The end of Bleach

Yesterday I talked about revisiting an anime I used to watch called Bleach. Today I wanted to quickly mention where Bleach ends, at least in my mind. As I stated yesterday, Bleach has an inordinate number of episodes (I believe the total is over 360 at the moment). Because I ceased my cable TV subscription years ago, however, my progress in the Bleach storyline stops at a particular place. Normally it would be a bad thing to have a show you liked get cut off before its official ending, but in my case I was halted at a very convenient spot, which I now like to think of as the end of Bleach. The place where Bleach ends for me is the episode where series protagonist Ichigo finally defeats Aizen, and in the aftermath learns that he is losing his powers and his career as a Soul Reaper will soon be over. The world is safe, and with his friends around him as he is lying wounded and exhausted on the ground, Ichigo’s story of supernatural heroics is ready to come to a close. That, of course, is not the official final ending of Bleach, but in my mind that episode is the moment of closure that the series had been building towards since episode one. I’ll probably never have the chance to get back into Bleach and watch all the other episodes, but that’s ok. For me, Bleach ended with that episode.