Guess this topic is relevant. What a world we live in...

BLEACH AND JUJUTSU KAISEN - A CONFLICT BETWEEN ERA

Bleach has a...complicated legacy.

Perhaps the most polarizing work in the Jump canon, depending on who you talk to, Bleach is either a seminal masterpiece hindered only by a rushed conclusion, or a train-wreck unsalvageable by it's conclusion.

It's one of those manga.

Jujutsu Kaisen, meanwhile is a different beast. One of the two additions to the Jump canon from 2018, JJK has fast risen to being a major title in Jump with a lot of acclaim. It is also strongly inspired by Bleach, a fact creator Akutami Gege has outright confirmed.

Unsurprisingly, the Bleach fandom being...vitriolic, has begun complaining about JJK as a manga, calling it a copycat trying to leech off Bleach's legacy. And the "validity" of that is what I'm here to discuss.

Let's start with a question: What the hell is Bleach to Jump?

To understand Bleach's relevance, it's important to discuss the context of it's beginnings. The Big 3 Era is one I feel is best described with one word, "Innovation". With the foundations of Jump fully laden out over the Golden Age, the Big 3 Era was more about trying-

-to figure out methods of improving and expanding on the formulas and tropes that had been developed. Bleach was one of those series. Debuting in 2001, Bleach was a manga unlike any other at the time. It was hard and stylistic, with a powerful edge that hadn't been-

-seen in a Jump manga before. In a time where Jump protagonists were still dominantly optimistic, carefree youths with big ambitions, Ichigo was far closer to the teenage readerbase, a young man who understood the world around him, yet still wanted to do the right thing. The-

-villains were far darker in styling to most Jump manga, with many of them becoming genuinely disturbing. And Bleach was rather uniquely set in a contemporary setting that contributed a lot to the realistic tone of the manga.

Granted, much of this is not exactly "new", editors-

-at the time even expressed concerns about the manga being too similar to YuYu Hakusho, Bleach's utterly distinctive aesthetic and approach gave it a lot of interest to contemporary readers, and it swiftly became a hit for Jump. Bleach would continue rising in popularity-

-and, by the conclusion of the Soul Society Arc (still heralded as one of the best in Jump history), it was firmly with One Piece and Naruto as the series that identified Jump. Bleach did a lot of things, and it is rightly beloved for that.

Uuuufortunately, like a lot of the era, Bleach is a manga characterized by its faults just as much and at times more by it's virtues.

Now, there is plenty I think Kubo did right. He had a lot of fantastic ideas and themes he wanted to explore, with a complex tale-

-filled with ideas of morality and death. Some of his characters were fascinating and complex, with Ichigo being a strong, human protagonist. And what can I say about Kubo's artistic skill? The man is rightly called a genius, with almost all his characters having-

-excellent designs that were distinctive while not being garish, and his paneling is especially astounding.

The thing is though, that point about Kubo's artistic skills was something of a double edged sword, because perhaps Bleach's root failing came in Kubo's-

-love of spectacle over actual substance. Many of Bleach's strong themes and ideas were muddled in a endless molt that makes up its action scenes, as Kubo seemingly felt the need to give virtually every character he had a dedicated fight scene in spite of how minor they-

-were, an issue compounded by his worsening technique with character creation, which started very strong with the Gotei 13, but eventually devolved until we reached the Vandereich, a massive collection of 20+ villains who all were set up as "distinctive", but lacked-

-any real sense of character to them. Combine this with some rather absurd names (Nanana Najahkoop anyone?) meant that many of the fights barely involved "characters", just faces with crazy powers to be overcome.

Lastly, I feel the sheer sense of "spectacle" Bleach had-

-proved detrimental to the narrative as a whole, because many of Kubo's ideas would require some sense of downtime to explore them, but instead he focused on how to make fights bigger and more epic. A major flashback arc is inserted in the middle of the action. Aizen-

-the main villain for much of the manga, is never given a backstory. One villain survives literally EVERYTHING thrown at him, but is then killed as a side-effect of completely separate events. By the time Kubo ended early for health reasons, the final arc had ran for-

-200 chapters, and was still only 2/3 of the way complete.

So yeah, that's what Bleach is to me, a series with a lot of talent and ambition, but, in part because of that talent, wasn't able to reach the point it should've. Kinda sad, honestly.

So let's finally talk Jujutsu Kaisen.

Jujutsu Kaisen debuted in March 2018, a very different time for Jump. Jump was firmly in the modern era at this point, with just One Piece and Gintama representing the old guard, and the tone of the modern era was established, series were-

-built on how well they were in terms of quality and refinement, the idea of innovation having more or less faded away at this point. That is Jump at this point, and you might as well deal with it.

Jujutsu Kaisen definitely wears its Bleach inspiration on its sleeve,

-with a dark urban fantasy setting featuring an unsure young man as a protagonist, with many similar aesthetic, tonal and narrative choices, but the difference is how it's laid out.

Rather than gearing the whole manga around insane spectacle, Jujutsu wisely avoids Kubo's fatal-

-mistake by placing its focus on the narrative instead. While Jujutsu's fights are plenty and are incredible, they're not overwhelming like Bleach, and each have a clear purpose in growing the story and characters. And that is a good thing, because Jujutsu's cast is strong-

-and engrossing, one of the best of the modern era.

The result is that Jujutsu is an embodiment of the modern era. It's not wholely "unique", but it's STRONG, and that's its power. It's once again the more adult, mature title, but it has an understanding of what it's doing, and-

-that is a power. Jujutsu is ready to carry that legacy, and, even if Kubo failed, I'm doubtful Jujutsu will. Because Bleach was there, and Bleach allowed people to learn. It's not a copycat, it's something more.

What can I say? I'M (STILL) BLEACH.