Bleach Volume 1
April 14th 2008 01:36
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 2001 Shueisha Inc/2007 VIZ Media.
Written & Illustrated by: Tite Kubo.
English Adaptation by: Lance Caselman.
Translation: Joe Yamazaki.
Touch up art & lettering: Andy Ristaino.
Cover/Graphics/Design: Sean Lee.
Bleach is an example of what is commonly called in Japan a Shonen manga, my particular take on this is that it’s so called because usually the protagonist is a young teenage boy usually between 13 – 16 years old. Possibly its also called that because they’ve been written specifically for that particular market as well, other examples of Shonen manga are Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto (both of which have been reviewed on this site previously). So as usual Bleach follows the format of a young teenage guy protagonist, in this case Ichigo Kurosaki, Ichigo is a fifteen year old high school student at Karakura 1st High School in Karakura Town. He has bright orange hair which has earned him the nickname of Strawberry and seems on the surface to be a fairly normal kind of guy, like I said though he’s only normal on the surface. You see Ichigo has a trait that he shares with the kid from the movie Sixth Sense; he can see dead people and he can talk to them and interact with them, this is definitely not something normal nor is it something that every average Joe on the street can do.
Ichigo and his two sisters, Karin and Yuzu, live with their father in the Kurosaki Clinic in Karakura Town, their mother Masaki passed away years ago, and Yuzu has become something of a mother figure in the household. The Clinic is their home and their father’s place of work, everyone in the family knows of Ichigo’s abilities to see dead people and his sister Karin shares this ability as well. Unlike her brother Karin prefers to ignore the spirits of the deceased and concentrates with getting on with whatever it is she’s doing at any given point in time. Ichigo’s father is jealous of his son’s ability as well as being something of a loose cannon; the two seem to have a relation that shares similarities with that of Inspector Clouseau and his Chinese manservant Cato. So the Kurosaki’s are not exactly your average run of the mill Japanese family, but then again you wouldn’t expect something like an ordinary family in an award winning manga to begin with would you?
It all begins one Friday, the day when everything changes for our erstwhile hero though he at first is naturally unaware of what is about to happen. Things open with a mysterious individual overlooking the extent of Karakura Town from atop a telephone pole, this figure murmurs to itself that it can sense great spiritual energy somewhere and then without warning it leaps from its telecommunication aerie and into the wee hours of the morning. All this occurs on the first page, in the wee hours of the morning, from this enigmatic beginning the drama fast forwards in time to about 7:30 pm Friday night and we are introduced to our primary protagonist Ichigo. When we first meet Ichigo he is on his way back from somewhere and has taken umbrage at the actions of a gang of skate punks, they just think he’s some kind of freak what with the bright orange hair and all. These skaters have in the midst of their actions knocked over a memorial to a dead girl, the dead girl has mentioned this to Ichigo and he has decided to set matters straight. Naturally this involves a lot of head stomping and cutting sarcasm on Ichigo’s part but it does the trick. Once this matter has been settled he makes his way home, home to his sisters and his confrontational father.
From this point onwards things take a turn for the bizarre and Ichigo is made to realise that the world is a lot bigger than he expected and being able to see dead people, a slightly manic father and unusual family life are the least of his worries. The sudden appearance of a black swallowtail butterfly is the harbinger of change, as soon as he notices this rather unusual specimen of Lepidoptera flying around in his bedroom he soon notices something else, the presence of a young woman in a black kimono with a katana who despite being aware of her surroundings seems oblivious to the presence of Ichigo. That swiftly vanishes once Ichigo gives her kick up the backside, literally. He thinks she’s a burglar but she is something much more than just a mundane person or a burglar.
And thus begins the rather bizarre introduction of Ichigo to the notion of Soul Reapers and the Soul Society, it seems that this strange young woman, whom Ichigo calls both a little snot and a samurai wannabe, is a Soul Reaper. It is the duty of soul reapers to deal with the two type of spirits that wander about in the known world, one type are the wholes, the ghosts that Ichigo commonly sees for the soul reaper these spirits are to be passed on into the Soul Society or afterlife. The second type of spirits are hollows, dangerous entities that fit the archetypal evil spirit mould and are the natural nemesis of soul reapers. Hollows are naturally intended to be vaporized by the soul reaper as they pose a major danger to both wholes and living beings, they thrive upon the souls that both possess and as they feed they rarely sate their hunger.
It seems that a hollow was heading towards Ichigo’s home and this soul reaper that he has come across was in the middle of tracking it down and putting an end to its carnage. Naturally things don’t go as planned and the soul reaper finds that she is unable to deal with this rather violent and vicious hollow, Ichigo tries to help but even though he can see the spirit his abilities just aren’t capable of handling something like this. Of course it would be a very boring manga if the primary protagonist died in the first volume, the soul reaper decides to transfer some of her dark force into Ichigo in order to enable him to deal with the rampaging hollow and hopefully save his family from a fate worse than death. Suffice to say as soon as this ritual, which is pretty brief, is taken to place some surprising revelations occur, Ichigo is a natural at doing this and a literal powerhouse of spiritual energy. Also it seems that rather than taking some of the soul reapers dark force he has taken all of it. Still at the time he is unaware of this fact and steps in to deal with the hollow in a suitably violent manner, the zanpaku-to, the blade of a soul reaper, has grown to an enormous size reflecting just how much dark force its wielder has. Rukia, the soul reaper who transferred her power can’t believe what she’s seeing.
The next day when the dust settles over the carnage Ichigo awakes from a nightmare where he believes that he was unable to save his family despite his transformation into a soul reaper. Then his father attacks him and he suddenly realises that life is as it should be, given his family circumstances. He soon finds out that as far as his family is concerned the events of the previous night never occurred, what they remember was a truck running into the clinic and causing some damage with minimal injuries or hurt to either the driver or Ichigo’s family. He briefly wonders what happened to Rukia, whether she went back to the Soul Society. That issue is swiftly resolved once he arrives at school, it seems that Rukia is unable to return to the Society and nor is she able to continue being a soul reaper as Ichigo has taken all of her powers – the compromise Ichigo takes up the mantle and she advises him until she is able to regain her powers.
And so begins the ongoing drama of Bleach, one of Japan’s most popular manga and anime series. Tite Kubo, the writer and illustrator of Bleach, was awarded with the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shonen category in 2005 for this particular manga. Before appearing in this particular format Bleach was originally serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump like so many other similar manga (Naruto being another) and it began airing as an anime series in Japan in 2004, currently it has an episode count running into the hundreds and is very popular. As far as the manga goes I have to say I enjoyed its slightly offbeat atmosphere and its unique take on the concept of ghosts and the soul reaper angle. Definitely worth getting your hands on a copy, once I started reading it I found I couldn’t put it down and almost ended up missing my dinner as a result, fortunately love of good food ruled out over love of good manga…
Written & Illustrated by: Tite Kubo.
English Adaptation by: Lance Caselman.
Translation: Joe Yamazaki.
Touch up art & lettering: Andy Ristaino.
Cover/Graphics/Design: Sean Lee.
Bleach is an example of what is commonly called in Japan a Shonen manga, my particular take on this is that it’s so called because usually the protagonist is a young teenage boy usually between 13 – 16 years old. Possibly its also called that because they’ve been written specifically for that particular market as well, other examples of Shonen manga are Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto (both of which have been reviewed on this site previously). So as usual Bleach follows the format of a young teenage guy protagonist, in this case Ichigo Kurosaki, Ichigo is a fifteen year old high school student at Karakura 1st High School in Karakura Town. He has bright orange hair which has earned him the nickname of Strawberry and seems on the surface to be a fairly normal kind of guy, like I said though he’s only normal on the surface. You see Ichigo has a trait that he shares with the kid from the movie Sixth Sense; he can see dead people and he can talk to them and interact with them, this is definitely not something normal nor is it something that every average Joe on the street can do.
From this point onwards things take a turn for the bizarre and Ichigo is made to realise that the world is a lot bigger than he expected and being able to see dead people, a slightly manic father and unusual family life are the least of his worries. The sudden appearance of a black swallowtail butterfly is the harbinger of change, as soon as he notices this rather unusual specimen of Lepidoptera flying around in his bedroom he soon notices something else, the presence of a young woman in a black kimono with a katana who despite being aware of her surroundings seems oblivious to the presence of Ichigo. That swiftly vanishes once Ichigo gives her kick up the backside, literally. He thinks she’s a burglar but she is something much more than just a mundane person or a burglar.
And thus begins the rather bizarre introduction of Ichigo to the notion of Soul Reapers and the Soul Society, it seems that this strange young woman, whom Ichigo calls both a little snot and a samurai wannabe, is a Soul Reaper. It is the duty of soul reapers to deal with the two type of spirits that wander about in the known world, one type are the wholes, the ghosts that Ichigo commonly sees for the soul reaper these spirits are to be passed on into the Soul Society or afterlife. The second type of spirits are hollows, dangerous entities that fit the archetypal evil spirit mould and are the natural nemesis of soul reapers. Hollows are naturally intended to be vaporized by the soul reaper as they pose a major danger to both wholes and living beings, they thrive upon the souls that both possess and as they feed they rarely sate their hunger.
It seems that a hollow was heading towards Ichigo’s home and this soul reaper that he has come across was in the middle of tracking it down and putting an end to its carnage. Naturally things don’t go as planned and the soul reaper finds that she is unable to deal with this rather violent and vicious hollow, Ichigo tries to help but even though he can see the spirit his abilities just aren’t capable of handling something like this. Of course it would be a very boring manga if the primary protagonist died in the first volume, the soul reaper decides to transfer some of her dark force into Ichigo in order to enable him to deal with the rampaging hollow and hopefully save his family from a fate worse than death. Suffice to say as soon as this ritual, which is pretty brief, is taken to place some surprising revelations occur, Ichigo is a natural at doing this and a literal powerhouse of spiritual energy. Also it seems that rather than taking some of the soul reapers dark force he has taken all of it. Still at the time he is unaware of this fact and steps in to deal with the hollow in a suitably violent manner, the zanpaku-to, the blade of a soul reaper, has grown to an enormous size reflecting just how much dark force its wielder has. Rukia, the soul reaper who transferred her power can’t believe what she’s seeing.
The next day when the dust settles over the carnage Ichigo awakes from a nightmare where he believes that he was unable to save his family despite his transformation into a soul reaper. Then his father attacks him and he suddenly realises that life is as it should be, given his family circumstances. He soon finds out that as far as his family is concerned the events of the previous night never occurred, what they remember was a truck running into the clinic and causing some damage with minimal injuries or hurt to either the driver or Ichigo’s family. He briefly wonders what happened to Rukia, whether she went back to the Soul Society. That issue is swiftly resolved once he arrives at school, it seems that Rukia is unable to return to the Society and nor is she able to continue being a soul reaper as Ichigo has taken all of her powers – the compromise Ichigo takes up the mantle and she advises him until she is able to regain her powers.
And so begins the ongoing drama of Bleach, one of Japan’s most popular manga and anime series. Tite Kubo, the writer and illustrator of Bleach, was awarded with the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shonen category in 2005 for this particular manga. Before appearing in this particular format Bleach was originally serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump like so many other similar manga (Naruto being another) and it began airing as an anime series in Japan in 2004, currently it has an episode count running into the hundreds and is very popular. As far as the manga goes I have to say I enjoyed its slightly offbeat atmosphere and its unique take on the concept of ghosts and the soul reaper angle. Definitely worth getting your hands on a copy, once I started reading it I found I couldn’t put it down and almost ended up missing my dinner as a result, fortunately love of good food ruled out over love of good manga…
| 37 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
