Bleach (Spoiler Review)

Slaying Hollows and constantly getting stronger for the sake of others, Ichigo Kurosaki is an orange-haired substitute soul reaper that protects with a smile. The popular anime, Bleach, is exciting and compelling with its pacing and story. The story is very mysterious and fun as it slowly unravels throughout the 366 episodes. Watching how Ichigo builds upon himself and how his friends push him makes it hard not to get attached to them.

Ichigo makes many friends along the way, both of this world and the soul society. Through his heart and strength of will, he inspires and strengthens those around him to achieve near-impossible feats. Befriending people along the way such as Chad, Orihime, Uryu, Rukia, Kon, Renji, Rangiku...the list goes on. The friend he’s known the longest, Chad, is known for his strong body which he has learned to utilize for protecting others. Another unique character would be Uryu, the remnant of the Quincy kind with extraordinary power over reishi. Reishi, also known as spiritual energy or pressure, is used by beings like soul reapers for power or creation.

Soul reapers come from a place known as the Soul Society, where souls go after death and where they regulate the balance of souls between our world and theirs. A typical soul reaper would be considered as a foot soldier that the higher-ups send out to cleanse souls that, after death, lose the chain linking them to the Soul Society. Those high in spirit energy are typically the strongest, captains, royalty, and those born with natural talent. This doesn’t even cover the separate scaling for the enemies revealed in the filler arcs within the main story. Their universe can become confusing at times, although it can be considered a typical shonen or anime aimed more towards young teens, Bleach has a unique story with many unexpected twists and turns.

Having intricate villains pushed the story and the progression of the characters forward. Besides their incredible physical power, Ichigo’s enemies challenged his willpower and integrity as he seeks to understand and put a stop to them. Increasingly pushing his limits and striving to the top to be able to protect the ones he loves and those who can’t fight for themselves from their dastardly devious plans. Bleach maintains the lightheartedness that gets you attached to the characters within the epic fights. You can find this exciting adventure through a subscription to Netflix and Hulu, however, Netflix only has the first few seasons which greatly falls short of the whole 366 episodes.