Anime: Bleach

Okay, since I am a huge anime/manga fan (not sure if I'll go as far as calling myself an otaku!), it's no surprise that I'll talk about this subject every so often, hehe. So today, I finished watching the latest episode of Bleach (episode 126) - yep, it's one of those long series, and I don't think it'll end anytime soon, the manga is also ongoing! Anyway, I DID skipped several episodes of the Bount arcs but they were filler episodes (i.e. they don't appear in the manga) so I didn't mind so much!

So what is Bleach about? Kick-ass shinigami (a.k.a. Death gods), that's what!!! And the most kick-ass of the lot is Kurosaki Ichigo, a cool orange-haired high school guy, a human who received shinigami powers due a momentous encounter with Kuchiki Rukia, a female shinigami who was assigned to his town. Together they fight against evil spirits known as Hollows! But of course, it is not as simple as that, because if it was, I wouldn't find this series remotely interesting other than for their bishie characters, haha! The storyline involves a vast number of characters, with so many plots here and there! And don't anyone dare put it on the same class as Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh, because Bleach is so above that!!! Its complexity and originality are more in par with the likes of other shounen anime such as Hikaru no Go and Full Metal Alchemist! Anyway, for more info about Bleach, you can go here.

(Image of Rukia and Ichigo with a Hollow in the background, taken from here.)

Another good thing about Bleach is the music, due to the many arcs within the series, resulting in several seasons, the opening and ending themes have been constantly changed. I've discovered a number of J-rock/pop singers/bands through this anime such as Ikimono Gakari, Yui, Ore Ska Band, Takacha, Aqua Timez, Hoshimura Mai and UVERworld. Here are some mp3 of the songs from Bleach, hope you'll like them! :)

Hanabi by Ikimono Gakari
Life by Yui
Rolling Star by Yui

Tsumasaki by Ore Ska Band

Movin!! by Takacha
Alones by Aqua Timez
Sakura Biyori by Hoshimura Mai
D-tecnolife by UVERworld

Although all of them are good, my favourite is Hanabi by Ikimono Gakari at the mo. But don't let that stop you from listening to the others, okay. ;D Right, that's it for my anime moment! But I think I should warn you, I currently have a lot of time to watch anime and read manga, so I can't promise that this is the last you'll see an anime/manga entry for a good while. Gommen ne, hehe!