Super_Boom said:
Well...that seems a bit subjective to me then. It's more like your personal Big 5. Nothing wrong with that...but if you're basing it off legacy or impact, I'd say Fist of the North Star, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and Yu Yu Hakusho are much more worthy of spots in that list than Bleach and Hunter x Hunter, even though I do like the latter. I personally treat the Big 3/5/whatever as a current list based on volume sales. To each their own though... I actually decided to catch up on Bleach over this weekend, since I was bored and wanted to see what was happening. I hadn't read it since 12 chapters ago, whenever Mayuri's fight was. 12 chapters later...and I realized all I missed was...one...single...fight. Between characters I'm really not that interested in. I really don't care about the Sternritter; they have great designs...but that's about it. So far only a handful of them have even been given backstories, and I can't even remotely sympathize with any of them. This is a huge contrast for me, as I liked the villains of the SS and Arrancar arcs much more, and actually was interested in their stories. In comparison, these villains just seem flat and lifeless. It feels to me more like the villains are being used as vehicles to further develop minor characters from earlier arcs, which, with a few exceptions, isn't something I'm interested in as much. In fact, the entire arc seems to have this problem for me; so much flash and so little substance, like Bleach: Michael Bay Edition. Chapters just drag on until someone uses a missing Bankai or a modified Bankai or a "true" Bankai (seriously what the heck)...and then good guy wins just like that. Though I digress, this is my own opinion...If the current manga is enough to keep you interested, I hope you enjoy it. For me though...it's fallen well behind most of my weekly manga. I haven't dropped it like Naruto yet though...so that's something I guess.
I wouldn't know how large the western fandom is, as I only follow sales in the franchise's target market. But looking at the yearly trending charts, it's not even in the top 20 currently. I suppose I shouldn't say Bleach is selling poorly per se, it's just fallen well behind of where it used to stand. There was a point where people spoke of Bleach in the same breath as Naruto and One Piece, like you said. True it doesn't have an anime to propel it like many of the other franchises in the top 20, but it's not something to really brag about either. It'd be like if a future Call of Duty game entered the sales charts at rank 17 or something. Sure it's in the top 20...but it's also Call of Duty.
I personally assume the status quo if I hear nothing else. Togashi has been on and off for a while now, so even though this hiatus has been longer than usual, I'll just assume he's continuing to work on it...very very slowly, as he has been. Though if you do have an actual source (outside of random /a/ or forum theories), feel free to send it my way. |
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