User blog comment:BraveHeart70/Is Bleach Dead?/@comment-18812574-20150828020747

Well, while I can understand the general disappointment in the Bleach that has gone on lately, at the same time I don't understand because, well, I have always loved Bleach. Why do I love Bleach? Mainly because the Soul Society and the Human World and even Hueco Mundo are freakin' awesome as settings. And Shinigami with swords that can slay Hollows and have inner worlds and talking spirits and shit? Epic. And then the Soul Society arc was EXCELLENT in terms of suspense and plot, even if you don't notice it at first: I have yet to find that level of plot intensity outside of a series like say, Death Note. Of course, that was old stuff. No use reminiscing about the past.

Some people have stated that they hated Bleach ever since the final battle against Aizen. Heh. My favorite arc in Bleach outside of the Soul Society arc was... the Fullbringer arc. Call me crazy, but there was just too much characterization (and a rather major "MIND WTF" to boot) to just brush that story aside as "utter BS." Thing is with Bleach is that it has, and has always had, its high points and low points. It's easy to be negative when the plot doesn't go the way you wanted, but there are good bits of juicy information here and there, if you search for the silver lining and smell all the roses.

I know that sounds overly optimistic and sappy, but here me out. Like Sei pointed out, Bleach is a rich, rich rich world of Japanese mythology that allows a HUGE spectrum of concepts. Part of that comes from the rather major and obvious plot holes, but to me this is what makes Bleach gold. The world of Bleach itself is intersting. Why? Because the possibilities are endless. It's a relatively open canvas. It's a challenge, but to me it's fascinating to chart points and posit hypotheses. In say, Naruto on the other hand, once something has happened in the series: it's happened. It's history, over and done. But Bleach you can keep bringing back elements, deepen those elements, and, as is the case in the Thousand Year Blood War, even darken those elements.

So, let me be clear about the recent stage of Bleach: 1. The Thousand Year Blood war Sucks. Majorly. Bleach has been dragged through a painful 200 chapters of gutter-ilk now, I say it's time for Kubo to wrap things up. 2. I want him to finish mainly because I can't wait to see how he tries to write/draw himself out of the huge corner he's painted himself into. 3. DISMAL inconsistencies and a power level that is now off the charts... like, Really? Going the Marvel-verse/DBZ route are we... really? 4. I want him to finish because I am tired of all the things I loved about Bleach getting thrown under the bus and pissed on.

But, I also have learned to love aspects of the recent arc, mainly because: 1. It is DARK. The characters we thought we knew are showing their true colors more and more: And it ain't pretty. I have an ill portent about the end of this storyline, based on the way it is going. 2. The stuff about the Soul King actually IS relevant. I mean, Aizen mentioned Waaaay back whenever that he wanted to create an Oukken, and ever since then the SK has been one HUGE question mark. He's still a huge question mark, and I really want to see that resolved. Which each week, however, it seems we are learning more and more and less and less about the SK, and as with our favorite characters, "it doesn't look pretty folks" 3. Uryuu and Ichigo. Come on: You can't say that you DON'T want to see how this is going to turn out. 4. Aizen sitting in the time-out corner. You have to admit: that chair is BA.

So basically, as long as there are questions left unanswered in Bleach, I will have an interest in Bleach. That is sort of what I love about it anyway. The unknown is, to me, absolutely thrilling.