OTAKU Series by Cecile Maxi ('23): A Review of Bleach

Bleach

Evil souls, Swords and friends

Have you ever wondered what happens to your soul when you die?  

The anime series Bleach has an interesting theory, in which a person’s soul lingers between two different worlds after the person dies. This soul is vulnerable in that place and can either move on, so to speak, or be consumed by evil spirits called hollows. Bleach recounts the story of a teenager, Ichigo, who is capable of seeing the souls of the dead, and with that ability comes a call to protect them from the hollows; he fully gains his Shinigami's power — the Japanese term for death spirit — after saving a former Soul Reaper named Rukia. With his new power, Ichigo has to save the human’s soul from the hollows and guide those souls to the afterlife—where they can lead a happy, ghostly existence. 

What about fights? you may ask, since we’re talking about Shonen, a genre defined in part by its dynamic fight scenes. Well, let’s say Tite Kubo, the writer and illustrator of the manga, wanted to do something new. In my opinion, he wanted to change the way people see Shonen manga. Instead of developing chacra (the essential essence for the realization of any technique) and fighting with his bare hands like in many other manga or anime, Ichigo had a Zanpakuto, which literally translates from the Japanese “soul reaper.” The Zanpakuto is a sword whose ability and shape are based on the Shinigami's soul. The size of the Zanpakuto depends on the spiritual power of the Shinigami, the bigger the sword, the bigger the power. In addition, each Zanpakuto is unique depending on its owner. Only a Zanpakuto can combat the hollows, those evil spirits that feed on human souls.

During the pandemic, I needed something full of suspense and surprises to watch, and Bleach was a perfect match. Besides the different combat style, Bleach is like the other Shonen: friendship and family mean a lot to Ichigo, as they do to many Shonen heroes. In fact, his journey as a Soul Reaper begins because he wanted to help Rukia, a Soul Reaper who in the future becomes very important to him. On a scale of one to ten, I’d give Bleach a seven. Sometimes you have to believe that the impossible is possible, and Ichigo’s transformation is just the thing to convince you. Who knows what will happen in the end? Does Ichigo go too far in his transformation? Will he risk turning into a hollow himself, as he seeks to save souls? To know what the end holds, you’ll just have to watch it!