The big three if you like anime there's a good chance that you're in love with or at least Interacted with one of these three shows the most popular anime of the early 2000s and arguably the most influential anime of all time These three shows carried the popularity of anime in the West for a long time and are a big part of anime becoming the mainstream media Giant that it is today with that being said I surprisingly didn't really have a relationship with any of the big three I don't know shit about one piece outside of the fact that Luffy is more stretchy than Mrs Incredible Naruto would probably be the closest thing for me, but I didn't really watch it start to end until I was much older and then there's bleach Up until a few months ago I didn't really know anything about bleach other than each ago being the main character and being spoiled about a certain villain because the city has jump force but with the anime returning last fall and having a bunch of close friends who really Love the show I decided to jump in 379 episodes later here we are is bleach really Overhated is each ago really blitz your favorite character and how did the latest release change my impressions of the show bleach Starts by introducing us to each ago Kurosaki a little different from your average shown in protagonist in that he's a Street kid he gets in a fight this nigga always skipping class, you know Just your average to link with shit, but he also has a unique ability to see spirits one day He stumbles upon a shinnigami or soul reaper rukia while she's out trying to rip the world of these corrupt spirits known as hollows Sometime later when each goes family is attacked by one of these hollows and rukia gets hurt trying to help defend them He balls her power and is thrown into the world of the soul reefers becoming a substitute soul reaper for kata kura town This is the setup for the first 20 episodes or so of the show and it kind of becomes this monster of the week goes Tunting show while it takes its time building the world and establishing dynamics looking back on it It's kind of crazy how quiet this is in comparison to the rest of the show And I kind of wish some newer modern shonen would take this quiet time with the characters to really establish themselves and make them feel more Personable, but then the other soul reapers show up But you know I really got a hand it to you. I'm very impressed by skulking around so long here in this world You actually managed to prolong what little life you have left This is where bleach becomes bleach the soul society art even people who dislike bleach usually have some praise for this arc And for good reason we're introduced to this badass group of captains who all have their own roles to play in the conflict And there's no doubt in my mind they influence groups like the hashara everything in soul society feels so pre-established Like it existed long before each ago came and it makes shit like the character interactions and the world building super intriguing as you get answers and find out more about the drama and the relationships between these characters way before each ago got here The dope ass power system is expanded upon with characters each having their own unique way of fighting Which is amplified by the choreography and animation and when you find out what a bonkai is Oh my god, I don't even like this show that much but I can't help Before I myself rocking around the house going bonkai sembun zakura kaneesh There's not many shows with as much aesthetic and style as bleach too and titte kubo knows it is He obviously put a lot of effort into the flair and it shows with how dripped the fuck out all the characters always are And don't get me fucking started on the soundtrack. I can't play much here, but just listen to this for a second Number one is genuinely one of my favorite character soundtracks of all time also and actually fits each ago's character really well If you ever need to hype yourself up just play this shit Cool ass fights a great soundtrack emotionally resonant moments a really great antagonist all tied together with an underlying mystery everything you could want in a classic shonen and more is here But unfortunately that's not to say bleach doesn't have its flaws some of the power scaling at times doesn't make any sense I actually went back and watched the filler for this video and holy shit 90% of it is garbage And it wouldn't matter but the way they force the filler characters into the canon fucks up the pacing for no reason Some of the revelations felt more like ass pools to me than heart hitting moments and the emotional attachment I did have with the characters I feel like kind of faded in the following arcs But also the lack of consequence sometimes creates a lack of tension or drama for me personally that makes some of the conclusions to the big things that get foreshadowed and built up throughout the series not hit as hard as they should I didn't read the manga so I don't know how much of this is the adaptations fall and I'm not going to go into too much detail about all of the stuff that I don't like because there are already plenty of youtube videos that do that And I want you to go into the series blind and make your own opinions if you've never watched it As much as I hate to agree with this take bleach did kind of peak for me at least emotionally in the soul society But this all changes when bleach comes back And holy shit did it come back with the vengeance boxing my hero and chainsaw man for action episode of the week every week And genuinely dropping banger after banger episode for weeks after its release The passion the staff have reinvigorated in the adaptation is crazy and where some of the animation in the original fall tears thousand year blood Were flips that on its head with some of the most visually appealing stuff I saw all 2022 the atmosphere the lighting the animation and the sound Tract are all 10 out of 10 and it's a return to the great style and flare that Kubo is best at another bad-ass group of antagonists gets introduced And for the first time for me since soul society there's real drama and tension fueled by consequence And I'm not sure what's gonna happen next which makes it a lot more interesting Kubo is finally able to cash out on some of the foreshadowing and world building earlier in the series And when he does do it it does it really well and it's been good so far The revelations in this arc have been a lot more satisfying than the previous ones Even if it's kind of blurry on whether or not Kubo is ass pulling or has been setting this up from the start It doesn't matter because more than anything to me thousand year blood war signifies a return of emotion to the series I think bleach is a show that style over substance and when some of the style wasn't there in the animation or the simple story Could it make me feel anything those moments felt really flat and uninteresting because there wasn't much else But in thousand year blood war the emotion is finally back Moments feel impactful consequence is finally real again and it makes the antagonists feel Minnesing entice the story together in a way that's a lot more special to me I don't think I will ever enjoy bleach as much as the people who grew up watching it But I definitely don't regret getting into it The last season was great and the influence that it's had on modern anime such as demon slayer jiu jitsu kaisen and black clover can't be denied If you're looking to get into a long running classic I would recommend it some of you will like it more than me some of you will like it less But the timing couldn't be more perfect. So what are you waiting for?