Bleach

Before getting into the meat of this review I want to state one thing; I have reread BLEACH many times in order to fully understand it and have spent countless hours studying the esoteric in order to fully understand this series (Not solely for BLEACH but you get it), if you do not understand or know about the esoteric, on a surface level BLEACH is a solid 9/10 shounen at best, but something incredibly special and above and beyond if understanding the nuances and material of this series. I will say my issues with the series at the end of this review. Most of this review is slightly spoiler free as well for those who want to get into the series and are looking for why you should read it based on opinions. This review is also quite long as it covers as many bases as shortly as possible. I'll do my best. I have made the two sections bold for those who want to jump to a specific critique.

The Review:
BLEACH started in 2001 when Kubo was in his early 20s and suffered from depression during the end of ZOMBIE POWDER's publication due to the loss of family. This information is vital to understanding the overall message of BLEACH because this story, in my point of view, is something he started for himself in order to deal with loss and what the theme of "The Heart" is.

Prefacing each volume is a poem for the individual on the cover and at the end of the chapter is a snippet that fills in the story without wasting pages from each chapter in order to convey ideas and situations. This is one area where Kubo absolutely shines at story telling having the reader piece together information and images in order to fully understand the context for the overall story. Some poems can change the perspective in how the reader views a character and the snippets add in comedic moments or emotional lore for many characters. My favorite poems are White's and Orihime's and my favorite snippets are the espada's (specifically Starkk's) and the ones from the final volumes with the grains of sand representing

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different realities

, giving the reader a new insight on every character in its universe.

In our first story arc we get our main character and ensemble of characters that make up the world of BLEACH that contribute to its lore and storytelling. This first story arc is loaded, it is filled with excellent foreshadowing, foundations to later arcs, and our first look into how Kubo handles philosophy relating death within himself and his characters. I am confident that during Kubo's depression, he tied himself well into Ichigo and Rukia as they deal with the

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deaths of Masaki and Kaien

and both lead to the conclusion of the heart eventually. This makes a lot of lines in the series, when reread, make more sense than it does on the first read but on a grand level. Each line is carefully formulated and naturally written so much so that the reader can gloss over it and not give it a second thought making reveals a much more enjoyable turn of events even if a reader predicts a scenario. While the first arc isn't the most exciting with its simple action and its boss of the week formula, it perfectly setups up the world and a natural rapid growth for each character unlike many other series where it becomes a bit tedious to get through a training arc and beginner arc. This is when the art is also very different and unique and extremely 2000s (In a very good way) and in my opinion a great style to start the series off.

Soul Society arc is amazing, setting up more world building, stabilizing its power systems and making a great murder mystery, if you haven't gotten it spoiled or even still its very entertaining. Here Kubo brings in more philosophies to many characters, builds the Soul Society with its imperfect laws but sensible rules for the type of souls that make up the 13 court guard squads. This is also where his art is glossed over a ton for readers, many readers not noticing Tousen's relation to Hell and his story's connection to Tokinada and the nobles far into the future of the series,

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Momo being "used" by Aizen or his very ugly body double

which is insanely shocking when reading Turn Back the Pendulum, these are just two small scenarios in the bucket of things hidden in his art that expand on the dramatic aspects of the story and the lore as well. Sadly a lot of philosophy here is very eastern making it extremely difficult for western audiences to interpret and the western philosophers he does build upon are very subtly hidden within the structure of the Soul Society itself. That being said, SS arc raises the bar on its action quality and drama when every character is so naturally introduced and already seems like they've been part of the series since the first arc with their dialogue never being stiff or overdone. Halfway through this arc is where Kubo finally masters paneling as well, making the series a smooth read from here on and its action even more dynamic. His art also finds its footing and Kubo picks a style that remains iconic and memorable to this day, like it or not.

Invasion and Hueco Mundo Arc brings in more philosophies of death, and personifies them into many people's favorite characters and with subtle but deeper insights into how Kubo views each aspect of death within himself, and now all of his characters instead of Ichigo and Rukia. Invasion Arc starts and ends with a bang, it had me turn pages like there's no tomorrow. The tone of gore and action ramp up even more since SS Arc and is perfect for surface level readers to enjoy. (This is nothing wrong with surface level reading imo) Please go read it lol.

Hueco Mundo starts off a bit slow, but brings in some obscure favorites such as Dordoni and Cirrci and are amazing in setting up the Espadas in the second part of this arc. Gantenbainne also brings in lore for Barragan and how the world of the hollows used to work before getting conquered by

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Aizen

, but once again subtly as the story focuses mainly on Ichigo. The spanish designs and mesoamerican ties to hollow masks make me jump for joy, as not many pieces of media cover Aztec or Incan mythologies, and this makes it for Kubo to expand more on it in the future. Ulquiorra's name is also a homophone in spanish for "El que llora" or "He who cries" which makes the ties into each characters names so special to look into.

Characters in this arc also begin to expand how the human soul really works without being too explicit and great for adults and subtle for younger adults. The type of primal violent nature within a person especially within Ichigo is touched upon giving us a new perspective that killing is not really wrong in a philosophical manner and is inherent to different people, the same can be contradicted with Orihime's caring nature and lack of violent instincts when she comes face to face with a hollowfied Ichigo. As well as how sexuality and personal tastes go into a characters soul and reflection of their abilities; such as Apporo, Nnoitora, Tesla, Kurotsuchi, Yumichika and so much more. (Im not here for moral debate but more in what is implied throughout this story's meaning and historical analyses of human nature btw.) Kurotsuchi combining the violence and sexuality for an extra tone of creepiness. Kubo showcases his understanding in tying up a character's resolve and personal grievances while also shining in an entertaining ensemble cast with so many personalities and importance. This is where we see how Kubo resolves part of his grief as well within Rukia the most.

Turn back the pendulum is just something many writers should study when making a backstory, it is excellent and shocking from beginning to end.

The fight for Karakura brings once again more philosophies for each character and entertaining fights that hold onto the themes of death now moving unto the series' overall theme of the courage to move forward. It is also a very heartwarming and satisfying conclusion to the Arrancar saga.

The lost agent arc/ Fullbringer Arc is controversial, it is either hated or loved (with nowadays consensus being loved) due to its focus on psychological aspects on Ichigo. In my opinion, it is perfectly written and its twists are shocking especially when a reader can relate to loss of a loved one and loss of sense of duty and feeling helpless. Usually this arc resonates with people who have suffered more in these aspects as those who haven't, end up empathizing either half way or not at all. Its all perspective here.

Thousand Year Blood war, the final arc is filled with so much emotion and so many twists and reveals that just gives the reader that nice boost of serotonin if you paid attention and had those hints at hand. While the manga is amazing in its art and depiction of the finality of Ichigo's story, the ending did feel a little rushed, due to Kubo's health issues and this is where the extra chapters come in handy if you read them, which are Chapter 0 part A and part B. I felt it was a fitting and perfect conclusion for the world of BLEACH if you don't plan expanding to Burn the Witch and BLEACH's new hell arc. Kubo reaches his conclusion covering different aspects of death obtaining the resolve to move forward in life with the people you love in mind, with courage. It might be cheesy to some, but its gives a great perspective when overcoming life's hardships. Overall the story is a masterpiece in my eyes and no one can change that.

Issues

Alright, glaring issues for the work.
While I do believe it is a masterpiece and an amazing piece of esoteric media, this is where its problem lies. Rereading the story is a million times better than reading it the first time which is an issue for such a long series. Knowing the esoteric is also an issue for most if not 90% of BLEACH's fanbase, because realistically no one has the time to read so many different philosophers Kubo has included in his works as well as theory crafting the future of the series.
For example the biggest theory in Japan is that

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Rukia is Ywach's mother

. Now for a second I'd expect the normal reader to scratch their head and tell theory crafters that they need to go back to their room in an insane asylum. But if you know esoteric knowledge, the math makes sense. The worse part is that as a reader you have to know Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Daoism in order to reach these conclusions. And this isn't surface level knowing's about the religion either. Another insane theory is that the

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Soul King is actually Satan and the Abrahamic God at the same time as well as being a Shinto God

. Yeah, it gets ridiculous in a good way.
Plus the need to read the poems and revisit the snippets while they are immersive, can be skipped by casual readers. So sadly this isn't a story to binge through in one sitting if you really want to enjoy it. Luckily after the first main arc, the chapters aren't too long to get through.
Bleach is expertly written but sometimes it deters more involved readers to want to understand and get into the series as a whole.
One last piece of criticism if the fact that you must read the extra chapters in order to understand the ending of the series and a lot of people are going to be reading this on an app or websites without those chapters.

Overall BLEACH is currently my favorite series as someone who studies philosophy, the esoteric and alchemic texts for fun. It has been for a decade and it keeps getting better with every revisit and I am more than excited for Hell Arc and future arcs! 100/100 but if you Bankai with that esoteric knowledge its absolutely a 1000/100!