RealTalkAJ

I’ll be addressing Bleach.

This is one of many Shonen Jump anime.

It follows the story of Ichigo.

I was an on and off fan because I mainly have a tough time sticking to anime that’s over 100 episodes in my adulthood.

I got a shirt as a gift that reminded me that this was a show that I followed in my early teens.

It was cool cuz the fight scenes were fresh and new to me.

I never really understood much about what was going on or even got the chance to get invested into the series.

You have to realize though, most of my introduction to anime was through Toonami that eventually transitioned over to Adult Swim.

I got my fill here and there when I started buying the Shonen Jump magazines.

And I might’ve even got a few more experiences with the show when I tried a few of the games that were released but that’s about it.

This was probably before I discovered Naruto or even Yu Yu Hakusho but it was definitely after DBZ.

It was cool and all but I compare it to Dragon Ball, it’s a nearly impossible task.

Goku’s just a way better main character with more to bring to the table.

The transformations are better, fight scenes are cooler, more characters you end up caring about, and movies that’s just as cool as the seasons.

This was probably the first show that I really got invested in when I started watching anime and funny enough it was in the Planet Namek Saga when Goku goes Super Saiyan.

I remember days when I would go to other family’s houses (because that was the move) and ask to use one of the tvs just to catch the new episodes.

That’s probably the first times when I was learning what real commitment was.

I’m serious the show was something that I looked forward to each week and made it a point to play every game that came out since Budokai came out.

They might’ve showed a few of the original Dragon Ball episodes to keep me entertained and apparently it worked because I brought that interest with me all the way through to high school.

Next is Yu Yu Hakusho!

You look at Yusuke Urameshi, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and even Genkai.

You see where I’m going with this right?

I probably just named yet another show that’s better than Bleach and I didn’t even name what they did yet.

Yu Yu Hakusho mainly follows Yusuke and his adventures as what’s called a Spirit Detective.

There was a simple thing about this show that I could appreciate.

Maybe it had something to do with the animation style or even how realistic things seemed (until the dying starts happening).

But yeah, when you get the spirit gun and the beautifully painted rebellion of our main character it makes for a show you care about.

There was hardly much time that it ended up lasting on Toonami (most likely because the viewership was low).

But all in all it was a pretty solid show with a banger intro.

I had it in the same level of interest I had in Zatch Bell which was another show that had a short lifespan.

It was frustrating though when I reflect on it because a lot of the shows that I really liked ended up being cancelled from air but I really enjoyed them.

This show was one of them.

I’ll admit that the fight scenes took a little too long for my liking but when in rewatched them in my adulthood I can appreciate it much more now.

As far as Naruto goes I might be able to say it’s a little more neck to neck with this series because I only stuck with it for about 100 episodes.

And that’s when I chose to watch way more TV than what I do now.

Naruto had cooler energy systems in place and I remember the headbands being one of the coolest things for me and my friends when we first discovered it.

Matter of fact I won my own hidden leaf headband from Cartoon Network and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

It even came with a Kunai Knife that had some weight to it.

You get a rival just as cool as the main character with Sasuke when it comes to tension that’s developed early on.

And arguably one of the most impressive things about Naruto for me was the tribe aspect of the ninja world.

For example, the headbands showed which village you were from and there were some that got introduced from different areas that helped add variety to the community.

One game that helped bring everything together pretty nicely for me was the Shonen Jump Force game.

It took me a while to get on board and be sold on the idea of anime characters from different shows could come together for battle.

It probably helped by playing Mortal Kombat, Soul Caliber, Marvel vs Capcom, and game similar to those but I’m grateful now when I think about it.

I guess you can say I got exposed to the right things at the right time to make sense of everything that I ended up liking.