Bleach, Vol. 1: The Substitute (ep.1-4)

 

 

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Ichigo "Strawberry" Kurosaki is just your average teenage boy... except that he can see spirits.

So it's not exactly surprising that he gets involved in wild, dangerous adventures, in the first volume of the hilarious, action-packed anime "Bleach." While the first few episodes are mostly about introducing the cast -- and turning Tite Kubo's grumpy hero into a Soul Reaper -- they're still a pretty entertaining ride, with plenty of comedy, tragedy and big monster-slaying swords.

One night a strange girl appears in Ichigo's bedroom, and is shocked when he can see her. She explains that she's a Soul Reaper, who helps the dead pass on to the Soul Society (a sort of afterlife... thing), and purifies evil spirits called Hollows.

But when Rukia is injured in a fight with a Hollow, all her powers are transferred to Ichigo -- and with them, the responsibility of killing Hollows all over his town. Ichigo soon finds out that it isn't easy juggling his new responsibilities with his everyday life -- especially since the powerless Rukia is now attending his school in a fake body, and living in his closet.

And even worse, his involvement with Soul Reapers and Hollows is leaking over to his friends and classmates. First the likably flaky Orihime is stalked by a Hollow she is very familiar with, leading Ichigo to make a terrible choice. And Ichigo's enormous, mostly-silent pal Chad is given a "cursed parakeet," and immediately dangerous things start happening to him. What is the parakeet's "curse," why is a Hollow pursing Chad, and why does his new pet seem to be intelligent?

Some anime series deviate wildly from their source material, but thankfully "Bleach" is not one of those. Instead, the first few episodes are almost exactly like those of Tite Kubo's manga, and the fourth episode even ends in roughly the same spot. And all this basically exists to start the story: turning Ichigo into a Soul Reaper, introducing the cast, and the whole worldview of the series.

Things get much more complex later on, but at this point it's all just the groundwork, so nothing much has happened just yet, except a few minor skirmishes with the ghost-devouring Hollows. But that groundwork is laid pretty rapidly -- most of the explanations and big developments are dealt with in the first half hour, with rapid-fire explanations so we can get right to the Hollow-slaying, and the unique dilemmas of Orihime and Chad.

Primarily this is an action anime, with lots of monster-slaying with swords (in Ichigo's case, the freakishly huge one). But there's a lot of comedy (Rukia's terrible drawing skills, Ichigo's intensely oddball family), and hilarious dialogue ("SIIILENCEEEE! Oh, so it's the ghost's fault now, is it?") some moments of intense poignancy, such as when Orihime recognizes the Hollow that has attacked her, Ichigo and her best friend.

This is our first introduction to the various characters, but Ichigo is a pretty good hero, albeit in the mold of most action-anime heroes -- rough, determinedly lonerish, but very good-hearted ("COME ON! Is that any way to treat your son after he risked his life to help a spirit find PEACE?!"). The prickly Rukia and likably flaky Orihime add a feminine edge to the story, although gentle giant Chad hasn't been explored much yet.

The adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki the "Substitute" are only starting in the first volume of "Bleach," but the anime promises to get far more intriguing. And boy, does it ever.

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