29 April 2012

The Downfall of Bleach Part 1 - "Bright Beginnings"

If you had told me back when I first started doing Read Right to Left that by the time I got around to covering Bleach, it would've gone head-first over a cliff and was on the verge of ending in disgrace, I...might've believed you. I think it would've depended on if I felt you knew what you were talking, since I knew a lot less then than I do now. Once again, Mochita-chan did a fantastic job with the title card. She said she wanted the title to look like the opening of The Walking Dead, which I admit I've never seen, but it's a happy coincidence that the Blip thumbnail cuts off most of the rest of the title card.

9 comments:

  1. I saw this on Google reader and got here as fast as I could so I could watch the vid. Glad to see you still making these. Wow, to think that I had been a fan of your for about 3 years now haha. I wonder what Zeroespada and the rest of the guys are doing now and if they are still around ...

    anyway, Bleach. I don't really have much else to say that you hadn't already, and I thought that you presented your case with a lot professionalism and tact that doesn't usually come when people criticize Bleach. You listed accurate data and logical arguments to support your view, a view which I also share, and I think you've done a great job of making it clear that you don't hate Bleach, but that the manga had clearly fallen from the high place it once managed to get up to in the past.

    I'm surprised that you didn't mention anywhere in your vid about the ever changing character hair styles (http://ogiuemaniax.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/this-do-is-so-tite-bleach-and-hair/) but I guess you pointed out that Kubo does love to put Ichigo in an infinite amount of new costumes so I guess that counts.

    A minor nitpick though, about the arcs: The Arrancar Arc is everything from the end of the SS arc to the Fullbring (actually the Missing Soul Agent Arc) one. No there isn't another two like the Fake Town battle or Decide or anything, it's a single arc. A minor nitpick but just to illustrate just how that fucking arc just wouldn't end.

    In anycase, great video. Glad to know I can still look forward to more :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jajajaja! Yeah, I should do something about the cropping in the videos, I do them more for the TGWTG slide. It's Walking Dead only in title, but I think it works... right?

    Any ideas for the next one? :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Totally Agree with you on Bleach. I watched the Anime from Season 1 until Hueco Mundo Arc. I thought it was pretty good (even with the filler arcs), but when they just kept going with fights and fights and nothing else, I just stopped caring. I too feel that Bleach had a lot to offer: interesting characters, unique villains, and some wacky humor from the supporting characters. However, the show squandered this when they stopped putting in effort. In my opinion, Bleach suffered when it refused to try new things other than the standard " OH NO! There's A Powerful new Villain and XXX amount of flunkies in his army! We need to learn a new power and have XXXX amount of fights over XXXX episodes until we reach the boss!". I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the fights, but after a while I stopped caring about the names of the villains and just knew they'd be defeated in 1-2 episodes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. For some reason, probably coincidence, my absolute favorite parts of bleach have always had something to do with Rukia in one way or another.

    I have never really come to hate Bleach, but even in it's lowest points, Rukia's relationship with Ichigo has always been something I can take comfort in.

    Anyways, I try to avoid complaining about mainstream mangas, but I always enjoy hearing you rant. Looking forward to your next one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. In the words of The Dude from The Big Lebowski:

    "Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man."

    I've been following Bleach ever since it premiered on Adult Swim in 2006, and it still remains dear to me as one of my all time favorite series. I agree that the Soul Society arc was when Bleach was at its finest. The Arrancar Arc admittedly had bad pacing and took a long time to finish, but overall I was very much satisfied with its conclusion. I admit that the Fullbring arc was a letdown in comparison to the other arcs, but I don't see it as the beginning of Bleach's fall from grace, but more as a stepping stone for a greater story to come. The final arc of Bleach has just begun, and I know of many other fans of the series who were disappointed with the Fullbring arc that are looking forward to what's in store for the series. If you ask me, I'm immensely excited for what's to come in the series. Kubo has been foreshadowing this arc for quite some time now, so I am definitely looking forward to what he has in store. I admit that Bleach's quality has diminished quite a bit, and it is true that Bleach has been dropping in sales in comparison to its previous years, but keep in mind that as a whole, Bleach has sold over 72 million copies as of the end of 2011, with its number still counting.
    http://adnavi.shueisha.co.jp/mediaguide/2011/m_comic/w_jump/index.html
    It has been published in Weekly Shonen Jump for over 10 years now, so at this point it can be argued that Bleach has received tenure for its serialization. My point is that just because Bleach has been slipping in terms of popularity, it doesn't mean that it will remain on a downward spiral. As long as Kubo does his best to make his series as interesting as possible, he has the opportunity to regain his lost fans. As for myself, I've stuck with Bleach for a long time. Through all the bad and all the good, I've still continued and will continue to follow this series. While there are many who have been disappointed with the direction of the series, to say that Bleach is "almost being abandoned by all it's fans" is a misconception.

    I respect your opinion, and you have the right to point out your opinion on the series as a whole, but I disagree with you on the belief that Bleach has completely fallen from its grace. While it has had its low points, it still has the opportunity to pick itself back up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also, regarding the Bleach anime, there still hasn't been any information regarding the reason for its ending. For all we know, the Bleach anime could simply be on a long hiatus in order to give Kubo more time to write more material. The reason as to why they'd opt for a hiatus rather than making filler arcs is mostly due to the fact that a lot of the post-timeskip redesigns for the characters in Bleach haven't been revealed yet, and not to mention there hasn't been any information revealed regarding their character development since the timeskip. Numerous anime based on manga from Jump were forced to go on hiatus in order to give the author more time such as GinTama, Hunter X Hunter, Bakuman, and Nurarihyon no Mago. Even other non-Jump series such as Fullmetal Alchemist and InuYasha were able to receive new anime productions several years after their initial productions ended. Even if Studio Pierrot decides not to be in charge of the Bleach anime anymore, Bleach is still very much profitable in Japan, so many other animation studios in Japan would be more than happy to acquire the rights to animate it (personally I'd love to see Bleach animated by Ufotable or Bones, lol).

      Delete
  6. Hey you Price of Tenis part 2 video isn't working. It has been a year please fix it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. So, after Bleach and Naruto are you going to make a One Piece review soon? Because I'd really like to hear your full opinion about it, outside of the Reaction Shots

    ReplyDelete
  8. My view on Bleach is much the same as my view on Yu-Yu Hakusho, the initial arc (the monster of the week stuff for Bleach and Yusuke adventures while dead) was my favorite arc, but there were good following arc aided by higher stakes. With both series later developments made me really nostalgic for those early chapters. You cover everything with Bleach rather well. For Yu-Yu Hakusho (despite loving both the Dark Tournament and Chapter Black arcs), the long, tedious Demon World arc (which like Aizen had no pay off) pissed me off so bad that I regretted it ever becoming a battle manga in the first place.

    ReplyDelete