Bleach is back! In 2020, we got the news that the series was returning. I was happy for Bleach, but knowing it was still Studio Pierrot got me really worried. When the trailer dropped, I was pleasantly surprised at how clean the animation was, but character movements still worried me as most were still frame shots. Nonetheless, I still couldn’t hold my excitement. I grew up watching the Big 3, primarily Naruto. Bleach to me actually took itself seriously. It was honestly a breath of fresh air compared to other shonen. To me, Bleach peaked during its Sosuke Azien Karakura town arc. It, unfortunately, had a subpar final arc with a really lackluster anime-only ending. Over the years, I would see passion projects like fan animations on YouTube as fans coped with what could’ve been. But now we're here!!
The Bleach anime is back, and man, did it surpass my expectations. No filler. No animation shortcuts. Just straight heat! I thought the community was over-exaggerating the scoring on MAL, as a score of nine seemed a bit high for a series like Bleach. But no! Studio Pierrot absolutely blew it out of the ballpark. Animation is so damn clean, I don't even want to know their budget. Every episode is jam-packed with content. The care that they gave this series is insane. And the art. I can't describe it, but if I were, it's as if they had an Nvidia RTX 4090 Ti running with Ray Tracing processing the animation. It's absolutely stunning, and despite my mediocre art background in drawing and animation, I can't help but be mesmerized.
Another thing I appreciated was the sound design. I think they absolutely killed it. It really helped assist and contrast with the delivery of certain scenes, be it a fight, emotion, etc. To make a long story short It was euphonious. Chef's kiss to the sound design, it was food to my ears, and I loved it. I can't say the same thing for the openings and endings as they were ok compared to the classical bangers we received prior to the TYBW arc.
I also can't help but draw a parallel to the Quincy powers, especially their reishi manipulation. A lot of their reishi abilities , primarily their weapons like their longbows, and swords are very similar to the magic in Elden Ring, like Loretta’s Great Bow and any Carian ash of war magic.
Unfortunately, I unironically regret coming back to Bleach. I regret this because this review would've had more material to cover and reflect on if I binged the series. I was under the impression that the Arc in its entirety would be covered with 2 seasons —So I patiently waited for both seasons to end in the hopes of bringing them. Little did I know that each season would have 12 episodes requiring a total of 4 seasons. There are two more cours left, and both are following a different direction than the source material, as we are getting an anime-only ending.
(This dual-review is long overdue as I watched both seasons in Aug, of 2023. I rewrote it shortly after and never really posted it because of school. Nonetheless it's good to see my childhood show return with the love and care it deserves) Can't wait for cour 3,4!!
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