(EPICALLY LONG SATIRICAL POST COMING UP! SKIP THIS POST IF YOU CAN'T SPARE 5 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME! I ONLY TYPED UP THIS POST BECAUSE I WAS BORED AND IT WAS FRIDAY NIGHT AND I THOUGHT IT'D BE FUNNY! WAS IT FUNNY? YOU BE THE JUDGE!)
(Posh British voice). For me Bleach is a manga of contrasts. No doubt due to the great contrasts of its author, Noriaki Kubo. No doubt Mr. Kubo is a talented author with one of the brightest futures in the Shonen manga industry, but he has very sad limitation on his overall writing talent nonetheless. For while no doubt Mr. Kubo is one of the best authors in Shonen Jump when it comes to creating rich, multi-faceted characters with vast amounts of nuances to them, he is sadly limited when it comes to telling an actual story. (sips tea).
To put it into metaphor, if Mr. Kubo were to write a historical fiction novel about the American Civil War then he would go in detail of the personalities of every major and even to most minor character's personalities; from Abraham Lincoln's taste in clothing, to Ulysses S. Grant's romantic history and even to Robert E. Lee's thoughts on philosophy. But he would disapointingly fail to create a cohesive war story, leaving out various historical details and facts, and rushing the overall flow of the battle with minor battles taking up an overly long page count and the most important such as Gettysburg receiving a rather underwhelming page count by comparison. (sips tea.)
Indeed Mr. Kubo should be lauded if nothing else for the creation of Ichigo Kurosaki, one of the most original and complex Shonen protagonists of recent memory. Unlike most of his contemporaries who create redundant "heroes" who only want to be the greatest [Insert Historical Warrior Here] for inadequately explained reasons, Ichigo is so much more. Ichigo has faced loss and tragedy in his lifetime, with the untimely death of his mother and he only wants to prevent others from suffering the same loss as him at the hands of his demonic enemies. Ichigo and his fellowship go through intense turmoil over the course of the manga but through it all he remains standing as sturdy as a boulder. He is intelligent, crafty, determined, daring, idealistic yet cynical, a hero to his allies but a monster to his enemies. I wish more Shonen protagonists were as well written as him. (sips tea.)
Ichigo's friends are also very interesting as well, such as his two romantic foils. Rukia Kuchiki, the provider of his power has an unspoken love for him stemming from her memory of a former guardian that he is coincidentally identical too. Mr. Kubo is very psychological and borrows heavily from Sigmund Freud. Ichigo may even reciprocate but it is difficult to say as Noriaki is one of the masters of subtlety. Orihime Inoue the secondary romantic interest is also very complex, her love for her strawberry-haired knight is boundless but she struggles with many insecurities and identity issues and a desire to create a utopia. Indeed Kubo devoted over twenty volumes to the journey to save Inoue and the further exploration of his many philosophical and political themes as well as the Shakespearian love triangle he had created with these three characters. (sips tea.)
Yasutora 'Chad' Sado, Uryu Ishida and Renji Abarai are some of the most tragic characters ever seen in Japanese graphic novels. Each one of them is extremely motivated to better themselves and all of them have complex backstories and unique reasons for why they assist Ichigo on his various quests. But the antagonists Kubo creates are brutal and nightmarish and he never pulls any punches. Ever. So Ichigo's comrades fail more often than not and I can never resist shedding tears at the crumbling of all their hopes and dreams. The journey these three have gone through to become guardians of the human and spirit world with Ichigo will indeed be a long one, but it is certain they will eventually fulfill their goals. I know because I am certain Mr. Kubo cares deeply for his characters. (sips tea.)
And Kubo has created many other wonderful characters in his wide and expansive ensemble cast; from devilish rogues like Zaraki Kenpachi and Mayuri Kurutsuchi to the ever mysterious and questionable Kisuke Urahara (we'll get to him don't worry) to everyone's favorite machiavellian, conniving sociopath Sosuke Aizen. Kubo has created many characters but I rarely if ever feel that he is creating them for the single minded purpose of filling up space like so many of his contemporaries do. The most recent major characters the Fullbringers were filled to the brim with mystery and suspense. Each of their backstories, though very insightful were also terrifying with the greater mysteries and questions they asked about mankind and his flaws. Kubo is a master of all moods, the comedic, the horrific, the passionate, the tragic, the hopeful, you name it. (sips tea.)
In spite of all this greatness he isn't perfect (who is?) for though his stories are filled to the brim with complex themes about morality, psychology, and virtually every social or political issue plaguing mankind… the man needs to work on his writing. Obviously I don't mean his dialogue which is brilliant in English, Japanese and every other primary and secondary world language (God, how does the man do it!) but he obviously enjoys spending so much time creating mood, atmosphere and theme that he has a tendency to forget about the larger story at hand. Kubo's overflowing imagination has created a vast world torn apart by war and tyranny with Kubo obviously drawing heavily from current and past issues in his home region of East Asia. But sadly Mr. Kubo's plot lines have a tendency of becoming dragged out, redundant and having unsatisfying conclusions. (sips tea.)
One of the most prominent examples is the subplot about the past conflict between the Shinigami and the Quincy and the effects it has on Kubo's various factions. This started off very interesting and still continues to brim with depth and complexity and is an excellent commentary on current conflict in the Middle East but has sadly become drawn out and distant from the main plot at hand. I believe Kubo said all that he could say and needs to get back to the main plot at hand. (sips tea).
More disappointing however is the conflict between the Anti-Hero Urahara and the Anti-Villain Aizen. Mr. Kubo had been building up this epic, sprawling conflict for a significant amount of time, this conflict was brimming with issues about morality and mankind's place in the universe but it tragically ended up with very little interaction between the two and the primary focus was again upon Aizen's relationship with Ichigo. Also fascinating obviously but disappointing nonetheless. On the whole Sosuke Aizen (while still an excellent and complex villain) ended up with a bit too much of a central focus on the storyline with every other character revolving around him and being toyed with and discarded by him a bit too much. Still entertaining to watch and Mr. Kubo knew when to end it but it got to be a bit overwrought. I suppose he just got too attached to his devilish creation. Then again who wouldn't?
So while Bleach may not be perfect it is still the most complex and nuanced read in Shonen Jump. A parable for our times with one of the greatest authors of the past 20-30 years. I salute Noriaki Kubo and wish him well on all of his future projects. We need more manga authors like Mr. Kubo for none of his competitors can come even close to the frighteningly large and thoughtful brain that man possesses. Now if you'll excuse me, I am now going to re-read the Bleach manga for the eighth time. I adore how the Bleach manga despite being 400+ chapters moves extremely fast and can be completed far more quickly than any other manga of equal or greater length. Genius! (sips tea.)
-That's how "intelligent" Bleach fans try to explain why the series is "deep". You know compared to the lowest common denominator we usually see, my imaginary British guy kind of has a point. Kind of. Not really. I basically wrote all of that crap because I thought it was funny and semi-relevant. And the word "complex" has now officially lost all meaning.