| | |  | POKEMON | Home » » » Bleach, Vol. 1 | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | Hot-tempered 15-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki, the hero of the popular fantasy-adventure Bleach, has the unsettling ability to see spirits who are unable to rest in peace. His sixth sense leads him to Rukia, a Soul Reaper who destroys Hollows (soul-devouring monsters) and ensures the deceased find repose with the Soul Society. When she's injured in battle, Rukia transfers her sword and much of her power to Ichigo, whose spiritual energy makes him a formidable substitute Soul Reaper. But the orange-haired teenager isn't sure he wants the job: too many risks and moral dilemmas. | | | Features: | |
• ISBN13: 9781591164418
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Tite Kubo | | Paperback:
| 200 pages | | Publisher:
| VIZ Media LLC | | Publication Date:
| June 16, 2004 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1591164419 | | Product Length:
| 7.53 inches | | Product Width:
| 5.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.63 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.41 pounds | | Package Length:
| 7.4 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.8 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.45 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 44 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 44 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 found the following review helpful:
Tite Kubo Does it againJul 25, 2004
By L. A VIMISLIK
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.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Surprisingly EntertainingApr 11, 2007
By Katherine Lin
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.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 I SEE HOLLOWSSep 24, 2005
By Sesho
"www.sesho.libsyn.com"
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.
20 of 25 found the following review helpful:
What Dragonball Z could have been for older audience!Jan 07, 2006
By Courtland J. Carpenter
Now why would I compare Bleach to Dragonball Z. Well basically they are the same basic plotline if you take it distilled. The main character, while initially weak, clueless, plus stubborn, becomes stronger, and stronger, as the increasingly difficult challenges to him demand it. Like the Super Saiyen level transformations in DBZ, there are transformation levels for him, and his sword as well. The power increases are exponential. Like DBZ, you have to wonder what the practical limit of all that power is, they just keep upping the limits. Another strong DBZ tie is the story arc takes place over many, many episodes. You can almost lose sight of the initial goal in the time it takes the plot to get to them.
Now the good news. There are fights, but it doesn't take six to ten episodes of posturing to defeat someone. Fights draw blood and appear to inflict some real damage. Plus characterization which was almost nil in DBZ save a few side episodes, is rich and well developed. At least until the last few episodes the side characters are well rendered, they don't just come off as the heroes weak little support partners.
Bleach an a more interesting plot as well. Rather than someone who just likes to fight aka: Goku in DBZ, the main character here would initially rather avoid it all together. It takes his original mentor, Rukia, a female who gives him soul reaping powers, a lot of work to convince him to help others. He doesn't want to just run off like superman everytime a call comes in, but as she finds out if he sees someone in trouble, he really can't resist not helping. This reluctance makes a more believable hero, as least as much believability as you can really have in fantasy of this type.
This series has great characterization but the action does not get going until they enter the realm of the "soul reapers" or more accurately from the Japanese translation "Death Gods". While it seems to take forever to finish this arc, at least the story is not just filler along the way. You can only take so many power-up scenes in an anime, of rocks, water and trees being stirred up, swirling around. All while under the energy driven, influence of someones power up, or ones natural fighting aura. There's a little of that here, but they treat it as an end, not a means. What I mean to say is that it's short, and adds to the drama, it does not linger till you get bored with the effect.
Now it may be obvious that I'm reviewing an anime here and not necessarily the manga. I've seen the manga and like some but not all manga the anime follows the same line. The anime is available by fansubs and is a nice supplement once you've read some of the manga stories. Whats unique about this series is the interesting take on sword transformations. I've never seen so many ways to use a sword as are described in this series. As an old fan of the "Highlander", I just had to keep reading.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Death and a strawberryAug 09, 2008
By E. A Solinas
"ea_solinas"
Ichigo "Strawberry" Kurosaki is just your average teenage boy... except that he can see spirits wherever he goes. Ghosts, evil spirits, accident victims, all kinds.
So it's not exactly surprising that he gets involved in wild, dangerous adventures, at the start of the humorous, action-packed "Bleach." Since this is just the first volume, Tite Kubo's art and plotting experience some basic growing pangs, but the stories are fast-paced, amusing and sometimes incredibly poignant. And the spiky-haired Ichigo has the makings of a great manga hero.
One night a strange girl appears in Ichigo's bedroom, and is shocked when he can see her. She explains that she's a Soul Reaper, who helps the dead pass on to the Soul Society (a sort of afterlife... thing), and purifies evil spirits called Hollows.
But when Rukia is injured in a fight with a Hollow, all her powers are transferred to Ichigo -- and with them, the responsibility of killing Hollows all over his town. Ichigo is not enthusiastic about his new role, but he can't pass up the opportunity to help innocent spirits. And he finds out that it isn't easy juggling his new responsibilities with his everyday life -- especially since the powerless Rukia is now attending his school in a fake body, and living in his closet.
Even worse, his extra duties with Hollows are affecting his friends. First pretty, flaky Orihime is stalked by a Hollow she is very familiar with -- someone who was closer to her than anyone else. And Ichigo's enormous, mostly-silent pal Chad is given a "cursed parakeet," and immediately dangerous things start happening to him -- what is the parakeet's "curse," why is a Hollow pursing Chad, and why does his new pet seem to be intelligent?
The first volume of a manga series is usually the bumpiest ride, since the author/artist is busy introducing the characters and the main storyline. So it's not surprising that "Bleach's" first volume has a few bumps in the road, especially in the first couple chapters -- getting Ichigo into the whole Soul Reaper situation, introducing about half of the main cast, and to the whole worldview of this particular series. Things get much more complex later on, but at this point Kubo is just laying out the groundwork.
The artwork is also rather sketchy in the first few chapters -- Ichigo looks almost prepubescent and a bit thuggish in the first chapter, and the action panels look abrupt. Fortunately by the time Orihime's storyline rolls around, Kubo's art has settled into a smoother, more even style -- if still a bit rough around the edges.
Primarily this is an action manga, with lots of monster-slaying with swords (in Ichigo's case, a freakishly huge one) and a complex battle between Ichigo and a grief-maddened Hollow. But Kubo fills these scenes with a sense of pathos, such as Chad's fondness for the little parakeet, or Orihime's fond memories of her older brother, who saved her as a baby from their horrible parents.
Don't worry, there are a lot of comedic moments too -- Rukia's awful drawing skills, Ichigo playing baseball with pepper bombs, and Ichigo's kooky classmates and family. Not to mention Chad's quiet explanations ("Yesterday... I collided with a motorcycle").
This is our first introduction to the various characters, but Ichigo "Strawberry" is a pretty good hero, albeit in the mold of most action-anime heroes -- rough, fight-prone, determinedly lonerish, but very good-hearted. He doesn't want to go out and just be heroic, but he can't pass up a person who needs his help. The smart, prickly Rukia and sweetly flaky Orihime round out the cast, although gentle giant Chad hasn't been explored much yet.
The first volume of Tite Kubo's "Bleach" is a warmup for the bestselling series, but Kubo really hits his stride -- with art and story -- in the second half. Definitely worth getting, if nothing else to acquaint you with the world of the Soul Reapers.
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