How Bleach Took Over the World, Yet Again!
It's been a long time since we last had Bleach hit the screens. Almost a decade ago, we had the anime’s final episode (366). A lot of people forgot about the title altogether, writing it off as another manga that won't get animated in its entirety.
But some people were hopeful and their prayers were finally answered this October when Bleach was back on the main stage! Let's see how one of the big three took hold of the throne rightfully from the very beginning!
The beginning of a beautiful end, only bigger and better
If you recall what happened back in 2012, Bleach ended on a high note. The fight with Aizen, Saigo no Getsuga Tensho and the final boss finally having that end to him, all of us thought that Bleach was going to end this time around. But then Studio Pierrot gave us that filler only to add that Fullbring arc on top of it.
Probably one of the most hated arcs of all time, I am a huge fan, to be honest. It just introduced so many characters that were a perfect fit for the series. Since a lot of us didn't read manga back in the day, we didn't know the story had a continuation. Just around last year, the whole world came to know about the return of one of the big three, this time featuring a villain that was deadlier than any other.
This time around, the Quincies were here and the anime finally shed some light on the Soul Society's past. Ichigo suddenly got his powers back, and that 'Please Kurosaki Ichigo, protect the Soul Society by Byakuya’ just hit us right in the feels! The Sternritters, the Soul King and the rest of the Quincy squad had this air to them that made things all the more interesting.
I'm pretty sure we were all super hyped given how bleach was back and we were getting a ton of new characters, and a new look at the universe! Plus, Tite Kubo confirmed that he won't be censoring anything, or coming up with fights that don't even exist in the manga. That is until the news about Disney getting Bleach popped into the picture. But till now, Bleach has been nothing but the return we'd been looking forward to all this while!
Fights, fights, and a lot of fights!
In my opinion, the action made the Bleach sequel surpass the ‘Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood’. We've missed our favorite characters and the moment we got to see them, they start throwing at us fights that are as adrenaline packed as it gets!
Seeing the squad captains Byakuya, Kyoraku and Hitsugaya, along with Soifon take on these Quincies, all the while they steal their ‘Bankai’ keeps us at the edge of our seats. But what surprised me the most was how the boss, Yamamoto, despite being the most powerful soul reaper, is sliced by Yhwach without breaking a sweat.
In addition, he completely humiliates himself and Ichigo soon after, breaking his Bankai with Mayuri and telling him how hard it'd be to make it go back to how his sword used to be. Plus, with the latest episode ending on that Soul King awakening in the post-credit scene, it almost feels like the delay in the episode releases was intentional even when it wasn't. Bleach is a little too good when it comes to playing with the fans, we already know that a little too well!
Crisp animation, sick music
One thing you'll notice right away is how clean the animation looks. It's as if every character got polished a million times before coming to the stage itself. But in addition to Studio Pierrot taking the animation to the next level, the soundtrack just defines Bleach, the anime in a nutshell. It goes well with the whole theme of the show with the opening and the ending themes being totally out of this world! Heck, they might even be made in the Soul Society!