Bleach the Movie(1) - Memories of Nobody
This is a broad topic and very, very ranging. I started watching Bleach long before I took to blogging anything of interest. As summaries go, though, this will be right along the definition.
Bleach. Not just a cleaning agent these days.
Like One Piece, I had seen episodes sparsely before I had any real interest in taking the show onto my work load. Also like One Piece, I didn't like the art right away so I only left my attention to shows that won me over. Dragon Ball Z and other Funimation dubs had captured me long in advance and subsequently gained my revenue for a long, long time. Maybe this was my mistake.
Bleach right out of the gate was messy and confusing but interesting. Once I got over how mainstream it felt to sit down and watch it, I saw it for the raw experience it was. It was clever and imaginative, taking things we already have beliefs built about, like life and death, and changing them to be less supernatural and more superheroic. It still gets confusing from time to time but it makes sense the more and more I watch it.
The first arc bewildered me because of the amount of new information. Ichigo is an abrasive hardheaded hero type and Rukia, calm and collected, strategic type. Kind of straight forward. The characters they added all had relative depth, only discussing an amount of their story that gave them life to the viewer and made them seem less like a stranger. That's not to say that Bleach didn't have a lot of superfluous back story here and there(flashbacks are cliche, lol) but no anime is perfect. What I really enjoyed was the internal conflict between the protagonists. It wasn't black and white like Goku and Vegeta. It was gritty and vague. You sometimes wondered why they were friends or enemies or rivals, etc. That's depth I can really get behind.
The story made surprising cuts and curves and let me tell you about the filler. There is a lot of it. Main story doesn't feel as filled up but some of it is there. Also, the filler seasons are totally skippable. That being said, they're a good watch nonetheless: almost like a drawn out movie(Bleach the Movie?!?). Anyways, when you got back to the heart of the anime, it almost seemed like a straight line had been maintained. Like you hadn't gone anywhere and the story was right there waiting for you. Cap note: the main story is pretty awesome.
On a power note to add to the story note which adds to the character note… none of the protagonists ever seem like they should win. You may have bad struggle with your earlier animes but Bleach takes that concept to a new level. It was hard to watch sometimes, just knowing the characters are having the snot beat out of them and bones broken. Then, as out of miracles, dawn breaks and the heroes survive on to get stronger. I guess if the heroes always had flawless victories with little difficulty, who the heck would watch?
What I've mentioned before is very light. I have seen 10 seasons of Bleach: The first 10 and in order. You could skip the Bount and New Captain arcs and not miss much. They have characters introduced in those arcs that make reprising roles but I doubt it would cause too much confusion. Big thing is, is that this series has been quite enjoyable so far. I took long periods of time off between seasons and still got along pretty well. The story is reasonably easy to understand and the characters and powers are relatable and amazing respectively.
If you aren't watching Bleach because of the reason I wasn't, "everyone watches Bleach and says they love anime when they have no idea what they're talking about and blah blah blah hipsterness", stop yourself right now. Just watch it or miss out. This series would have really brought down my credibility as an otaku to not have seen it.
Bleach the Movie - Memories of Nobody
A little blurb about this movie. I read about how a lot of people are let down by Bleach movies having little relation to the story arc(DBZ anyone?). I have to say that for the experience, I couldn't care when it took place, it was a fantastic watch. A few little discrepancies but, again, no anime is perfect. Watch it because its a memorable experience in the Bleach universe. It has my vote.
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