Bleach #1-12

Bleach #1-12

Originally released in 2001

Written by Tite Kubo

Art by Tite Kubo

Back in the mid to late 2000s, Shonen Jump had three series that were collectively known as "the Big Three": One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach. As anime and manga were undergoing a major popularity growth, these three series were all ongoing and extremely popular at the time, though their popularity depended on the region.

Of these three, Bleach was my least favourite - it managed to feel rushed and dragged out at the same time.  Major plot points were revealed in Japan-only guidebooks, the sheer amount of fights that seemed to take place in an empty white void (due to the backgrounds not being drawn) got hilarious over time, and it felt like Kubo introduced a new group of 20+ characters whenever he got bored. (and if that was the case, then he got bored a lot)  I recall thinking highly of the first major arc, Soul Society, though I didn't recall much of what happened before that.

The main character, Ichigo Kurosaki, is a high school student who can see dead people.  One thing that I noticed almost right away in these chapters is that Ichigo seems much more expressive compared to how he is later on in the story.  Maybe it's because of the lighter tone or lower stakes at the start of the series, but from later on in the series, I'm used to Ichigo being limited to anger, sadness, or mild shock. (I had trouble with even recalling him smiling; he's much more stoic as time goes on) I definitely prefer the more emotional Ichigo of the earlier days.

Up until now, he's only interacted with humanoid ghosts, but when he meets a Soul Reaper (a god of death) named Rukia Kuchiki, he encounters more sinister spirits known as Hollows.  In order to save his father and sisters from a Hollow attack, Ichigo borrows half of Rukia's power, becoming a Soul Reaper himself.  ...at least, that's how it was supposed to go, but he winds up borrowing all of Rukia's power, and she can't get it back, leaving her powerless and stuck in a mentor role.

Rukia explains that Soul Reapers come to Earth to slay hollows (spirits which became twisted and malevolent), along with sending benevolent spirits to Soul Society. (though if they're bad enough, they go to Hell instead)  Rukia claims that in Soul Society, it is a restful place where you'll never be hungry, which doesn't exactly mesh with what we find out about Soul Society later on.

Despite Rukia's claims, if you go to Soul Society, it seems like there's a 90% chance that you'll be sent to a feudal Japanese village where you'll be a dirt-poor peasant who can be slaughtered by one of the Soul Reaper captains whenever they need to preserve a balance, or you'll be ignored by those in power most of the time.  It seems like Bleach's afterlife consists of cycling between Soul Society and Earth, being eaten by a Hollow (at which point your soul ceases to exist), or going to Hell - Dragon Ball's afterlife matches the series' generally optimistic tone and emphasizes forgiveness (with even villains having their sins cleansed and being given a second chance), whereas Bleach's afterlife seems like the opposite, where every option seems like a punishment and the Soul Society is the best of three bad choices.

Rukia trains Ichigo in the ways of being a Soul Reaper, and along the way, Rukia meets two of Ichigo's classmates who have the potential to interact with spirits - Orihime Inoue and Yasutora "Chad" Sado.  Orihime is a ditzy, fun character who is being hunted by the Hollow that used to be her brother, a premise which helps to develop Ichigo further.  Orihime's bizarre daydreaming and nonchalant reactions to things like getting hit by a car add some humour to the series.

Meanwhile, Chad is a gentle giant, a strong but silent type.  He's someone who would sacrifice his body to help others, and when he encounters a Hollow, even if he can't see it, he manages to fend it off with his instincts.  And a utility pole.

Chad's another fun addition to the series, and a fan favourite, which is a shame because these early chapters are one of his few peaks in terms of relevance.  Chad tends to fall into the category of "a character who gets beaten up to show how strong a new threat is."  He tends to lose almost every fight that he gets into as a result, or beat a minor enemy only to encounter one of the main villains in the arc almost immediately afterwards and suffering a crushing defeat.  Even in a later arc, which explores the origins of the powers that he eventually gets, he's completely irrelevant.

Bleach gets off to a strong start, and I can see why it caught on so quickly in North America, even before the Soul Society arc that introduced the extremely popular captains such as Rukia's older brother Byakuya Kuchiki. The lighter tone of these early chapters is something that I prefer over the self-serious nature that comes later, and these early chapters strongly remind me of Yu Yu Hakusho, though with a more modern style and larger supporting cast.