My Fave Anime: Information
Bleach (Tite Kubo)
Bleach is a manga that began being published in 2001. It got its anime adaption in 2004, which effectively ended before completing the entire manga's arc and plots. In 2016, the manga ended. Burn the Witch, a one shot, was released June 2018 and stars two British girls who work for the Western Soul Society branch, or Wing Bind.
Bleach stars a 15-year-old male by the name of Ichigo Kurosaki, who can see ghosts. The inspiration for Bleach is similar to one of creator Tite Kubo's favorite childhood 1970 cartoons, which also starred a kid who could see ghosts.
When Tite Kubo first came up with the idea of Bleach, he wanted to draw Soul Reapers (Shinigami) in kimono, and so he drew Rukia Kuchiki. Rukia was originally the main character, and starred in the first idea Tite had, which he dubbed "Snipe". It featured Rukia with a scythe and everyone else with a gun. However, he scrapped the idea and created the now-protagonist,, Ichigo. Ichigo was originally designed with black hair, glasses, and was older, around 17 or 18. In the first one-shot created, Ichigo and Rukia were much different than they are now:
- Soul Reapers shrunk when their powers did. In the current, Soul Reapers are forced to retreat into a gigai, which is a temporary human body for them to heal in. In the one-shot, Rukia actually shrunk to the size of an ace card.
- Hollows looked human. In the current, Hollows look like monstrous demons, usually representing a particular animal such as a snake, cow, or other animal.
- Hollows could disguise themselves as human souls. In the current, Hollows could not disguise themselves as anything and were, as such, easy to spot and attempt to kill.
- Rukia's soul-remover was different. In the current, Rukia has a glove that she uses to punch Ichigo's soul out of his body. In the one-shot, she had a arrow that she held and poked him with.
- Rukia was originally apart of another Soul Society Gotei company, In the current she is apart of 13th company. In the one-shot, she was "Soul Reaper Far Eastern Force 3rd Company Rukia Kuchiki".
- Orihime Inoue died. Orihime has a crush on Ichigo in the current and is a main character. In the one-shot, she looked slightly different and ended up dying, becoming the first soul Ichigo led to the Society.
- Orihime's dad died instead. In the current, it was Orihime's brother who died and came after her as a Hollow. In the one-shot, her father came back to supposedly take her to the Society, but tricks Ichigo by becoming a Hollow to eat her soul.
- Passes were used to go to the Society. In the current, instead of being given a pass to find the Society on their own, ghosts were manually sent to the Society by a Shinigami. However, the idea was reused later in the series to let Ichigo's human friends visit him, in case he ever died.
- Rukia and Orihime become a duo. After saving Orihime, Ichigo is exempt from his Soul Reaper duties. Rukia gets her powers back, and she is blocked out of the Soicety because of her "disgraceful behavior". Her and Orihime wonder the world until they meet Ichigo again at the end.
- Soul Society portals are different. To get Orihime to the Society, Rukia whips her sword around in a circle to make a portal. In the current, a rounded, floating door that looks like a traditional Japanese door is used.
- Hell Butterflies are not used. And lastly, Hell Butterflies, which helps Shingami get through the dangerous world between their own and the real world and also announces their arrival, are not featured.
In Bleach, there are 2 types of souls: Hollows and wholes. Hollows are evil, fallen souls that hunt those they loved most in life and then hunt other ghosts, mostly wholes. Wholes are pre-Hollows: good souls who wonder around the world until rather given a Konso (soul funeral) by a Shinigami, become a Hollow, or get eaten by a Hollow.
Rukia, after losing her powers, requires Ichigo to be a Reaper in her steed so she can regain her own powers. He agrees, after some convincing. The story involves morality and the stress of the importance of friendship. There is a lot of humor, and rumors abound on why Ichigo and Rukia spend so much time together, making it funny to the reader, who knows why.
Ichigo is a good student, yet hates seeing people being bullied and protects people at all costs. The root of his delinquency is the fact that he desires to protect everyone he loves, and he refuses to take human lives. Ichigo's family consists of: his 11-year-old twin sisters, realist Karen and sweet Yuzu, and his father, annoyingly annoying Isshin. His mother, Masaki, who they all loved very much, died when he was 9, and he blames himself for her death.
Ichigo has many classmates of note.
- Tatsuki Arasawa, his childhood friend, is Orhime's best friend (and protector when it comes to unwanted advances) and is a superior female karate champ.
- Keigo Asano, who likes "anyone whose around... if she's cute".
- Mizurio, who is a rich and popular student, yet chooses to hang around Ichigo and Keigo.
- Chizuru, who is a open lesbian used mainly for comedy scenes between Tatsuki, Orhime, and herself.
- Chad, who is a Mexican-Japanese student who is Ichigo's male best friend. He refuses to raise his fists to hurt anyone and is really a big softie.
- Uryu Ishida, who is a Quincy. Quincies destroy souls and Hollows instead of cleansing them to go to the Society like Shinigami. Because of this, Reapers and Quincies have a big fued.
The story follows Ichigo as he fights Hollows for a while, and he meets Kisuke Urahara, a mysterious candy shop owner who deals in supernatural goods. Kisuke's "little helpers" are aggressive Jinta, who has a crush on Yuzu, and quiet Ururu, who is a sweet little girl with overwhelming power. The story rolls on until Rukia is taken to be executed in the Society for her "crimes" of giving a human Shinigami powers. The story takes a sharp turn, and Chad, Orihime, and Uryu join Ichigo to stop the execution and help Rukia see that she doesn't deserve to die, despite all that she thinks she may have done. The story then begins to introduce a variety of notable characters:
- Yamamoto. The most powerful and highest ranking Soul Reaper, he believes in justice. He approves of Rukia's execution because he has only heard his underlings' side of the story.
- Renji Abarai. Rukia's childhood friend and assistant captain of 6th company, he does not believe in Rukia's execution.
- Byakuya Kuchiki. Rukia's adoptive brother. He is an aristocrat Shinigami and is the captain of 6th company. He is responsible for catching and sentencing Rukia to death.
- Toshiro Hitsugaya. The 10th company captain, a child prodigy, and the owner of the most powerful ice zanpakto (sword), he is the first Shinigami to question Rukia's unjust execution and strives to find the truth.
- Momo Hinamori. Toshiro's childhood friend, she is Sosuke Aizen's assistant captain. She follows in her friend's footsteps to find out the truth, only the truth she is searching for puts Toshiro in as a main suspect.
- Gin Ichimaru. This unnerving captain of 3rd company stops Ichigo and friends from reaching the Society, and does not have a stand on Rukia's execution, which makes him all the more creepy.
- Sozuke Aizen. This kindly captain is hiding a huge secret.
- Kenpachi Zaraki. This captain is blood thirsty and carnage-loving, and is one of the most disturbing and unlikely "heroes". He does not have a stance on the problem at hand.
I don't wanna spoil any more for you! I made a very vague overview so you would still be surprised when you read it. I also have not revealed all the characters, so you may like one that is not listed here. Have fun!!!
YOU need to know: Bleach is rated TV-14/ 13+ for fantasy violence and some minor swearing. Also, there is some "partial nudity" but it is covered via speech bubbles or mist and smoke within the comic and the anime. Strictly speaking, the manga is much more violent than the anime, while the anime tones down lots of the extreme violence. It isn't gory, but there is blood.
Thanks for reading! Will you try out Bleach?
