 I love the undead. Really. So Bleach, featuring an undead Soul Reaper, was something I was quite looking forward to. Shame it was downhill from there...
Episode 1
Kurosaki Ichigo has an unusual talent - he's able to see ghosts. Not
that that's a good thing - once the local ghosts figured out he could
see them, they haven't been able to leave him alone. Minor problem
compared to what he saw today, though - a giant demon creature, and a
girl dressed in black - a Soul Reaper, tasked with slaying the demons.
The demons (or Hollows, as the Reaper calls them) have a taste for the
souls of both living and dead - and it seems that Ichigo's soul is
particularly tasty. When a Hollow attacks Ichigo's home, threatening
his sisters, the Soul Reaper is badly wounded. In order to protect his
family, Ichigo must take her place and become a Soul Reaper himself...
Episode 2
The morning after the fight the night before - and Ichigo's sisters are
showing no signs of injury, and have no memory of what happened to
them. Someone who does remember is the Soul Reaper - who mysteriously
has transferred into his school, under the name of Kuchiki. After
transferring her powers to Ichigo the previous night, she's stuck using
an 'emergency' body and is essentially human - and she's here to make
sure Ichigo does her job properly. Problem is, Ichigo has no intention
of fighting - until Kuchiki rips his soul from his body and teaches him
a few lessons... Later, classmate Orihime is the next potential Hollow
victim, after the ghost of her dead brother is turned and comes looking
for her...
When I say 'all downhill', I don't mean that in a 'this is a crap show' way, but rather a 'nothing happening here' way. Bleach
is based on a shounen fighting manga, which for me flashes a big
warning sign to start with. Fortunately, this fighting isn't quite as
big a part of the show (for these 2 episodes, at least) as I was
expecting - it's actually quite watchable, in a mind-numbing kind of
way. Ichigo's a fairly normal guy (apart from being able to see ghosts)
and the rest of the cast have their moments as well - in particular
Ichigo's dad, who is seriously unhinged, and Kuchiki, who's actually
quite funny is a droll, undead way.
The problem is, for all that it has an interesting premise &
some good characters, it just didn't really grab me. Whether that was
the show's fault or I was in a bad mood when I watched it, I don't know
- but either way, Bleach's failure to make any real impression on me means this is another 'pass'. |
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