The first two episodes are out already, and I hate them. I went into this show determined to view it through the eyes of a newbie. It wasn’t that hard. I read this arc too many years ago to remember what happened. So I was genuinely intrigued during those first few seconds as we heard that narration about the Quincy King awakening. But then everything went downhill from there.
If you have seen these episodes, you probably think I’m exaggerating. And to an extent, you are not wrong. This was not the worst anime I have seen all year (That title goes to Fate/ Apocrypha).
Bleach gave us a decent hook. The Quincy are back and in greater numbers than ever before. After turning Hueco Mundo to dust, they have declared war on Soul Society. In five days, the Shinigami will cease to exist.
On paper, this was an entertaining start. So what went wrong? I can’t stand the art and animation. Every single frame irritated me. But that is why I am hesitant to discard the show. I don’t know if it is fair to dismiss Bleach as a failure simply because it has either failed or refused to replicate the style of the anime I grew up watching.
When I first took an interest in anime, Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach were the biggest franchises in the world. I remember being wowed by the distinct art and animation of each property. Boruto lost me (initially) because it rejected that unique aesthetic.
The show doesn’t feel like Naruto because the studio has chosen to embrace a more generic look. Bleach has gone a similar route. Few other moments in anime are more iconic than Ichigo screaming ‘BAN-KAI’ in the original Japanese language. There’s a heft to his voice that enhances the explosive effect that follows. It gives the scene an injection of energy.
That energy was nowhere to be found this time around. I don’t understand what happened. Even at its worst, Bleach was still the coolest-looking anime on television.
It had a smooth, crisp sheen no other series could match; a swagger you rarely saw in the medium. And it’s all gone. Again, the art and animation are not bad; they are bland.
Bleach looks like any other show, and I don’t understand why. Do you remember how they presented the flash step in the original anime? The way the characters would seemingly flicker out of existence before snapping back into place?
That was awesome. Why would they abandon that style that made Bleach such a gem? Maybe I’m being too hasty. Perhaps the next few episodes will right these wrongs, and the studio will revert the production values to what they were.
Or, if I give the show a few more episodes, my brain will adjust to this new style. But I don’t know if that will happen. I hated everything I saw in those first two episodes.
The soundtrack distracted me for a while, tickling my nostalgia and taking me back to the late 2000s. I will keep an open mind. But I am far from optimistic.
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