Product Description

Ichigo Kurosaki has always been able to see ghosts, but this ability doesn't change his life nearly as much as his close encounter with Rukia Kuchiki, a shinigami and member of the mysterious Soul Society. While fighting a Hollow, an evil spirit that preys on humans who display psychic energy, Rukia attempts to lend Ichigo some of her powers so that he can save his family, but much to her surprise, Ichigo absorbs every last drop of her energy. Now a full-fledged shinigami himself, Ichigo quickly learns that the world he inhabits is one full of dangerous spirits, and along with Rukia, who is slowly regaining her powers, it's Ichigo's job to both protect the innocent from Hollows and to help the spirits themselves find peace.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #270410 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781591164418
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Bleach is author Tite Kubo's second title. Kubo made his debut with Zombiepowder, a four-volume series which has not yet been translated into English.

Customer Reviews

Tite Kubo Does it again
My attempts at making this a good, well written review have turned into long essays about the aesthetic qualities of the work. Thus, I reduce the facts to bulletpoints:
- Bleach has amazing (well, by manga standards) artwork, going for a more angular style reminiscent of Trigun, where even the tiny illustrations of the characters have a special look to them.
- The storyline is interesting, focusing on not just the development of the main character, Ichigo, but the characters around him that grow (not so much in this volume, but the foundations of the series rest on this volume. It ends on a cliffhanger by the way, expect to buy more volumes.
- Tite Kubo likes to keep character bios and diagrams with his mangas, like in his previous book, ZombiePowder. It is not lacking in Bleach, but I have the feeling some of the bios were altered so that americans could emphasize a little better (at least with favorite song).
Overall, Bleach is amazing, and a great alternative to getting punched in the gut.

I SEE HOLLOWS
15-year old Ichigo "Strawberry" Kurosaki has a special ability right out of The Sixth Sense. He can see dead people. He tries to help out the spirits when he can but his homelife is pretty hectic because his father runs the Kurosaki Clinic along with his two little sisters Yuzu and Karin. His life gets even more complicated when a pretty girl dressed in samurai robes and bearing a sword appears in his room! Her name is Rukia and she is a "Soul Reaper", an agent of the "Soul Society" sent to destroy "Hollows", which refers to the spirits of dead people which feed on the souls of the living and the dead. Apparently, Ichigo is like a beacon to the Hollows because his spirit energy is so powerful and one shows up to devour him. In the midst of battle Rukia decides to transfer some of her power to Ichigo but the problem is that ALL of her power goes to him! Will he be skilled enough to save not only himself and Rukia, but also his family?

Bleach was a little too slapstick for me at first, but once it settled down into telling its story, it got quite good. There are some moments that are quite cheesy, but nothing damaging. The art is nice and clean and the characters are charismatic and likeable. It is quite funny but can also have sequences that are touching. Overall, this is a good start but I hope the following volumes continue to build on the plot.

Surprisingly Entertaining
I'm not an avid manga reader or anime watcher. However, after catching an episode of Bleach on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, I was hooked!

I decided to see what the roots of the TV show was like and checked out the first volume of Bleach, the manga. I was shocked at how closely the show followed this novel. It is a storyboard for everything that happens in the anime, right down to the sometimes-hilarious facial expressions and situations. The tried and true statement of 'the book is always better' holds up here; small details in the manga don't often make it on the air.

The art is very well done and I appreciated being able to read it in the right-to-left manner intended by its author. Another plus to reading the manga is that you can see the full range of sketches that inspire the 'Death God - Picture Book' short that is found at the end of many of the episodes in the series.