Bleach
| Episode Count | 366 (20 for Season 1) + 40+ for TYBW |
| Season | Fall 2004 |
| Genres | Action, Shounen, Supernatural |
| Source Material | Manga |
| Rating | TV-14 |
| Streaming | TBD |
Everyone has that one major long-as-hell shonen anime series that they attach themselves to. For most people, it's Dragon Ball Z. For others, it's One Piece. There's also Naruto, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, My Hero Academia, Fairy Tail. Recent examples include Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Dr. Stone. Shows that feel so large, worlds you get sucked into. Ever since I first watched it when I was 15, that show for me has been Bleach.
Ichigo Kurosaki has the ability to see ghosts. He never questioned why, uses this power to help ghosts when he can, and otherwise lives as a typical high school student. Then one day he meets Rukia Kuchiki, a soul reaper. In the simplest terms, they're spirit guardians with two tasks: safely transfer roaming spirits to the Soul Society (afterlife) and fight evil spirits known as Hollows. Soon after, a Hollow appears and Rukia gets injured. To stop the Hollow, she temporarily gives Ichigo her Soul Reaper powers. Until Rukia can heal, Ichigo Kurosaki is his city's substitute Soul Reaper.
This is only the plot of episode 1.
What no one realizes is that the Soul Society is on the brink of a civil war. So although the series starts as anime high school Ghostbusters, it soon turns into something far grander in scope. There's a reason Ichigo could always see spirits, and he'll find out soon after Rukia is forcibly taken back to the Soul Society.
Bleach is probably the best example of the difference between "a favorite" and "best". I'll be the first to admit that Bleach has problems. The anime is long and really feels like it at points, the importance of a character during an arc is decided by a dice roll, the Soul Society in general makes less sense the more you think about it. But when Bleach is great, it feels like the best action anime ever.
I could talk about this series all day long, so I'm going to stop myself here. Bleach is amazing and I highly recommend it. If the 366 episode length (400+ including the even better Thousand-Year Blood War) is too daunting, then I recommend reading my guide to how you can skip over 130 episodes of Bleach's worst filler.
- 0215MADman