Bleach

by Tite Kubo

The manga Bleach is written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. The plot starts with Ichigo Kurosaki, a teenager who accidentally steals the powers of the Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki and subsequently assumes her duties while she convalesces. Since that event, Ichigo has to fight Hollows, evil spirits of past humans that feed on unwary people.

This entry represents all volumes (1-74) of the Bleach Manga and is meant to save space on users' GoodReads lists due to the sheer number of volumes in this manga.

Genres: Manga

Unknown Binding

About the author

Noriaki Kubo, known professionally as Tite Kubo ( 久保帯人), is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. His manga series Bleach (2001–2016) had over 130 million copies in circulation as of 2022.

Reviews

[Wesley R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read all 74 volumes of Bleach this year, so that has to count for something, right? 😓

Man, what to say about this series? I have so many thoughts about the ending, the series as a whole, the characters, the art, and so much more it’s overwhelming…..

I think a great way to put my thoughts succinctly is that for every 1 misstep Bleach has, there are about 10 steps in a GREAT direction. This is one of the most ambitious stories I’ve read, and when it stumbles, it stumbles for sure. But it reaches such incredible heights in themes, character writing, and action that I have to look past a lot of those misgivings.

I’m currently also reading through One Piece right now (plugging the podcast I co-host called Monkey D. Luffy vs. the World on the topic if you’re interested), and though I sincerely love it, I feel like there’s an air of maturity and thoughtfulness present in Bleach that I previously only thought possible of my modern goats (like Akutami and Fujimoto). I think I have to simply say though that Kubo may be the greatest mangaka of them all, though. I won’t spoil the ending, but it hit emotional and thematic notes that really touched me and left me feeling so many things, even more so than the endings of a lot of other series I enjoy.

If you enjoy manga, PLEASE do yourself the favor of reading this. And honestly, this is a great entry point too! I can go on and on about some of the misgivings here or there, but frankly, with an ending (AND APPARENTLY CONTINUATION???) like we got, I can’t be too mad.

Orihime, Ginjo, Tsukishima, Tosen, Gin, and Matsumoto are my beloveds.

Thank you, Kubo, truly.

[Julio Michelon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading all the way to the Thousand Year Blood War arc like twenty years ago, but after they released the new anime I thought it would be nice to revisit the manga and finally finish it.

I enjoyed it, perhaps less than I did in my early twenties. One thing that stood out to me was how little actual character development Ichigo has. Early on, the manga leans more into slice-of-life elements, allowing us to get to know him better, even if suffers from the general shallowness found in shonen manga. However, as the story progresses and becomes a repetitive series of battles, with their corresponding transformation power-ups that lose their novelty after only a few chapters, I couldn’t help but feel that Ichigo lacks depth beyond his constant drive to fight and save everyone.

That said, it was a fun ride. While Tite Kubo might not be my favorite writer, he's definitely one of my favorite artists whose character designs are just a pleasure to admire.

[IRVING MISAEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pesar de su final apresurado y un tanto malogrado debido a la presión de la editorial que puso fecha límite a Tite Kubo (algo muy común que sufren los grandes mangakas como Kishimoto, Oda, etc.) y que terminó reflejándose en problemas de salud que el mismo autor comentó a sus lectores en varios de los apéndices con los que abría cada uno de los tomos de su obra; se trata de uno de los grandes shonen que realmente justifican su popularidad con la gran calidad de sus personajes y lo imaginativo del universo propuesto por Kubo, que sin embargo en algún momento se vuelve repetitivo y quizás volviendo a Kishimoto, debió terminar un arco antes.

[Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably wouldn't have reread and finished the series if I hadn't obsessively read and reread the first 20 or so volumes in junior high, but I'm glad I did. You can tell a lot of it is the way it is because they had to produce a chapter every week on tight deadlines, but it manages to have some very interesting bits despite that (or maybe because of it). My understanding is that Kubo is now working on a new arc that will be released on his own schedule, and I imagine that will greatly eclipse everything that came before it.

[Cheddar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love BLEACH. I do feel the ending was a little rushed though.