i'll tell you about the good things and the bad things instead of yelling 'peakkk' and 'midd' like some uncivilised neanderthal.
Before we get in, Lets break some 'myths' surrounding bleach:
1. Does Bleach fall off after soul society? HELL NO. thats a lie you've been fed by anime youtubers. Infact, a lot of great fights and scenes come after soul society arc, example: aizen, ulquiorra, grimmjow fights etc. 2. Is it the most mid compared to other big 3? No. it stands on its own with a legacy that you can still see in other anime/mangas that are popular nowadays. example: jujutsu kaisen, demon slayer etc. 3. Is it carried by nostalgia? Partly. Depends on who you ask but personally i think there's a lot great things about bleach that outweigh nostalgia and provide actual entertainment.
Now that we are clear about bleach, let me tell you my thoughts:
(+) King of Style:
Bleach became really well-known for its style and fashion that tite kubo crafts. Let me say it straight for one more time, tite kubo is one of the best stylistic manga artists, his art quality is very great. there's a lot of iconic covers and panels from this manga that im sure you wouldve seen it even if you never read bleach.
(-) Suffers from longevity:
like naruto, bleach drags on more than it should. theres a arc called "thousand year blood war" which gets into the much awaited lore between the quincy race and the soul reapers. the author tite kubo said he wanted to make this arc ever since he started bleach. but for in order for the story to get to this point, you have to read 480 chapters. thats 2/3rd of the manga with a little ambiguous foreshadowing here and there that did tie together neatly. are you willing to spend that much time to see a new boss appear out of nowhere who threats to end world as we know it? if youre a shounen meathead, you'll be willing, i suppose.
(+) Fast-paced battle story and panelling:
the battles are the essence of a shounen manga, its what keeps the readers hooked and kubo knows how to make it so good that you cant stop reading. his panelling heavily rely on sfx (like east blue saga in one piece, iykyk), each hit and slash felt alive and entertaining to follow. probably this is the part where bleach shined the most to the point that now every other battle shonen of the past decade has borrowed elements from bleach.
(-) Obnoxious troupes and Plot conveniences:
if you aren't familiar, most shonen villains do this bit where they talk to the main character like they knew him for a long time. Bleach took that bit and made it iconic to an extent that its kinda annoying. Almost all bleach main villains will dox ichigo's entire identity and all foreseeable future that he may or may not have. it keeps happening again and again to point that its almost expected that a villain will dox ichigo. do you think this is very terrifying and cool? that is, if you're a teenager who likes cool dudes to set as profile picture or maybe you're attracted to dudes in a sexual way. either way if this is something you like, then its for you. im not shaming you for it. There's a ton of convenient plot devices placed in every corner for the story. Dead people never stay dead, the meaning of 'zombie' and 'spirits' are lost in this story. this does not hinder the enjoyment of the story as some of it is done in a tasteful way but oh my god, there's so many plot conveniences, man. the story itself moves entirely by some bizzare ass pull and i'm not talking about ichigo's powers. there are plenty of ass pulls exist in the story that are not talked about in good amounts. example: urahara, who apparently can help people to solve any problem because he's a 'scientist' and thats all the reasoning.
(+) Wide range of abilities and religious imagery:
there's a lot of characters in bleach who has one of the most iconic abilities ive ever seen. bankai. hado. kido. fullbring. quincy arts. there's just so many things that take a variety of shape and form that are very fun to follow. kubo takes these mythologies and brings them into life by referencing them. the body horror, biblical, buddhist implications in certain characters are very suprising and new.
(-) Annoying characters and its fanbase:
May god, instantly strike me down if im lying - A lot of characters in bleach are there to only to show the 'cool factor'. the battle occurs in a structured format that gets tiring whenever the 13 court guard captains are involved. soifon (one of the 13 court guard captain) is not a good character. her whole personality is being rude but clingy to only yoruichi. she obstructs a good conversation with her bad manners like shes actually making a point when shes clearly not. there's not 1 redeeming quality about her. The male version of soifon is Toshiro hitsugaya. This guy is an actual laughing stock. im sorry. Rukia is a better ice user than this guy and shes a great character. its NOT that hard to be a likeable person. His whole personality is being tough and getting knocked out by big women who clearly solo him. At almost the end of the manga, Tite kubo had to give him the ability to get old and taller along with his released bankai so people would take him serious for once. Isnt that crazy? so kubo knew exactly that he was playing around with his character. I dont hate toshiro anymore because he kind of meant to be a joke and he even redeemed himself in the end (it took a end game for him to lock in..). Despite all of this apparent issues, Bleach fans will be quick to get defensive out of all the shounen fandoms. I agree to the sentiment that "all fandoms are inherently toxic if you spend time long enough" so it's not a very unique problem to bleach only. What is unique are the annoying characters the fandom chooses and expects you to be excited for when they make sense once in a blue moon. Fortunately, the fandom has became relaxed lately because of the ongoing tybw arc anime adaption from 2022 which restored bleach's reputation.
Here's my list of favourite characters: Ichigo "no racism, all race is me" Kurosaki and his goated dad, Kind heart Orihime, Red demon Zaraki, Bad man Urahara, Manchild Shunsui kyoraku, False prophet Aizen, Sado the gigachad, Old man "drip or drown" Zangetsu, Creep scientist Mayuri, Pervert Kon, Flower man Byakuya, Ice lady Rukia kuchiki and her man Renji, Thunder cheeks Yoruichi.
conclusion:
its a very fun read, there's a lot iconic and great moments in this manga that made me cry. i didn't talk about ichigo because he's a fairly likeable character that anyone will find it easy to root for him. if you don't like him, then dont bother trying to read the whole manga, you'll be frustrated. i recommend it highly for anyone who want to see some good action.
