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 -

(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.

1. Why are all the Soul Society captains like, utterly invincible? Apparently you can blast huge-ass holes in their torsos, rip/cut them up pretty badly and they still won’t die.  Case in point:

(Original image courtesy of onemanga.com)

Seriously… Gah. D: I don’t care if you’re a captain, if you’ve been hit that badly YOU NEED TO DIE. That freaky looking Kenpachi Zaraki is another one who won’t die, despite getting a melodramatic scream from Yachiru after Ichigo kicked his ass. Also, I might’ve ruined this one myself from browsing too many Bleach scans this afternoon, but I guess Aizen is going to come back as some sort of anti-hero behind the conspiracy despite all the suspicious frames involving that foxy looking Gin Ichimaru. DON’T TELL ME IF THIS IS THE CASE because I haven’t gotten there yet and am kinda holding out hope that Aizen’ll be the one captain that can stay properly dead. Even if that hope is pretty weak at this point.

Speaking of captains…

2. Why the heck is Byakuya Kuchiki so popular? I like his character design and he has that awesome “Chire, Senbonzakura” move. Kind of makes me want to watch the Bleach anime to see how it’s animated. But up to this point, he’s a huge bastard. I’m really really hoping he has a kickass backstory because otherwise… to me he’s just going to be the Cold Bastard who for some mysterious reason has amazing chick appeal.

3. Renji Abarai’s zanpakutou looks like a mashup of several Okami gods!

(Original images courtesy of onemanga.com and animeartbooks.tk)

4. Zangetsu looks like Vincent from Cowboy Bebop, with cool shades!

(Original images coutesy of animevisions.net and minitokyo.net)

5. He can be annoyingly strong even for a shounen hero, but given that none of the main characters seem to be able to die in Bleach it’s probably just as well. I <3 Ichigo! /end.

If I were the rain,

Could I connect with someone’s heart,

As the rain could unite

The eternally separated earth and sky?

- Memories in the Rain

(Courtesy of onemanga.com)

(Courtesy of onemanga.com)

Anyways… On the awesome character that is Urahara…

…was anyone else utterly disappointed to discover that his eyeshadow/eyeliner thing wasn’t “real”, and that it was just his hat’s shadow?!?!

(Original image courtesy of onemanga.com)

Instant drop in coolness and respect points from me. Although I still love his character, I loved him MORE when I thought he had some sort of funky Johnny Depp thing going on. Urahara looks awful without his hat anyways so it’s a good thing he will eternally be The Hat Guy. I guess Yūkyūzan Anji from Rurouni Kenshin will just have to continue as the cool eyeshadow/eyeliner guy for me… *sniff*

(Courtesy of http://users.skynet.be/aoshihomepage/)