User rating of this review - 4.4 out of 5
Story/Plot - 3 out of 5
Characters - 4 out of 5
Drawing Style - 3 out of 5
Enjoyment - 5 out of 5
Overall - 4 out of 5
Plot/Story
Rukia is a Shinigami sent to earth with the mission of destroying Hollows (the souls of humans that have become corrupt over time) and returning their cleansed soul to the Soul Society.
Ichigo (I just cannot respect a guy named strawberry [Ichigo = Strawberry]) is a normal human with the not so normal ability to see ghosts; as well as an abnormally high level of spritual power.
So Rukia comes to earth in search of a Hollow, ends up in Ichigo's room due to his level of spiritual energy and he promptly kicks her... hard. This surprises her, as humans shouldn’t be able to see Shinigami.
They are soon attacked and during the combat Ichigo unintentionally steals all of Rukia's Shinigami powers. He destroys the creature that attacked them and the story moves on from there.
Characters
Strawberry (umm, I mean Ichigo)>>> The main character, he's very powerful and manages to win on simply brute strength alone. (Though later we do see him augment his strength with skill and experience [that’s when things get really cool])
Rukia>>> Shinigami girl. Her job was to save souls by defeating Hollows... Ichigo interfered with her mission and then things got complicated. She regrets dragging him into the whole Hollow killing ordeal.
Chad>>> Essentially a walking battle tank. He's big, strong and he hits things quite hard. Association with Ichigo eventually sparks his dormant power and he becomes capable of manifesting the Right Arm of Destruction (which, funnily enough.,.. destroys things)
Inoue>>> Ditz!! She’s an amusing character though. Like Chad, her association with Ichigo sparked something and she gains tha ability to summon these seven little fairy creatures. Three for defense, three for healing and one for assault (Tsubaki - this guy kicks ass despite being 10cms tall).
Ishida (Quincy)>>> He hates you... Carries a bow, is the last of the Quincy - exorcists that were wiped out by the shinigami. He is very powerful... and he hates you. (see volume 4 - Quincy Archer Hates You)
Drawing Style
Not great, the characters are all reasonably different, and the shinigami swords are all impressive. However, I found the overall style to be... err... a little lacking. It’s just not as well defined as some other manga I can mention.
Enjoyment
There is much enjoyment in this manga. Half of it comes from Ichigo's father... he is so weird that you just have to laugh at his antics. Anyway, aside from that Kon, who is essentially a replacement soul who is stored in a stuffed teddybear-like thing for safekeeping, provides some entertainment as well.
In addition to these obvious comic characters, the other characters all have their moments that amuse you. And it’s generally done in good taste.
Must mention the Omake at the end of each chapter... - the majority of these are great. Make sure you don’t skip over them.
Overall
Bleach is quite good. I got into it cause a friend of mine would rant about it endlessly and I decided to find out if it was worthy... It is.
Bleach combines a wide assortment of characters, all with different personalities with humor, impressive action, and occasionally a depth that is often missing in Shounen manga.
Bleach is worth your time.
(Done by Taito Kubo)
(English version by Viz)
While this is true for the start of the series, the art and other features considerably improve later on.
i hate it when people do that, i would agree with everything except the drawing. i think its better than you described it.
you spelt tite kubo as tito kubo or somin like that down at the bottom of the whole review! i think bleach just isnt your flavor then cause i think it deserves little more credit
I don't really like it when people write reviews before the manga is finished, but whatev. Pretty good review.
I love Bleach it's awsome the storyline gets mucchhhh!!! better later on. The drawings in the latest chapters are much better and I think the story is developed well. I tolly disagree with this review. The character descriptions are horrible!
Kubo Tite's style is quite unique, as is his character, which are individually developed. The story only gets more fascinating as it progresses, shown in the later chapters associated with Aizen and whatnot. This review doesn't really work, when you end this mostly pessimistic rant with "Bleach is worth your time" while you gave it a 3.8 -_-.
I agree with most parts of this review exept the drawing part. It's rare to see an mangaka more sure of himself than Tite Kubo. I'd say at least 3.5/5. More like 4/5. But who cares. Good job and great manga
Wow, looks like those little numbers generated a little hate. Im almost impressed. However, I must say, in my defence... look at the date on that review October 2004
Even if you failed to notice the date... The absence of many important characters from the latter arcs are completly missing. Which should have clued some people in.
If I were to re-review then yes... The plot number would be higher. Bleach became significantly better as the Soul Society arc progressed past what I had been up too at the time of the review.
The art has also continued to improve, as is usually the case.
I must add tho, I do regret the Strawberry comments... just grabbed my copy of Volume 19 and found his name...
2 kanji per:
kuro - black
saki - cape (the geographical feature, not the thing you wear)
ichi - one
go - protect, safeguard
For that; I apologise. But I dont think the review was so bad for its time.
I like the drawing and the manga is really coool!!! i think it one of the best! the characters are really funny and i like this!!!
nice manga, worth reading, not the best ever, definately not perfect.
One major flaw is WAY too many characters so time has to divided to develope each one. That means my fav char, orihime, sometimes goes MANY chapters without making an appearance. UNFORGIVABLE. More orihime plz!!!
