Before I begin, I must say that I am not very familiar with Bleach, so I was confused going in but I did enjoy that the author had some helpful in-depth details about the inner workings of the Bleach world and the characters which made the storyline easy to follow.

I think fans that are familiar with the series will definitely enjoy this light novel more than I did.

Bleach's ending was divisive to some fans, with many feeling that there were too many questions left unanswered and that large facets of Bleach's world had been left unexplored. Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World seeks to address these unanswered questions, taking place in the aftermath of the Thousand Year Blood War. Ryohgo Narita was tasked with writing this light novel series, and he's honestly a perfect fit. Narita is well-known for his ensemble casts in his personal works, and is able to seamlessly depict multiple story-lines at once. Bleach's cast is massive, and Narita has been able to utilize his talents to meticulously involve each character in a meaningful way. Dedicated Bleach fans will be pleased to see the numerous cameos throughout this novel, and you tell that Narita has as much love for the Bleach franchise as the fans themselves. With two volumes remaining, it's hard to say what the future holds for these novels, but this volume will certainly leave you craving for more.

While I'm not the largest fan of light novels, Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World Volume 1 by Ryohgo Narita does a great job at immersing the reader in the Bleach world. While it's missing some of the elements that make Bleach, well Bleach, it does offer up a great side story for fans of Tite Kubo's iconic manga.

I didn’t realize this was a prose novel. I was a huge fan of the manga. I haven’t read it. It seems daunting with all the difficult and similar Japanese names.

I thought this was a manga but it's actually a light novel. I have this love-hate relationship with light novels because I'm so used to seeing this world and these characters on the page that when I just have to picture them in my head... it's lost in translation.

That being said... I really enjoyed the story here and will continue this series. I love Bleach, the anime, and manga. Adding this new format just makes me happy to know we're still getting Bleach in some form.

Will go live on my blog: 10/28/20

I will never not enjoy the world building of this manga. This volume picks up where the last eft off and seamlessly introduces the next ARC. I will most definetly be rereading it.

Can’t Fear Your Own World is written by Ryohgo “Baccano!/Durarara!!” Narita and is actually his second series of novels in the Bleach world; his first is Spirits Are Forever With You, which came in two parts but it was never officially released in English. A self-confessed big fan of Bleach, Narita took the opportunity to write this trilogy of novels based on his love of the character Shuhei Hisagi, and a general desire to fill in a lot of the blanks that were left wide open at the end of the manga’s run. With original author Tite Kubo’s blessing, Ryohgo set to work and these novels started appearing in Japan in 2017, with the final of the three volumes appearing in December 2018. So two years later and English versions appear, but are they worth your time? That will depend entirely on whether you’re a hardcore fan of the original series or not…

Read the full review at Anime UK News: https://animeuknews.net/2020/07/bleach-cant-fear-your-own-world-volume-1-review/

Now that the Quincies’ Thousand-Year Blood War is over, trouble still lingers in the Soul Society. Tokinada Tsunayashiro has become the next head of his clan after the assassins take out every other candidate for this position. He has a grand plan to start a new war by creating a new Soul King. But not all hope is lost as there is a Soul Reaper to hinder Tokinada’s plan—Shuhei Hisagi, Ninth Company’s assistant captain.

I have been seriously waiting for this!!! Loved this light novel and more Shuuhei. This didn’t disappoint and I can’t wait to see where the other light novels go. Overall, highly recommend for every Bleach fan! Especially with the new anime coming.

A trip down memory lane, a stay at Nostalgia Inn, a new, exciting novelisation for those who are familiar with the original Bleach manga; now the announcement of this one caught me by surprise – pleasantly. And I thank the guys at Viz Media for providing me with this copy. I’ve always admired Kubo’s imagination, and the likeness with Heian period samurai is something that will always capture my interest, but this is certainly only a novel for those who have read the manga.

This story, or at least the prologue, takes place after the Soul King Saviour War and we get to meet all of our favourites characters bar the one that actually matters: Ichigo. A new threat awaits, because of a shift in the Tsunayashiro family, and its questionable new leader, Soul Society once again faces change. The ripples of this are felt throughout Hueco Mundo, who are still fighting the dregs of the Quincy and their attacks on its denizens with guerrilla warfare. Shuhei Hisagi is left to pick up the pieces with his Captain zombified, and everything around him needing to be rebuilt after the Vandereich obliterated it; his role as editor-in-chief, on the hunt for information about the war, leads him to cross path with the Four Great Families and a new plot that threatens all three realms.

Now, because this is a Japanese light novel, it skimps on exposition, leaning on the fact that it expects readers to know about the manga, or the anime, not making it one of the most accessible reads. But it does feature sporadic illustrations by Tite Kubo himself, which really appeal to a long-time fan of the series like me. Seeing the characters that I’ve missed in the years since Bleach’s serialisation ended was great, the plot is fresh and almost feels like a natural continuation to the series. What happens after a war? Change. And this change comes in a grab for power from the surviving factions in this.

I found the choice of Shuhei (pictured on the cover) as the protagonist quite intriguing. In the manga, he was a character with a strong sense of duty, a duty that led him to hide his power and a man of action. Having said this, he was a side character. There was slight resentment towards him because the main character of over a decade is nowhere to be seen, but it is fun, action-packed and just a cruel as the original material; the powers are just as insane, and the battles huge and grandiose. Just what I expected from Bleach.

Overall, if you know anything about the anime or manga… well, if you’ve finished it, do give it read. If anything, for the nostalgia. Those not familiar with Bleach that love fantasy may find something to love in this, as every story has its own starting point amidst other stories, but be prepared to be thrown in at the deep end.

First off, I'd like to say a thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Bleach, the original manga series. I loved it so much that I remember binge reading it all (well all that was available to me) at around the age of 19. I loved Ichigo Kurosaki, the soul reapers, the Quincies. I loved the world and the story. I loved the anime, too! I loved it all, and I couldn't get enough, up until a point, where I believed the story should of ended. But it continued anyway, and I continued to read it, but I didn't love it as much.

So when I got Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, I was super excited, but also super apprehensive. On one hand, I couldn't wait to get back into this world and revisit all my favourite characters, but on the other hand I was left wondering if it would be just as good as the initial set of manga books, rather than the latter.

I opened this one up and was super surprised. It was a light novel? I was expecting a Manga, anyway I persevered, but things didn't get much better for me, unfortunately.

It was great getting back into the world and hearing about the characters, I just couldn't get into the flow of reading it in a novel format, I didn't like it. That's my issue though, I'm sure many other people would love it told in this way as it is more detailed. The story was well written and easy to follow, but my heart just wasn't in it, and I unfortunately had to put it down.

Not for me, but I still love the characters and would still recommend this to fans of Bleach. Maybe I'll try it again one day. But for now, an average rating.

Really entertaining and brilliant for fans of Bleach. I found this hard to understand characters etc as it had been a while since I finished bleach, so had to do some googling throughout but other than that really enjoyed this novel. Was great to have a lot more description around characters thoughts than what you get with manga.

Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World (Volume 1). By Ryohogo Narita, Translated by Jan Mitsuko Cash. (Original story by Tite Kubo). 2020. VIZ Media (ARC eBook).

A scheming aristocrat with ties to the former 9th Division Captain—Kaname Tosen, Fullbringers relaxing in the Rukongai, 12th Division’s Department of Research Development hiding bodies per usual, control over Hueco Mundo up for grabs, and the potential reinstatement of clan Shiba.

Volume 1 concerns itself with setting up the pieces. To see how the suggestive importance of Shuhei Hisagi—9th Division Lieutenant and senior newspaper editor—is established, and how all of the threads unravel and are consequently resolved, we’ll have to continue the series. No doubt, there will be plenty of news for Shuhei to report in the Seireitei Bulletin!

This is first in a series of light novels (in this case, a novel taking place after the events of the manga/anime). As such, there are only a couple of rough sketches and it is mostly text. It does go into detail about the set up of the Bleach world - specifics into e.g., Fullbringers, soul passes, and the hierarchy of commoners of nobles. But it has a vast series of characters to bring in for cameos and then adds new ones on top. So it is incredibly confusing (I had to have a Bleach wiki opened the whole time). As well, the time frames jump around and there is a lot of stylized writing to make it less straightforward. So yes, for consummate fans who want the story to progress further but also want more explanations of things and events after the anime/manga ended.

Story: Shūhei Hisagi is tasked with researching the Soul King invasion for his newspaper, the Seireitei Bulletin. As he goes about his business, he begins to uncover signs that something isn't right in all 3 worlds (human, Hueco Mundo, Soul Society). Not only that, everything points to the problem originating from one of the noble houses, in the form of Tokinada Tsunayashiro.

Hisagi is the main focus through the series: loyal, hot headed, and very much a straight arrow. His connection to everything is his former Captain Tosen. Tosen had a strong relationship with Tsunayashiro's wife and it is her death at her husband's hands that likely drove Tosen to betray Soul Society with Aizen. But really, that is just one aspect as there are problems in the human world and Hueco Mundo that bring Hisagi into contact with quite a few Bleach characters.

Honestly, it's a confusing mess. We don't follow Hisagi all the time and we get perspectives from quite a few people. Of course, as the amoral villain, Tsunayashiro shows up quite a bit to show just how cruel he is and how he likes to play with his victims. It's explained that he was disillusioned due to a secret of the noble houses and the soul king that he discovered.

In all, as much as I was looking forward to reading more about Hisagi, it was just too confusing. There are a few rough illustrations every now and then to remind you of characters. But e.g., right from the start when Hisagi goes to the Shiba household to interview Ganju, he finds Ginjo is there along with Tsukishima, under the protection of Kukaku, talking about Kaien. If you know who all those people are, then you'll be fine. But if you don't remember who all those people were, you'll get an idea of what I mean by confusing. That's not even the worse considering there are paragraphs of Ginjo and Ganju talking and that's hard enough to read with the names so similar.
Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

I am more familiar with the anime. I have been meaning to delve into the manga. So, seeing this story in novel format came as a surprise. A nice surprise since I do enjoy novels (obviously).

It has been a year or so since I watched Bleach, so occasionally I had to look up certain names to put a face to them. Some characters, such as Kenpachi, Ichigo, Urahara (aka my favorites) I did not have to do that.

In this format, certain aspects about the world are better explained than the manga or anime could ever do. For example, soul tickets. Also, it is nice to get into certain characters’ heads to get a feel about their emotions and innermost thoughts.

The story in itself is well-written and easy to follow.

I am not familiar with the plot, so I deduce this takes place beyond what I have watched in the anime. It was new material for me.

Kudos for Viz for daring this! I have seen favored mangas exploring novel formats, and I have been wanting to try it out for a while now. Thank you Viz for giving me this opportunity and showing me how much I enjoy it.