Analysis of the anime Bleach. What makes this project stand out from the rest?
On the night of Saturday to Sunday, within the framework of Anime Expo 2022, we were shown a new trailer and more information was given regarding the continuation of the anime Bleach (Bleach). The sequel starts in October, 10 and a half years after the release of the last episode of the anime, episode 366. For me, this title will always hold a special place in my heart. Therefore, such news became an excellent reason to write this post. Today I would like to talk to you a little bit about Bleach. Why do I love this anime? What is so special about it? And why is it really worth waiting for the continuation of this anime?
my acquaintance
As I already said in my post about Naruto (Naruto), my full knowledge of anime culture happened in 2008 only thanks to this title. Of course, I have seen anime on TV before. The same Shaman King or Pokémon. But it was in 2008 that I began to understand what was what and why. Then I was looking for Naruto CDs in stores, which subsequently led to the advent of the Internet a couple of years before most of my classmates. One day during my next trip to the store, I came across 2 Bleach anime discs. The next day at school, I asked a friend what is it about? He replied that he was like Naruto, only a little different. Now such a description sounds silly, but then he inspired me to buy.
First impressions and later
My first impressions of this anime were extremely disappointing. There were two reasons for that. First of all, the first episodes 10-15 turned out to be a bit dynamic and very boring. Not exactly to put him to sleep, but still clearly there was not enough dynamic. The second reason was, to put it mildly, a terrible location. It is clear that then one could not speak of any official dubbing. And most of the fan voiceovers were very, very poor quality. Because of this, I stupidly didn’t understand half of what was going on, since the Russian track was very quiet and mixed with the original Japanese vocals. Later, when dubbing (silly though it was) and high-quality amateur localizations appeared, I saw, understood and even fell in love with these series.
However, everything changed after the same series 15-16. Important characters appeared there, a very good event happened and the Soul Society arc began. Even the very vile voice acting, which I couldn’t make out, was replaced in roughly the same episodes with a fairly intelligible and readable one. Since then, Bleach has literally drawn my attention to itself.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantages of this title are undoubtedly the style, the visuals (great art by Taito Kubo-sensei, the author of the original manga), the staging and, of course, the music. In other words, everything that creates the atmosphere. Interesting world, interesting abilities of heroes, composition. The characters themselves are also very good. Although this is a shonen, the main character can hardly be called a fool and a fool. He has a banal motivation, because he only wants to protect all those who are dear to him and not only. But at the same time, despite the banality, it is this motivation that we, ordinary people, know well. The other characters are just as good and colorful.
In contrast to this, the plot itself is as simple as the protagonist’s motivation. Like the Dark Souls series of games (I’m still promoting my own articles on the first and second part of this series), the plot of each arc is just a quest with extremely rare plot twists and almost no secrets or mysteries. Of all the manga I can only remember 3 really powerful plot twists, which is 686 chapters and 15 years of work. In the anime, there are even fewer of them, because it’s not finished.
But despite the fact that in the same Dark Souls, although there was a weak plot, all this was offset by an incredible lore, which you can study for days without leaving the games or Wikipedia about these games. But in Bleach with lore, everything is extremely bad. There are some snippets of information about the previous world, but quite a lot and they relate more to the characters than the world itself. Although the very structure of this universe, as I said earlier, is interesting. He has an incredible scope for creating high-quality, well-written stories. Which, unfortunately, is not here.
the reason for my love
But why do I love this title so much? There are several reasons, as always. To begin with, it was Bleach that made me fall in love with Japanese culture. Just like Akira Kurosawa’s movies, Bleach has its own special charm and spirit. I’m not saying that Kurosawa’s films and Tite Kubo’s creation are identical. No problem. But for me personally, Bleach became what the films of this great Japanese director became, whose creations greatly popularized Japanese culture in the world.
The second reason was the drawing. And not because I only look at those titles that have a great visual component, ignoring the others. No, the point here is that Kubo-sensei’s character drawing style has sunk into him personally. As an artist, I was and still am inspired by his work in many ways. It can be said that I studied and study about his works, because this style is as close as possible to me.
Well, the third reason was the issue of overcoming himself as the main character. Kurosaki Ichigo (this is the name of the protagonist) as the story progresses, he faces deeper and deeper despair. He cannot deal with both the external and internal enemy in any way (those who have seen/read will understand). All of this leads to him practically giving up at a certain point. But he still finds the strength in himself to overcome himself and become stronger. And the topic of overcoming oneself is very close to me. Largely because of this, I later took on the nickname Despair.
Well, I can call Aizen a bonus. If you know who he is, then you know what I mean. This guy will make you fall in love with this title. This is a mega pretentious character, super charismatic and incredibly elegant. Scenes with him are a separate art form. Almost everything is a choice. In this title, in principle, there are a lot of very cool heroes (Mayuri, Ulquiorra, Kenpachi, Byakuya, Grimmjow and others), but it is Aizen who stands out among them all.
A sequel worth waiting for
But suddenly, in 2012, we were told that after the end of the Subjugator arc, the Bleach anime would end, while the manga would continue to come out. I remember there were a lot of rumors going around at the time. They allegedly claimed that the anime would take a break to improve quality and avoid another boring filler arc. All this, as if Kubo himself affirmed it during his next interview. In fact, years later, no continuation of the anime came out. And the reason for the closure, most likely, was the sharp drop in ratings for the project.
Following the conclusion of the Arrancar Saga, it seemed to many that the Bleach story had come to an end. The antagonist was defeated, and the main character returned to the starting point, having made a complete turn. This is likely what contributed to the title’s rating decline and the anime’s closure. However, in reality, many things were left unrevealed. And, after another passing arc, another story awaited us, which became the end.
There’s a lot to be said for the quality of the Thousand Year Bloody War (the title of the final story arc). Some people didn’t like it very much, others were completely fine. Personally, I think that due to the low ratings, there was a lot of pressure on the mangaka from the publisher. This prevented her from completing his work properly. Why does the end look wrinkled and cut off? Several mini-story arcs were never closed and many weapons were never fired. The situation was partially corrected by the stories, but very few people read them compared to the general audience of the project.
And now, in 2020, the long-awaited return of this title has finally been announced. Now more than two years have passed since the announcement and it remains to wait another 3 months. Bleach will come back and come to the end. As Kubo himself said (I hope this time the information is real), the new film adaptation should not only show the events of the last arc, but also correct many of its gaps. I hope that the novels will also be filmed. At least some of them, as it was in Naruto. This title still has something to say to its fans. And there, perhaps, there will be some kind of continuation, because an additional chapter was released last year. It was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the manga. And it gave a bold hint of a sequel.
conclusion
If we compare Bleach with behemoths of the shounen genre like Naruto or One Piece, or, even more so, Dragon Ball, then in terms of cult, our today’s guest is significantly inferior to them. You may not like it, and you will find it boring and the same type. Or, on the contrary, he will fall in love with you and will not let you go until the last chapter / series. However, this project has its own, unlike the others, a legacy that distinguishes it from the gray mass. I would call Bleach the dark horse of the genre. All thanks to its style, visuals, characters and atmosphere. At least for that, I can safely recommend Bleach to everyone, although I understand that not everyone will like it.
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