Bleach (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1: The Death and the Strawberry

The Bleach anime series is finally confirmed to return in 2021 to adapt the final manga arc. In the meantime, let's read Bleach again!

Bleach was one of my favorite manga at the time. While there are many problems in the series, it still holds a special place in my heart.

Triva: Why is the story called "Bleach"?

The title wasn't Bleach when Tite Kubo decided to draw a story about Shinigami. This was before he drew the one-shot manga that appeared in Akamaru Jump. The weapon wasn't a sword, but a scythe. Only Rukia had a scythe and the other characters used guns. At that point, the title was Snipe (as in "Sniper"). Right before he started drawing, he began to think that a sword would be better and realized he couldn't use Snipe as a title anymore. He began looking for a title that grasped the bigger picture. Shinigami are associated with the color black, but it would have been boring to use "black". "White", on the other hand, can suggest black as a complementary color. So Tite Kubo chose "Bleach" to evoke the impression of the color white.

There are other theories. One is that shinigami "cleanse" souls, similar to what bleach does (Kubo himself mentioned this in an interview, but it's not clear whether he noticed this before or after deciding on the name). Another is that Kubo is a fan of the band Nirvana, and their first album is Bleach.

A lot of characters were already introduced there (apart from the blond girl who never appeared). We have Orihime, Chad, Mizuiro, Ishida, Keigo, Shinji and Tatsuki. Yes, an early drawing of Shinji can be seen in the art of the first chapter. But Shinji's first real appearance is in chapter 183. What could have been?

Why is the chapter called "Death and Strawberry"? It's because Ichigo's name can mean, among other things, "Strawberry" and "Death" is obvious after reading this chapter.

That's a pretty cool introduction for Ichigo. It portrays him as a protector, willing to take risks just for the sake of a complete stranger, and as a good fighter who can scare a whole group. He is a good bro.

Ichigo's father is... violent. That's not how you raise your children.

Ichigo has grown up being constantly attacked by his father, usually by being ambushed, especially when entering or leaving a house or being woken up in the morning by an ambush attack. It's always played for laughs and tends to degenerate into silly catfighting between the two. Are we really laughing at child abuse? Yes. It is not real life, don't take this too seriously.

Ichigo and his sisters (Karin and Yuzu) all can see ghosts, but not their father Isshin. Karin is cold but funny in a way. She decided to ignore ghosts and the fights between Ichigo and his father so that she could eat in peace.

Isshin has a huge poster of his wife. That's cute. Or creepy. I don't know. It is implied in the funniest way possible that Ichigo's mother is dead.

Ichigo met for the first time the Shinigami who will change his life forever.

Ichigo and the Shinigami's first meeting is hilarious. And she is very cute.

Wow, the Shinigami looks so evil in this panel. Why?

Well, Ichigo quickly believes the Shinigami.

I'm kidding, of course he doesn't believe her.

Rukia was tired of Ichigo's bullshit and binded him. Rukia has the appearance of a young girl, but she claims to be a century and a half old and has spent that time fighting for survival and training as a soldier. She is a badass adorable girl.

"Spiritual laws states that one cannot kill humans they have not been ordered to kill". What the fuck?

Why does she even bother explaining everything to Ichigo?

This girl tries to explain complex topics with illustrations, but due to her horrific artistic skills and obsession with rabbits and other cute animals, Ichigo is more confused than when she started and complain about her drawings, making her angry. I love this Shinigami. She looks serious and cold, but she is actually a bit goofy.

Shinigamis have two missions. But Ichigo has never seen a Shinigami while there are a lot of ghosts, so the Shinigamis probably suck at their first mission.

A hollow is trying to kill Ichigo's family!

The Shinigami explains why the Hollow has attacked the Ichigo's family. And when Ichigo starts to blame himself, she feels guilty that she made him feel this way. Despite her serious behavior, she seems to be actually a nice person. But she lost focus trying to console Ichigo.

NO SHINIGAMI-CHAN!

Small reminder that the Shinigami doesn't even know Ichigo's name. But she still decided to risk her life to save him and his family. She is selfless!

Ichigo wished for the power to protect others. Naturally, he accepts Rukia's suggestion to become a Soul Reaper to save his family.

The relationship between Ichigo and Rukia is undoutedbly one of strong point of this manga. Whether it is a unique friendship or love, you can't deny that the bond between them is strong.

In the Fade to Black movie guide, Kubo describes the relationship between Ichigo and Rukia as a close and unique friendship.

"It's not friendship but it's not an amorous feeling either. With these two's relationship, I think there is no other relationship like them in other works where despite both standing in a very close position with each other it is not romance (laughs)." Tite Kubo

Ichigo is an interesting Shonen protagonist. He is not someone who wanted to kill monsters, save the world or become the best ninja/pirate/fighter. He is just an ordinary high school student who wanted power to save his family because he had no other choice. And of course, Ichigo easily killed the hollow.