Bleach Box Set (Vol. 1-21) [Paperback]

Tite Kubo (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2008

EMPTY BOX ONLY!!!!!!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bleach is author Tite Kubo's second title. Kubo made his debut with ZOMBIEPOWDER, 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.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (September 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421526107
• ISBN-13: 978-1421526102
• Product Dimensions: 15.8 x 9.9 x 5.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #736,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bleach is author Tite Kubo's second title. Kubo made his debut with ZOMBIEPOWDER, 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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neat box set :), December 21, 2008

By 

fancyultrafresh - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bleach Box Set (Vol. 1-21) (Paperback)

This box set covers volume 1-21 of the Manga series: Bleach. I won't go into detail about the plot of the manga but the box set itself instead. The quality of the carrying case is surprisingly good - the cardboard is sturdy and is a good size for storing on a bookshelf if needed. The poster and the collector's booklet is neat but nothing special. The collector's booklet gives you a map of Karakura Town, labeling where the character's live and the major landmarks of the town. There are a few pages dedicated to the 'Explanation Of The Soul Society' and the 'Explanation of Soul Reapers' (explains shikai/bankai, fighting styles, kido spells, etc). Then there is 'The Ryoka's Guide to the Soul Society' (meant for visitors who enter the Soul Society illegally). The last page features Q&A's with the manga-ka, Kubo Tite.

Overall, it's good box set. Amazon's price for all 21 volumes is pretty reasonable too, considering a book alone costs $7.95.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Into the land of the dead, September 7, 2008

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bleach Box Set (Vol. 1-21) (Paperback)

Ichigo "Strawberry" Kurosaki is just your average teenage boy... except that he can see spirits wherever he goes.

So it's not exactly surprising that he gets involved in wild, dangerous adventures from the very start of Tite Kubo's "Bleach." And while the series starts small, it rapidly blossoms into an epic action series that spans the worlds of the living and the dead. This twenty-one volume boxed set is filled with blood-spattered action, kooky comedy, and a likable spiky-haired hero.

One night a strange girl named Rukia appears in Ichigo's bedroom, and is shocked when he can see her. She explains that she's a Soul Reaper, who helps the dead pass on to the Soul Society, and purifies evil spirits called Hollows. But when Rukia is injured in a fight with a Hollow, all her powers are transferred to Ichigo -- and with them, the responsibility of killing Hollows all over his town.

Ichigo soon finds that it isn't easy juggling his new responsibilities with his everyday life -- especially since the powerless Rukia is now attending his school, and living in his closet. Even more distressing, his new powers are attracting all sorts of trouble, and are causing his schoolmates Chad and Orihime to develop their own powers, as well as attracting the interest of Uryu Ishida, last of the Soul Reapers' sworn enemies.

After an epic battle with a skyscraper-sized Hollow, two Soul Reaper officers appear to arrest Rukia -- and leave Ichigo powerless and almost dead. To regain his powers, Ichigo undergoes a horrific, near-lethal training with the mysterious shopkeeper Urahara, and sets off into the Soul Society with Uryu, Orihime, Chad and talking cat Yoruichi. But as soon as they arrive, they find that the Soul Society is no paradise -- it's a dangerous place patrolled by skilled, deadly Soul Reapers. To infiltrate the Seireitei citadel, the little gang will have to blast their way in.

Then one of the Soul Reaper captains is brutally murdered, and the intruders are the main suspects. As the citadel falls into chaos, our heroes face increasingly powerful opponents. Ichigo finds that to save Rukia, he will need to gain a level of power that few Soul Reapers can manage in their entire lives so he can defeat her icy brother Byakuya... but saving Rukia won't stop the sinister forces at work.

Twenty-one volumes of a manga can take you pretty far -- heck, it's longer than many series in total. But in the case of Bleach, it includes only two arcs of the still-running series -- and it has that magical mix of complex plot, kinetic action, likable characters and kooky comedy. Not only does it click, but the results are sort of a mad hybrid of "Yu Yu Hakusho" and "Inuyasha."

Admittedly sometimes the series drags, particularly when Kubo chronicles simultaneous fights in detail -- it can take chapters and chapters to get through one fight. To keep us entertained, Kubo fills it with bloodsoaked action, monsters, impalements, giant magical swords, spirit arrows and an army of lethal warriors whose swords hold amazing powers. Flower petal shrapnel, skeletal serpents, gigantic energy bows, little fairies and other such powers make appearances.

While the first arc is a pretty straightforward affair, Kubo rapidly turns the second one from a good-guys-infiltrate-enemy-base story into a vast, complex conspiracy where nothing -- not even life and death -- is what it seems -- friends may turn against you, and foes may not be all that bad. And Kubo injects some truly poignant moments into the overall series, such as Orihime's farewell to her beloved brother.

But despite all the action and conspiracy, Kubo never forgets to include some comedy as well -- some from the lecherous stuffed animal Kon, and some from Ichigo's kooky family ("GOOD MORNING ICHIGO!") and friends. And it turns out that the Soul Reapers are almost as weird as the regular people -- for example, a raging narcissist wants to kill an ally of Ichigo's because the guy is too ugly to live, in his opinion.

Like many a good anime hero, Ichigo is rough, brash, kindly and fights for those he loves. And he really struggles in these stories -- he repeatedly gets stabbed, impaled, slashed, almost bleeds to death and develops a berserk evil side. But Kubo is all too happy to have fun with him -- such as Ichigo's comical reaction when he sees Yoruichi naked.

He's backed by a colourful little squad -- the silent giant Chad, the chilly archer Uryu, and the lovably flaky Orihime, all with their own flaws and tragedies. There's also dozens of Soul Reapers ranging from child geniuses to mad scientists, from fight-loving sociopaths to gentle tuberculosis-suffering captains. Some of them even get their personal history explored, such as Byakuya's bittersweet past and the rough-edged Renji's background as a street urchin.

The first twenty-one volumes of "Bleach" span only two arcs of the series -- a straightforward monster-slaying one, and an intricate bloodsoaked conspiracy story. And when it's over, you'll only be left reaching for the next volume.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bleach Box Set, February 19, 2009

By 

Jason Allard (Camp Pendleton, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bleach Box Set (Vol. 1-21) (Paperback)

This is a great deal for those that are a fan of the Bleach series. I wish more manga titles would follow this manga's lead and start selling them as a box set instead of buying them one by one.