Bleach...

Writted by: Demius

Bleach Anime Episodes 1-100

Bleach, like Naruto, is an incredibly popular manga franchise that has originated from the Shonen Jump manga collection. Like almost all other mangas from Shonen Jump, Bleach has proved itself to be extremely successful and in 2005, finally made it to the anime stage. Over the last few years, Bleach has become a phenomenon on a similar scale to that of Naruto. It is a scale that has only been reached by some of the greatest anime series of all time.

For those that have read the manga Shaman King, Bleach will be, in some ways, familiar.
Bleach is about a rather contained high-school teenager Kurosaki Ichigo. Since he was little, Ichigo has had the ability to see and interact with spirits, ghosts and other worldly entities. Though he takes this ability seriously, he does not see it as a big deal. That is until the day when he sees a huge, demonic monster appears with the intention to kill him. Ichigo is saved by a mysterious warrior called Kuchiki Rukia appears out of nowhere and destroys the monster. Later on, Ichigo discovers that Rukia is ‘Death God’ or a ‘Soul Reaper’ and that she comes from a world in between Heaven and Earth called the Soul Society, a world where people like Rukia grow up to become Soul Reapers that exist to destroy the demonic spirits called Hollows. After a very powerful Hollow shows up and threatens the life of Ichigo’s family, Rukia gives her powers to Ichigo as a last resort and Ichigo himself discovers in inner powers as a Death God. Ichigo saves his family and the events that follow not only have fantastically powerful plot twists, battle scenes and brilliant characters.
Ichigo’s adventures will lead him through the ghastly activities of the real world, the mysterious culture of the Soul Society and a war against an otherworldly army. All woven brilliantly.

Voice acting is perfect. Like the Japanese acting in Naruto, the picked the right people for the right parts. Their clarity is clear, tone of voice spot on and they really add the dramas/comedy to every aspect of their character. Immaculate. Bleach is coming to the west very soon and we are hoping that they do a better job with the subbing than Naruto did.

What is a very big surprise is that over the course of all the currently aired 100 episodes, Bleach has only included around five fillers. Five. That is a huge relief since fillers in animes, especially Naruto, often spoil series and are really a waste of time. Thankfully the fillers that have been aired have been of fairly good standard in terms of story and they are not squashed together like the ones in other animes.

The manga of Bleach has not reached western shores yet, but it is expected that the series, especially with the very small amount of fillers, will follow the story very accurately. And what a story. The balance of action/comedy like seen in Naruto is still present, but it is on a smaller scale since Bleach is more of a drama than the action series that Naruto is.
Bleach knows how to bring a tear to your eye, make your heart pump out unnecessary amounts of blood and have you really feel or oppose the characters.

The characters are extremely believable, despite the fact that many of them bear special abilities. You soon meet the quiet but strong-hearted Chad, a classmate of Ichigo who posses incredible physical strength. Inoue is cheerful and spirited girl who also goes to class with Ichigo and is able to call out six small spirits that make up her soul to help her do battle. You soon find out that there are many more secret communities other than that of the Death Gods and Uryuu Ishida is the first person to reveal that fact. He is Quincy, a group of warrior that the Death Gods almost wiped out but now survive only now in Ishida, who uses the power of his soul to fire magical arrows at his foes. He is also very intelligent and with his very shiny glasses and sowing skills, brings the word ‘cool’ to Nerd.
But Soul Society is where many of you will most likely find your favourite characters. Many of them Death Gods, they all if capture your attention or even your heart at some point, be it the bloody thirsty Zaraki, red-hot-head Renji, the sexy Sio Fon or the cold, silent Byukkuya.
Exceptional characters that are all varied in some form or manner and are possible the best in any anime.

Anime soundtracks have often been acclaimed to be of exceptional standard and Bleach is right up there alongside Naruto’s rock-and-roll ballads.
Opening themes are varied lots, each with suiting the arc of which the series would have reached. ‘Asterisk’ is the first opening and is a nice blend of hip-hop, rap and light rock. ‘D-Techno’ is a dynamic pop song performed by UverWorld that contains great lyrics and a lovely rhythmic pop beat that is very traditional for animes. High and Mighty colour sing ‘Ichirin no Hara’ which is easily classified as the best songs in the Bleach series. The song uses electric guitars to the full and with a fantastic male verse and female chorus vocals; it can rightfully be claimed as the flagship theme of the series.
Past the openings you are greeted with quietly played background music, which is often a cheerful hip-hop mix. When the drama sets in violins resound and drums crash to spray the magnitude of the story at your heart. Vocals are used lots as well in both uplifting battle themes and moody confrontations.
The ending themes surprisingly use lots of English in them though they still keep the Japanese lyrics in as well. As usual, ending themes are slow, peaceful songs that help you settle down after the climax of the episode. Though some of the better ones are the hip-hop/rock endings ‘My Pace’ and ‘Happy People’ which provide a new edge to ending the show.

Graphically, Bleach is traditionally crafted to look like a normal, bold-looking animation. Though the detail is great and picture clarity excellent, Bleach is very graphic.
Naruto got it just right with the right amounts of blood spilling at the right times. Bleach on the other hand, will give a character a serious wound they will bleed for the next few minutes or so will non-stop cascades of red liquid. They will often cough up a few times as well and there will even be limb-loss, in which the blood on screen will be screen-filling. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but bear in mind that it will limit the appeal of Bleach to middle-aged teens and over as well as those who are not faint-hearted.
Thankfully, all the other anime elements are still in place as well as great light and sound effects, CG and great camera angles. You cannot fault any Japanese animation for doing that. Especially ‘…’ *sweat drop*.

[b]Story: 8.5/10[/b]

Excellently strung together with little filler, great characters and emotional story arcs. However, animes of demons, ghosts and supernatural have been done many times before and therefore Bleach’s storyline cannot be classified as totally original.

[b]Voice Acting: 9.5/10 [/b]

Excellent acting with great clarity, dramatisation and comedy done with equal fervour. Possibly the best voice acting done in a manga yet.

[b]Music: 9/10[/b]

Brilliantly done with excellent variation of genres and beats. Background music is kept nicely quiet whilst the battle themes rock your TV with the skeletal guitars and bass. Superb.

[b]Animation: 8/10[/b]


Kept traditional so nothing has gone wrong in general though the excess of blood may narrow down the appeal of the series.


Though Bleach may not have been around for as long as Naruto or DBZ, it has had a very fast a huge success. Amazing characters, deep story line and emotional drama make Bleach one of the best recent animes. And with the manga and the anime show coming to the west very soon, the popularity of it will inevitably grow and grow. It is still a rising anime so watch it now because it is getting very interesting.