It’s been a while since I’ve settled down with a nice long shounen manga series. Not to say I’m a shounen n00bie – I followed most of the ongoing series featured in the Taiwanese equivalent of Shounen Jump back in middle/high. So I’ve had my dosages of Rurouni Kenshin (adored), Hunter x Hunter (ok until it turned really weird), Shaman King (ok until it turned utterly convoluted/uninteresting), etc. And then more recently D.Gray-man (dropped but will hopefully pick up again someday?)… I think it’s fair to say lately I only pick up shounen if I like the character design, or have seen many pretty scans floating around and really want to wall said scans. AKA I usually read shounen to satisfy my silly “no-walling-unless-read-or-watched” rule, less so because I’m dying of curiosity about the plot.

But then there was Bleach – undoubtedly the longest shounen series I’ve managed to stick out recently (I’m up to chapter 201 now! xD). While marathoning/slugging through the story I find myself constantly being reminded of all the things I both love and hate about shounen manga.

So the “Shounen Formula” is what I like to think of as a time-honored golden rule passed down through the generations which dictates how all shounen mangaka shall structure their stories. It goes something like this:

1. Main/General Character(s) Introductions

2. Main Character(s) vs. Enemy Minions/Underlings Fights
(Minor Plot/Scheme Development)

3. Main Character(s) vs. +5 lvls Enemy Minions/Underlings Fights
(Main Character realizes his weaknesses; identifies need for training)

4. Main Character Undertakes Grueling (But Usually Short) Training Session – Power Up!!

5. Main Character(s) vs. +10 lvls Sub-Bosses Fights
(Plot/Scheme Development)

6. Main Character(s) vs. Boss(es) Pre-Fights
(+ Additional/Optional Training Sessions – Power Up!!)

7. Main Character(s) vs. Boss(es) Fights
(Plot/Scheme Development)

8. Main Character(s) vs. Uber-Boss Fights
(Plot Resolved/Uber-Evil Scheme Revealed! Uber-Boss Defeated! Usually!)

9. Insert Happy Ending if series ends here; if not either send Uber-Boss to different dimension to plot out the evil scheme behind the next arc, or bring in new Uber-Boss. Repeat steps 1 – 8 but power up +10 lvls to all characters involved at the start of new arc, with a bit less training involved.

The sequence of the steps may be mixed, but the overall structure usually remains quite identifiable. THIS formulaic set-up is what I really disliked about Bleach, all the long stretches where I went oh, there goes another hollow fight. And there’s another one. And another one. And there’s a shinigami fight. And there’s another one. And another one… The plot development/scheme hints were enough to keep me going through the Soul Society arc, but I found most of the resolutions rather disappointing. Case in point: Byakuya’s back-story or “reason” why he was the Cold Bastard for so long. Apologies to all the fangirls, but it was lamez0rz. And while the back-story behind Rukia’s lack of will to fight was kind of sad, ultimately Kaien Shiba’s character was so underdeveloped that I didn’t feel much more than a vague sorry-ness for all involved.

For all the underdeveloped characters though there are more than enough cool, decently developed characters to keep my interest going. Not that I’ll ever hold Bleach up as a paradigm of fabulous character development, but it’s great to see cool, kick-ass main characters be, well, cool kick-ass characters. Not only are they (usually) pretty or hot to look at; almost everyone gets their share of quirky/personable moments that make them more endearing. Going back to Byakuya’s example – this scene for me majorly made-up for his lamez0rz back-story. And it made me chuckle -

bleach181-03

(Courtesy of onemanga.com)

I also really like how, even though there are several huge-breasted female characters involved in quite a few fan service-y scenes, generally said female characters are very likable and/or amazing in their own right – i.e. Orihime Inoue and Yoruichi (although I guess she’s average-sized). I was ambivalent towards Rangiku, but she’s definitely growing on me.

So despite the formulaic set-up, Bleach satisfies my base needs as an anime waller with rocking Tite Kubo character designs and awesome textage. As a manga enthusiast, I’m hooked by all the real honest-to-goodness laugh out loud moments (or at least some chuckle out loud moments) sprinkled liberally throughout that makes Bleach a continually fun read. And nowadays, anything that can bring out a laugh is worth sticking with.

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