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Is there a better Shonen arc than 1-64 of Bleach?
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This right here. And honestly, I think the last arc (the one with previous reaper guy) was an improvement over the prior arc with Aizen. Bleach had many downfalls, but I still love it. It's biggest sin is
how little impact Gin's turn on Aizen was. Such a fun villain and overall character with a heartfelt turn that amounted to little.
Also, put me on list that thinks Chunin Exams are overrated. Maybe it is better in the manga, but it drags like a mother fucker in the anime.
Bleach certainly knew how to create hype, this theme was amazing.
Shiro Sagisu's tracks for Bleach are so good they make you believe it's better than it really is.
Yu Yu Hakusho's introductory arc is amazing. What comes after is great as well, but up through Yusuke's resurrection is golden.
The 12 Temples arc and Hades Chapter Sanctuary from Saint Seiya are some of the GOAT shonen arcs. In fact Bleach's Soul Society Arc was inspired by the 12 Temples.
I watched the entire anime, 300+ episodes, my friend learned about this and asked me if I'd recommend it, and I looked at him and said... "Nah."
While YYH/HxH, JJK and even One piece are all substantially better manga than Bleach and all have more to say, from a purely hype-inducing, adrenaline pumping shonen progression perspective I think I agree. The way Kubo set up the power structures early on and played them against Ichigo's unsteady growth made for one of the most entertaining popcorn entertainment arcs I can think of. The kenpachi fight, followed closely by the byakuya fight, were super exciting to watch the first time through, particularly because there was a ton of setup before the drop. For me, I think the anime is even more hype as the music adds a lot.
Bleach had an excellent beginning. One thing it had was great pacing unlike a lot of other mentions. From introduction of characters to completion, the first two arcs hauled ass like it had purpose.
Sadly, it turned out it had no purpose and we were just moving fast.
Sadly, it turned out it had no purpose and we were just moving fast.
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Which probably fucked with the series going on because it feels like Kubo realized he made Ichigo to strong to quickly and had to justify it onwards
Short term its great in the context of the arc long term probably shouldn't have him one shot lieutenants and beat some of the stronger captains
I really enjoyed the start of Bleach.
That said, when it comes to the best, I don't think anything will ever be able to top Water 7 - Ennies Lobby arc from One Piece for me. It's just too good.
That said, when it comes to the best, I don't think anything will ever be able to top Water 7 - Ennies Lobby arc from One Piece for me. It's just too good.
What about Banana Fish?
Anyways, I only ever liked the beginning of Bleach.
Yeah, but OP was asking about shonen specifically, so it's kind of silly to bring a seinen series into this discussion.
Also not shonen. In fact, it's shojo.
Oh definitely. Bleach should have just ended after the first arc lol.
I was a teenager back then with ample free time, leave me be lol
OP
OP
It is very good; however, YYH Dark Tournament was so good that it's become the defacto reference for all tournament arcs.
I'm not even sure it's top ten.
In no order above it I would put:
In no order above it I would put:
- Pain Invasion
- Impel Down/Marineford
- Water 7/Enies Lobby
- Chimera Ant
- Demon King Piccolo
- Elf Reincarnation
- Dark Tournament
- Death Note Part 1
- Goldy Pond
- Return to Shiganshina
Thousand year blood war is better yeah, some great moments. It's just clear that Kubo Tite really didn't have a lot left to tell and that he didn't have an overall plan. Every act is just a new set of villians that seem impossible to beat at first, but in the end our hero's prevail.
That being said I'm SO ready for the return of the anime later this year. The animation looks good and now that they should be able to do things in their own pace, I'm expecting a tight show with some epic fights.
I hated those. There were only like 3 or 4 good episodes in the bunch. It's like episode 14 or something when bleach is in a competition with the dude with glasses, to see which one of them can kill more demons. And like episode 40 something where bleach is fighting the dude with the spiked hair that is super strong and muscular, kenpachi i think was the dudes name. And that's like 2 episodes. The rest I didn't enjoy it at all. So I guess for me, literally almost every other arc of practically every other shonen is better than bleach's.
I'd still recommend it even though it's not shonen. Especially since many shonen manga, including Bleach, have drawn inspiration from Berserk.
I'm not denying it's off topic, but I stand by my recommendation.
As far as introductory arcs, Naruto's Land of Waves was probably the best "this shit is real" arc in anime for me. When Zabuza shows up and puts pressure on Kakashi of all people you finally get the realization of what elite ninja fights really are and it's so gripping all the way until the end.
But it was all one hell of a setup for when Ichigo found out Aizen was so OP that he could cancel the main hero's theme into silence with one finger.
Although I thought Naruto and Bleach weren't that great overall, the intro arcs really were very entertaining. The land of Waves into the Chuunin Exam was peak Naruto, same with Rukia retrieval arc and Bleach. I'd say Naruto was better between the two if I had to chose. It's a shame what those two series became.
I'm primarily manga reader, since most of the good shonen anime in the 90s-2000s didn't have good anime adaptions in regards to pacing. For manga, I'd say other series like Eyeshield 21 and Slam Dunk have arcs that are at the peak of shonen writing. It's also crazy to think One Piece started before both Bleach and Naruto, yet is even better now than it was during East Blue.
I'm primarily manga reader, since most of the good shonen anime in the 90s-2000s didn't have good anime adaptions in regards to pacing. For manga, I'd say other series like Eyeshield 21 and Slam Dunk have arcs that are at the peak of shonen writing. It's also crazy to think One Piece started before both Bleach and Naruto, yet is even better now than it was during East Blue.
The time slot change screwed over so much of One Piece. Brand New World never had a chance and the endings sadly died with it.
i was going to say this because, technically, all of chainsaw man was just one arc anyway.
Yeah I think Rock Lee vs Gaara really dominates that arc in people's minds. For my money it's the best part of the entire show, but the rest of the arc has some really boring non-tournament parts.
Lol yeah I am in the same boat. I'd watch the fansubbed episodes as they would come out, continually hoping it would reach the highs of those first 60 episodes. Suffice to say it did not. I guess it was a sunk-cost fallacy thing combined with the fact that I was younger and had way more time.