche, yes, but personally I like that. I really, really like the "power of friendship" stuff. Our world is full of horrible shit, and stories about camaraderie and the importance of bonds between people are such a necessity in my eyes. It helps that he's cool. Did I mention he's cool?
But also, characters "not changing much" isn't that great of a critique in my eyes, especially in a battle shonen. The appeal of battle shonen, to me, is not the overarching story arc. A satisfying overarching story is a bonus, yes, but for me I care more about the different ways that the genre iterates on itself. How a series tackles different arc structures. The "endless shonen" formula of "this arc ends -> Short cool down period and then the new big bad shows up -> rinse and repeat" makes for a cozy, fast, easy read. Especially as you learn the shorthand of the genre. However I also love Goku and the Piccolo Jr. arc so hey, maybe I'm just dumb.
I will never experience the weekly read of Bleach, which I could imagine being slow. Lots Of Shit Goes Down At The Same Time in the final arc. However, on the binge, I was enraptured. I love the characters, and the fact that almost literally everyone gets their final moment is just something I love so much. I love how fucking off-the-wall the powers get by the end. The powers for the Quincies are all so fucking weird and unique, even by Bleach standards. (Like really, a dude dressed like a wrestler with a familar that cheers for him to buff him and heal him? Sick! A dude who can control the toxicity of different substances?? SICK!!!)
I can safely say I was never bored the entire time I was reading, and the vast majority of the time I was actively having a great time reading. I even teared up a bit at the last chapter. While not the best battle shonen I've ever read, it's one I'm damn glad I went through. I'm flip-flopping between a 7 and an 8, but it's closer to an 8 than a 7 for me, so I guess I'll say its a cool 8/10 for me.
(How I rate things:
10 (Incredible): an absolute fucking favorite of mine. I probably cried a lot, and I revisit it a lot. Makes me big think often.
9 (Fantastic): Probably made me cry or think a lot. Enjoyed very much.
8 (Great): A series I liked a lot.
7 (Good): A series I liked a fair bit.
6 (Fine): A series that was fine and that I enjoyed enough.
5 (Okay): A series that was a-ok in my books. Probably fell short of my expectations.
4 (Eh): A series that fell very short.
3 (Ehh): Ehhhhh
2 (Bad): Self explanatory.
1 (Terrible): Terrible.)
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