My husband loves pretty much all kinds of Anime. With me, it is very different. I can`t stand most of the Anime he is watching and the vast majority of what he is exchanging with a colleague from work. My six-year-old daughter and my husband often sit together watching Anime but I usually just wander off after a while because at best it doesn`t interest me and at worst I find it annoying.
Not so long ago my husband got episodes from an Anime series that was new to him. At that time I had no idea what it was when I noticed it for the first time when I was passing by through the living room. The artwork immediately got my attention. I hate the extreme Manga style showing people with huge eyes and piggy bank lips. I especially dislike the habit of putting girl faces on women`s bodies and dress them in silly school uniforms. Afterwards the writers often seem to have trouble to make their minds up if these are actually girls or women.
But this time, I found the artwork actually beautiful and intriguing. This was still typical Manga or Anime in many ways but the extremes were toned down in a way I found attractive and interesting to look at. But my timing was unfortunate. Having a dad kicking his son across the room and shouting at each other while the artwork changed into a very abstract style spoiled it for me and when I paid more attention next time it was during a fight involving a character who looked so much like the typical Anime brute that I didn`t stick around for long again.
Therefore my passion for Bleach was definitely not love at first sight. In spite of my bad first impressions my husband was insistent and asked me one day to stay and try to look past the quirks this series has. Now I am grateful that my husband`s colleague introduced him to Bleach and that my husband, who knows what I actually like, got me to give the series a real chance. I must admit, there are still some of these over-the- top moments when I just roll my eyes and I still can`t stand this stupid talking teddy bear but these scenes don`t happen often and sometimes I can`t help it: The exaggeration can make these humorous scenes actually more funny!
The more I watched Bleach the more I was amazed how complex this series actually is. It is a very impressive example of world building. The Bleach universe has a LOT of different layers and elements I find fascinating to explore. It is continually growing and evolving, building on what happened before and providing new surprises. Bleach is an ongoing series that has to date more than 200 episodes and three movies. I started to become a fan when my husband had nearly reached episode 70. It didn`t put me off, the contrary. Of course I didn`t know all the background when I started to get seriously interested but I still understood what the main story thread was about.
But I think in order to really appreciate Bleach you should watch it from the beginning. I definitely understood a lot more and also noticed some subtle fineries for the first time when I watched episodes again. You can watch Bleach and just enjoy the action, the amazing and sometimes breath taking fantasy fight scenes, the humour, the music and the strong friendship between the main characters. Bleach is definitely entertaining but to me it is much more than that.
Not only has Bleach a very sophisticated universe, it also has a rich variety of characters who also have layers that are very complex when you look closely. Some of them are very interesting indeed. It didn`t take long and I developed very close bonds with some of these fictional characters. The same applies to my daughter who loves this series as well.
My six-year-old loves science fiction and fantasy, as we do. We let her watch Doctor Who under supervision but not Torchwood. In this case, we decided to let her watch Bleach under supervision but not D.Gray-Man, which is excellent too, a different series with similar ideas but in many ways darker than Bleach. Her favourite character is the main female character called Rukia. She is a warrior, a strong but also very feminine character I also like very much. My favourite character is Ishida, the Quincy. He is the “nerd” of the group of friends, socially awkward and extremely intelligent. He isn`t particularly strong, certainly not physically but makes up for it by outthinking his opponents. Ishida is one of the most complex characters and a lot of his history is still waiting to be explored in much more depth and detail.
I like it very much that men and women are treated as equals in the series. Women are no less diverse, strong and interesting than the men. I also like it that the series also shows strong people who are not warriors, who lack the “killer instinct”, but who are no less important and valued, well, not by everyone but Bleach does a good job of challenging these prejudices especially warrior characters have sometimes as well as the idea of nobility and class. There are good character stories dealing with what is the law and what is actually right, about when not to follow orders, when to stand up for what you think is right even when doing so is not only difficult but even dangerous. I found it very interesting that one of the captains and therefore one of the strongest fighters is a man who also battles a chronic and it seems incurable illness he has since birth.
When I started to explore what is available I was amazed to discover how big Bleach actually is. The variety of merchandise is amazing. One of the first things I bought are the Bleach art books, soundtracks and the Manga books. Therefore I read the books after having watched the series and I discovered that there are scenes in the books that are not in the episodes as well as the other way round. Sometimes the books have more character scenes and also darker versions of scenes that seemed to have been toned down for the TV audience. I found it interesting to compare both.
There is also a variety of Bleach websites around but so far I still haven`t found one where I could discuss Bleach as I can do here with Star Trek. I am still not fully up to date with the complex Bleach universe and need my Bleach guide book now and again but would be grateful for some advice.
Are there some Bleach fans here, too?
Not so long ago my husband got episodes from an Anime series that was new to him. At that time I had no idea what it was when I noticed it for the first time when I was passing by through the living room. The artwork immediately got my attention. I hate the extreme Manga style showing people with huge eyes and piggy bank lips. I especially dislike the habit of putting girl faces on women`s bodies and dress them in silly school uniforms. Afterwards the writers often seem to have trouble to make their minds up if these are actually girls or women.
But this time, I found the artwork actually beautiful and intriguing. This was still typical Manga or Anime in many ways but the extremes were toned down in a way I found attractive and interesting to look at. But my timing was unfortunate. Having a dad kicking his son across the room and shouting at each other while the artwork changed into a very abstract style spoiled it for me and when I paid more attention next time it was during a fight involving a character who looked so much like the typical Anime brute that I didn`t stick around for long again.
Therefore my passion for Bleach was definitely not love at first sight. In spite of my bad first impressions my husband was insistent and asked me one day to stay and try to look past the quirks this series has. Now I am grateful that my husband`s colleague introduced him to Bleach and that my husband, who knows what I actually like, got me to give the series a real chance. I must admit, there are still some of these over-the- top moments when I just roll my eyes and I still can`t stand this stupid talking teddy bear but these scenes don`t happen often and sometimes I can`t help it: The exaggeration can make these humorous scenes actually more funny!
The more I watched Bleach the more I was amazed how complex this series actually is. It is a very impressive example of world building. The Bleach universe has a LOT of different layers and elements I find fascinating to explore. It is continually growing and evolving, building on what happened before and providing new surprises. Bleach is an ongoing series that has to date more than 200 episodes and three movies. I started to become a fan when my husband had nearly reached episode 70. It didn`t put me off, the contrary. Of course I didn`t know all the background when I started to get seriously interested but I still understood what the main story thread was about.
But I think in order to really appreciate Bleach you should watch it from the beginning. I definitely understood a lot more and also noticed some subtle fineries for the first time when I watched episodes again. You can watch Bleach and just enjoy the action, the amazing and sometimes breath taking fantasy fight scenes, the humour, the music and the strong friendship between the main characters. Bleach is definitely entertaining but to me it is much more than that.
Not only has Bleach a very sophisticated universe, it also has a rich variety of characters who also have layers that are very complex when you look closely. Some of them are very interesting indeed. It didn`t take long and I developed very close bonds with some of these fictional characters. The same applies to my daughter who loves this series as well.
My six-year-old loves science fiction and fantasy, as we do. We let her watch Doctor Who under supervision but not Torchwood. In this case, we decided to let her watch Bleach under supervision but not D.Gray-Man, which is excellent too, a different series with similar ideas but in many ways darker than Bleach. Her favourite character is the main female character called Rukia. She is a warrior, a strong but also very feminine character I also like very much. My favourite character is Ishida, the Quincy. He is the “nerd” of the group of friends, socially awkward and extremely intelligent. He isn`t particularly strong, certainly not physically but makes up for it by outthinking his opponents. Ishida is one of the most complex characters and a lot of his history is still waiting to be explored in much more depth and detail.
I like it very much that men and women are treated as equals in the series. Women are no less diverse, strong and interesting than the men. I also like it that the series also shows strong people who are not warriors, who lack the “killer instinct”, but who are no less important and valued, well, not by everyone but Bleach does a good job of challenging these prejudices especially warrior characters have sometimes as well as the idea of nobility and class. There are good character stories dealing with what is the law and what is actually right, about when not to follow orders, when to stand up for what you think is right even when doing so is not only difficult but even dangerous. I found it very interesting that one of the captains and therefore one of the strongest fighters is a man who also battles a chronic and it seems incurable illness he has since birth.
When I started to explore what is available I was amazed to discover how big Bleach actually is. The variety of merchandise is amazing. One of the first things I bought are the Bleach art books, soundtracks and the Manga books. Therefore I read the books after having watched the series and I discovered that there are scenes in the books that are not in the episodes as well as the other way round. Sometimes the books have more character scenes and also darker versions of scenes that seemed to have been toned down for the TV audience. I found it interesting to compare both.
There is also a variety of Bleach websites around but so far I still haven`t found one where I could discuss Bleach as I can do here with Star Trek. I am still not fully up to date with the complex Bleach universe and need my Bleach guide book now and again but would be grateful for some advice.
Are there some Bleach fans here, too?
