A review by geofroggatt
Bleach, Vol. 2: Goodbye Parakeet, Good Night My Sister by Tite Kubo

4.0

I love how these smaller “beginner” storylines are getting more time to flesh themselves out and breathe as opposed to fitting the story to a single anime episode. The storytelling in the manga format is much more significant because even the filler and smaller storylines get more time and space to tell a complete and more satisfying story and explore everything they want to explore. I was surprised by how much world building and greater context these smaller and earlier stories provided, such as the first story giving our first small glimpse at Hell (a storyline that will only be revisited much farther down the line) and how the second story about the mod souls gave us a deeper glimpse at the inner workings of the Soul Society and how they sometimes make morally grey or even morally abhorrent decisions in their quest to keep balance between the worlds of the living and the dead. I like how we’re introduced to another major player so casually while also having him contribute to the overall world building without giving too much away or overly teasing anything for early readers. I was surprised by how much I liked this one.