Failure and success seem to have been allotted to men by their stars. But they retain the power of wriggling, of fighting with their star or against it, and in the whole universe the only really interesting movement is this wriggle. (E.M. Forester)


PLOT: -

Among the most popular mainstream Shounen, Bleach has arguably the most controversial plot. The main reason of being that way is the Seinen vibe that this manga has got and the mangaka’s lack of control over his plot and characters.

Kubo has tried his best to mix the Shounen and Seinen elements. That is plus and negative point of this series at the same time. We see a hero who is a lab rat of villains and wants to protect the things precious to him. We see godly villains and a good terminology (not that complex like Naruto and not simpleminded like One Piece). These things make Bleach a unique series from other mainstream series and thus making it successful.

But these things have backfired many times during the course of the series. With the background of his lead character, Kubo can’t make him a real tragedic person like Guts from Berserk neither he can make him like a typical mainstream hero, hence messing up his personality (that goes for many other characters as well). With Kubo’s art level he has drawn epic fights but he couldn’t show any gore because of Bleach being a mainstream series. He can’t also kill good characters. Thus killing hypes and staining the name.

So far the plot in Bleach has used the ‘arc method’ i.e. despite having a main plot, each arc has its own mini story and climax. This is another thing which has lifted Bleach to great heights and at the same time stained its name. The problem with Kubo using this method has been that the things have always gone in one direction for him. Apart from his art, which has been great throughout the series, other elements keep wavering. E.g. if in one arc the story is bad, the character development, climax, plot devices etc will be messed up as well. If the things are going smoothly, everything will be going fine.

Another problem with Kubo is that he isn’t great in hype department. Throughout the series we see instance where a character got too much hype or a great hype was ruined idiotically.

CHARACTERS: -

Bleach has a great cast that has been planned out pretty well. Kubo has managed to create great characters (powers, sketches, personalities etc). However he has messed up in certain areas as well.

There are certain occasions where Kubo has handled his characters pretty badly. That includes the hype, development and screen time. The poor usage of these elements have stained some of the great characters of this series and puzzling the mind of the readers that ‘how can someone having such a messed up character handling technique, create such awesome characters’! Well that’s another beauty of Bleach :P

ART: - If there was any series other than Berserk which makes millions only because of its art, it has to be Bleach. The character designs in Bleach are magnificent. The mangaka is well versed in drawing human anatomy and complicated perspective. The battles are beautifully illustrated, just like perfect action movie wallpaper, they have been neatly framed. I feel Bleach is more suited to Seinen genre beacuse, its plot sure has a deeper meaning which can be made into a seinen, plus the author focuses much on the characters which is probably an unnoticed feature of Seinen manga. The way in which the mangaka draws unique but simple shapes of faces and dressing, shows that he does a top notch work (in terms of art at least).

CONTENT: -

Bleach uses a good range of terminology which is complex and easy to understand at same time. Kubo also uses poetic stuff from time to time, and along with some great quotes adds flair to the series. Though there are certain rants and yaps from some characters that annoy the readers as well.

TARGET AUDIENCE: -

All the mainstream fans and those readers who can bear with a wavering story and look up for great art, bleach is a perfect series for you.

TIPS: -

* Don’t put too much faith in the story, as it keeps on wavering. Getting your hopes up will end up in you getting Kuboed.
* Tolerate the white backgrounds.