The first of many Bleach posts: in celebration of the movie coming out!
"Watch Bleach" my friend told me, 7 years ago.
I loved the first episode. Ichigo Kurosaki was the sweetest dork I had ever seen. He was funny and a smart ass and he stood up for those he cared about.
And then Hollow Ichigo appeared and I just... That was it, I was obsessed. You could not stop me from watching Bleach if you tried.
I remember sitting and waiting for the next episode of the Ichigo vs Ulquiorra fight to come out. I did not know that Ichigo was going to be completely Hollowfied at the time. It was such a great feeling, experiencing that amazing battle for the very first time. Just - YES.
And after going through all that, just to read those last few chapters, to see the ending rush to a close... It broke my heart.
To watch the fandom grow toxic and rip each other apart. To see fans smash their CDs and burn their books.
But let me just say it does not matter who you ship. IchiHime and IchiRuki are equally cute, equally awesome, and both have so much potential! I love them all equally and you should too, because that just means there's more content for everyone to read, see, and there's more artists making more art for our favourite pairings!
Bleach deserves a proper conclusion and it needs our support to get it to that conclusion.
So, my fellow fans, keep writing that fanfiction! Keep spreading art! Use the hashtag #BringBackBleach and celebrate the manga and anime we all love.
Don't give up on Bleach. It doesn't matter what ship is canon and what ship isn't - that never stopped you from drawing art and writing fanfiction before! And it shouldn't stop you now! Give me IchiRuki angst after Ichigo loses his powers. Give me IchiHime angst as Orihime is leaving for Hueco Mundo. Give me all the fluff and families and anything you want! Hold your ships close to your heart and be proud of your ships, and celebrate other people's ships too. Please my fellow fans, let's stop putting each other down and start building up the Bleach fandom with love again.
Hell, I'm a HichiIchi fan, and I still wholly support Bleach and I never expect my pairing to ever be canon. I'm alright with that. I still love exploring the possibilities of my pairing!
So, anyways, that's just something to think about. Because if ever you were going to get back into Bleach, now would be the time.