13 Reasons Why I Love Bleach
1.
Bleach was my Gateway Anime - I think I should elaborate on this a little bit. I did watch other anime before I started watching Bleach. However, this was during my youth when I only watched anime that was dubbed and was aired on television - stuff like the original Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Pokemon. Heck, I don't even think I knew what anime was back in those days. They were just shows I enjoyed watching. Then I started watching stuff that aired on Toonami like Outlaw Star, Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing, etc. Even then, it wasn't like these shows made me go out and discover other anime shows to watch. Although, another factor to that could be because during those days I only had dial-up and lets be honest, you can't really watch anything with dial-up internet (you know, unless you're willing to wait like 10 hours or so just to watch a 24 minute episode.) But then one fateful day in 2004 I stumbled across this new anime online called Bleach and the rest as they say, is history. I was so entranced the day I watched Bleach for the first time, I can't even describe it. It was agony waiting every week for a new episode. So how do I solve this problem? Try to look for other anime that I enjoy just as much. Thanks to Bleach, I started looking for other anime to watch and have never looked back since then. Of course, I kept watching Bleach, through its high points and low points (have to take the good with the bad sometimes). And yeah, I was a little sad when the Bleach anime ended in 2012. I was so used to watching a Bleach episode every week since 2004, it felt kind of empty when there was none to watch. So thank you Bleach for being the start of my love for anime.
2.
Availability - One of the things I love most about Bleach is how remarkably available it is to watch. Like only watching the dubbed version of Bleach? No problem, the new dubbed episodes air weekly on Adult Swim. If you want to catch up, you can always buy the DVDs in stores or watch it on Netflix if you have it. Want to watch the newest episodes that aired in Japan with subtitles? Once again, no problem with all the options you have - Crunchyroll, Hulu, Viz, etc. Bleach is easily one of the more accessible animes on the web and I enjoy being able to watch episodes with ease.
3.
Music - Bleach has some of the best music of any anime I have ever watched - including Openings, Endings, and OST. After being on air so long, I am honestly amazed that I mostly enjoyed every single Opening and Ending it produced. The soundtrack during an episode blends in almost perfectly with the scenes - it makes battles seem that much more epic, makes heart-wrenching moments that much sadder, etc.
Favorite Opening -
"chAngE" by Miwa
Favorite Ending -
"Skychord" by Shion Tsuji
4.
Diversity - I'll hand it to Mr. Kubo, I do like how diverse the terminology is in Bleach. He does a good job using different cultural/linguistic themes as inspiration for certain things in the Bleach world. Examples include how he uses Spanish terms for anything related to Arrancars or Hollows, German terms for the Quincy, English terms for the Fullbringers, etc. I personally like seeing such diversity in any anime. On a side note, I'm also amused when we get actual English dialogue written by Kubo in Bleach.
Orihime -
"Why me sad?"
Classic. Kudos, Mr. Kubo.
5.
The Ending Skits - When I refer to ending skits, I'm referring to things at the end of a Bleach episode like Shinigami Cup, Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book, Arrancar Encyclopedia, Quincy Encyclopedia, and Zanpaktou Encyclopedia. I admit, I LOVED those segments. After watching a Bleach episode, those ending skits always put a smile on my face. My favorite ending skit? Why that would have to be the Shinigami Cup at the end of Bleach Episode 63 where we learn that Isane is scared of fish paste (or fish sticks in the dub.) Those ending skits were always a good unwind after an episode.
6.
The title "Bleach" - I'll just come out and say it - I like the title Bleach for the series. It is easy to remember, it is not a lazy title, and I find it to be fairly original. I remember talking with a few friends about the Big Three (at the time at least) and their names. Naruto? Easy, its named after the main character. One Piece? Also fairly easy, named after the treasure they're looking for. Bleach? ...WTFBBQSAUCE? Clearly its named after...uh...hm...wow, what the heck kind of name is that? Good times. Does it have anything to do with what the series is about? Possibly. Random? Seems like it but I'm sure Kubo has his reason (if I remember correctly I read somewhere he chose Bleach over "White" because it was less obvious. Good call on his part.) Now because of Bleach, whenever I hear anyone say the word bleach, I immediately picture Tite Kubo's characters instead of that chemical that removes color.
"I like Bleach man, why you have the stupidest verse?" -
"Remember the Name" by Fort Minor
Thank you Mike Shinoda, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Also, it clearly was the best verse of the song, not worst.
7.
Voice Acting - Another thing I enjoy about Bleach is the voice acting, both the Japanese seiyu and the English voice acting. I think the voice actors that they chose to voice each of the characters in Bleach were a perfect fit. I also appreciate how the Bleach dub did a fairly good job matching the voices of the English cast to the Japanese cast. The best example that comes to mind is Mayuri Kurotsuchi's voice. When I heard his voice in Japanese, I wondered if they would find someone to match its uniqueness in English and to my pleasant surprise, they did. I remember watching Mayuri's debut in the Bleach dub and the moment he spoke, I nodded my head in approval. Now, I don't really want to comment on all the voice actors for every character because then I'd be typing here for a few days. Instead, I'll just quickly comment on the voice actors for the main character of Bleach, good ol' Ichigo Kurosaki. I have mixed emotions about Ichigo the character but I'll be damned if I don't like both his Japanese and English VAs. Masakazu Morita does a good job in his role as Ichigo in the Japanese version, as does his counterpart in the English version, Johnny Yong Bosch.
Wait a minute...Ichigo is the Black Power Ranger!?!? Sign me up.
I've been Bosch fan ever since the days he was the Black Power Ranger in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I'd probably watch any anime in English if Johnny Yong Bosch has a role in it. Honestly, is there even an anime or video game Bosch hasn't been in? Lelouch in Code Geass, Izaya in Durarara!!!, Renton in Eureka Seven, Vash in Trigun, etc., etc., you get the point. I can't forget Morita either, he does fantastic work as well, most notably for me Barnaby Brooks Jr. in Tiger & Bunny. That went on a little longer than expected but the main point still stands, Bleach has fantastic voice acting.
8.
Characters - The best thing Bleach has going for it, in my opinion, is its characters. There are so many characters in Bleach that anyone is bound to find at least one character they like or can relate to. Now while having too many characters can hinder a series, I feel it doesn't hinder Bleach too much. The characters are varied and distinct. There were a few times in Bleach where I felt the story was going all over the place or was stalling, and I don't blame it too much for that (although sometimes it made me feel like punching a hole in the wall) because it seems to happen to long running series at one point or another. But to compensate for that, Bleach did a good job on introducing new characters and developing the current characters further. Even secondary characters that hardly get any time in the spotlight were memorable
.
Don Kanonji -
"THE SPIRITS ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Whether it was Soul Reapers, Hollows, Arrancars, Quincies, Fullbringers, Zanpaktou, regular humans, or the awesome Kon, I enjoyed most of the characters Bleach had to offer.
9.
Emotional Investment - I'm not going to lie, at this point in time I don't think I'll ever stop reading or watching Bleach. Why? Because after so many years, I'm emotionally invested in it. That isn't a bad thing, in fact I like it when that happens. That means I'll be along for the ride and see it to its natural conclusion. This ties in with the characters of Bleach. Because of the diverse characters in Bleach and their relatability, its easy to find one or more you can relate to and follow their own story/path while still enjoying the main storyline. The way the characters are developed as a whole allows yourself to attach to them and eventually you become emotionally invested with the characters. Next thing you know, you've been watching/reading Bleach for close to 10 years like I have.
Coyote Stark...you died too soon. (Stark is my favorite character. /manly tears

)
10.
Continuity - Bleach does an excellent job building on its continuity. It builds upon what has previously been mentioned and expands upon it. It keeps the characters consistent. That is one of Bleach's greatest strengths, plain and simple.
11.
Chemistry - The chemistry in Bleach is just amazing. The manner in which not just the characters, but the voice actors themselves make the conversations and scenes flow seamlessly enough for you to further suspend belief to indulge in the story, regardless of how outlandish certain things may come across. The chemistry makes it that much easier to overlook the bumps in the road, and gives it a breath of life that people generally can really appreciate.
12.
Decent filler episodes?!? - I had to include a mention on the filler episodes of Bleach. Whenever I watch an anime series and it arrives at filler, my first reaction is, "Ughhhhhhhhh." Now I understand the reason why series may need to put fillers, but most of them, in my opinion, quite frankly just aren't that good. Most of the times I find myself wanting to just skip an entire filler arc in a series and wait for it to get back to the main storyline. However, I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't the case for Bleach. Granted, I did not enjoy all the filler episodes (did we really need to see Hitsugaya playing soccer? Although I bet some people got a
kick out of that) but I did enjoy most of them. The Bount Arc, the Amagai Arc, and the Zanpaktou Arc were all great filler arcs that didn't take away from the series. The Bount Arc had one of my favorite fights in the series between Kurotsuchi and Sawatari. The Amagai Arc provided a new Captain's rise to power during a time when the manga had not even hinted at who would claim the empty captain seats, which made me just want to keep watching because I couldn't believe the anime would actually do a filler arc on something that impacts the Bleach universe that heavily. The Zanpaktou arc was just all around amusing to see how everyone's zanpaktous turned out to look like, as well as seeing their personalities. All in all, Bleach did a pretty decent job in delivering filler episodes that didn't turn me off from watching the series for a few months until it got back to the main storyline.
13.
The Battle Sequences - Last but not least, a big reason I love Bleach is the battles. You can't become a popular Shonen title without having some epic battles and Bleach does not fail to deliver the goods. The introduction of shikais/bankais really established the groundwork for the epic battles that would take place in Bleach.
Scatter, Zenbonzakura! Now prepare to die via numerous shards of my sword that happen to look like PRETTY PINK SAKURA PETALS. Now thats what I call manly.
Add to that how the main villains of Bleach also have a similar abilities such as the Arrancars' resurreccion and you have a recipe for a bunch of memorable battles. Not only that, but each battle emphasizes the story and further develops the emotional attachment you have with the characters as they grow after each one. Let me use Renji Abarai from the series an example. Renji came off as an arrogant jerk in his first appearance but later developed into this nicer character you sympathized with as the series progressed. And what led to such a progression? His meaningful battles. Renji had some of the most memorable battles in the early life of Bleach. His first real battle with Ichigo was definitely a fight to remember. Despite him being the veteran and Ichigo still being a relative newcomer, he was ultimately defeated. Even in defeat, he asked Ichigo to help save Rukia for him because of his failure. After that battle, Renji was determined to get stronger and began to learn bankai. After achieving this feat in such a short time, Renji decides to save Rukia but is stopped by his captain, Byakuya. This led to another beautifully done battle between the two, as Renji unleashed his bankai for the first time. However, his inexperience cost him this battle as Byakuya defeated him using his own bankai, leaving him almost dead. It was easily one of my favorite fights in Bleach. The battles Renji had with Ichigo and Byakuya really helped his character growth. He kept progressing after each of the fights and at the same time, his battles helped emphasize the story in a nice way. Those are the type of memorable battles I like to see and Bleach does a good job in providing them.
Someday Renji, you'll have another epic battle. At least you'll always have that easy win over Jackie.
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I'd just like to state that I was honest with my feelings and opinions on Bleach. Whether you love it or hate it, we're all entitled to our opinions. I hope that anyone that read my fairly long reasons enjoyed them to some extent or at least didn't die of boredom. Bleach will always have a special place in my heart, even years after it ends (though I question if it will ever truly end.)