What's up guys it’s Kristin from Anime Collective!
So to me, Bleach is one of the most unique Shonen of its time because it has
a gritty style as well as an edge that makes it stand apart from the rest.
Especially thanks to Tite Kubo’s incredible designs, and distinct style.
And it has so many and I mean so many intriguing characters.
It feels very much in the vein of what's popular in Shonen
now, and his works influenced many of the creators that are prevalent
today, Jujutsu Kaisen’s creator being one of them.
It's a nostalgic series, but it's one that's still popular
and with the Thousand Year Blood War Arc
airing soon, it's a great time to get into or back into the series.
But what's the best way to collect Bleach?
You can currently fully collect bleach by Tite Kubo with English
translation via the singles, box sets and 3-in-1 editions.
There are a total of 74 individual volumes
which are collected in three box sets and 25 3-in-1s.
The final volume 25 is a 2-in-1 edition though.
I am going to show you guys the difference between all three
Bleach editions and compare them all side by side
to find out which edition is the best for you.
Before I get into the comparison, though, I do want to mention
that there was a hardcover release of volume 1 of Bleach only,
as well as a 20th anniversary release of Volume 1
which has a different design and cover art that I wanted to show you guys
real quick.
I'll only be taking a look at the editions that fully collect the series
in this video, but wanted to mention them nonetheless.
That all being said, let's take a look at their size first.
The singles and the 3-in-1 editions are the same height, but the 3-in-1
editions are thicker since they collect multiple volumes in one.
The 3-in-1 editions do save you space on the shelf in comparison
to the individuals,
so if you're looking to save some room, they are a good way to go.
The Bleach editions vary in price too.
The Bleach singles retail for $9.99 each, so you can collect the entire series
for around $739.
The 3-in-1s go for $14.99 each, so you can collect the entire series
for around $375.
And finally, the box sets vary in terms of price,
but you can collect all three at retail for around $590.
Of course,
you can usually find all editions for lower prices on sites like Right Stuf,
but I wanted to give you guys an idea as to what's in store for you
in terms of overall cost to collect Bleach.
That all being inside the cheapest way to collect Bleach is via the 3-in-1 editions,
then the box sets, then the singles, which are the most expensive way
you can collect the series.
How do they differ in terms of design?
All editions of Bleach have glossy covers, the singles mirror
and feature the same artwork that’s seen on the Japanese covers.
They do have a few stylistic differences, though.
The placement of volume number is different for instance,
but other than that, they're pretty much the same
in terms of design to the original release.
The spine features a cropped version of the artwork
seen on the front of each cover, as well as the Bleach logo.
All of the Bleach single spines are white, but the volume numbers
change from yellow to red at volume 48.
The 3-in-1 editions feature new cover art on all of the volumes.
They are character centric covers, but they feature
some of the same character artwork that's seen on the individuals.
The text of Bleach behind each character on the covers is different
and the overall have a more graphic look to them, which I really like.
The big difference here is the stylistic differences
and the fact that some feature bold
color backgrounds, like this one with a red that's behind Ichigo.
Others feature a blue and yellow background,
so the artwork pops out even more on these covers.
The spines have similar artwork as to what's seen on the front cover
at the bottom.
The Bleach logo
and the volumes that are collected in the each are listed on the spine as well.
Although it's the same artwork that's seen on select volumes of singles
that you can see a bit more of the artwork because of the thickness of the spines.
I've seen them on the shelf before while shopping secondhand stores
and the color palettes of the spines of the 3-in-1s
actually look really good together with the colors they've chosen.
The box sets feature different artwork and all sides of the box.
The first box set is horizontal, while the other two are vertical.
Box set 1 features artwork of Chad, Orihime, Ichigo and Uryu on the front
and it has different artwork on the sides as well as the back.
Box set 2 features Ichigo and a big Bleach text graphic
which wraps around to the side and features Rukia as well.
Another Bleach text graphic
on the other side, and artwork of Kenpachi, Renji and Ichigo on back.
The inside is awesome too, with a split graphic of Ichigo in his various forms.
Box set 3 is my favorite of the three.
It has Ichigo on the front.
On both sides are artwork of the characters
from the series, which are also seen as some of the individual volumes covers.
The back features the captains of the Gotei 13 and Yamamoto
front and center and inside.
there's artwork of Ichigo too.
By the way,
Yamamoto is one of my favorite characters from Bleach
and I unboxed a statue of him on the channel
if you’d like to check it out.
What about print and page quality?
The page quality in the 3-in-1 editions is worse than the singles.
This is something I also noticed in my Naruto comparison video as well.
The paper is much thinner like that which you would see in a newspaper,
so they are rather see
through.
When flipping through,
you can see that the artwork bleeds through while reading in many areas.
Because of the paper quality too, the printing is less crisp and sharp
than the singles.
The individuals have better contrast overall, and the pages are thicker
and are higher quality as well.
Let's take a look at translation, lettering and sound effects next.
After a side by side, read through of the first three singles
and the first 3-in-1 edition,
I did notice some very minor differences in translation.
They changed the wording of a few things in the 3-in-1s.
For instance, in the 3-in-1s he says, “how's that for close jerk?!”
But he says, “how's that for close jerk-off?!” in the singles.
While the translation
is slightly different in the 3-in-1s, the sound effects as well as the lettering
are the same in both editions.
In terms of readability, both the 3-in-1s and singles were easy to read.
The spines of both were flexible,
and they added enough margins around the panels.
They both were comfortable and easy to read.
Gutter loss wasn't a big issue either, so nothing to report here.
What about extras?
They didn't add any new material in the 3-in-1 editions
so the box sets are the only edition of Bleach that comes with extras.
Each box set comes with a booklet as well as a full color double sided poster.
Each poster highlights different characters,
as well as some prominent moments from the series.
I really love Tite Kubo’s aesthetic and his original illustrations,
so I like these posters more so than most that come in box sets.
As far as the booklets go, box set 1 comes with a special Bleach
collector's booklet.
Box set 2
comes with a pilot story of Bleach and box set 3 comes with an exclusive booklet
that contains a cover art gallery, as well as an interview with Tite Kubo.
Now that we've taken a look at everything, what's the best way to collect Bleach?
As always, it definitely depends.
If you are looking to save the most money, the bleach 3-in-1 editions
are the cheapest way to collect the series by far.
The 3-in-1s also save you a lot of space on the shelf.
If you are looking for the edition with the best page
quality is going to be the singles, which you can also collect in the box sets.
The box sets come with extras and they save you a lot of money
in comparison to collecting the individuals themselves
when you can find them at retail, so this is something to consider too.
What do I think, though?
Personally, I think the box sets are the way to go.
The singles have a much higher paper
quality and a better print quality than the 3-in-1 editions do,
They come with extras and they allow you to collect the singles at a discount.
By the way,
I know some of these have been flickering in and out of stock and I will notify
you guys on my manga restocks post, linked in the description below,
as well as Twitter when they come back or are expected to come back in.
And that's it for the video, guys.
What is your favorite way to collect bleach?
Let me know in the comments.
As always, thank you so much for watching and I hope you guys have an awesome week.