The signs of Bleach's end

Posted: 2013-04-16 19:38:24.623

Having wrote a bunch of Bleach blogs regarding it's ending including the one I wrote about a month ago regarding it's status in the manga and the dead anime.  After some thought I truly believe Bleach's end was predetermined and not the unexpected cancellation that it came across.  Here is what is known in chronological order (There are some things that I couldn't get 100 percent clarification on):

1. In the middle of 2010 the anime returned from it's 2nd filler cycle in the Arrancar Arc (the filler arc was well rated as a whole but I assume it dipped towards the end but I do not have episodic ratings for this time period) to series low ratings was the first sign that the anime was losing some steam, I believe it was at this point when the idea of ending/putting the anime on hiatus first came up

2. In early 2011, the band Rookiez is Punk'd claimed they were doing the final ending for Bleach, This suggests, despite the denials by Studio Pierrot, that the anime was set to end since it had a logical stopping point at the end of Arrancar Arc to just go on hiatus. 

3. The ratings rebounded and the 10th anniversary of the manga probably saved the anime in 2010- early 2011

4. Now enter the fillers of 2011 that began in March and lasted till October.  My opinion is that this repreive of sorts was unexpected and the anime team had to scramble to keep Ichigo involved by altering the end of the Arrancar Arc and taking around 6 standalone episodes to plan a moderate length filler arc, which featured clones and 2 original characters.  

5. This filler arc didn't rate well, and as everyone knew the following canon arc was not going to be well received.  Now it is my opinion that the decision to end the series came before the lost agent arc even began.  It was here tha, in my opinion,t everyone involved came to the conclusion that the series couldn't sustain filler arcs anymore and knowing that Kubo was planning a mega arc.  

6. Another sign I took was the opening itself for the lost agent arc, it had a strangely retrospective vibe with the color scheme and even running all the episode numbers in the middle of it.  The animation and the marketing of the Arc suggested they were making a last push to see if it could continue as it always had, but it not surprisingly did as poorly if not worse than a filler arc

So those were my thoughts, I'm not claiming this is 100 percent factual, but I tried to connect the dots from everything I've read

State of Bleach

Posted: 2013-03-19 17:30:25.577

As most know the Bleach anime ended about a year ago due to low ratings, decline in quality and popularity, and lack of material , so where do we stand today with it today (in both manga and anime), here some of my thoughts (spoilers below)

1. The manga hasn't been flawless, but it's pacing has been far better with this current 1000 Year Blood War arc so far.

2. we've had action happening in Hueco Mundo (with a cliffhanger still yet to be answered though most have a good idea of who was behind Urahara), Soul Society has been brought down, the captain-commander is dead and buried amongst a few other supporting characters, Ichigo got curb stomped by the new villain, and Ichigo's dad's past is being examined in current chapters. 

3. A year later I'm fully convinced the anime is on probation, it's fate will be determined by how this arc is received (been a roller coaster ride, on average it's on the upper half of the jump rankings) and how the manga sells (so far it's doing  decently from what I've read considering it has no anime and minimal merchandize)

4. As for when they will start on the anime I know I said 2013 in a past post, but considering there are only 48 chapters in the can for the anime to adapt as of today (roughly 1 season worth of material plus the 20ish chapters released while that season is worked on) so now would be too soon, even Fall 2013 would be only around 68 chapters to adapt which wouldn't be enough for a full scale reboot.  So I revise my guess to 2014, with a heavy leaning towards Fall 2014 since there will be 100+ chapters to adapt or start when a set end date is established

5. Now here are some variables for the anime's potential revival: if it is ascends to super popularity they could potentially do OVA adaptations or pull a dragon ball kai and start showing all the old arcs without fillers.  They could just as easily just pick up with episode 367 and do a simple recap and pretending like nothing happened, or it gets the rushed Inyuasha Final Act treatment

Nolan, Bale, Justice League is a go!!!!!!

Posted: 2013-03-04 20:08:17.383

1. Before I get into this see the post below I'll be posting this on IGN soon

2. Lets process this Chris Nolan (Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Memento) joining JLA as a producer and "Godfather" of the DCU, this instantly gives credibility to it knowing a talented filmmaker

3.  It solidifies that DC and Marvel are going to be heading in different directions (DC's serious grounded style versus Marvel's comic purist style)

4. For WB this makes perfect sense as a business, reduce the pressure on Man of Steel (which I think will be a massive success), and bringing in an the Batman best known to modern audiences.  It would take an absolute catastrophe to screw it up

5. On a creative aspect: TDKR was the definitive end of Bale's Batman, but if I were Chris Nolan I'd relish the challenge of bringing him back in a plausible way which no doubt it will be tough (the end of TDKR if you think about it creates a ton of challenges with the faked death exposing his identity)

6. I'm of half a mind to do World's Finest first (Batman vs Superman) since it is significantly easier to see Nolan's Batman and Superman interacting