Even if it’s the shortest of Weekly Shonen Jump’s so-called Big Three, Kubo Tite’s Bleach remains one of the longest shonen anime from the 2000s. Ichigo Kurosaki’s tenure as a Shinigami had its ups and downs, as seen in the sheer glut of arcs that he went through.
From epic fights against powerful Hollow foes to lackluster shenanigans with Kon, Ichigo’s adventures — both the televised and theatrical variety — either helped him improve as a person, or they only hindered him in one way or another.
10 Better: Fade To Black Developed Ichigo & Rukia’s Relationship
Put nicely, Bleach’s movies are feature-length fillers with better animation. The movies were inconsequential, but Fade to Black is the exception since it delved into Ichigo and Rukia’s unique non-romantic relationship. In this film, Rukia was essentially erased from history, and only Ichigo seems to remember her.
Despite being a movie, Fade to Black gave viewers one of the best perspectives in terms of Ichigo and Rukia’s friendship, only bested by their bittersweet farewell at the end of The Arrancar arc. The only reason why the third Bleach movie ranks low here is because, like its fellow cinematic attempts, it isn’t canon.
9 Worse: The Other Movies Didn’t Do Anything Noteworthy
Fade to Black may have shown a more emotional side to Bleach’s main duo, but the other movies didn’t do anything noteworthy. Memories of Nobody, The DiamondDust Rebellion, and The Hell Verse all have some interesting ideas, but none of them are enough to sustain a whole movie, let alone a side-story in the Bleach universe.
All three movies are variations on the rescue theme, with Ichigo and friends disobeying Soul Society’s orders to save someone who was either framed or abducted. Even if these movies acknowledged Bleach canon, they’re all stand-alone adventures with no important bearing on either the plot or the characters. Anyone and anything introduced here was never mentioned later in the main storyline of Bleach.
8 Better: The Zanpakuto Unknown Tales Arc Humanized The Zanpakuto
In all honesty, the story of The Zanpakuto Unknown Tales Arc isn’t anything special. What made it one of the most hyped moments in the Bleach fandom was the promise to reveal what each Shinigami’s Zanpakuto spirit looked like, and it didn’t fail in this regard. All the spirits were designed by Kubo himself, and none of them disappointed fans.
The Zanpakuto Unknown Tales Arc also has the rare honor of being the only Bleach filler arc to have its elements be considered canon. Not only do certain Zanpakuto spirits reappear in the manga (e.g. Kyoraku’s Katen Kyokotsu), but all of them appear in the official Bleach tie-in mobile game Bleach: Brave Souls.
7 Worse: The Gotei 13 Invading Army Arc Delayed The Inevitable
One of the saddest points of The Arrancar Arc was its ending, in which victory against Aizen came at the cost of Ichigo losing his Shinigami abilities. This meant losing a major part of his new life and friends, especially Rukia. In the manga, Ichigo loses his supernatural connection after hanging out with Rukia one last time but in the anime, a whole arc takes place before that.
Here, Ichigo must solve the mystery behind evil Gotei 13 clones, all the while trying to clear his name of a crime he didn’t do, as well as coming to terms with his inevitable normalcy. As monotonous as it is, The Gotei 13 Invading Army Arc doesn’t rank any higher because, to its credit, it’s one of Bleach’s better fillers that (mostly) fits seamlessly into the narrative.
6 Better: The Arrancar Arc Was Bleach's Biggest Event
In terms of scale, this multi-level event was Bleach’s peak. The arc had four major sections — the Arrancar’s initial attack on Karakura Town, Ichigo and friends’ rescue mission in Hueco Mundo, a prequel for the Visored, and the decisive war in Fake Karakura Town. Best of all, this arc introduced the Espada, who still remain some of the most popular anime villains in shonen history.
That said, The Arrancar Arc wasn’t above making mistakes. The storyline overstayed its welcome thanks to editors demanding that Kubo add more Espada chapters. The arc suffered more in the anime, where it was hit by strict censors, while many of the later episodes (especially Aizen’s fights) were filled with stock footage and recap episodes.
5 Worse: The Bount & The New Captain Shusuke Amagai Arcs Recycled Bleach Tropes
Bleach’s filler arcs are notorious for being pretty mediocre, and The Bount and The New Captain Shusuke Amagai storylines fit this bill perfectly. Both of them do nothing but recycle Bleach tropes, such as Ichigo's training regimen to defeat slightly sympathetic enemies.
The Bount arc was like any other early Bleach episode where Ichigo fought a formerly human Hollow with a sad backstory, while The New Captain Shusuke Amagai was just a watered-down version of everything having to do with Aizen. The former is generally considered to be one of the most despised fillers in Bleach canon.
4 Better: The Agent Of The Shinigami Arc Was Bleach At Its Most Human
Bleach’s inaugural season excels not in epic confrontations as much for how grounded it is. Here, Ichigo gets his powers from Rukia by pure luck, and supernatural hijinks in a mundane suburban town ensue. The Agent of the Shinigami Arc allows Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Uryu, and Chad to just be teenagers, and it’s where Kubo’s knack for creating fun characters shone the most.
It’s also worth noting that of all the storylines, The Agent of the Shinigami Arc maximized Bleach’s initial premise as an urban fantasy. Every major event afterward doubled down on Ichigo going from one supernatural location to the next, with life in Karakura Town and its eccentric residents becoming nothing more than footnotes.
3 Worse: The Lost Substitute Shinigami Arc Was Canon Filler
After losing his powers in the fight with Aizen, Ichigo was given the chance to regain his powers with the help of the Fullbringer faction, Xcution, who obviously had a sinister motive up their sleeves. Better known as The Fullbringer arc, The Lost Substitute Shinigami was nothing more than manga filler that built up to The Thousand-Year Blood War arc.
All The Fullbringer Arc did was restore Ichigo his Shinigami status, with everything before that falling short of expectation. Xcution wasn’t anything too memorable, either — Ichigo went through another training montage, his human friends’ spotlight was stolen by the Gotei 13, and the Fullbring concept wasn’t really useful outside of a few convenient Deus Ex Machinas in the finale.
2 Better: The Soul Society Arc Defined Bleach
Even today, both Bleach fans and long-time anime viewers cite Ichigo’s sophomore storyline as the series’ best and one of the most memorable storylines from the 2000s. The Soul Society Arc’s combination of action and political intrigue was so incredible that it cemented Bleach’s initial reputation as Shonen Jump’s most mature Big Three title, with most of the show's nostalgia stemming from here.
The most iconic moment here was, of course, the revelation that the deceptively soft-spoken 5th Division Captain Aizen was actually a power-hungry sociopath hellbent on overthrowing Soul Society itself — something he almost succeeded in accomplishing. This arc is so influential that many anime, Bleach included, tried and failed to replicate its success.
1 Worse: The Thousand-Year Blood War Was An Anti-Climactic Finale
Despite a strong start, some big revelations, and a host of amazing new enemies (the Quincy), Bleach’s grand manga finale was anything but satisfying. The final clash between the Shinigami and the Wandenreich was rushed and truncated, with fights abruptly ending because a Shinigami whipped out a convenient Zanpakuto upgrade at the last second.
Worse was the writing, which left a lot to be desired. Ichigo’s development was the same as in previous arcs, his friends barely got any spotlight, the Wandenreich was disappointingly flat, and the epilogue was saccharine at best. Only time will tell if the animated adaptation will redeem and improve the flawed finale, or if it will repeat the same mistakes.
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