Outside of the behemoth filler arcs, Bleach often heads down the route of standalone "comedy" episodes. Way to dump on your audience, Bleach, way to dump.īesides, I'd worry more about the weight you've put on in the last few minutes. For such a high profile show to have such sub par visuals - even during filler - is unacceptable. Finally, as if to add insult to injury, the animation quality - particularly when it comes to bodily proportions in the Zanpakutou arc - is horrific. Likewise the Zanpakutou arc started off with an interesting concept and ended up dragging it out for far too long, to the point where it got a bit dull and I stopped caring. I remember watching the Bount plotline and becoming very bored - and in comparison to the beginning of the Lurichiyo stuff, seemed like a masterclass of storytelling. That is not a good way to treat your audience, at least attempt to find a more natural break in which to dump your filler.Īdditionally the actual quality of these filler arcs isn't exactly top notch. HELL?! Talk about a way to piss on your own fireworks and kill the momentum that had built up. Then came episode 169 which suddenly flipped and everyone was back at Karakura High having the time of their lives. The action was engaging, I was excited, and by the end of episode 168, a whole bunch of the cast were in mortal peril, laying possibly dead on the ground and I couldn't wait for the next installment.
I'll never forget the first time I felt utterly abused by this habit.It was right in the middle of the Hueco Mundo battles.
With the exception of the Bount arc (which nicely slotted into place after the Soul Society plotline) and the current run of filler (yay for slightly altering the end of the Arrancar arc to accomodate more fluff), the series has a habit of just chucking it's anime-only plotlines in any old place. So not only does Bleach have more filler, but when you hit a non-canon arc, be prepared to be stuck there for at least 6 months! On top of this, Bleach has abysmal timing when it comes to adding in this padding.