Which is better?
Welcome to the SDMB, Everyman. We put different types of topics in different forums. Since this seems to be about a game of some sort, I moved it from MPSIMS to the Game Room.
Okay.
Probably Bleach… but neither is particularly good.
You might want to check out Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Hellsing Ultimate, Death Note and possibly The Big O. You’ll definitely want to check out Cowboy Bebop if you haven’t already.
Sir… Sir… No… Full Metal is pretty good. I don’t too much care for the others, though… But Naruto AND Bleach are better that any other manga imo.
So you already have seen both, and you’re just asking folks which they liked?
I figured you were asking for recommendations. Ah well.
I wouldn’t call Fullmetal Alchemist that, since it might be confused with Full Metal Panic, which is also a very good series, but completely unconnected apart from the similar name.
I would say that both Naruto and Bleach are a cut above (if you will pardon me) the average fighting anime, at least in the early going, but neither is particularly outstanding when compared with anime outside that field. As to directly comparing the two–it’s a bit difficult, because the strengths of each are in different areas.
Naruto generally seems to handle power creep better; characters actually learn new techniques, refine old ones, and devise new tactics, rather than just getting arbitrarily stronger. This results in more creative fights and less DBZ syndrome (a terrible affliction that causes one to stand around screaming and glowing while small objects break and float around).
Bleach, on the other hand, handles power creep relatively poorly for the most part. Its edge, in my opinion, lies in character dynamics. The relationships between the characters are more entertaining, and the second- and third-tier characters are more interesting.
This is from only partial viewing of the available episodes, mind you; I’m not remotely up to date on either series. Based on the material I’ve seen, I would say that I prefer Bleach, but I suspect that it will get old faster. Regardless, I’d generally rather spend my anime-watching time on something other than either series.
Actually, it’s about anime, so it belongs in Cafe Society. I’ve reported it for a second move.
Moved to Cafe Society.
Oops, sorry – I googled it, and the first couple link summaries made me think it was a game. My bad.
I first saw the thread when it was only the OP, and I honestly thought he was asking about doing his laundry or something. I didn’t know WTF “Naruto” was, but I figured it must be some product I’d never heard of (possibly foreign).
Bearing in mind that I haven’t seen either past maybe the midway point (and even then out of order on TV), I’d say I definitely like Naruto more. Bleach is so heavily focused on combat, and it feels like every problem is solved by screaming louder and pulling powers out of your ass. It may have a liiiitle edge out of combat, but both spend so little time there that I don’t think it really wins.
Naruto, on the other hand, does have a little bit of ass-pull powers, but after it settles into its routine, it feels like people are more clever with them. I really liked the Chuunin exam between Naruto and Gaara near the end. Naruto pulled out a bunch of really, really clever moves (well, until the fight escalated into Kaijuuuuuuuuu RUUUUUMBLE).
Well… Naruto IS the word for a type of fish-derived delicacy you find in Ramen, though I’m not sure why you’d wash your clothes in it.
I’ve put the books away in the library & cannot for the life of me figure why “Bleach” is called “Bleach”. (or why “Fruits Basket” is called “Fruits Basket”). Some help?
While both of them have gone downhill, I think Naruto was good all the way through to the end of the Chuunin exam arc, while Bleach really only had the Soul Society arc. While there’s good elsewhere, that’s the best of each, IMO.
Really, the main thing that I like about Bleach is one of the side characters, Kenpachi. He’d be a prime suspect for DBZ syndrome, if not for the fact that he’s so hilariously awesome.
I always assumed it was in reference to the protagonist’s hair?
From the Omake’s mouth itself – it’s called Bleach because that was his favorite Nirvana (yes, THAT Nirvana) album. Also because bleach cleanses things and soul reapers cleanse souls. I assume there’s also some symbolism with making things white, since white is death = ghosts in the far east.
Fruit’s Basket is named after a game the omake played as a child. The game involves naming people after fruit and then calling their name and something happens. They called him a riceball, and since riceball was a fruit he couldn’t play. This actually happens to the lead character early on in the show.
ETA: And before anyone asks about Fooly Cooly, the reason is because it “sounds like some meaningless English phrase Japanese people would say” (actual reason).
I would venture to say most Bleach readers are also Naruto readers. Ditto One Piece.
Both shows have a really strong cast, especially the supporting characters.
Naruto also has a pretty decent story, but an initially annoying main character, and possibly the worst pacing in the history of media (especially pre-timeskip in the anime version - the land of waves arc takes 13 episodes to tell a story that could have easily fit into two, if not one).
Bleach has nice design work and one decentish arc (I’d maintain that the story itself for that plot was rubbish, but it introduced most of the decent characters). I gave up on Bleach quite some time ago, but before that the story was a horrible mess of nonesensical plots, crappy antagonists, and power upgrades.
Naruto is worth reading in the manga, possibly picking up with the anime post time skip.
Bleach is maybe worth pursuing to the end of the soul society arc… maybe…
Naruto has its flaws, but Bleach drags horribly. The show just goes on and on without anything ever getting finished; it’s almsot as bad as Inu-Yasha in that regard.
Secondly, people have mentioned the Naruto/Bleach power creep issue. Naruto does a lot better with making fights interesting; when characters use their powers, they have reasonable effects, and character often achieve victory by using their powers intelligently. In Bleach… not so much. It’s basically one ludicrously overblown fancy supermove after another.
Also, while the dialogue is sometimes dreadful, it’s way better than Bleach, where every line is repeated about five times, while characters sit there and brag about how invincible they are over and over and over. The fights are also onboxiously predictable: almost every battle is basically “Guy who pulls out ultimate supermove second wins.” And then Bleach “good guys” are often worse than the bad guys, ans so on.
it’s not that Bleach is exactly a bad show, but its patterns really irritate me.
The correct answer is One Piece.