User Reviews

I rarely do reviews for anything and I've always been the proudly belligerent type who shuns anime as a whole - Honestly, all I could ever bear to watch (since the pokemon days of yore in my middle school years) was Avatar, which as any true anime fan will tell you, isn't really anime at all.

So, as a relative anime virgin, I heard some of my more open-minded art major friends discussing the plot of Bleach, which, aside from having an instantly intriguing title, apparently had a cool plot as well. I put down my preconceptions and gave it a go.

In this episode we meet Ichigo, a slightly smug pile of attitude who gets a rude awakening when he discovers that there's more to the spirit world he saw as exclusively his own when he meets a Reaper named Rukia.

To give more detail on such a short episode would be spoilerific, so I'll stop. Here's what I'm getting at: Speaking to non-anime fans, like myself: this pilot episode may force you to concede that anime IS a valid art form, if occasionally sketchy. Some of the humor in this pilot is slightly off in timing and some of the lines are a bit negotiable, but overall it's an entertaining opener that makes me want to see what happens next, for better or for worse. Coming from someone who had little patience for this animation style, that's no mean feat. Give it a try. You may be surprised.

I watched the first three episodes of this show and decided not to get into it. I know that doesn't give me the competence to recommend or condemn the show but I will tell you what I thought of these first two episodes, which form a two-part narrative.

My problem with this show is Ishigo. He is simply not a good protagonist. Now a good hero must be either confidant, competent or conscientious but the problem with Ishigo is that he is all three.

A narrative is about conflict and thus the character must overcome obstacles whether it is a strictly internal struggle or of a material nature, like this show.

I don't want to see a hero who holds their own no problem because that's dull. Unless they don't believe in themselves and so have fear for what they might be facing. Or if they believe in themselves they can still be interesting as some kind of anti-hero, doing unscrupulous things.

But Ishigo shows no inner vulnerability. He is not arrogant or vain, his confidence in himself seem to be well earned. He is very serious, not a protagonist at all or even an anti-hero. He takes to the new superpower like Kwan to the ice. And he needs no persuading to join the good fight and is even sanctimonious about people who don't.

I like the little black haired girl. She could have been one half of a great double act if paired with someone funny. But they're too alike.

The action is well imagined and animated but it doesn't make me want to care.

I liked the supernatural drama laced with sudden humor but this was not a winner for me.