This is a running anime series. I figured that since it reached it's 300th episode, this would be a good time to write something about it.
The Plot. The story goes about Ichigo Kurosaki, a high-schooler who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. He has always seen them and is used to them being around. One day some strange things start happening in the city. Ichigo witnesses what appears to be a huge monster chasing a soul. He rescues the soul and sees a young girl in a black robe wielding a sword. Next night the same girl appears behind Ichigo's window and states that she is indeed a shinigami - a death god whose job is to take care of the souls of the living. Her name is Rukia. It is revealed that the monster Ichigo saw earlier that day was a Hollow - a soul that hasn't moved on turned into a monster hunting for other souls. It is a shinigami's job to eliminate these monsters. Soon after, the monster attacks Ichigo's home and when Rukia is injured in the battle, she offers Ichigo to take over for her. Rukia gives Ichigo her powers and accidentally gives all of her powers and is left powerless. Ichigo then proceeds to take over the duties of a shinigami.
A bit about the world of Bleach. The world consists of the real world, where humans live, the soul society, where souls go after death and Hueco Mundo, where Hollows live. The three worlds need special gateways to be traveled between. The soul society is also a home for the Shinigami. It is a headquarters for the Gotei, or the 13 protection squads, each led by a captain, with the Captain-Commander leading the first main squad and the whole of soul society. The occupants of the Hueco Mundo fall into three main categories - the standard Hollow, the Menos Grande and the Vasto Lorde or Arrancar. These are all different levels a hollow is able to reach.
The main power source of a shinigami is their Zanpakuto, typically katana-type weapons that have actual souls as a power source. When a shinigami learns the name of their Zanpakuto, they are able to call out it's power to aid in battle. This is called a Shikai or Initial Release. At one point the most powerful of shinigami learn to release the next level of their Zanpakuto, the Bankai or Final Release. When a shinigami gains the ability to Bankai, they have a chance to become a captain of the 13 Protection Squads. High-level hollow also gain the ability to use a Zanpakuto which when released becomes a part of their body, giving armor and additional powers.
A bit about the characters. The main protagonist is Ichigo Kurosaki. He starts out with the basic shinigami powers given by Rukia, but since Ichigo's power, or spirit pressure, is really high for a human, his Zanpakuto takes a much larger form than usual. Later on, Ichigo is joined by his classmates Sado Yasutora, who gains a powerful arm to use in battle, Ishida Uryu, who is the last of the spirit-bow wielding Quincy, and Inoue Orihime, who can manipulate time on certain objects, thus having the ability to heal serious injuries and also use the same power to shield herself and others from harm.
General thoughts. I've seen all the 300 episodes and all 3 movies released and I must say, this is quite entertaining. In the anime tradition it has a lot of silly anime moments with silly anime background music but I guess that's just what you'd expect from an anime.
There are a lot of different story lines which are often difficult to place in the timeline, considering the powers the characters have developed and there's a single central storyline about a power-hungry shinigami wishing to take over the world.
A thing that makes Bleach stand out from so many other anime series is the excellent writing. There are genuinely some moments where the plot goes a totally unexpected way and this is what makes it so interesting to watch. Almost like a 'what'll they think of next' type of experience. Also, the characters are constantly evolving and at some point I saw that the writers don't have many ways to evolve the characters to beating stronger opponents, so they just think of something totally unreasonable and silly.
This show also, like so many other anime series, puts a lot of emphasis on strategies in different situations, to rather beat their opponents with more than mere power. Of course, there are characters who rely only on them being extremely powerful, but there are only a few of those.
There is no doubt in my mind that this series will continue for quite some time. While the previous story-line is coming to a conclusion (as it seems at this point, could go some other way also), a new direction is already emerging.
I do enjoy the flow of this show. There are only a couple of filler episodes in the whole series, but to extend the main story, they tend to stick a season with a totally different story-line in the middle of it.
Anyway, I'd recommend this series to anyone who wants to make a first move towards the anime world. This show has all the anime characteristics while they don't actually over-do it too much. A great show.
8/10 Flogs
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