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Review

by Melissa Harper,

Bleach 01

The Substitute

Synopsis:
Bleach DVD 1
Ichigo Kurosaki has always been able to see spirits, but after an encounter with a ghost girl, his spiritual energy starts attracting evil spirits, known as Hollows. Rukia, a Soul Reaper, is sent to investigate, but when her fight with the Hollows goes badly, she transfers her power to Ichigo, effectively making him a Soul Reaper, and leaving her stuck on earth. Ichigo must come to terms with both his new power, and his new responsibilities, and quickly, because the Hollows aren't backing down anytime soon.
Review:

It is easy to dismiss Bleach as just another formulaic shonen action show, where the hero is in a cycle of beating enemies to get stronger to beat stronger enemies. However, beginning with the colorful, upbeat introduction, there is a crazy energy about this show that is nearly impossible not to get caught up in. It may be just another show in a crowd of shows just like it, but it stands head and shoulders above its peers, due to the quality of the storytelling, the characters, and the great soundtrack.

This first volume has all the components of any standard shonen action show. First, Ichigo discovers his own power when his family is threatened. He is given even greater power in order to save them, and naturally the world as well. In the second episode, it turns out that maybe he doesn't want the responsibility of all that power, but when faced with the consequences of not using his power, he might be a hero after all. Finally, the third and fourth episodes are a two-part, where someone he knows is put in harm's way due to his new power attracting enemies. This sounds very formulaic, and it is. To its credit, though, Bleach manages to take this age-old formula and make it feel exciting again. One thing that helps this is the interesting cast.

Ichigo is almost a typical anti-hero. He is almost the rebel, the bad boy that gets pulled into being a hero against his will. However, the soft side that would be revealed in a standard show ten or so episodes in is apparent right from the start. He isn't a bad guy. He is just an average high school guy, with a hard crust developed from years of getting teased about his red hair. That is one of the most appealing things about Ichigo; he is actually normal. Rukia is simply a great character. Too often in shows like Bleach, the main female character is either a cheerful but useless girl whose main purpose is to be a cheerleader, or she is a sour shrew who is superior to the hero in almost every way and knows it. Rukia falls closer to the second category, initially, but when her power is taken in the first episode, she is left helpless and dependent on Ichigo. Again, the reality of this character is striking; you fully believe in her plight. She is used to being strong and self-sufficient; having to rely on others is a great source of both drama and comedy in this show. The side characters are notable for their quirkiness; each one pokes fun at a different aspect of the standard action series. That is another strong point of Bleach; it isn't afraid to make fun of itself.

The look of the show isn't as outstanding as the characters, but the show still has a vibrant, energetic look to it. Character designs are faithful to the manga, but the animation on the characters is a little bland. Overall, it looks good, but there is nothing truly artistic in the way the show is presented. The palette is pleasing, and matches the energy of the truly interesting soundtrack.

The soundtrack for this show is, in a word, insane. Insane can be a good thing, however. The opening sequence is set to an energizing theme song by Orange Range, with a unique sound to it that is part hip-hop, part rap, and part pop. This sets the stage for the rest of the soundtrack, which is equally unorthodox. Most of the more tense scenes are scored with simple, strident melodies from a synthesizer, but it is totally unpredictable. The climax of the first episode is underscored by a piece that sounds like it came straight from an eighties film, and the ending credits are accompanied by what can only be described as a Japanese country song. Whether you love or hate it, you will at least find the soundtrack interesting.

There is not much difference in the quality between the English and Japanese audio tracks. The acting on both tracks is well done, and there the characters have mostly the same attitude in either language. Ichigo has a bit more attitude in the English version; he sounds a little tougher than his Japanese counterpart, but the Japanese Ichigo has a fouler mouth, so they even out a bit. The only real drawback to the English version is Rukia. While Michelle Ruff does an excellent job, the humor in the scenes where Rukia is in disguise as a schoolgirl is totally lost, because her voice doesn't change between the two. This is more an error of translation than of acting, but the fact remains that she sounds the same whether she is in soul reaper mode or schoolgirl mode, where in the Japanese she becomes bubbly and ditzy at school, and sounds almost like a guy the rest of the time. “Soul reaper” is another area of contention for some folks; but it really does not detract from the show at all that “shinigami” is translated at “soul reaper.” True, many other Japanese phrases are left intact, such as Rukia's spells, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. “Soul reaper” is an adequate description of what Rukia is, and is therefore a perfectly fine translation.

Viz knew they had a good product in Bleach, so they wrapped it up nicely. Bleach 01: The Substitute is an attractive package, with slick metallic accents on the case, and four episodes on the disk to make it worth your cash. Inside, you'll find collector's stickers to play with, although there is no insert booklet. On the disc, there are the standard previews, art gallery and clean credits, as well as a preview of the first manga volume. It is nice to see them tying the two products together, as well as it being good business.

Even if you aren't usually a fan of Shonen Jump adventures, you should still at least try Bleach. The characters alone are worth sampling, and you just might find yourself trapped in the intoxicating energy of this fast paced show.

Grade:
Overall (dub) : A
Overall (sub) : A
Story : B+
Animation : B
Art : B+
Music : A

+ Great characters, quirky soundtrack, fantastic energy
Formulaic action show

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Production Info:
Director: Noriyuki Abe
Series Composition:
Tsuyoshi Kida
Kento Shimoyama
Masashi Sogo
Script:
Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Miho Imamura
Mio Imamura
Rika Nakase
Masahiro Okubo
Masao Ōkubo
Kento Shimoyama
Masashi Sogo
Natsuko Takahashi
Michiko Yokote
Genki Yoshimura
Storyboard:
Noriyuki Abe
Masami Anno
Koji Aritomi
Tetsuya Endō
Manabu Fukazawa
Kiyomu Fukuda
Shigeki Hatakeyama
Yasuyuki Honda
Masashi Ishihama
Satoshi Ishino
Shigenori Kageyama
Jun Kamiya
Rei Kaneko
Akio Kawamura
Masahiko Komino
Chiaki Kon
Junya Koshiba
Masashi Kudo
Hodaka Kuramoto
Toshihiko Masuda
Tadahito Matsubayashi
Hitoyuki Matsui
Yasuhiro Matsumura
Yukihiro Matsushita
Yuzuru Mitsui
Shigeyuki Miya
Kazunori Mizuno
Yūji Moriyama
Minoru Murao
Takehiro Nakayama
Yasuto Nishikata
Hiroaki Nishimura
Satoshi Nishimura
Mitsutaka Noshitani
Tetsuhito Saito
Masami Shimoda
Ogura Shirakawa
Yoshifumi Sueda
Natsuko Suzuki
Hideki Tachibana
Yuzuru Tachikawa
Jun Takada
Hiroki Takagi
Motosuke Takahashi
Takahiro Takamizawa
Shinichi Tōkairin
Sanzou Tsuyukida
Shigeru Ueda
Atsushi Wakabayashi
Shinichi Watanabe
Hideyo Yamamoto
Minoru Yamaoka
Episode Director:
Noriyuki Abe
Eitarō Ano
Koji Aritomi
Matsuo Asami
Kiyomu Fukuda
Shigeki Hatakeyama
Tomoko Hiramuki
Tetsuo Ichimura
Akane Inoue
Yasuo Iwamoto
Akira Iwanaga
Taiji Kawanishi
Takushi Kimura
Chiaki Kon
Harume Kosaka
Junya Koshiba
Masashi Kudo
Hodaka Kuramoto
Yasuhiro Kuroda
Keizou Kusakawa
Tadahito Matsubayashi
Nobufumi Matsuda
Yasuhiro Matsumura
Yuzuru Mitsui
Ryo Miyata
Kazunori Mizuno
Geisei Morita
Eiko Nishi
Yasuto Nishikata
Hiroaki Nishimura
Kazuo Nogami
Mitsutaka Noshitani
Yoshinori Odaka
Rokou Ogiwara
Yukio Okazaki
Masaya Sasaki
Kazuma Satō
Yuji Sekimoto
Akira Shimizu
Kazunobu Shimizu
Ogura Shirakawa
Yoshifumi Sueda
Yuzuru Tachikawa
Hiroki Takagi
Takeshi Tomita
Shigeru Ueda
Takeshi Yamaguchi
Minoru Yamaoka
Mitsue Yamazaki
Unit Director:
Noriyuki Abe
Masashi Kudo
Shingo Ogiso
Yuzuru Tachikawa
Music: Shirō Sagisu
Original creator: Tite Kubo
Character Design: Masashi Kudo
Art Director:
Natsuko Suzuki
Sawako Takagi
Art:
Tsuyoshi Fukumoto
Masaya Hamaguchi
Yuki Kasahara
Hideaki Kudo
Katsusuke Okamura
Mayu Shirai
Sawako Takagi
Shinobu Takahashi
Mayu Usui
Norihiko Yokomatsu
Animation Director:
MANASITA
Chiaki Abe
Yoshie Anzai
Shigemi Aoyagi
Eiki Arasato
Eri Baba
Bum-Chul Chang
Manabu Fukazawa
Akihiro Fukui
Yeong-Hun Han
Daiki Handa
Kenji Hattori
Yūri Ichinose
Shin Jae Ick
Hidenori Igari
Hiroaki Imaki
Keiichi Ishida
Masashi Ishihama
Tomomi Ishikawa
Nobuyuki Iwai
Gil Soo Joo
Akio Kawamura
Toshihiro Kikuchi
Gi Nam Kim
Hyon Ok Kim
Hyun Ok Kim
Il Bae Kim
Sang-Yeob Kim
Seong Beom Kim
Yong Sik Kim
Yoon-Joung Kim
Seiji Kishimoto
Akemi Kobayashi
Ryo Kobayashi
Yukari Kobayashi
Ryou Kodama
Makoto Koga
Masahiko Komino
Atsushi Komori
Mitsuki Kosaka
Fumiaki Kouta
Tsuguyuki Kubo
Masashi Kudo
Manabu Kurihara
Shinichi Kurita
Boo Hee Lee
Sung Jin Lee
Shuji Maruyama
Ippei Masui
Tamami Miura
Shuuji Miyazaki
Kazuya Miyoshi
Joo Yeon Moon
Minoru Morita
Yūji Moriyama
Tsutomu Murakami
Keiya Nakano
Shingo Ogiso
Masaya Ōnishi
Shigetsune Ōsawa
Chang Hwan Park
Hye-Ran Park
In-Hee Park
Jong Jun Park
Tomoko Satō
Yang Kwang Seock
Sanae Shimada
Makoto Shimojima
Jae-Ik Shin
Kim-Young Sik
Sayuri Sugitou
Natsuko Suzuki
Shin'ichi Suzuki
Shinichi Suzuki
Yoko Suzuki
Hiroki Takagi
Motosuke Takahashi
Akira Takeuchi
Yukari Takeuchi
Masaya Tanaka
Seiki Tanaka
Takashi Uchida
Miyuki Ueda
Tomomi Umemura
Masaru Yamada
Asuka Yamaguchi
Keiko Yamamoto
Osamu Yamamoto
Yoshimitsu Yamashita
Naoki Yamauchi
Teruhiko Yamazaki
Takeshi Yoshioka
Director of Photography:
Toshiyuki Fukushima
Katsufumi Sato
Producer:
Shunji Aoki
Ken Hagino
Kyoko Kobayashi
Mai Nagai
Yutaka Sugiyama
Jun Takibuchi
Yukio Yoshimura
Licensed by: Viz Media

Full encyclopedia details about
Bleach (TV)

Release information about
Bleach - The Substitute (DVD 1)

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