Here again with a freshly-updated review to account for the end of the Fake Karakura town arc, and the beginning of what appears to be the "Undo the end of the Fake Karakura town" arc.
Plot: There still doesn't appear to be any overarching plot. Unlike other shonen, our hero here doesn't have any vague long-term goal. It's more like "Oh look, an enemy. I go kill it now." Rinse and repeat.
Length: 48 volumes, and counting, with no end in sight. And supposedly it's only halfway through. Nuff said.
Characters: There's a bunch of them. There's bound to be at least one you like. Emotional moments between characters are rare gems, but still tend to be very poignant when they show up. Overall the characters are an enjoyable and likeable bunch, but some suffer from lack of development due to the extremely large cast.
Art: I actually like the art pretty well. The only issue I have with it is that all the characters have become very standardized and hairstyles and clothes are pretty much the only way to distinguish them.
Possibly offensive: Lots of boobs and ridiculously stripperiffic outfits. Pretty much the kind of stuff you shouldn't be surprised to find in a shonen. Lots of blood and occasional sexual jokes. Oh yeah, and some almost-yuri.
Other Stuff: When it comes to Bleach, I experience one of three things when I read a new chapter: "WTF awesome", cautiously optimistic ambivalence, and just plain "WTF?!". The entire fight against Aizen was pretty much one giant "WTF?!". I won't go so far as to call it a wallbanger, because it was something more than that. It was more like I got trolled left, right, and sideways. Then I realized:
Stopping to think and try to reason out what's going on in Bleach is bad for your brain. You'll enjoy it a lot better if you just go with it. Just accept the series for what it is---complete with hax Aizen, plotholes, and deus ex machina powerups---and it's actually pretty entertaining.
(+3)
(-225)
