You made it to the end! Thank you for this journey and sharing your thoughts on Bleach!
That’s a fascinating point about Bleach being the “Platonic ideal” of battle shounen, and I can see it: Kubo’s efficiency and minimalism, distilling tropes to their essence. Even when thinking about the manga that influenced or were influenced by Bleach, there’s still something that feels unique about Bleach (but that might be my bias speaking). And as you noted later, it’s probably why Bleach still feels so modern, even 25 years after it started. Of course, there’s lots of battle shounen fans who don’t like Bleach, so I guess they’re just looking for a different flavour, or something more than what Bleach offers (lol backgrounds).
Yeah, getting the “Bleach is ending in 5 chapters” announcement shocked the entire fanbase, with a lot of arguing over the trustworthiness of leaks/translations, etc. It was messy.
Re: Orihime. Well, I listened to this podcast episode the same day I watched TYBW episode 45, and uh. Wow. 10 years after Bleach ended (to the day!) and Orihime finally gets her moment. This might be the greatest episode of Bleach.
I think it’s also a tendency in fiction, especially battle shounen, to escalate the stakes, but then you get power creep and an invincible big bad… and in this case, literally making Yhwach omniscient and omnipotent. Also, I think it was a classic Kubo troll move to show Ichigo’s new Bankai with a double-page spread, and then next page it’s broken. In the moment, it was disappointing and frustrating after all the buildup, but looking back, I can kind of respect it. It’s like when Aizen stopped Ichigo’s Bankai with one finger, back in the Soul Society arc.
That’s a good point about how HeroAca feels like a complete story while Bleach is very open ended. Kubo’s narrative style really gives you glimpses of what could be and leaves endless possibilities open. I guess we won’t have to wait very long to see if the rumours of a continuation are true.
Once again, thank you for committing to this journey, I really appreciate and enjoyed your perspective on Bleach!
YVW, it’s been fun. I don’t love Bleach, but it does lead me to interesting bits of insight that amuse me (like the Platonic ideal, and the black and white thing). I can absolutely appreciate its vital place in the battle shounen canon even if it doesn’t suit my tastes perfectly in the end.
abc
August 24, 2026 at 3:26 pmYou made it to the end! Thank you for this journey and sharing your thoughts on Bleach!
That’s a fascinating point about Bleach being the “Platonic ideal” of battle shounen, and I can see it: Kubo’s efficiency and minimalism, distilling tropes to their essence. Even when thinking about the manga that influenced or were influenced by Bleach, there’s still something that feels unique about Bleach (but that might be my bias speaking). And as you noted later, it’s probably why Bleach still feels so modern, even 25 years after it started. Of course, there’s lots of battle shounen fans who don’t like Bleach, so I guess they’re just looking for a different flavour, or something more than what Bleach offers (lol backgrounds).
Yeah, getting the “Bleach is ending in 5 chapters” announcement shocked the entire fanbase, with a lot of arguing over the trustworthiness of leaks/translations, etc. It was messy.
Re: Orihime. Well, I listened to this podcast episode the same day I watched TYBW episode 45, and uh. Wow. 10 years after Bleach ended (to the day!) and Orihime finally gets her moment. This might be the greatest episode of Bleach.
I think it’s also a tendency in fiction, especially battle shounen, to escalate the stakes, but then you get power creep and an invincible big bad… and in this case, literally making Yhwach omniscient and omnipotent. Also, I think it was a classic Kubo troll move to show Ichigo’s new Bankai with a double-page spread, and then next page it’s broken. In the moment, it was disappointing and frustrating after all the buildup, but looking back, I can kind of respect it. It’s like when Aizen stopped Ichigo’s Bankai with one finger, back in the Soul Society arc.
That’s a good point about how HeroAca feels like a complete story while Bleach is very open ended. Kubo’s narrative style really gives you glimpses of what could be and leaves endless possibilities open. I guess we won’t have to wait very long to see if the rumours of a continuation are true.
Once again, thank you for committing to this journey, I really appreciate and enjoyed your perspective on Bleach!
Guardian Enzo
August 24, 2026 at 5:26 pmYVW, it’s been fun. I don’t love Bleach, but it does lead me to interesting bits of insight that amuse me (like the Platonic ideal, and the black and white thing). I can absolutely appreciate its vital place in the battle shounen canon even if it doesn’t suit my tastes perfectly in the end.