I've been here too damn long for this series to mean nothing to me. Almost 2 years since the end, I've just finished what must be at least my 5th reread of the completed series. Considering what a train wreck most of the series is, this probably sounds pretty ridiculous, but I haven't been able to let it go. Even now, I still love the characters and potential of the story. And I guess that's alright. The potential's enough. I'm never going to read Bleach again after this. The series honestly sucks. But I think when it comes down to it, I still loved it at one point in my life. And I think that counts for something.

... Last updated on June 30th, 2018, 6:18pm

I want to say first off, the character arcs(after the first) are abysmal. Stagnant, bland, done several times over(lookin at you ichigo) or dropped completely.
I can't say I hated anyone single story arc, they all had their high points i found interesting. Though they give me the badly conflicting thoughts "why the f is this taking so long" and "hold up wtf was that, author get back here and do some in depth explaining or at least put it in a extras book".
I really wanted to like the series, it kept interesting me back into looking at it, but oh my god was it failing story growth. "oh look, a elite enemy! level grind this much to oneshot the roadblock" was all i was getting after the entire aizen arc.
I'll even give credit to several of the anime filler arcs for interesting plots(manifesting zanpakto spirits was hella cool), but it just never went anywhere with the build up.

I'm not even sure where i was going with this ramble now, 5/10 it's kinda cool if you don't mind weird pace and low payoff.

... Last updated on March 4th, 2018, 5:50pm

I used to love Bleach. And I still do, to some extent. That is, I love it up to the end of the Soul Society/Hueco Mundo arcs, after which I feel like that manga just went steadily downhill to what many other reviewers have agreed to be an abysmal end.

My advice: Read up to chapter 423, and just... stop. Really, I think that the manga should have stopped there, leaving it on that bittersweet feel, rather than adding on arc after arc that just tried to churn out the same old formula but simply failed to keep up the hype. And chapter 423 itself is set up in a way that you can easily see it as a final chapter.

At any rate, if you're looking for a shounen manga with cool action and decent story, give Bleach a try. For all its flaws, I definitely found it to be an exciting read while it lasted.

... Last updated on September 28th, 2017, 3:56pm

Very fun exciting fights (except for the awful final arc) but the characters lack any kind of real definition. They have backstories sometimes (the villains usually don't tho) but they still never stand out very much. Also the over all world isn't defined very well.

At the start, reading Bleach and watching the anime and all of its movies, I fell in love. I thought I would've given this a 10/10 for sure. I like how the story was, and the characters. But after awhile, I felt like the story was getting dragged. And in the end it was a rushed ending.



... Last updated on October 20th, 2017, 1:17pm

It wasted time introducing too many new characters, it rushed through it, the final fight was super anti-climatic. It left so many unanswered questions. It doesn't show what happens to many of the important characters.



... Last updated on October 28th, 2016, 10:16pm

I was never really a fan of this until the anime. I was really turn off but the artwork. Kind of similar to one piece. But I gave it another shot and enjoy it. Love the comedy, the characters were fun; but one then that I really love compared to Naruto or the one piece anime.... was color. I enjoy that didn't styles and colors that was shown for this series and as I continue to read it i really got into it. After the rukia rescue arc I slowly started to watch less but it was still fun after seeing characters like nel to and I wish there was more. Hearing his mother backstory was great and the last battle was a bit rushed. However the ending is what I kind of expected. So in the end. Good read.

long series come together with many shounen which have stayed too long
its ending is kind of rushed

the story is well like dragon ball which some stronger comes after you win, to make you stronger
repeat
at least it kind of boring when aizen arc conclude with his capture
bring new power, repeat

for ending side
the romance is not tale to be told, but at least they have pairing here, well maybe your ship sunken, but, hey, it's not open ending relationship where the MC is open to all heroines

story wise, it maybe can be told longer, but it's rushed to ending w/o any explanation with the 13 clubs somewhere


my only regret is i can feel the full of kenpachi bankai
well he is one of my fav char there

... Last updated on August 21st, 2016, 4:56am

I've started Bleach around my late elementary school years, definitely grade 7 or 8 for sure though. I know because I haven't touched any really serious series with the exception of Inuyasha or Witch Hunter Robin, Gundam Seed, etc. and excluding the earlier childhood anime, Bleach was an instant hit for me at that point. I went through a bad grade 8 syndrome/fujoshi phase then but because of all these factors, I loved how it got me into the dark serious cliche right away. And from that point on, I started exploring all sorts of anime and genres.

After that, I got fed up with the anime and jumped to the manga, with all these years of reading it, yes there are a lot of ups and downs, downs for a period of time probably but what can I say? I loved it still. Why? I didn't expect Bleach at the Hueco Mundo arc and after to get any epic afterwards, but it didn't let me down. What I loved was the Vizard part about Ichigo where was never explained until a while later. The one thing that I had always wondered was about Ichigo's mother, which was finally explained after countless stallings but it wasn't too satisfying, but fair enough.

It's been rushed but its also very sweet. and the fact it serves as a conclusion is sweet. Cheers to a conclusion of one my final late childhood series I have started, it was nice despite the ups and downs, despite the drags, it was simply nice.
Thank you Kubo for bringing me Bleach all these years, thank you for concluding a part of my childhood.

... Last updated on August 18th, 2016, 8:15pm

So
The manga has just ended as i am writing this review. I've been reading bleach since i was ten years old. It was my favourite manga and anime for a long period of time. Until of course 2 things happened: 1. bleach fell into a stereotypical formula 2. My taste in manga and anime grew.
Art:
Bleach has a distinct art style, it oozes style and sometimes the art is very dynamic/ especially with action and emotional moments. However, the art lacks detailed backgrounds, especially later on in the series. Also, each panel is almost always a close up or wasted motion that could be used to speed the plot. If one were to make a comparison of bleach with any other shonen manga, like one piece. it would take one piece ten frames to do a task, while it would take bleach 20 maybe more frames to convey the same tasks.This leads to each chapter having essentially less content. Story feels sluggish (ran for 15 years, only 3 major arcs).
Story: bleach story from the beginning was formulaic, but a lot of shonen suffer from that. However, they try to change or subvert( HXH) certain things so that they can make the plot feel fresh. Bleach attempts no such thing. every arc is the same, save princess from villain scenario. Almost nobody dies, and when they do it has no significance. Fights are well drawn, but the structure is predictable to a tee. Keep transforming or coming up with new powers until the you defeat the villian.
character: Tite kubo confessed that when he comes up with a story, his process is somewhat obtuse. He first designs a character and then thinks of a story to go along with it. The story is subservient to the character, the story does suffer due to it, but it leads to the characters being very distinct and well designed. Unless you have a million of them and you forget them after every storyline and never ever ever develop them at all. Yeah, thats what he does. He has an amazing main cast of characters, ichigo the mc being one of the more balanced and human shonen mcs, but he wastes time on characters that have no value or keeps introducing new characters that make the readers confused about who is important. as soon as you grow attached to one character, they are thrown away and never mentioned again.
Read bleach because its ended, it wont be half as bad for you as it was for me, because you wont have to wait and its easily binge-able. I would recommend watching the fights in the anime.

... Last updated on August 18th, 2016, 10:29am