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Plot Synopsis

The series begins in the human world, with the sudden entry of a stranger into Ichigo's bedroom. This stranger is Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper (in the Japanese version, a shinigami, literally God of Death). After an ensuing conversation, Ichigo and Rukia are forced into combat against a hollow (evil spirit). Rukia is disabled, and forced to transfer her power into Ichigo, transforming him into a Soul Reaver. As it turns out, Ichigo is very powerful, and even has a semi-unique zanpukat�? (sword that is his primary weapon, it is much larger than most). Ichigo makes quick work of the hollow, and Rukia leaves.

The next day, she shows up in his classroom, apparently a normal human student. It turns out that Ichigo has completely absorbed her abilities, and she must recover them by using a temporary human form, Gigai. It is later revealed that the Gigai she entered was specially designed by Urahara and given to her. In the mean-time, Ichigo must take over her job, cleansing the hollows in the region.

As Ichigo get involved in a closer friendship level to Rukia, Ichigo got more to know about Shinigami life and its issues.

Credits: niomea

Story & Characters

a boy beats up some ugly teen hooligans, they dunno why, well i'll tell you why, they knocked over and broke the bottle some flowers that were left for a little girl that'd died there. they run away out of fear of another beating, the little girl thanks him for doing what he did for her and he leaves.
ichigo kurosaki can sense ghosts, he can see ghosts, and he can touch them (and kick their asses as per a girl he meets later) his twin sisters yuuki (i think thats her name) can sense ghosts, aka hollows in this anime and karin can sense and see ghosts. his dad cant do any of this.
ichigo's mum died when he was about 13, for reasons unveiled later in the series, but ichigo blames himself entirely for her death, and has dedicated to protecting his family no matter the cost ever since.
one night, a black butterfly comes through the window, this turns into a girl weilding a samurai sword (later found to be called a zanpaktoh) about his age in what i can only describe as a fighter's kimono (i live australia, so sue me) ichigo, obvious unbelieving, watches as the morose girl searches his room for a spiritual entity, trying to get her attention with no success, with true ichigo style, he kicks her... who kicks someone who obviously isnt't human and is wearing a sword!?
surprised that she could be seen as well as touched, the girl introduces herself as rukia kuchiki (ok she doesnt do this at this point but it fits in here in my review so ;P) and explains to ichigo she is a "death god/ soul reaper" ( i watch the fansub and there's a rainbow of variation on this). saying he understands, again.. with great finesse, ichigo flips a table yelling "like hell i believe you!"

so begins ichigo crazy adventures, (i kinda cut that synopsis short, but i just ate and food make patchy's brain lazy) after a fateful chain of events, he becomes a death god himself

the story kicks ass in the beginning, cool-ness splayed all over every facet of this anime, but this wanes a little after rukia leaves the mainstream storyline (wont tell you why ^_^) some of the characters are REALLY quite interesting, others... not as much, but from the very first episode you'll form those burning questions like "what are death gods" "how will ichigo fare as one" and so forth, personally, i reckon this is what makes a good anime, the burning questions, and they make people (eg, me) so hooked on anime

Rating

6 (average)

Art

the art's unique, it strays away from the typical bishie-ness (bishonen=pretty) you find in your typical fan-service animes (or animes in general) where the eyes take up most of the head, skirts fail to function as skirts and every character varies only in degrees of perfection

no, bleach looks good (and cool) in it's own way, characters look different from eachother and have their own very unique looks (or sizes, *cough cough*) the scenary is ok, typical japanese town as per where the story takes place, otherwise, the 9 rating for the section is substantiated almsot entirely by the characters

a disappontment, is when they travel to rukia's world, which looks reminicent of ye ol' day in japan, i thought "i hope the architecture is nice" (yes, this was the first thing i thought) because this was a great opportunity to see some impressive scenery, but bleach disappointed, the town was bland, and the fortress they have to enter and fight their way through, it mostly maze, so for almost all the epics that take place there, you see concrete walls, and more concrete walls

Rating

9 (very good)

Sound

LOVE THE SOUNDTRACK, IT'S AS BLOODY COOL AS THE ART IF NOT BETTER, there is not one song of the openings or closing sequences that doesnt rock, and even if you dont like it the first time you hear it, YOU WILL LATER, trust me.

although in stark conttrast, there's this one song they play during the anime during some fights, its corny as hell, but luckily, it isnt played often, so, out of sight, out of mind

seriously, the music is SOO GOOD, they also got some pretty big names to do em, orange range, rie fu.. thats all i remember off the top of my head, this deserves my rare 10 rating, (i only give it a 9 to even the ones that are really good, but this one is bloody better than really good, hence the 10... if i gave 10's out more often, id be left at a loss if i feel something deserves an 11)

Rating

10 (excellent)

Presentation

opening and closing sequences are excellant, even near the end of the series, there is a diff ending sequence for EACH epic, thats some big financial gamble on the maker's part, but hey, bleach it a kick-ass anime and otherwise it wouldnt equal out with the kick-ass song.
the logo for the series is also nice
the presentation is top-notch, you wont ever get sick of the anime's look, unless you've just been staring at ganju or some other butt-ugly character too long

again, i strain under the mandatory word count, i digressed a lot more than i usually do in this review... ok i'll leave with something useful =_= <-- thinking intensively face. a good action/drama, warning: hooks easily, again, i feel the hooks loosened their grip as the series went on, around where rukia left, which sats something about her presence in the anime, she makes a very good contrast with ichigo, she pisses the hell outta him sometimes and makes him do the weirdest stuff sometimes, an there aint nothin like watching a character of such dignity get his deal of embarressment

Rating

9 (very good)

Final Verdict

8.17 (good)

Reviewed by Patchy, 3y 13wk ago