BLEACH vs NARUTO

BLEACH vs NARUTO

(Anime Comparison)

SPOILER WARNING

Nothing says ain't-got-nothing-to-do more than ranting about an anime.

And i'm ranting about two. Rather thoroughly too.

You get the picture.

So get a cushion that your ass is familiar with (if in doubt, check the mold of your ass), grab some popcorn and.. pfft what am i saying, you are all designers. As if you could afford such luxuries.

Anyway here goes.

Immersion / Setting

Bleach:

The world of bleach pretty much consists of the real world, Soul Society (a heaven-like dimension), and Hueco Mundo (the spiritual home of the hollows). These realms however, have just about as much depth as the flat of my ass. Don't get me wrong, the imagination in some of the architecture and design are quite impressive, but after a few hundred episodes u begin to feel there is something wrong. ALL action occuring in the real world (and there is a lot) happens in a little region called karakura town. Wanna' know why?

Well i don't know.

We as an audience feel like there is no other human city APART from that little town which by now should look like chernobyl with the number of times its been attacked/invaded. Oh yeah, and i suppose the ignorant citizens still live their lives completely unaware of anything particularly unusual despite roads being wrecked and buildings being 'spontaneously' demolished once every two days. Then there's soul society. You never see shinigami actually going out and doing their jobs in the real world (pfft lazy asswipes). All they do is train/lie around/drink/play poker/repeat. Even the captains who contain such staggering power just stick around waiting in case some rebel captain decides to decimate their world *cough*. All in all, there simply isn't enough shown happening beyond the main characters and plotline, and therfore doesn't feel like a living breathing world. Not to mention after 300 episodes you'd think you would see ichigo do something OTHER than fight. (The only times you do is when they're PLANNING for a fight -_-). Tite Kubo did try to remedy some of this during random flashbacks in the manga though, but it wasn't expanded upon enough. Huge setting flaws such as souls growing older when it was blatantly stated as impossible, and seemingly empty and pointless buildings waiting around to be destroyed during the fight between kenpachi and kurosaki don't help either.

Naruto:

The world of naruto seems to contrast that of bleach in many ways. Konoha is the home of the story's protaganists and features a wealth of aspects that make it feel like it could actually be physically recreated in real life. There are shops, bbq houses, ramen noodle bars, ninja academies, and much more. Here in between missions, characters are seen here recuperating for the coming task, training, or even simply socialising. Most of the different villages belonging to the different countries are even touched upon at least a couple of times. More importantly, the characters have actual personalities that aren't toiletpaper-thin like bleach's and/or revolve solely around combat. They're many flashback episodes portraying the childhood of naruto and his friends which all contribute to that. Even beyond the plotlines of the main characters, other village's ninjas can be seen in action such as during the defense of Konoha and a couple of other random clashes. Naruto's combat locations ranging all around the ninja world and the myriad of opposing factions in existance all essentially adds flavour and diversity to the world.

Winner: Naruto

Plot

Bleach:

For the first few episodes, bleach's plot would be best described as 'yeaaaa..meh'. Average. The white kid. But as you go further and further into the series, the plot turns into quite the epic tale. From battles between shinigami and ichigo, to the appearance of the arrancar, Tite Kubo has devised many interesting and exciting plot turns. Not to mention, the betrayal of Aizen can be arguably marked as one of the greatest and most surprising twists to any anime storyline. However, this can be sometimes hindered by some incredibly dull battles that tbh, no one cares about unless you're a soccer mom waiting to pick your kid up from school. The audience merely sees as the developers buying time to create the juicy stuff, which is fair enough i s'pose. Bleach does also borrow a few tips from DBZ, and with it, a few of its flaws. The whole concept of ichigo gaining bankai made me pee my pants with glee. (as im sure it did with you too you hypocritical liar shaking your head.) As did him learning to use his hollow mask. But after a while u sorta wonder if it's turning into a big power struggle in the most literal sense. Protaganist 1 gets stronger. antagonist 1 gets stronger. protaganist 1 pumps himself with spirit steroids and gets even stronger. antagonist 1 then pu.. yeah you get my point. But usually it works, so thats ok. There are also occassional times when battles do a DBZ on me and take five episodes just to show a ten min fight but fortunately it doesn't happen too often. All in all, bleach with a few exceptions here and there, boasts a strong and addictive storyline.

Naruto (including Shippuden):

Naruto is a little harder to pick up than Bleach but is no less of a competitor in this arena. This series is pumped full with complex and intricate turns and twists, but each one is not really as ballsdroppingfromsacks as a couple that Bleach has. Rather, it has a consistently strong and focused plot that doesn't vigorously excite as much as Bleach does, but doesn't truly have any 'boring' segments either which more than makes up for it. However, there are some aspects of the storyline that does sorta make you twitch. First of all, i am utterly convinced Naruto is gay and is in love with Sasuke. Secondly, if that Yukimaru kid says 'Where is my home', 'is my home where people think of me' or any more nonsense like that one more time, I swear i'll slap him so hard, he'll finally decide to get a flippin' haircut and grow some balls. Now how's THAT for irony. Honestly writer of Naruto whoever your name is, if you're trying to portray a theme then JUST SAY IT AND BE DONE WITH IT. A retarded ladyboy saying a single line more times than I could count with the hairs on my head isn't the way to go. And neither are Naruto's never ending rants about how much he won't give up on Sasuke (and his secret lust for him). But anyway, aside from the childish flaws - a superb and unique story.

Winner: Draw.

Fighting

Bleach

Lets just say Bleach is just about everything a hardcore action manga fan needs. The fighting is sleek, well-drawn in its simplicity(most of the time), and just adrenaline-pumpin'. Unless during minor battles that no one gives a rat's ass about (Refer to story section).Though not known to be Mr. Ambitious in the originality department, it contains your recommended daily dose of uber-powered sword/magic/laser beamy thing battles with enough powering up to almost rival DBZ's ridiculous drug-promoting.

Almost.

Naruto

Highly creative in terms of action sequences, Naruto pretty much takes your typical ninja scenarios and adds depth and originality to it by a margin of a hundred. In a Pokemon-esque style, tactics and wit usually wins the battle here rather than straight-up Bleach styled brawl. But because so many diff moves and fighting styles are in motion, some of the combat scenes take rather long (as the characters have to proclaim for the 10000th time about their techniques and what it does so the little kids don't lose track) and therefore loses the orgasm of excitement that is generally existant in Bleach. Still, it works.

Winner: Your mum. I mean, draw.

Villains

I figured, hell, this component deserves its own damn category.

Bleach

As far as I've seen Bleach has the greatest collection of villains in the anime/manga realm. Every major (by that I mean the captains at one point, arrancar, and the rebel captains) enemy is so damn cool and stylish in his/her own respect. Furthermore, Kubo wisely made them all intensely powerful (well the first time you meet them anyway) so that you can't help but be in utter awe of their awesome evilness as you go on slitting your wrists in their honour. Not much more I can say except three words: Captains. Espada. Aizen.

'Nuff said.

Naruto

I have mixed feelings regarding Naruto's villains... To be completely honest, for the most part, the majority of the villains that comes to mind are either: 1.) Unlikeable pricks 2.) Weak. 3.) A well-rounded combo of both. Garaa was one of the few villains of awesomeness.. esp with his tragic background and all.. And I suppose Itachi is sorta cool except we don't actually see much of what he does (in terms of anime, not manga) so not much opinion there. But let me say one thing: orochimaru is NOT cool. Hes not even that strong. Oooo he can shoot snakes out of his arms. Well guess what, that merely reminded me of a friend of mine being able to shoot milk out of his damn nose. And all he is, is pretty much a pedo old man who is in serious need of some sunshine, and has enough strange implants/transformations in his body to challenge robocop

Winner: Bleach.

Conclusion: Draw.

Ha yes I know. We're back at square one. Shame. And its prob five times longer than any other post on this blog. You got trixxed. Kk thx bye.