Bleach, Vol. 1

*Bleach* is one of the longest-running manga and anime series in history. After seeing a few episodes of the anime, I decided to read the manga. So far, as of the first volume, it's pretty good. The basic story utilizes very loosely various elements of Greek and Japanese mythology. The protagonist is a young man named Ichigo who is an odd duck, from an odd family. He is a young high school student with strawberry hair, who lives with his father and two younger sisters. As if being teased about his weird (for Japan) hair color isn't bad enough, he has some weird spirit sense abilities. First off, don't pay attention to the fact that other characters have hair colors other than dark hair, and that Ichigo is thus not that odd. It's part of the humor and characterization, so just bear with it. Ichigo's hair really is his hair color. The others are just stylized browns, blacks and brownish-reds. This is important because, when I first read this a few years back, I didn't know enough about Japan to get the more subtle aspect of the issues with which our protagonist must deal. In Japan, there is a huge emphasis on conformity. You must look and act how folks expect to keep the peace and to be traditionally Japanese. This means having "Japanese" hair colors, not hair that is evidence of Western ancestry. Some schools even force students to dye their natural hair colors black. Now, to be fair, this *is* getting better as time goes on, but there is still a ton of bigotry about these issues. I have no doubt this is part of what the narrative subtly implies Ichigo faces. Anyways, the spirit sense I mentioned earlier comes into play in that he can see ghosts. And no, he isn't crazy. At times in the near future, he will probably wish he were crazy, but he isn't. As someone who can see ghosts, he takes it upon himself to scare off folks who are desecrating the place that a spirit hangs out. He doesn't really enjoy his self-appointed tasks, or his abilities, but he does them nonetheless. One day, things take a turn for the truly weird – yes, it can get even worse to the point that the above seems almost normal by comparison – when a girl suddenly appears in his room one night, and then his family is attacked by a monster. It turns out the girl is a supernatural being called a “soul reaper” (as in the Grim Reaper), whose job it is to send souls to the “soul society” where they will rest while awaiting reincarnation. Most souls, though fearful, go willingly once the truth is explained, but some souls, called “hollows” go bad. They need to be sent to the soul society by force. Unfortunately, in a bizarre turn of events, the soul reaper in question, named Rukia, is forced to transfer her powers to Ichigo. Now the young man must do her job until she recuperates, and thus, a new soul reaper is born. Yeah, I know, the premise is really strange, but it works. Mostly because the series relies on a combination of humor, action, and scenes of characters put forth in such a way that we really care about them. It is useful to note the cultural norms at play here. On top of the hair color/ancestry issues, his family would be considered messed up by even the more gregarious American standards. You can imagine, then, that to a Japanese person, this would be absurd levels of strangeness, yet they do love each other. They are sweet, and they really get you to care about them. As well, the world building is fun so far (and in the future volumes I've read so far). The author makes use of mythology to undergird his premise. The world building adds to the enjoyment of the series. From what I've read online, Christian and other mythology eventually shows up to subtle or more aspects. Some might roll their eyes at Ichigo, who is yet another in a nearly endless line of protagonists that could be described as “jerks who are really heroic and good people”. Though it should be mentioned that he is more gruff most of the time, and is only a "jerk" to those who try to mess with him and cause him problems. Again, the author sells it. The other characters are fun, though we only can see so much of them at first as the emphasis for the first volume in a manga or comic book will tend (by necessity, really) to be on the main protagonist. But Orihime, Ichigo's sisters and dad, and his friends, make for very interesting characters. Even the side characters who are jerks to him tend to be funny or interesting in how they are drawn and depicted. I'd say that so far the author did a good job in the characterization department. The story, though with promise, could suffer from problems if not varied and allowed to become formulaic, yet it obviously did not do this. It lasted a long time, and from what I've read so far and heard, it lasted for a reason. I look forward to seeing what cool stories the author put out in future chapters and volumes, and highly recommend this first volume of the series. Rating: 5/5 Stars.

I’ve always been a fan of Bleach, the anime, it’s good to read the manga, I definitely recommend it :)

Now I feel like #1, iykyk

Classic, can’t go wrong.

From what I'm hearing, Bleach is one great manga. It has had a long run in Shonen Jump in Japan, has already spawned an anime as well as a theatrical movie, and it's catching on pretty quick here in the States as well. So, though I'm not a huge fan of Shonen Jump manga (Naruto is excellent, though), I thought I had to give this a try. And at first I wondered, while reading the opening chapter, why in the world people were so attached to this manga. I mean, read one volume of Shonen Jump and you have everything that Bleach is; Shaman King, Yu-Yu Hakusho, Hikaru No Go, and yes, even Naruto all seem to have had some influence on Bleach. I'm not a quitter, though, so I continued to read, and slowly I started to understand. I'm not completely sure yet that this manga is as big as everyone says it is, but I certainly found myself entertained, despite the severe lack of originality. The main thing that kept me reading was the art; it wasn't unique, but it was well-done. Plus, the story was pretty good, if rehashed. It follows a young, orange-haired kid named Ichigo, a.k.a. Strawberry, as he goes about his everyday life of being a student as well as being a freelance exorcist. For Ichigo can see ghosts as well as he can see the living, and talk to them too. But for some reason, his power has attracted the negative attention of a hollow, an evil ghost that feeds off of spirits, and Ichigo finds himself in the middle of a battle between a Soul Reaper and the hollow. Of course, the inevitable happens and Ichigo, later on, ends up in the Soul Reaper role and goes about exorcising the dead in a much more physical way. When finally I finished this first volume, I was sure that Bleach had the capability of being as special as everyone says it is. But I'm no follower, and I do see some of the negatives in this series, one being the aforementioned unoriginality. The other problem was the slow character introduction. All I knew about Ichigo was that he loves his family, is a tough guy, and can see ghosts. Beyond that, you aren't given very much to judge him by as a person, making him difficult to connect with early on. Still, though, this is a decent start to a manga, and I won't crush Bleach completely. I've already purchased the second volume and plan on reviewing that as well, so check back. And I'd still recommend this manga to anyone who really loves the Shonen Jump manga like Naruto and Shaman King. I just believe that it can't truly be judged by this first volume alone.

O produto chegou em ótimas condições. Uma pena que veio com um amassadinho, mas é quase imperceptível, porém, para quem coleciona pode dar um pouco de toc. Enfim, é Bleach, não tem muito o que dizer, é uma ótima obra

Perfectas Condiciones

It was more nostalgic then a read for me.

Exactly same as the TV show. Find the print in some the panels are bit hard to read since can't adjust the font. However can zoom in needed to read the smaller print.

It's a really good manga.