First watching in 2021 I never understood the hype of the show until now. I saw a minute or two of an episode years ago on Toonami, but I did not know it was Bleach at the time because I caught it in the middle. I had no clue what was going on. I do remember a guy dressed in black robes and orange colored hair, which I know now is Ichigo; a guy or girl wearing all white, and a guy in a striped hat. I lost interest by not knowing what was happening.
Now that I am watching it from ep 1, the ep I saw makes sense because I know the roles the characters play and Ichigo is the main character. It definitely gets an anime watcher hooked because it makes one wonder how does a kid be a soul reaper and a high school student at the same time?
As of April 19, 2021, I finally finished and am bummed that there a few holes left to tell from the manga that are not in the anime. The anime ended at a good point, but at the same time, I do not want it to end.