Creator: Tite Kubo
Publisher: Viz
Age Rating: Teen
Genre: Action
RRP: $7.95
Bleach v16
Reviewed by Michael Aronson

“The scheduled execution of former Soul Repear Rukia Kuchiki has been moved up and is now just hours away. Meanwhile, the Soul Society is in chaos, with Soul Repears drawing swords against one another. Something is rotting at the core of the Soul Society, but who, or what, could be behind it?”

Despite jumping headfirst into the middle of this series with no understanding of the background, I’m beginning to catch on. Just a little.

The frustrating part of Bleach is extensive preoccupation with power posturing and “leveling up”, so to speak. I’m more open-minded when it comes to the weirder aspects of Japanese storytelling in manga, but I can’t muster any interest in these kinds of shallow training sessions.

Thankfully, a large chunk of volume sixteen is devoted to the backstory of Rukia, the girl whose approaching execution is causing the rest of the cast to lose sleep. The tale revolves around a crucial mission in which Rukia and her fellow warrior were put at odds with each other and the fateful decision she had to make. I’m not quite sure how much this flashback bears on the ongoing plotlines, but it was certainly an interesting diversion that told me enough about Rukia.

There’s something really unique about the art. It’s not overly detailed and doesn’t vary much in style from the average manga, but most of the panels don’t let explosions or speed lines infringe on their clarity. I haven’t watched the Bleach anime yet, and yet I get the impression that Kubo’s layouts in the manga could be very easily adapted to a storyboard. Were anyone to color over the art in a cell-shaded style, I have a feeling that the composition and sequence of the art would make it very difficult to distinguish from actual anime stills.

Bleach has loads of potential with its bulky cast, unique world and strong illustrations, but I’m not quite sold yet. There’s not enough to distinguish it from the average fighting fiction.

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6 October 2009
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