Feb 10 2011 03:27 PM You know, one can look at Bleach ending in few weeks from different perspectives.
Let's face it - the series started off brilliant (for a shounen genre), then went slowly downhill until it reached the bottom with countless fillers holding no meaning for the plot or defying the whole timeline and turning it into nothing. I, even despite being an all-time-fan, at one point dropped the series for nearly half a year. Everything changed the moment I noticed (and some of you probably as well) that there's something more to Bleach sticking to it's guns for such long period of time without major breaks (40 episodes roughly!). It kept me wondering... what if the series is going to end with Aizen's arc?
I like the idea more than you may think - it gets few things clear and obvious. First off, we are to avoid a whole year or two of idiotic spin-off-naruto-like spoilers which would only deteriorate the ratings more and make this average show into a bad one. Secondly, there's a major window here for more movies (I actually like those, even despite being all the same altogether) and perhaps some OVAs (of which I would like Kubo to holster his hands on - let's say that those would focus on developing Aizen's or other SS captains' back stories) and a small chance for proper Bleach 2 in 2-3 years time, but this time without goofy fillers and dragging two chapters into three damn episodes :/. Furthermore, such gap gives Kubo more time to focus on manga and not rush it, like he did while he was trying to escape ahead of anime those past 6 years - knowing his dormant ability to make things interesting and judging by how the manga looks atm when it's NOT rushing things - this could be a proper path. Finally, there's a pretty good chance that the continuation will follow in 25-ep-season fashion and therefore avoid dumb and pointless episodes for the sake of consistent and well-paced plotline.
This all, however, will depend on Kubo and his writing skills. I would assume that atm when he's not bugged by any anime project he may as well put into action his statement that he's going to continue with Bleach for several more years. If he does so, we're sure to see the continuation in SOME way. Bleach is too good a cow for milking to be left dormant and unused at some point.
