Product Description

Ichigo Kurosaki never asked for the ability to see ghosts - he was born with the gift. When his family is attacked by a Hollow - a malevolent lost soul - Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, dedicating his life to protecting the innocent and helping the tortured spirits themselves find peace. Find out why Tite Kubo's Bleach has become an international manga smash-hit!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29791 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 328 pages

About the Author
Bleach is author Tite Kubo's second title. Kubo made his debut with Zombie Powder, a four-volume series for Weekly Shonen Jump. To date, Bleach has been translated into numerous languages and has also inspired an animated TV series that began airing in Japan in 2004. Beginning its serialization in 2001, Bleach is still a mainstay in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump. In 2005, Bleach was awarded the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the shonen (boys') category.

Customer Reviews

History of Bleach

Tite Kubo's "Bleach" series spans dozens of volumes and multiple arcs, and it's still not finished in Japan.

So "Bleach SOULs: Official Character Book" is a convenient little handbook for the first twentysomething volumes of the series, covering the large cast of important characters, the settings, the concepts, and a wealth of fun trivia (Uryu Ishida's nickname is the "Four Eyed Sewing Machine"). Think of it as a sort of Cliff's Notes for the "Bleach" series.

First, we get a bunch of coloured pictures, ranging from Kon and Ichigo celebrating Christmas to a wild-eyed Ichigo about to unleash his bankai. Then we get into the serious stuff -- a truncated summary of each part of the storyline, divided into a bunch of little articles. He starts at the very first "Bleach" chapter, and follows the storyline up through the introduction of the arrancar.

And very time a character is introduced, we get a basic profile with some funny little asides ("Rukia's illustrations are kitschy and chic. She's good and bad?!"). And though most of the individual stories are not described, Kubo keeps in important character development (Chad's vow with Ichigo, Ichigo's guilt over his mother's death) and plot elements (the potential destruction caused by the Quincies). He even adds some details that could not be easily included in the story (such as Byakuya's ridiculously expensive scarf, and why he throws it at Renji).

But that's not all -- he provides detailed information abouyt Karakura town and its important locales (even ones we never see, like "Sunflower Sewing"), as well as the Soul Society's structure, hierarchy, and the reincarnation cycle for souls who end up there. There's also a chronological timeline, title chapter translations, manga panels and pages when illustration is needed, and Kubo and Ichigo's Japanese voice actor Masakazu Morita give a fun little interview.

Since much of this info is contained in the series, Kubo also sprinkles it with odd bits of trivia, such as Hitsugaya mentoring genial gatekeeper Jidanbo. And there's a fun conpendium near the end, with all sorts of wacky terms (for example, "Kurosaki Family Tombstone Domino Tournament." Apparently it makes the local priest crazy).

Aaaaaaannddddd... that's still not all.

Kubo also includes two backstory chapters. One has an ordinary day for Ichigo before the events of the series (crazy pals, sad ghosts, memory lapses). The other is sort of an earlier draft -- Ichigo is a little more laid-back (he gives bus tickets to the Soul Society!), the Hollows aren't quite as ghastly, and one of the main characters actually dies for real.

Additionally, Kubo includes some deliciously wacky little short comic strips, such as the "Bleach" cast posing as pirates, Byakuya doing a demonstration on cell phones, or Ichigo being nagged into wearing a Santa costume during the holidays. Even crazy scientist Mayuri gets in on the action ("All that's important is how funny you are once I stab you!" "He's talked about stabbing twice. Is that all right?!").

In short, the "Bleach SOULs. Official Character Book" is kind of like a manga cliff's notes -- good for investigating the series, summarizing the complex storylines, or just refreshing your memory. And the extras make it worth the read, even if you already know it all.

Bleach, the story so far
This Bleach encyclopaedia contains character profiles and story overviews of Bleach from volumes one to twenty-one of the manga. As well as this the book also includes stickers, a poster, a small selection of colour pictures, extracts from the manga, short comic strips and the original Bleach pilot manga.

This is a good book with lots of interesting information for the dedicated Bleach fan with maps of Karakura town and a glossary of the terms used in the manga. The book also includes an interesting, but sadly short, interview with Tite Kubo and Ichigo's Japanese voice actor Masakazu Morita.

The information in the book is presented at the same time as the information is revealed in the story and this drip feed of information is a good way to keep you reading. On the downside, the information in this book isn't quite as complete as it could be, with some details seemingly left out but other than this the book is very interesting and a must read for any Bleach fan.

Surprisingly Interesting
I bought this on a bit of a whim, it was an Amazon 'recommendation'. Having stopped reading the manga for a while I was reluctant to pick this up. However, i'm glad I did. This book is packed full of information explaining the ideas behind the story and it's characters. Each having a small description or section dedicated to them. Strangely enough I found myself absorbed into the facts before I knew it. This follows the characters we are introduced to in the story up to the end of the soul society arc. There are also little stories dotted here and there and some coloured artwork at the front.

After reading through this I found myself reading the manga again. I guess it reminded me about some of the great moments in the manga and my interest had returned. I'm not sure if this book would satisfy a hard core Bleach fan as the descriptions aren't exactly all that in depth but it's certainly a good overview for the first part of the story. Don't expect loads of flashy artwork either if you're a fan or the art style. The book contains sketches or extracts from the manga with only a few colour pages at the front of the book. However, in general this is an interesting enough guide through the start of Bleach.