Straggling but Still My Greatest Love

Written by guardian_angel_7 on November 2, 2010 at 1:04 PM

Wow, i never thought I'd ever write a review like I am about to for my favorite anime. Here goes...Bleach has lost most of its glory. There I said it. In the beginning it felt very different and had a more spiritual, misterious air about it. Then it transformed into an amazing kick-butt fighting anime. However, lately it has turned to long drawn out fights and ploys to fanservice. (Bankai every 5 secs). Its not that I hate Bankai, i just hate how its become so watered down. It used to be that Bankai was this amazing evolution that could only be used after long amounts of training and growth. You'd think that something like that would be very powerful right? Now, however, its treated like just another power that everyone uses. I know that the enemies are getting stronger and therefore Bankai won't be as effective but come on! When Komomaru's Bankai is just barely able to keep back a visored Tousen with out any sword release at all thats sad. That also speaks to the "power gauges of the series. Everyones power is now really off and u dont know wats stronger anymore. One sec Komamaru can barely hurt Tousen with his bankai then tousen gets even stronger and Komomaru can match it with just his unreleased sword!? Oh and wat about characters dying? My dad watches the series with me (something im very happy and proud of) and he said a couple times that no one ever dies...and hes right! how can a story move on if the villains r never eliminated? One piece, Yu-Yu-Hakusho, D-grayman and even naruto (although not all, heres looking to u orochimaru) have alot of villains which the main character must face before he can move on. This helps the characters grow as individuals and as a group, but when you have the same villains and characters for the whole stroy and most of them are just side characters or villains, nothings gonna get accomplished very quickly. As for the story it was really good at first, and i still loved it even into hueco mundo. However, like a previous reviewer pointed out (thanks for that btw) it seems like now the author is just making it up as he goes along, which is understandable since he creates the characters first and then the story around that (at least thats wat i heard and frankly i believe it.) I always thought that the Soul Society Arc was overrated, andd my favorite arc was the first part of hueco mundo (up to ichigo vs grimmjow, my fav fight ever). However after watching the episode where they recapped wat happened at that time, I felt myself wishing to return to those old days. I still enjoyed the first part of hueco mundo very much, and even up to the flash back to 100 years in the past (which wasnt bad either although i wish theyd stop showing it all the time). Now, hoever, it feels watered down and crappy. (Man this hurts) Its like the producers know that they have a good show and therefore dont have to do as well, and not just the animations. Ok, ive ranted enough against it now i wanna say some positive things. This anime is deep, but not so much it becomes bad. (Well excluding the crap nowadays) The main character is still one of my fav ever in all fictional stories and the fights r great. I love alot of the concepts, especially the inner hollow one (love him!), and the humor parts are pretty decent for not being a more humor type anime like One Piece. Also, even though its very rare, I have never seen any better romance parts of an anime than wat Bleach has shown. Orihime's goodbye was so pure and sacrificial, and I swear I still cry a little when she calls out to him in the Ichigo verses Grimmjow battle (althoug nowadys shes laying it on a little thick. "kurosaki-kun" every 5 min) Alright so maybe this post was mostly a fant, and I apoligize for that. But all i have said i believe. I still love Bleach, and I probably always will, I just wish Tite put as much care into it as he did in the past. Here's hoping it turns around and becomes the amazing anime we all miss and loved.