Ridiculous!

Kirsten and I caught an episode of Bleach the other day on Cartoon Network. Bomb threats notwithstanding (or applicable here, Meatwad), it's my new Anime/Animated Show of the Moment.

For those not familiar with the plot, it's about a guy who has the power to see ghosts, who gains the ability to cleanse the souls of evil ghosts. That power comes from a Soul Reaper, a person-like being from a place called the "Soul Society." Anyway, this dude, Ichigo, has a few friends from his high school who have the ability to help him on his various quests related to and stemming from his Soul Reaper abilities.

It should be noted that in every anime series, the protagonist/hero is always in high school. I guess once you turn 18 in Japan, you can no longer save the world. Your knees must blow out too easily, or something.

It should also be noted that, like Dragon Ball Z, there's a lot of exposition and monologued character biographies in Bleach. While I appreciate the desire for character backgrounding and development, there are times when I want less chat, more splat.

Anyway, Kirsten spent the entire episode staring at, and mocking, one character's jumblies. For half an hour (well, 23 minutes, because apparently the Japanese have lots more commercials than we do, or the Canadian company who does English adaptations likes to do a lot of editing), all she could say was, "Those things are ridiculous. Look at them!"

For what it's worth, Orihime gets mocked a lot for her bazongas. And there's a character whom Kirsten hasn't met yet who has even larger breasts, and even more fun made of her for it.

Unlike other anime series, though (I'm looking at YOU, Sailor Moon, Ranma, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Pocahontas in the Disney realm), not all of the characters are hypersexualized over-developed trollops with short skirts and legs that go all the way up.

Just Orihime.

The rest - well, even the main female character Rukia, the original Soul Reaper whose powers were given to Ichigo, looks like a normal girl. And that's pretty refreshing. For 23 minutes, anyway.