timepiececlock: (Default)
timepiececlock ([personal profile] timepiececlock) wrote2006-09-11 05:43 pm
Entry tags:

(no subject)

Logging in from mid-vacation. Watched Bleach episode 1 on Adult Swim on Saturday night. I've seen the first three episodes in subs already, but I figured I might like it better in English.

The bad (still irritated by): the blatant Ranma 1/2 rip-off with regards to the father character, the poorly-written and predictable plot within the episode, the totally unrealistic shonen male protagonist whose brain and reactions to things bears no resemblence whatsoever to how a real person in his age and situation behaves (this happens a lot in anime, but it seemed especially annoying and unrealistic in this episode-- hell, even NARUTO, bravest shonen protagonist you'll ever find, froze when confronted with a real threat for the first time), not to mention the only girl who seems to be able to stand up on her own is the girl with supernatural powers-- even the sister who could see ghosts just as well as the male character was turned into helpless female victim #3.

The good: GhostGirl's voice is alright. And better...voice of Vash! I may watch for that. Also, I hear it gets better.

[identity profile] donna-c-punk.livejournal.com 2006-09-12 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
I gave up on reading Bleach six months ago. I tolerated Ichigo for the sake of Rukia, but after she essentially vanished from the story, came back briefly in the second arc, then vanished again (from what I understand), I just don't care.

[identity profile] jaina.livejournal.com 2006-09-12 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
Obviously, we see the series differently (note the cartoon hearts floating over my head when I read Bleach) and I won't bug you if you decide it's ultimately not your thing--but seriously, the one thing Bleach is NOT lacking is strong females, and strong ones in many different ways. Takes a bit to get to them, and you might not get that far if it's just not your cuppa, but there are great ones.

I think you're kinda out of your mind on the Ranma thing. ;) Well, okay, I shouldn't say that--I can see what you mean by it, but I also think that Violence as Family Bonding is a well-established anime trope--and there actually is a reason for it, way later.

Voice of Vash did pretty well! I wasn't sure if he could get deep enough, but he did a good job with the gruffness. It's almost too bad he wasn't Abel Nightroad on Trinity Blood, too, as that character is SUCH a vampire Vash, but that would be three Adult Swim shows in a row with JYB as the lead, so yeah, that'd be a little much.

[identity profile] donna-c-punk.livejournal.com 2006-09-12 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
the one thing Bleach is NOT lacking is strong females, and strong ones in many different ways.

The Soul Society shinigami are great examples. Even Orihime. I've always been puzzled by people who maintain Orihime isn't a strong female character. Big boobs aside, it takes a lot of guts to do what she does.

[identity profile] jaina.livejournal.com 2006-09-12 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
Exactly! And even if Orihime could be called the stereotypically touchy-feely "emotional" heroine--though I disagree that she's truly any kind of stereotype--it's okay, because we get other kinds of strength, too. There's a variety, and that's cool.

[identity profile] buttercup0222.livejournal.com 2006-09-12 12:38 pm (UTC)(link)
but that would be three Adult Swim shows in a row with JYB as the lead

That would kind of rock...at least for a night or two XD.

But I don't know that I'd want Voice of Vash wasted on Trinity Blood, though Abel pretty much IS Vash gone colonial vampire.

[identity profile] mana-runigha.livejournal.com 2006-09-12 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
I thought Ichigo was annoying at first too, but this is almost exactly how the first chapter in the manga was that the episode is based off of that I have to forgive it. At least the voice acting is good.

[identity profile] helga-b.livejournal.com 2006-09-12 07:05 am (UTC)(link)
I never got Bleach. I tried reading some of it, but was mainly just bored. Everyone kept telling me just how wonderful it was and that it gets better, so I kept trying and tried skipping ahead a bit to the supposedly great Soul Society arc. And kept being bored and wanting to skip chapters until I just decided it wasn't for me at all and gave up.

[identity profile] zebeckras.livejournal.com 2006-09-12 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
I would have previously encouraged you to keep going with it, as it gets better, but at that point I hadn't reached the Soul Society arc yet. I liked it A LOT when it was still kind of a standard shonen comedy/action thingie, and I kept hearing how the Soul Society arc (or, as I've heard it called, the "Rukia" arc) was SO AWESOME. And, well, I got to that arc and had to really push myself to keep going. And I got I guess about 3/4 of the way through it before I just couldn't go anymore (we're talking 100+ chapters, no fooling) - I can't keep up with who the characters are, how many plotlines are going, who is fighting who at the same time that someone else is doing this or that... My point being, I can't say "stick with it, you'll like it!" because obviously it really varies depending on your tastes.

Though I'll agree with the people who say that there are a ton of really strong female characters. Orihime is good but Tatsuki is in fact pretty awesome (and I was really pretty pissed that she is "real world" and so disappears once the Soul Society arc starts. I'm sure she comes back but 100+ chapters without her pissed me off), and there are a ton of female Shinigami of varying sizes, shapes and talents who kick some major ass. There's also a ton of cleavage, of course - it IS shonen. ;)

[identity profile] buttercup0222.livejournal.com 2006-09-13 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
I definitely see where you're coming from with the dislike of Ichigo. I think he's alright, but at times I find him really irritating simply for the fact that he's "too perfect". I mean, come on. The kid's a young teenager and all of a sudden he's a match for shinigami who've been training for forever? Yes, he's the hero. Yes, there are reasons for it explained later. Blah blah blah. But I find heroes of this variety to be very uninteresting and hard to relate to. It's a matter of personal taste, and as you've pointed out, the character type is not limited to Bleach alone so I can't really hold it against the anime too much. But it does bug me.

But I do think you're being a little too harsh on the sisters. They're what? About 10 or 12? Most kids that age would react just that way to some crazy demon thing crashing into their house. And as others have said, Bleach is not lacking in kickass female characters.

[identity profile] ivoryorchid.livejournal.com 2006-09-16 08:25 am (UTC)(link)
Hi, rashaka :) I was curious as to why I hadn't seen you at the K_Z community as of late, so I decided to check out your journal and see if it had any answers. In any case, I found this post and thought that I'd comment... Hope you don't mind ^^;;

Now, I must agree with you about Bleach Ep. 1. During the entire time I watched it, I couldn't help but think how utterly unbelievable Ichigo was... How this guy was--inexplainably--such an amazing, capable fighter; how he, unlike any other "normal" human being, was able to break demon magic; how he, a 15-year-old, was able to stay so composed and confident during the incredible events which ultimately led him to become a shinigami... Needless to say, it annoyed the crap out of me, spurning me to vow that if I didn't get answers soon (or at least some kind of believable/human scenes or interactions), I'd have to cut all ties from the series from the sheer dumbness of it all.

Although hope (and some humor) essentially drove me to continue, it wasn't until episode 7 or 8 did I really begin (and "begin" is the key word :)) to find some answers to the questions I was looking for. The reason why the first episode was so poor was because it didn't give you much of anything--no common ground, no ties with the characters: just questions. That's why, I think, so much of what occurred in that episode was so downright frustrating.

Although, I have to say: it honestly does get better. And, at least in my opinion, the wait was well worth it. Ichigo doesn't forever remain so unrealistic, too. In fact, there are times, like during battles, where he feels what you'd expect him as a human to feel (and--maybe because those moments were so unpredictable--I ended up appreciating them all the more).

My advice, then, is to give the series a little bit more time before passing your final judgment. Because who knows? You may end up happily surprised. :)


(P.S. Sorry for the long post :x)