Bleach is so godawfully depressing

[nervmeister]

This anime is basically telling you the following.

1. That we arent equal in death. Spirtual essence is a commodity used to seperate the elite from the trash, instead of uniting us as one. And on top of that, total pricks are usually the one's with the highest spiritual power or potential.

2. When you die, you leave an unfair and tedious life, only to enter into an just as unfair and tedious afterlife, if not moreso. (Refer to point 1)


I really cant stand this anime. The moment I stopped watching it entirely was the episode where Renji got on his hands and knees and begged to Ichigo to save "her". You know the ep.

[Sparda]

There's more to this series in the future and I agree even in the suppose good after life, it does suck but compared to other's I'd rather live there. Also sucks that you have to look for family as well =/. But this series is so freakin awesome though, you can't go wrong with how cool it is to join one of the many squads of shinigami.

Try out the manga, it's guranteed fun.

[Kimimaru]

Not everything is sunshine and butterflies.

[Alex L]

I dunno -- I dropped Bleach a long while back.

I think it was shortly after the Soul Society arc...and the final straw for me was

Team Shinigami vs the arrancar -- the good guys get smacked around for several issues, Ikkaku gets beaten nearly to death, then Team Shinigami remove their self-imposed limit and utterly curbstomp the bad guys in like seven seconds.

Utterly, utterly horrible. And far from the first time they've used the "Oh...I was always this powerful, I just didn't show you until this moment" bit.

[Len Ikari145]

This anime is basically telling you the following.

1. That we arent equal in death. Spirtual essence is a commodity used to seperate the elite from the trash, instead of uniting us as one. And on top of that, total pricks are usually the one's with the highest spiritual power or potential.

2. When you die, you leave an unfair and tedious life, only to enter into an just as unfair and tedious afterlife, if not moreso. (Refer to point 1)


I really cant stand this anime. The moment I stopped watching it entirely was the episode where Renji got on his hands and knees and begged to Ichigo to save "her". You know the ep.


You think Bleach's afterlife is depressing? Read/watch Shakugan no Shana, and if you can make the same statement about Bleach after that, then there's something seriously wrong with you.

[Legato]

Read Berserk then compare the Manga to Bleach and get back to me if you still find Bleach depressing. I can name you other Anime's that is more depressing than Bleach.

Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and Full Metal Alchemist is a few of them.

Personaly it would take alot more than"It depressed me" to make me stop watching Bleach.

I haven't got to the episode of what that other poster said so that could be the final straw if he actually did said something like that. I had enough of that from DBZ and I dont want to go through that crap again.

[Eliseu Gouveia]

I like Bleach, only stoped watching it because the thing has like 100+ episodes and I couldnt´ afford to follow another Dragonball-esque routine with fights prolonguing ad eternun.

I still wrorship Rukia, though......

[Ghost]

I watched all through the Soul Society Arc (which I loved) and a bit into the Bount arc, where I lost interest. (Mostly because I found it boring/annoying.) Thinking about picking it up again, though, since I still think it's one of the better shonen anime I've seen.

[The Xenos]

Read Berserk then compare the Manga to Bleach and get back to me if you still find Bleach depressing. I can name you other Anime's that is more depressing than Bleach.

Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and Full Metal Alchemist is a few of them.

Personaly it would take alot more than"It depressed me" to make me stop watching Bleach.

Yeah. Pretty much any of those make Bleach seem like sunshine and lollypops. Really if you're whinning about Bleach, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Hell, you should try reading Death Note for some happy fun times.

If you're looking for happy endings, go back to Disney movies and leave anime alone.

(And I suggest starting with Bambi.)

[Niro]

i like bleach, its gettin really sick now, much better than naruto shippuuden currently i think

[Thorlief]

heck, not the most depressing. Even Fist of the north star has one of the most depressing stories ever. Ken loses his girlfriend after about three months of living together after 21 books of fighting for her, his best friends and brothers are killed in some terrible ways, a father sacrifices himself to save his son, his son dies sacrificing himself to save Ken from sure death-leaving his long time girl alone-, a guy dies leaving his 2 years old daughter crying on his grave, the whole world is a total post-apocalyptic mess

[Darth Joker]

I think you guys and gals are coming down a little bit hard on nervmeister for finding Bleach depressing.

In my view, this is one of the chief flaws of anime/manga, as much as I love it - a lot of it is pretty depressing when you really start thinking about it. It may be unfair to signle out Bleach for that, but anime/manga as a whole could use a bit more of an upbeat feeling. How many of the biggest emos in all of fiction come from anime/manga, after all?

[K.O.V.G]

I've got one question if you think Bleach is depressing Why do you watch it? And almost every story anime, manga, comic book, has depressing moments like this you are mentioning, it's called character development and story progress, even the most brutal series like hellsing or Priest has depressing moments like this. It's not gonna be action none stop that makes it more realistic.

[K.O.V.G]

i like bleach, its gettin really sick now, much better than naruto shippuuden currently i think

Yeah I agree Shippuuden is a let down They should not have changed animation companies i'm even thinking about droping naruto at least the anime it's just not as good as it use to be the music is off and the fight scenes are pretty weak.

[Len Ikari145]

I watched all through the Soul Society Arc (which I loved) and a bit into the Bount arc, where I lost interest. (Mostly because I found it boring/annoying.) Thinking about picking it up again, though, since I still think it's one of the better shonen anime I've seen.

You should have stuck to the manga and avoided Bounto altogether. Granted, it's one of the better filler sagas in Shounen anime, but that doesn't say too much considering the reputation fillers have.

[Legato]

Yeah. Pretty much any of those make Bleach seem like sunshine and lollypops. Really if you're whinning about Bleach, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Hell, you should try reading Death Note for some happy fun times.

If you're looking for happy endings, go back to Disney movies and leave anime alone.

(And I suggest starting with Bambi.)

Dude I remember one critic made a comment about the scene involving Bambi's mother getting killed was pretty depressing in it's era. Little Mermaid is more of a uplifting Disney film if one wants to get into that.

[Legato]

I think you guys and gals are coming down a little bit hard on nervmeister for finding Bleach depressing.

In my view, this is one of the chief flaws of anime/manga, as much as I love it - a lot of it is pretty depressing when you really start thinking about it. It may be unfair to signle out Bleach for that, but anime/manga as a whole could use a bit more of an upbeat feeling. How many of the biggest emos in all of fiction come from anime/manga, after all?

It's just that if a person gets all antsy over an anime being depressing and threatens to stop watching it because of it then he may aswell give up on anime all together like that one poster said. Even as upbeat as One Piece is has moments whare it is depressing as heck, once part in the manga that stuck to me was Nami's backstory.

I can understand that if an anime has too many fillers or a story has been dragged on for so long that a viewer looses interest in it, which is the general complaints of Inuyasha. The only upbeat anime I can think of is Ranma 1/2.

[Darth Joker]

It's just that if a person gets all antsy over an anime being depressing and threatens to stop watching it because of it then he may aswell give up on anime all together like that one poster said. Even as upbeat as One Piece is has moments whare it is depressing as heck, once part in the manga that stuck to me was Nami's backstory.

I can understand that if an anime has too many fillers or a story has been dragged on for so long that a viewer looses interest in it, which is the general complaints of Inuyasha. The only upbeat anime I can think of is Ranma 1/2.

I found El Hazard pretty good too. Incidentally, they're two of my favourite animes...

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Little Mermaid is more of a uplifting Disney film if one wants to get into that.


That´s the problem right there.
Little Mermaid is not supposed to be uplifting, Disney completely raped the original ending.

People are so eager for happy endings they don´t mind compromising the quality of the story as long as they leave the theatre feeling all fuzzy inside.

[The Real Nemo]

This anime is basically telling you the following.

1. That we arent equal in death. Spirtual essence is a commodity used to seperate the elite from the trash, instead of uniting us as one. And on top of that, total pricks are usually the one's with the highest spiritual power or potential.

2. When you die, you leave an unfair and tedious life, only to enter into an just as unfair and tedious afterlife, if not moreso. (Refer to point 1)


I really cant stand this anime. The moment I stopped watching it entirely was the episode where Renji got on his hands and knees and begged to Ichigo to save "her". You know the ep.
*shrugs* For me that's a big part of what makes the series interesting...
I dunno -- I dropped Bleach a long while back.

I think it was shortly after the Soul Society arc...and the final straw for me was

Team Shinigami vs the arrancar -- the good guys get smacked around for several issues, Ikkaku gets beaten nearly to death, then Team Shinigami remove their self-imposed limit and utterly curbstomp the bad guys in like seven seconds.

Utterly, utterly horrible. And far from the first time they've used the "Oh...I was always this powerful, I just didn't show you until this moment" bit.
I would just call that being consistent. It was said right from the beginning that Captains and Lieutenants had to have limits placed on their power whenever they went to the living world, in Ikkaku's case it didn't apply since he's only a 3rd Seat. I don't see anything wrong with those arrancar being taken out so quickly either since they were just relatively weak underlings anyway...

[The Xenos]

Dude I remember one critic made a comment about the scene involving Bambi's mother getting killed was pretty depressing in it's era. Little Mermaid is more of a uplifting Disney film if one wants to get into that.

Well, I was being sarcastic with suggesting Bambi. Yeah. Funny you should mention Little Mermaid, because Disney totally tacked on a happy ending to the original tale.

In my view, this is one of the chief flaws of anime/manga, as much as I love it - a lot of it is pretty depressing when you really start thinking about it. It may be unfair to signle out Bleach for that, but anime/manga as a whole could use a bit more of an upbeat feeling. How many of the biggest emos in all of fiction come from anime/manga, after all?

No. That's the benifit of anime. It tells you the truth unlike all this conformist Disney bullcrap.

Life is pain. Life is only pain. We're all taught to belive in happy fairytale endings, but there is only blackness, dark depressing lonliness that eats at your soul. (http://www.southparkstudios.com/downloads/display_video.php?vid=http://images.southparkstudios.com/media/video/714/gothkid.mov&vid_name=Life%20is%20pain.%20%20We're%20all%20taug ht%20to%20belive%20in%20fairy%20tale%20endings...)

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2944/gothstangy6.jpg http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1456/southparkanim41le4.gif

[Legato]

Well, I was being sarcastic with suggesting Bambi. Yeah. Funny you should mention Little Mermaid, because Disney totally tacked on a happy ending to the original tale.



No. That's the benifit of anime. It tells you the truth unlike all this conformist Disney bullcrap.

Life is pain. Life is only pain. We're all taught to belive in happy fairytale endings, but there is only blackness, dark depressing lonliness that eats at your soul. (http://www.southparkstudios.com/downloads/display_video.php?vid=http://images.southparkstudios.com/media/video/714/gothkid.mov&vid_name=Life%20is%20pain.%20%20We're%20all%20taug ht%20to%20belive%20in%20fairy%20tale%20endings...)

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2944/gothstangy6.jpg http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1456/southparkanim41le4.gif

Also with Disney it's always black and white. You have a main character that is a pure good guy while a villain is all evil. The majority of the time the characters are purly one dimensional.

Gargoyles was perhaps the one Disney cartoon that actually paints their characters in shades of grey and the villains are more human than one dimensional.

[AnimeAvatar]

It's just that if a person gets all antsy over an anime being depressing and threatens to stop watching it because of it then he may aswell give up on anime all together like that one poster said. Even as upbeat as One Piece is has moments whare it is depressing as heck, once part in the manga that stuck to me was Nami's backstory.

I can understand that if an anime has too many fillers or a story has been dragged on for so long that a viewer looses interest in it, which is the general complaints of Inuyasha. The only upbeat anime I can think of is Ranma 1/2.

For me, Bleach the Manga is a lot better than the Anime. They seem to be adding/leaving things out which completely changes the story. Try reading the Manga if you don't care for the Anime, the books are less depressing(to me).

If we think the story is uber-deppressing then why do we watch it? Is it because it still seems entertaining or is it like when you go to a crappy movie and stay hoping it'll get better?

That´s the problem right there.
Little Mermaid is not supposed to be uplifting, Disney completely raped the original ending.

People are so eager for happy endings they don´t mind compromising the quality of the story as long as they leave the theatre feeling all fuzzy inside.

This is true, unfourtunately. If you look closely at most of the Disney movies, they aren't happy stories! They go all the way from dealing with rape, murder, kidnapping...next time you watch a Disney movie PAY MORE ATTENTION! ...what are you realy watching people?...

[Eliseu Gouveia]

If the folks think Bleach is depressing due to its interpretation of the efterlife, then they probably shouldn´t watch Fullmetal Alchemist either.


IIRC, our reality coexists with the one where the alchemists live and when people die here, they go live there.

Someone correct me if I´m wrong, been a LONG time since I watched that show.
Pretty good show, BTW.

[Robotech Master]

^Actually, I believe the two worlds in the anime version of FMA were just mirror universes--not where you went when you died. If you crossed over, you had to force yourself to cross over, by using the gates or whatnot, and when you did that, if you survivied at all, your life became pulled towards your mirror universe counterpart, where you took over that body, destroying the original mind of your mirror self.

The only constant, and somewhat scary, connection that both worlds shared at all times was that the energy from the lives that passed away in Earth's world was the energy that was used to perform Alchemy in Ed's world.

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Thanks, Robotech Master.
I knew there was some underlying message about death that kinda depressed me at the time.

I actually am growing fond of stories that take a different take on the afterlife, there´s this comic I bought called INFERNO where you basically have to fight and fight and fight. And you don´t wanna die there because you turn into a vicious monstruosity and then there´s suffering, suffering and more suffering.

Cool, ne?

[The Xenos]

Gargoyles was perhaps the one Disney cartoon that actually paints their characters in shades of grey and the villains are more human than one dimensional.

Gargoyles was amazing. Still one of my favorite series. Heh. Right now I got a poster on my wall and a Lexington mug with pens in it on my desk. Plus I think I really enjoyed the villians as much as I did the heroes. I sure the hell like their fashion sense. I swear my current look is like Xanatos meets MacBeth, beard ponytail, trenchcoat. I know even before Matrix their MacBeth got me into the trenchcoat look.

Also, "Pay a man enough and he'll walk barefoot into hell."

For me, Bleach the Manga is a lot better than the Anime. They seem to be adding/leaving things out which completely changes the story. Try reading the Manga if you don't care for the Anime, the books are less depressing(to me).

Plus reading the manga is cheaper. Well, if you're fallen behind the TV broadcasts like I have.

[Alex L]

I would just call that being consistent. It was said right from the beginning that Captains and Lieutenants had to have limits placed on their power whenever they went to the living world, in Ikkaku's case it didn't apply since he's only a 3rd Seat. I don't see anything wrong with those arrancar being taken out so quickly either since they were just relatively weak underlings anyway...

Well... (spoiler tag, just because)

IMHO it's just bad writing. It also makes me, as a reader, feel somewhat cheated for buying into the suspense, because as it turns out the heroes were clearly never in any real danger.

[Legato]

Well... (spoiler tag, just because)

IMHO it's just bad writing. It also makes me, as a reader, feel somewhat cheated for buying into the suspense, because as it turns out the heroes were clearly never in any real danger.

I would call that the writers cant figure out how the heroes could come out ontop after the crap they went through so they wrote that scenario as an easy way out. Thare are moments whare you would find stuff like that in comics, movies or other anime.

Naruto has cases like this.

[Pinball]

Life is pain. Life is only pain. We're all taught to belive in happy fairytale endings, but there is only blackness, dark depressing lonliness that eats at your soul. (http://www.southparkstudios.com/downloads/display_video.php?vid=http://images.southparkstudios.com/media/video/714/gothkid.mov&vid_name=Life%20is%20pain.%20%20We're%20all%20taug ht%20to%20belive%20in%20fairy%20tale%20endings...)

So, then...why live at all?

[The Real Nemo]

I would call that the writers cant figure out how the heroes could come out ontop after the crap they went through so they wrote that scenario as an easy way out. Thare are moments whare you would find stuff like that in comics, movies or other anime.

Naruto has cases like this.
It's not like he just made it up out of nowhere, Renji told Ichigo about the power limits placed on high level Shinigami in the living world way back in Soul Society.

[Froggy]

Dragonball Z's ending wasn't THAT emo................
neither was Eureka seven's, or G Gundam's......

[Ghost]

I found El Hazard pretty good too. Incidentally, they're two of my favourite animes...

I happened to come across Jinnai's last scene on YouTube the other day.

If that's El Hazard's idea of a "bad ending" for the villian, I wonder what happened to the heroes. :D

No. That's the benifit of anime. It tells you the truth unlike all this conformist Disney bullcrap.

Life is pain. Life is only pain. We're all taught to belive in happy fairytale endings, but there is only blackness, dark depressing lonliness that eats at your soul. (http://www.southparkstudios.com/downloads/display_video.php?vid=http://images.southparkstudios.com/media/video/714/gothkid.mov&vid_name=Life%20is%20pain.%20%20We're%20all%20taug ht%20to%20belive%20in%20fairy%20tale%20endings...)

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2944/gothstangy6.jpg http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1456/southparkanim41le4.gif

Eh. I always thought that what makes anime (at least shonen) great it's the emphasis of keeping your back straight and staying positive even when things are really, really bad. And that if you just believe, and fight with all your heart, there's something good on the other side of it all.

Last time I looked, that's what "fairy tale happy endings" was all about. :p

Also with Disney it's always black and white. You have a main character that is a pure good guy while a villain is all evil. The majority of the time the characters are purly one dimensional.

*couchFrollocough*

Though, try as I may, I can't find much that many more dimensions in Aizen either.

[Darth Joker]

^Actually, I believe the two worlds in the anime version of FMA were just mirror universes--not where you went when you died. If you crossed over, you had to force yourself to cross over, by using the gates or whatnot, and when you did that, if you survivied at all, your life became pulled towards your mirror universe counterpart, where you took over that body, destroying the original mind of your mirror self.

The only constant, and somewhat scary, connection that both worlds shared at all times was that the energy from the lives that passed away in Earth's world was the energy that was used to perform Alchemy in Ed's world.

Good point. Now that I think of it... in the FMA movie, Hitler's rise to power was stopped. That probably prevented a MASSIVE amount of accumulation of alchemic energy on Ed's world due to how WWII may not have happenned.

[Darth Joker]

I happened to come across Jinnai's last scene on YouTube the other day.

If that's El Hazard's idea of a "bad ending" for the villian, I wonder what happened to the heroes. :D



LOL! Yeah, I agree - that ending scene is hilarious. :D

[OverMaster]

Meh, for all depression lovers out there, I don't go into anime looking for something to make me feel worse. I want something that uplifts my spirit.

[nervmeister]

I'm not comparing Bleach to Grave of The Fireflies, mind you. The reason why Bleach depresses me is that there's nothing to relate to in anything I see in it. It's souless on every level possible, yet it pretends to have a deep impact on watchers, which is utter bullcrap. Hell, even Elfen Lied is less depressing than the Bleach that stains Adult Swim every Saturday.

[The Real Nemo]

Good point. Now that I think of it... in the FMA movie, Hitler's rise to power was stopped. That probably prevented a MASSIVE amount of accumulation of alchemic energy on Ed's world due to how WWII may not have happenned.
Um, as far as I know no it wasn't. The movie ended with the Nazi party's failed Beer Hall Putsch which happened pretty much exactly the same way it did in our history, Hitler didn't actually come into power until a while later.
I'm not comparing Bleach to Grave of The Fireflies, mind you. The reason why Bleach depresses me is that there's nothing to relate to in anything I see in it. It's souless on every level possible, yet it pretends to have a deep impact on watchers, which is utter bullcrap. Hell, even Elfen Lied is less depressing than the Bleach that stains Adult Swim every Saturday.
I'm sorry but, I really don't see where you're coming from here... :confused: If you're saying that you've only watched Bleach up until where Adult Swim is now though I'd personally recommend you stick with it since the best parts of the series are yet to come.

[Darth Joker]

Um, as far as I know no it wasn't. The movie ended with the Nazi party's failed Beer Hall Putsch which happened pretty much exactly the same way it did in our history, Hitler didn't actually come into power until a while later.

I see... I guess I need to brush off on my history a bit. ;)

Well then - this could lead to a great continuation of FMA. You could have this massive accumulation of alchemic energy on Ed's world arising from millions upon millions upon millions dying in WWII on 'our' Earth.

[The Real Nemo]

As far as the afterlife situation in Bleach goes, you have to keep in mind that it seems to be based more on some Buddhist cosmologies where a person is contantly reincarnated through many different lives and afterlifes before they finally reach Nirvana. If you look at it that way it's a bit easier to accept. Besides which so what if life after death isn't all it's cracked up to be in the Bleach universe? It's what the characters *do* faced with that reality that's important.

[AnimeAvatar]

Um, as far as I know no it wasn't. The movie ended with the Nazi party's failed Beer Hall Putsch which happened pretty much exactly the same way it did in our history, Hitler didn't actually come into power until a while later.

I'm sorry but, I really don't see where you're coming from here... :confused: If you're saying that you've only watched Bleach up until where Adult Swim is now though I'd personally recommend you stick with it since the best parts of the series are yet to come.

1) I never noticed that in FMA, shows how much I payed attention...

2) Elfien lied was awesome, it shouldn't even be compared with Bleach.
2.5) I agree with Nemo, keep watching(even though the Manga is better)and you might find that it's actually decent.

I see... I guess I need to brush off on my history a bit. ;)

Well then - this could lead to a great continuation of FMA. You could have this massive accumulation of alchemic energy on Ed's world arising from millions upon millions upon millions dying in WWII on 'our' Earth.

3) Do you think they ever would do a continuation of Full Metal? :rolleyes: It might be interesting to see how things went after WWII.

[AnimeAvatar]

I agree with Nemo, once again.

[NeoSapien]

The idea that the entire afterlife is like Edo period Japan is just so silly that I can't take it remotely seriously, and thus I just ignore any philosophical ramifications.

[Alex L]

It's not like he just made it up out of nowhere, Renji told Ichigo about the power limits placed on high level Shinigami in the living world way back in Soul Society.

I didn't like it back then, either. :)

It has very little to do with consistency, and everything to do with me seeing that as having completely wasted any sense of drama or suspense in the battle, and rather poor writing.

But I suppose we'll agree to disagree here.

[The Xenos]

Life is pain. Life is only pain. We're all taught to belive in happy fairytale endings, but there is only blackness, dark depressing lonliness that eats at your soul. (http://www.southparkstudios.com/downloads/display_video.php?vid=http://images.southparkstudios.com/media/video/714/gothkid.mov&vid_name=Life%20is%20pain.%20%20We're%20all%20taug ht%20to%20belive%20in%20fairy%20tale%20endings...)
So, then...why live at all?

Just to make life more miserable for the confirmists. They're all a bunch of nazi conformist cheerleaders.

(Sigh. That ep of South park was so funny it hurt... like how the blackness in my soul aches every night.)

Meh, for all depression lovers out there, I don't go into anime looking for something to make me feel worse. I want something that uplifts my spirit.

"Well, thanks for offering to let me in your clique guys, but to be honest, I'd rather be a crying little pussy than some faggy goth kid."

Well, you go back to your sunshine fairytales, conformist.

[Legato]

Just to make life more miserable for the confirmists. They're all a bunch of nazi conformist cheerleaders.

(Sigh. That ep of South park was so funny it hurt... like how the blackness in my soul aches every night.)



"Well, thanks for offering to let me in your clique guys, but to be honest, I'd rather be a crying little pussy than some faggy goth kid."

Well, you go back to your sunshine fairytales, conformist.

*In addition*

I also hear Hippies hook people up with a nice supply of weed so if you want to be happy and spaced out then hang out with a hippie.

[The Real Nemo]

Just to make life more miserable for the confirmists. They're all a bunch of nazi conformist cheerleaders.

(Sigh. That ep of South park was so funny it hurt... like how the blackness in my soul aches every night.)



"Well, thanks for offering to let me in your clique guys, but to be honest, I'd rather be a crying little pussy than some faggy goth kid."

Well, you go back to your sunshine fairytales, conformist.
Well we've got to have ideals to strive for after all, otherwise all that's left is a bunch of nihilistic crap... :rolleyes:

[Len Ikari145]

Well we've got to have ideals to strive for after all, otherwise all that's left is a bunch of nihilistic crap... :rolleyes:

Definitely. Besides, it takes virtually no effort to be cynical or pessimistic( I know what I'm talking about). I'd much rather prefer the challenge of seeking something worth striving for that'll leave me with a sense of accomplishment when I leave this world, rather than just existing.

[OverMaster]

"Well, thanks for offering to let me in your clique guys, but to be honest, I'd rather be a crying little pussy than some faggy goth kid."

Well, you go back to your sunshine fairytales, conformist.

Dude, what's with the need to resort to personal insults all of a sudden? I never thought you'd fall so low.

[Froggy]

Dude, what's with the need to resort to personal insults all of a sudden? I never thought you'd fall so low.

i dont think he's serious.....it's a south park thing

[The Xenos]

I also hear Hippies hook people up with a nice supply of weed so if you want to be happy and spaced out then hang out with a hippie.

WAAAAH! GODDAMN HIPPIES!

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/104/902macethreatsdw4.jpg

See, now I've changed South Park characters to Cartman. Though I don't see how that's much better.

Tsst!

[Metronome35]

I didn't find the afterlife in Bleach all that depressing, as at least people still get to live on after they've died. Death meaning oblivion would be genuinely depressing, but this doesn't seem so bad.
The higher-class characters in Bleach aren't all arseholes. Sure, Byakuya is pretty unlovable, but some of the other members of the nobility seem perfectly amicable, like Yoruichi and captain Ukitake.

I think that while Bleach does have a lot that's depressing in it, there's still plenty of uplifting elements as well, mostly in the actions and resolve of some of the characters. I found positives in so many characters being willing to put their lives on the line to save Rukia, Chad's devotion to Ichigo, Ichigo's faith in Chad, the Zangetsu/Ichigo moments, or even that unusual scene where Ichigo's dad was serious for once, and explained why he'd never blame Ichigo for his wife's death.

[Metronome35]

Sorry, my computer got screwy, hence the double post. Plus, I can't find a delete option. Are we not allowed to delete our own posts here?

[OverMaster]

Sorry, my computer got screwy, hence the double post. Plus, I can't find a delete option. Are we not allowed to delete our own posts here?

Not anymore, although it used to be different before the board was rebooted.

[Ghost]

The idea that the entire afterlife is like Edo period Japan is just so silly that I can't take it remotely seriously, and thus I just ignore any philosophical ramifications.

I'm with him on this one. Besides, I watch Bleach for the awesome swordfights, not to analyse the nature of its afterlife.

[Silver Knight]

I have just one question in reguards to the depressed bit. I am in the US, havent read the manga (only up to vol 17 here anyway) and am currently enjoying Bleach on adult swim. They just showed the episode the that the thread starter mentioned, with rinji begging Ichigo and all that, and that episode raised alot of questions for me, but allow me to summurize.

Ok if your dead and go to a afterlife, why do u need food, water, why would you age, and they showed gravestones of people, wait a minute if this is the afterlife and you die their then what, do u like be reincarnated or something?

Thats basically it, if someone can answer this without giving away too much of the plot that would be very nice.

[Ghost]

I have just one question in reguards to the depressed bit. I am in the US, havent read the manga (only up to vol 17 here anyway) and am currently enjoying Bleach on adult swim. They just showed the episode the that the thread starter mentioned, with rinji begging Ichigo and all that, and that episode raised alot of questions for me, but allow me to summurize.

Ok if your dead and go to a afterlife, why do u need food, water, why would you age, and they showed gravestones of people, wait a minute if this is the afterlife and you die their then what, do u like be reincarnated or something?

Thats basically it, if someone can answer this without giving away too much of the plot that would be very nice.

I think the Shinigami, at least, turn into raw spirit particles when they are killed. (They do not age past adulthood and do not die of natural causes.) I'm not sure how all that works for the regular people.

Also, only those with the potencial of becoming Shinigami need to eat once they're dead. IIRC, it's a sign that their bodies generate excess spirit energy, or something like that.

[Citizen V]

Ive also been watching Bleach on US television,i have to say..its been done good.Its classic to see that the Japanese other world is just like Feudal Japan.

[Draconomicon]

Try out the manga, it's guranteed fun.

Oh god, no.
I only read the Manga and was bored to tears.
THIS is the -MOST- generic Storyline/Chars/whatever book, EVAH!
It is so mediocre, it sucks all originality out of YOU the reader, and still only gets worse.

[Silver Knight]

I think the Shinigami, at least, turn into raw spirit particles when they are killed. (They do not age past adulthood and do not die of natural causes.) I'm not sure how all that works for the regular people.

Also, only those with the potencial of becoming Shinigami need to eat once they're dead. IIRC, it's a sign that their bodies generate excess spirit energy, or something like that.

I kinda get it, but excuse my ignoance but what is Shinigami? They may have said it on the show but I dont remember, is it like Soul Reaper? but their are people that age, Ive seen loots of old people in their.

[Guy1]

I kinda get it, but excuse my ignoance but what is Shinigami? They may have said it on the show but I dont remember, is it like Soul Reaper? but their are people that age, Ive seen loots of old people in their.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinigami_%28Bleach%29
There you have it.

[The Real Nemo]

I kinda get it, but excuse my ignoance but what is Shinigami? They may have said it on the show but I dont remember, is it like Soul Reaper? but their are people that age, Ive seen loots of old people in their.
Basically Soul Reaper is the English term used for Shinigami, a more literal translation would be Death God. I'm really not sure if souls in Soul Society die naturally or not, but according to that dicussion Urahara and Rukia had about Quincys it seems that people who die there get reincarnated back on Earth eventually.

[rednecko]

I have watched only the first 12 episodes and I do find the afterlife viewpoint a bit depressing (not as depressing as Cowboy Bebop, FMA or Trigun). It says that the only way to get to the after life is through someone else's decision of whether they find you in time.

[The Real Nemo]

I have watched only the first 12 episodes and I do find the afterlife viewpoint a bit depressing (not as depressing as Cowboy Bebop, FMA or Trigun). It says that the only way to get to the after life is through someone else's decision of whether they find you in time.
I'm pretty sure it's only the ones that are still attached to the Earth somehow that need to have a Konso perfomed on them.

[AnimeAvatar]

I think Nemo is right, i remember reading/hearing that if they were attatched to a person or object they would need Konso. Other than that they should just pass on...should...

[The Real Nemo]

You think Bleach's afterlife is depressing? Read/watch Shakugan no Shana, and if you can make the same statement about Bleach after that, then there's something seriously wrong with you.
Shana doesn't really deal with the afterlife though, we don't know what happens to humans who die naturally in that...

[sschroeder]

I have a question about this show. I don't really want specific spoilers, mind you, so please don't tell me who lives or dies or exactly what happens, but just a general sense of the future. The early stages of this were interesting. Meeting Ichigo, Rukia, other characters and battling lost souls.

But now it has just been moving through and learning about the Soul Society and struggling to rescue Rukia. This isn't uninteresting, but does this show ever move beyond this stage? Does it just end once that is resolved one way or other? Or worse yet, does this keep going and going? That would be more depressing than the conditions of the Bleach afterlife.

What I wonder is whether we ever get back to Ichigo or whoever, battling evil lost souls and rescuing innocents, instead of the internal problems of some stilted (possibly corrupted or selfish) military hierarchy?

[MKTerra]

What I wonder is whether we ever get back to Ichigo or whoever, battling evil lost souls and rescuing innocents [...] ?Well, yes and no. Once the Soul Society arc finishes, they return to the living world for a while, but the focus is on Ichigo struggling to control his growing inner Hollow while some extra-nasty Hollows start visiting the living world. Then they're off to Hueco Mundo, where they do technically "battle evil lost souls and rescue innocents," but it's structured more like the Soul Society arc again, with them separately encountering Hollows of increasing rank. So in another sense, it does "keep going and going."

[Eliseu Gouveia]

Smells like Dragonball all over again.

[MKTerra]

Smells like Dragonball all over again.Ulquiorra and Yammy's arrival is actually very reminiscent of Vegeta and Nappa's.

[The Xenos]

Ulquiorra and Yammy's arrival is actually very reminiscent of Vegeta and Nappa's.

So what's Ichigo's power level?

[MKTerra]

So what's Ichigo's power level?With "just" bankai, he's considerably lower than the sixth-strongest known Hollow.
While drawing on his own Hollow powers, he's closer to the fourth-strongest's level, but it only lasts 11 seconds atm.
So yeah, say hello to the power curve.

[AnimeAvatar]

I had hoped it wouldn't wind up like Dragonball. This series showed such promise...

Does it do this in the Manga and the Anime, or just one of them?