Bleachs initial few arcs (like Sora, Parakeet, Grand Fisher, Quincy Archer Hates You) are told well, with a lot of character and humor, and absolutely hold up. Ultimately I can support Bleach throughout most of Soul Society, and the start of the arrancar arc. The Aizen twist doesn’t hold up upon scrutiny at all, but more or less works in the moment. Its not until the Hueco Mondo expedition that the series eventually starts to truly falls apart.
But still, theres a ultimately a bunch of good stuff to find in the first third of Bleachs’ run…which is why I gave myself a challenge, and decided to whip up my top 11+1 things that I kinda liked in this final, dreary arc. This is not to say they are without problems-because they aren't- and, the following range from actual enjoyment to appreciating the sentiment.
12: Teamwork was needed to defeat Bach. It didn't make much sense, but I appreciate it compared to Ichigo pulling more power out his ass for no reason. 11: The Complete insanity of Ywhach vs Stromboli. I have absolutely zero idea what went on here, it was some crazy bullshit and I won’t rate it higher because Ywhach fucking sucks, but at least it was some visually distinct crazy bullshit.
10: Some good designs with the villains; Roboquincy and As Nödt in particular. They were definetely more interesting to see in action, at least on a purely visual level, than many other Bleach goons.
9: Aizen is jailed again! It’s a small thing, but its just nice to see the big bad villain NOT be instantly absolved due to a moments helpfulness.
8: Occasional lampshading of annoying Bleach-tropes. I don't know how much of this is attributable to translations, but stuff like Kenpachi cutting Gerards rambling power explanation short, or Hisagis non-Bankai getting mocked, are kinda refreshing.
7: Renji actually catching a break for once! Both in terms of winning a fight, but also getting to have some occasionally good, funny bits (his Bro-Moment with Quincy Renji was great). Also, he got to snap Ichigo out of his umpteenth funk, so thats always good.
6: Yachiru gets to fight! It doesn’t make any sense for her to do so, but I like Yachiru so I’ll take it, and her bond with her shikai had shades of the Desert Bro Hollows, which is a good thing.
5: Lille, the flamingo UFO sniper burrito angel. Yes, really. He was totally absurd, but in a much more entertaining way than the absurdity of the Ise clans Snu Snu curse. Lille only became more fun than his boring Sniper version, and I was far more invested in seeing what nonsense he would pull off next than whatever Shunsui and Nanao were doing.
4: The return of the BEST arrancar - Dordonni!! Seriously, the all-too brief return of him and his compadres was such a breath of fresh air, even Luppi managed to get a laugh out of me. Freaking Luppi!
3: Mask de Masculine! I don't think I need to say much more; only strike against him was the reveal that his friendship with James was not genuine, but apart from that, Mask was just fun to have around.
2: Kirge Opie, the lone competent Quincy. The first and last time the Vandenreich actually felt somewhat thematically consistent as Nazi Quincies, Kirge (or as I prefer to call him, Fritz) had a good design, managed to turn up the heat for the heroes using Quincy-abilites, and actually worked the “different relation to hollows compared to Shinigami” angle, which was supposed to be a defining feature of Quincies
1: Mayuri vs a Giant Hand. Sure, Mayuri is a giant dickbag who has no business being a protagonist. But in terms of entertainment value it delivered,a nd theres just something about Mayuri not being a smug Byakuya/Shrimpo bishie that helps everything go down easier. Together with Lilles nonsense transformations, its the closest Bleach came to the "Oh, just go with it, its fun!" vibe that Toriko and Jojo might have.