Wednesday, August 24, 2016

T5W#54-Top 5 Bleach Characters


Wow, who would have ever thought the day would come when Bleach would finally wrap itself up?  Like many, I was big on this series when it first debuted and really dug the expanded cast more than the principal one (CHAD WILL NEVER BE IMPORTANT NO MATTER HOW HARD THEY TRY!!!).  And like those many others, I began to grow tired with how much they plodded out the series.  First it took them forever to defeat Aizen, then they announced that the series was ending…in about 5 years time.  The story got boring, took way too long to get through things and had the double edge sword of introducing too many characters and then not giving enough time to develop everyone.  But I’m not here to berate the ups and downs of Bleach’s manga run.  I’m here to talk about my five favorite characters from this long running series.  Even when this series went a little beyond ridiculous, I could always count on these guys to keep me coming back for more.  Even after I dropped off reading the manga, I always wondered what was going on with these guys.  I can only hope they all got proper send offs in the finale

 

#5- Kisuke Urahara
This guy is THE most chill boss you’ll ever meet in your life.  Urahara’s laid back, funny just seems the kind of guy you’d love to grab a beer with after work.  Oh and his best friend is a smoking hot ninja…but we’ll get to her.  But what makes Urahara stand out for me are his training scenes with Ichigo.  When he pushes the kid to his limits, you know he’s not holding back.  He’ll train him to be the best even if it kills him because Urahara knows those are the kinds of enemies Ichigo will be facing.  So why should he be lenient.  “When you fight, you fight to kill,” he claims before releasing one of his most powerful attacks in a training exercise.  It’s scary when you think about it…but also cool and inspiring at the same time.  Easily one of the best mentors and bosses ever.

 

#4-Yoruichi
When you first saw Yoruichi in Bleach, did you ever suspect that the black cat with a deep, male voice, would turn out to be a sexier than thou ninja chick with cute fashion sense and…well…be a girl.  My reaction was just as dumbfounded as Ichigo’s but then the “hot girl” aspect kicked in and I just rolled with it.  Yoruichi isn’t just one of the best fighters in Bleach, PERIOD, but she’s also got one of the saddest backstories of the saga: helping her best friend escape the Soul Society while leaving someone important behind.  It adds to her mysterious grace and shots of the wind blowing her purple hair in dramatic fashion.  And man does she look awesome doing her Shunpo special attack, every panel or image of her drawn with that dramatic lightning kicks so much ass.

 

#3-Soi Fon
I’ll admit, Soi Fon was not anywhere on this list when I first started watching Bleach.  It wasn’t until well after I stopped watching regularly that a good friend of mine started bragging about her and convinced me to give her another chance.  If Yoruichi is the sexy master of ninjas, Soi Fon is her more than adequate successor.  She’s tiny, but packs a punch.  She takes no lip and hardly backs down from a challenge.  Plus, as cool as it is to see her handle hand to hand combat, something you don’t see much of cause everyone’s using swords…she’s also got a Bazooka for her Bankai that’s bigger than she is.  Personally, I think Soi Fon is the most criminally underutilized character on my Top 5, she deserves so much more screentime than most of the Soul Reaper cast.

 

#2-Kenpachi Zaraki
Yeah he was going to be on here somewhere.  Kenpachi is the ultimate definition of a bad ass.  Always ready to fight, hardly ever losing (he does but it takes a lot to bring him down) and so OP it isn’t even funny at times.  It’s hard to think of why the Soul Society wouldn’t just send him out to clean house with Aizen and his Arrancar single handidly, i wouldn’t say it’s out of the realm of possibility.  Kenpachi is the best example of a God Mode Cheat that’s actually acceptable…unlike Aizen who I just found super annoying to be honest.  And he’s got an eye patch and isn’t a pirate…don’t know why but I love that.

 

#1-Byakuya Kuchiki
It’s funny that Byakuya should be at the top of my list.  Cause at first, I didn’t even like him.  His cold handling of Rukia’s imprisonment and death sentence pissed me off as much as it did Ichigo.  But once Byakuya got his act together, he came to become one of my most beloved Anime characters of all time.  His cool and calm demeanor is the kind we all want to have in times of tough situations.  When Byakuya shows up, you know stuff is about to go down.  Plus, he’s got a heart you wouldn’t expect.  He actually cares a lot about his allies and his sister, Rukia, even if he doesn’t always show it.  When you threaten them though, holy crap hit the deck and write your will.  Cause those ten thousand Cherry Blossom swords he calls his Bankai are coming for you.  Byakuya Kuchiki, the kind of leader we should all strive to be in life.

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