After 366 episodes, it's finally finished! Seriously, it should have ended more than a year ago (after the Aizen arc). But well, late is better than ever. Since, the manga has also finally just entered its final arc, I think it's a good thing they end the anime and not dragged it out using fillers.
Story: (6/10) – Fair
In my opinion, things started going downhill for Bleach after the "Rukia Rescue" arc. I'm not saying this just because there are too many fillers. The main story itself was also getting predictable and it's mainly about Ichigo experiencing power-ups. No matter how strong the enemies may be, somehow Ichigo will power-up and defeat them. (ò_ó) I still can't get over the fact that Ichigo defeated Ulquiorra!! To be fair, I don't think all the fillers are boring, though most are. I personally quite like the Zanpakutou arc.
Overview of all story arcs (including filler arcs):
1. Agent of the Shinigami arc (episodes 1-20) - This is the very first arc of Bleach! How nostalgic!
2. Soul Society: The Sneak Entry arc (episodes 21-41) - I quite enjoy this arc as it shows us what kind of place the Soul Society is.
3. Soul Society: The Rescue arc (episodes 42-63) - The battles are interesting and the twist is pretty good.
4. The Bount arc (episodes 64-109) - This is the very first filler arc and it's really boring. Thinking about it makes me wanna yawn...
5. Arrancar arc (episodes 110-167, 190-205, 213-229 and 266-316) - This is the longest arc in Bleach thus far (and according to Kubo sensei, the last arc he is writing now will be longer than this =.=!). As this arc is too long and Kubo sensei's story telling speed is too slow, the anime caught up with the manga many times and the anime staff had to put in a filler arc in between.
6. The New Captain Shuusuke Amagai arc (episodes 168-189) - this is quite a crappy arc too (yawn).
7. The Past arc (episodes 206-212) - I really like this arc as it shows the past of the vaizards!
8. Zanpakutou Unknown Tales arc (episodes 230-265) - this is the only filler arc which I find interesting. The human forms of some of the Zanpakutou are really cool.
9. Gotei 13 Invading Army arc (episodes 317-342) - This arc is pretty interesting too even though it is a filler arc. It's nice to see Byakuya vs Byakuya! ^^
10. The Lost Substitute Shinigami arc (episodes 343-366) - Even though this is canon, it is the worst arc ever. The new characters are not very interesting and this is supposed to be a Chad-centric arc (according to Kubo sensei) even though Chad didn't even get to fight a single battle. =.=!!
Character: (7/10) – Fairly Good
The main characters do not appeal much to me. Ichigo's constant power-ups really get on my nerves and the other main characters (Orihime, Chad, Ishida and Rukia) are pretty weak and useless.
I don't really like the human characters but I really like some of the shinigami, espada and vaizards characters.
Favorite characters:
Byakuya - cool brotherly character ♥
Ulquiorra - he's emo in a very cool way!
Grimmjow - I like hot-blooded characters like him!
Hirako - he doesn't look very cool in my opinion but he has a really cool personality!
Kenpachi - He's really badass!!
Art/Animation: (7/10) – Fairly Good
Kubo sensei's artwork is without doubt good but too bad he ain't half as good in storytelling.
Bleach is a long series and the animation quality at the beginning is very different from the animation quality now. It has definitely improved over time but the animation quality hasn't been very consistent.
Music: (9/10) – Very Good
Bleach has many Opening and Ending themes. Some has become classics, some are good and some are average.
Enjoyment: (7/10) – Fairly Good
Initially, I really enjoyed Bleach a lot. It WAS my favorite among the big 3 shounen but after a while, the story became bland and I didn't enjoy it all that much. In fact, I find myself watching/reading it only for the sake of completing it.
Overall: (7/10) – Fairly Good
If I were to rate it purely based on feelings, the scores would probably be much lower as Bleach disappointed me greatly despite it having a really good start and pretty interesting setting. Objectively speaking, comparing Bleach to other shounen works, it may not be the best but it's definitely not the worst.
On a side note, I'm not impressed with the new arc in the manga and thus I seriously hope that it won't be animated.
Read the rest of this entry
Entry meta
