It has been well over 2 years since I last read this manga. I remember eagerly awaiting each chapter and marathoning the anime when I was a senior in college. I loved it. The characters, music, plot, designs, everything about this manga appealed to me and I just could not get enough of it. Of course, I am not a very patient person, so I marathoned the anime, streak read the manga, and then got tired of waiting for the next chapter to be released. It would slip out of my mind for a while, pop up, and then I would repeat the same process all over again.
And yet it still lives. Go to any anime convention in the US, and probably anywhere, and you will find a group of Bleach cosplayers who either planned it, or all came separately and found each other. The designs are simple, yet detailed enough that a good cosplayer can truly recreate that character. In a lot of ways, that reminds me of Kuroko no Basuke. Both Kubo and Fujimaki design their characters the same way; which denotes that Fujimaki was influenced by Kubo in some way. Though that is just conjecture and has no hard evidence behind it.
The further into this JUMP manga marathon I get, the more I enjoy it. When you read a book or series that you liked when you were younger it usually makes you a little horrified at the person you used to be. Surprisingly, I've really enjoyed rereading this manga. It never made me feel nostalgic or shake my head at my past self and start questioning why I liked it. I was able to easily reenter that world and laugh at areas I had forgotten or hadn't read yet.
