Bleach. Basically, a show with potential that just became a show on repeat.

I remember back when I was just a mere child when the show first premiered on TV. The first arc was spectacular; the actual fights and plot was extremely consistent and the entire show was enjoyable. Individuals faced a challenge and the dexterity characters faced showed the depth of the story. But, after the first arc, some thing went wrong. It just... collapsed. I have no idea what to call this effect, but for now, I'll call it the "Bleach Effect". This effect is basically when the author literally uses the previous arc as the plot for the new arc with just a rehash of new characters and new powers. Maybe other manga have done this, but the author takes takes this to an entirely new level. So, there will not be any spoilers; I will try to keep the story as vague as possible, and with the ridiculous amounts of reviews, I'll try to be honest about one of the first shounen anime that I watched. Without further ado, BAN - KAI!

Story - Hmmm, where do I begin? Like I said before, the story was consistent and very likable at the start. In the most rudimentary story synopsis; the story concerns a group of high school students who run around the main character and help him succeed. But, the story was heightened by the concept of shinigami (Death God's). This is not something like Death Note, however, it was including the Death God's with sword. Kurosaki Ichigo, our main protagonist, stumbled across a wounded Death God who was hurt by other wordly demons, also known as Hollow's. The Death God, through desperation, transferred powers of a Death God to Ichigo. This starts the story of a long and adventurous anime, filled with action scenes and much more plot development. Ichigo and his group of friends, who all have some sort of special power, go along with his adventures and save their friends from time to time from peril. Sorry, I don't want to spoil much more of the story, so I'll keep the plot vague, but essentially, the story will follow complications that occur with Ichigo inheriting powers from a death god, and a huge story that opens up due to Ichigo's powers. There are power struggles, rescue missions, great plot development, and of course, "revealing of the past" development (more well interpreted as backstory development). This is a very good shounen manga, until we finish the first arc. Then, it's the SAME. DAMN. ARC. alllllllll over again.
This is the part where I break out in hives. The story line never flinches (this is in a bad connotation). It's as if the story is on repeat from arc 1, as arc 2 has the same story line. Sure, there is some development in terms of the immediate story, but from a wholistic standpoint, arc 1 is repeated throughout the manga. Let me emphasize more on this: Imagine if a manga had absolutely no unique plot after the first arc, if the manga just continued with a recurring theme. Moreover, this manga relies heavily on plot armor, as if Ichigo is always in need of some form of power up, transformation, or anything of that nature. But, it is ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT. There is nothing that will take you by surprise in this manga after the first arc, it'll be easy to predict what happens, and only a few times will you be wrong. This is most likely because there is no over-arching reason to commit in this manga. For example, many manga's have an ultimate goal that moves the story forward. Bleach does not; it doesn't have an ultimate goal, but just a general rule of thumb to protect your "nakama" (Sorry for my horrendous japanese, I should be on a stake). That's all good an all, if the plot was different per arc; BUT IT's NOT. IT's the SAME STORY OF SAVING SOMEONE or SOMETHING again and again.
At one point, you just ask yourself why you continue with a manga like this, and the answer is on the next topics.
Story Score- 4

Art- This is one thing that the author knows how to do well. I read only a few shounen manga, and none of them have such great art as this manga. The quality of art in here is very clear; I genuinely like the art as it goes. The fights were also clear, and as long as the manga provides a good setting, I think the art style gets at least a 6 (Sorry, that's just my opinion). But even then, there is not much discrepancy when it comes to the artwork. It is consistent, and apart from the last few chapters, I think it really does work well with the atmosphere Bleach sets up. This is sad, but it is so good, in my opinion, that it makes you want to read the manga more...
Art-8

Characters- Characters a well developed. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. This is because the motive that Ichigo and his friends have stems from how they interact with one another. And, believe it or not, the first arc sets up the characters brilliantly. Ichigo, who may seem as a rough and absent minded individual, is actually very caring, and deep inside, he wants to protect them from harm. He also has this astute sense of justice, which sometimes hurts him, and sometimes helps him. In essence, he is a character that cannot ignore the cries of his friends nor can he watch is something unjust is happening. This sense of justice is, of course, cliched as hell, but the protection of his friends that he wants to continue, is somehow, spread through all his group members, and the actions that take course in because of these characters are the only thing which move the plot in such a cyclical path. So, in essence: it is a good thing that characters are developed so well because it can provide us a good reason for why the people act in the way they do, but it is bad because.... DAMN IT ALL; IT ADDS TO THIS REPETITIVE GODDAMN CYCLE OF REPEATING THE ARCS. Since the plot/story was already scored, I have to give an unbiased score towards the characters. And, all in all, I genuinely think that characters were pretty spot on.
Characters - 4

Enjoyment- Notfound.jpeg . Honestly, I don't know if I found it fun that sometimes I was close to ripping my hair out because of this predictable plot line. Other times, I was just confused as to the "asspull" that was done in the middle of a fight. The fights that happened are so one-sided that you think that there would at least be some sort of change, but there wasn't. It's plot only exists per arc, and doesn't have an ultimate goal story, and thus, the manga is rendered to just be endless. My only rejoice was in the art and the tenacity of characters. However, the endless plot holes that developed is ridiculous. If you think otherwise, then you must be right, as questions that are not answered in a manga is obviously not plot holes (sarcasm). It's a fun manga to dabble into, and I honestly kept up with it because it was a childhood anime that I watched. I was determined that I would finish it, no matter how horrible the ending was.
Also, the ending was horrible. So, yeah. Kubo tried too many things and it backfired on him.
Enjoyment- 2

Bleach is honestly just a well done shounen manga. Don't come in expecting some magnificent plot with ridiculous surprises. It's cliched, but it was very well as a cliched manga. I've enjoyed it enough to follow it for 9 years, so I guess it can't hurt you guys.

Overall : 4

...

Still, its a 5 in my heart. With all it's bullshit, I sure will miss Bleach.