I woke up the other day to two different links that my fellow Bleach enthusiasts have provided. Both basically shared the same story: Bleach is ending. It's the end for Bleach. Bleach: The final arc.
It took a day for the news to sink in. When I first read it, I was overwhelmed by sadness. I always said that I can't imagine my life without having Bleach latest chapter to look forward to every week. It has been part of my animu/manga routine since I first started taking anime and manga seriously. In fact, Bleach is the gateway anime for me, the one that got me interested and fell head over heels in love with anime.
I of all people admitted that the Bleach as of late was mediocre compared to the genius that Kubo provided us with during the first couple of arcs. Hueco Mundo arc was probably the last of original ideas Kubo had because what comes after that are the same repetitive shits after the other. Having said that, as an avid fan of Bleach, I couldn't stop fangasming and spasm about it every other week, despite being trolled by Kubo.
The reason why I have so much love for Bleach, besides the reason I have mentioned above, is the fact that thanks to Bleach, I have met and get to know some really awesome people from around the world. It led me to turn this blog into an anime oriented blog which consequently introduced me to the people from the aniblogsphere. I couldn't be any more grateful.
Knowing Kubo though, this last arc might lasted for another 8 years. Either way, I am crossing all the fingers, plus toes that I have, that Kubo will not troll us to the very last page.
(the second link provided by my friend supposedly contained spoilers for the next arc. It can't be legit but if it is...) I want to see who Ichigo ends up with. It better be Rukia. However, I doubt Kubo has the balls to conclude it appropriately. He will leave that part hanging and many would rage quit but it will be too late because it is already the end for Bleach. So basically, we, the avid supporters of OTP, are trolled once again...
Orz
03 February 2012
Bleach: The End
15 comments:
Yea the news left me a bit unsettled. Bleach happens to be one of my gateway anime as well...that and DBZ ;)
I do hope there are signs of a relationship going on, but I doubt it'll be Rukia. She is cooler though. Too cool for Ichigo. XD
Man, am I gonna cry in that last chapter....
naturally it can't be helped. the tears will flow regardless how shitty it may be <3
Well, I've heard of these news about 8 months ago already, when someone I don't remember told me that Bleach would have a short arc(the Xcution one) followed by a long and also the last arc.
What I found more shocking was the announcement about two days ago that my favorite manga(MSN) would end in 3 chapters... totally unexpected and so soon... T_T
This is my fault..... :(
About a week ago, I thought to myself, "I wonder when Bleach will end? And is the creator going to start a new manga afterward?"
I had forgotten that my thoughts are the basis of which all reality is created from. This of course means that One Piece is going to end soon too. FUCKKKKKKK!!!!
At least I don't have to worry about catching up to the manga now (I'm going to cry) when I watch the show/read the manga...Bleach was I think the first non-toonami anime that I watched (the first one I watched online with subs). It was the key that unlocked the door which became glothelegend.
kubo might make the romance happen in the last chapter. He might do no more than imply that it will happen in the future. There should be some sign though.
Don't worry though, because after it ends I will take over and write a series that involves Rukia being as big a character as ichigo.
and of course you know where that's going.
Reiki - same, I heard of the same thing before the shit with Xcutioners started but since Kubo made it official, it finally hits me that Bleach is gonna end for real. Me is sad. Btw, what manga was you referring to?
Dear Glo, stop thinking.
I hope you are right about the romance thingy Michael. Bleach deserved it. Hell, Ichigo deserved it!
FUCK YES TO WHAT YOU'RE IMPLYING, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.
last chapter? Hardly. We might still have at least a 100 chapter to look forward to before Bleach finally ends for real. Fuck just thinking about it made me sad...
I don't like shit, but I do like shitting.
Pause and mull over that adage for a while while I figure out what the heck I just said
that's good to know otherwise I would think that you are like them 2 girls 1 cup.
"Btw, what manga was you referring to?"
Quite a late reply, I know...
Mahou Sensei Negima. This manga has the potential to at least go on another hundred chapters, maybe even more. The difference compared to Kubo is how Akamatsu handles the character and the story.
In Negima, there was always one goal: Finding the protagonist's father(and later also the mother). There were also mini-plots like reverse the petrification of the people of his hometown, removing the curse of his master and so on, etc., pp. Furthermore, while you are bombarded with LOTS of characters(there are at least the protagonist's 31 students, and in general, the protagonist is an unintentional chick-magnet... >.>), many of them are well-developed or weren't developed yet because they needed more screentime. Akamatsu managed to find a good balance between fights and breather chapters and even the battles are not too overpowered, as tactic is the crucial factor.
Bleach on the other hand...
Well, you are also bombarded with many(imo too many characters). I always asked myself: Why, Kubo, why...? And then I find out in an interview that he always tries to make new characters if he has a mental block. And I fear he often has mind blocks because
1. There are so many characters, I can't even remember all of the Gotei 13. Maybe it's just me sometimes, since I do not read Bleach every week, but I really have to open a wiki to look some characters up sometimes. And now, we AGAIN get lots of characters. I fear, Kubo is out of ideas. It was only a matter of time when the manga would end and unfortunately I saw that ending coming.
2. The story misses a common thread. You can't follow the story, which isn't the most impressive one because the fights are too long(and btw, I think Kubo must use more panels. There are some chapters where he needs 8 pages for 8 pics...). Furthermore, Kubo uses a tactic similar to Akira Toriyama's Dragonball.
He's making the protagonist way too strong, which forces him to make the antagonists always stronger, stronger, stronger... you can't see a clear wall where we can see: Aha! That's probably the strongest he can see for now. However, I don't know if it's fair to compare Dragonball and Bleach at the moment without knowing further circumstances.
As far as I know, Toriyama already wanted to end his manga with Freezer's defeat, but then his editors asked him to make another saga, so he made Cell. Then he wanted to end the manga with the protagonist's/Goku's death, but he was forced to make another saga, so he invented the ultimate(and strongest-_-) monster Buu. He even wanted to change the main protagonist, making Gohan(Goku's son) the main character, but in the end Goku was resurrected etc...
It could be the same case for Kubo, hence the lack of a well-developed story.
Now what happened to Negima and why do I feel the ending was forced somehow? Well, obviously, as I've said, there was more than enough potential to make another 100-200 chapters. All of Akamatsu's characters(ok, that's exaggerated. But most of them!) are very interesting and there are lots of plots which weren't unsolved. How does Negima end? Well, the protagonist first of all saved the Magic World and starts to prevent it from collapsing and... nothing. The end. Time skip and epilogue. Seriously, over 350 you see how the boy wants to find his father, never forgetting his goal and then what? Abrupt end. We don't know whether the protagonist found his father and/or mother. We don't know what happened to his students, many questions are left unanswered. And that at the moment is pissing me off so much. The story was so well-developed, but then the manga suddenly ends. I don't know why, but I know that it wasn't ended because of unpopularity or money issues. The Limited Editions of the tankoubons are ridiculously selling well(at best, sold out after one month, maybe two), despite costing twice or thrice as much as the regular version.
Okay, fine, the anime always sucked and I heard there were arguments about the anime movie, but was that the only reason? Akamatsu said he wouldn't want to retire, so I can only guess that either he had arguments with Kodansha or he is tired of writing about the boy being his protagonist and he wants to make a spin-off now(which is incredibly stupid, as I've said before, the plot is unresolved). I'm not giving up hope, that he wants to make a sequel with a different publisher, making an alternate timeline and continuing the story for the proper end. However, there is a high chance that this will not be the case, which is a real shame.
Anyway, Kubo doesn't have many unanswered questions left. I hope, he won't invent too many characters again and the number of the involved characters won't be too big. The Shounen Trinity seems to end very soon, One Piece being the last of the three which were Jump's flagships for a long time. I just hope, Bleach's last arc will find a not too stretched-out story and a satisfying ending.
Just to add one last thing:
The last chapter(355) was released and, well when you think it can't get any worse...
The protagonist presents his students to his father he found and saved! Wait, what...?
One final arc is definitely missing. And there is the problem with the characters again... Ken Akamatsu forgot many of them. And there are still loose unexplained ends. The last chapters really do leave a bitter aftertaste and though I enjoy most of the mangas I read, this manga did not deserve such an ending, at least not at this point.(Btw, I doubt Ken Akamatsu wanted to do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woySeSNBL3o , I just heard that his exclusive contract with Kodansha just ended with this last chapter)
And that's what I don't wanna see happen with Bleach. Being canceled or getting a sudden epilogue. Shaman King was also one of the mangas I read and I was shocked when it ended JUST BEFORE THE FINAL FIGHT(though later it got the proper ending it deserved with the releases of the Kang Zeng Bang tankoubons).
Now Kubo really should think hard about how he wants to end Bleach because it might ruin the work of over 10 years. Please, do not drag this out too long and... well, give Bleach a boring last arc with an overload of fights. Or else I fear a cancellation and/or a sudden time skip-epilogue to end this manga I enjoyed for years.
You are the 2nd person I know who recommended me Negima. The first one being my husbando, Glo. I believe he bought all the manga too.
Despite all the characters, I still pretty much remembers who is who in Bleach except maybe for the Xcutioners because really, who gives a fuck about them anyway? Yes, I am that big of a fan despite everything.
If Kubo really created new characters when he had a mental block, then it explained why Bleach are so fucking crappy these past few years. I personally think that Kubo listened to his editors too much and the pressure from the fans isn't helping either. When I said fans, of course I was referring to the lack of development between Rukia and Ichigo because he's too afraid that Orihime's fans will kill him :P
The only thing I wish for Bleach now is like everyone wish it would be: a satisfying ending worthy of that of Soul Society arc or at the very least, Hueco Mundo arc. We want to see the glory of Bleach once again. Hopefully Kubo can pull this off.
As for the comparison with Dragon Ball, I can see a lot of similarities indeed. You're not the only one who have compared it so. It can't be helped.
btw I LOL when I read how the protagonist in Negima found his father, the main and original plot of the story and yet it get such treatments.
I guess it's good then that Kubo goes by arc for every plot.
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