Awesome Music / Bleach

As a part of the Big Three of Shōnen, it's in the same league with One Piece and Naruto. Considering the genre Bleach is in, it's gonna have awesome tunes to boot.

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Opening & Ending Themes

Being one of the Long-Runners in shonen anime, Bleach has more than enough ass kicking openings and endings. Here the best examples:

Openings

• "* ~Asterisk~" by ORANGE RANGE. The OP for the first season of the show. This is how you start a show! "* ~Asterisk~" went to top of the charts the second it was released in 2005, and stayed there for 22 weeks. Now if that doesn't say something about how awesome that song is, nothing will.
• "D-tecnoLife", by UVERworld, was an excellent introduction to the second season.
• The third opening, "Ichirin no Hana", debuting with a broadcast special consisting of 2 awesome episodes, also falls squarely here. Its remix on the single manages to make the song somewhat more violent.
• Between "ALONES" (6th), "Velonica" (9th), and "chAnge" (12th), all the best Bleach openings are in multiples of three.
• "TONIGHT, TONIGHT, TONIGHT", the fourth opening and the opening of the Bount arc, was also pretty badass.
• The 5th opening song, "Rolling star" by YUI, serves as the opening of the Bount arc and the Arrancar arc. It goes from having a relaxed, danceable beat to something more intense later on, signifying the raised stakes.
• "After Dark" by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, the seventh opening, plays when the main characters first break into Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime and maintains an upbeat and heroic tone throughout, showing that none of the main characters have any doubt in their minds that they'll succeed in rescuing her.
• The 8th opening, "Chu Bura", is a happy and uplifting song with lyrics about it being okay to feel sad since you'll most likely have people around you to help pull you out of your misery.
• The 10th opening theme, "Shoujo S", sounds like something you would hear on a dance floor and is perfect to get your blood pumping just in time to see Aizen and his Allies go up against the Soul Reapers.
• Opening 11, "Anima Rossa", serves as a great opening for the Zanpakuto Arc and portrays the feeling the Zanpakuto have about wanting to protect their soul reaper.
• The 13th OP, "Ranbu no Melody" by SID, opens up the second act of the Fake Karakura Town arc and signifies that things are going to become even more desperate.

• The 15th opening, "HARUKAZE" by SCANDAL, serves as an excellent song to end off the anime's initial run with.
• With the animation of the Thousand Year Blood War arc, its opening "SCAR" by Tatsuya Kitani has one thing to say amid the music and visuals: Bleach is back!

Endings

• The first ending theme, "Life is Like a Boat". It's just beautifully sad-sounding, but ultimately still hopeful.
• The third ending theme, "Houkiboshi" by Younha. The upbeat tune, along with her powerful vocals, makes you feel like you are flying in the sky as a comet.

• The 16th Ending, "Gallop", is pretty damn jazzy.
• "Hitohira no Hanabira", Ending #17, ranks among the greatest anime EDs of all time.
• Endings 10, 13, and 27 "Sakura Biyori", "Tane wo Maku Hibi", and "Aoi Tori" are simply gorgeous.
• Ending #25, "Last Moment", and Ending #28, "Haruka Kanata", are just straight up badass, summing up all the epicness of Part 1 of the series.
• Aqua Timez closes out the series with the epic 30th Ending, "MASK".
• "SAIHATE" is the ending theme for Thousand-Year Blood War, sung by SennaRin and arranged by Hiroyuki Sawano. This one hits hard once you realize that its lyrics reference the volume poems written by Kubo, woven into a music tapestry of perfection. Episode 7 features a unique animation sequence depicting the original thirteen captains of the Court Guard; after an episode full of emotions, it's a perfect send-off for Yamamoto and an elegy to the end of his era.
• "Endroll" is the ending theme for Part 2 of the Thousand Year Blood War, courtesy of Yoh Kamiyama. This is preferred by quite a few fans for its energy and catchy riffs, breaking the cliche of slow and melancholic endings. Starting with breakcores, with snazzy drum and bass riffs, a fast pace on the vocals to boot, and the shadowy chalk-like minimalistic faceless silhouettes of the Sternritter hiding underneath the Shinigami, which says so much about their resentment and their role in the story.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the series and movies aren't far behind. Expect some Gratuitous Spanish in some of the themes from the Arrancar saga. Not only that, it's composed by Shiro Sagisu of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame.

• "On the Precipice of Defeat", which usually plays when the main characters are on the backfoot, is a haunting and iconic song.
• Requiem for the Lost Ones is an utterly soul crushing piece of music that will make you cry broken tears.
• Nothing Can Be Explained, Zangetsu's theme, is pure melancholy. It sounds specially sad in his touching speech.
  Ichigo... do you know how I hate rain? And it rains in this world, too. If your heart is troubled, the skies will become cloudy. If you grieve, it will rain ever so easily. I wonder if you can understand... the fear of being rained on in this lonely world... To stop that rain, I shall lend you any strength, any power. If you just have faith in me, I will not allow any rain to fall upon this world. Trust me, Ichigo. As long as I am here, you'll never fight alone.
• "Never Meant To Belong" is extremely heartwrenching in a beautiful way. It has just enough of a hopeful feel to not feel cheesy, while the well-orchestrated instruments make this one a winner.
• "Number One", forever Ichigo's theme of badassery. Yes, even though (if not especially because) it sounds like a track from the Pointer Sisters.
  • "Number One (Instrumental Version)" gets rid of the lyrics and allows you to really hear just how amazingly the instruments come together.
  • "Number One - Bankai" is just as incredible as the original and does an excellent job of building hype for the anime series' return with the adaptation of The Thousand-Year Blood War. Clearly, Hazel Fernandes has not lost her touch even after all these years.
• "Senna" has been used countless times to add huge dramatic effect, usually for a sudden strike or the arrival of a powerful figure. It works. Every time. Senna's Theme, by the way, is derived from a violin adaptation of a portion of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (1:12 to 1:24).
• "Revelation", an impressive organ piece that gets used in choice moments of the anime but ultimately serves as the theme of Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa.
• Can anyone say "Breakthrough Even"?
  • "HOLLOWED", which is just "Breakthrough Even" minus the orchestral instruments, somehow making it more badass. Let's not forget all of those awesome Spanish themes either.
  • "Nube Negra". It can officially be said the Arrancar's got one of the coolest entrance themes ever.
  • "Invasion" has the same spirit as Breakthrough but is more kickass.
• The BGMs "Attack on the Beat" and "Back to the Wall" add a healthy dose of epic to any fight.

• Battle Ignition, the perfect song for when shit goes down, but the losing fighter refuses to go down for the count.
• This song is a sort of Canon Immigrant. "Treachery" was both used in the second movie OST and as a Theme Music Power-Up for Nnoitra's One-Winged Angel. It catches the attention for being an example of Surprisingly Good Ominous English Chanting.
• Shinji's Theme, "Can't Back Down".
• "Power to Strive", which plays when Grimmjow finally releases Pantera, is just awesome.
• "B13a" plays in the one-sided battle scene between Hisagi and Fraccion Findor in Episode 219 and features in Ichigo and Aizen's final battle.
• "Domino Del Chad" and "Quincy's Craft". The latter is pretty nerdy, but still qualifies since it's Ishida's fight song.
• "Irish Dance", Ukitake and Shunsui's theme when they use Shikai in Fade to Black.
• Then we have one of the very first OSTs, "Soundscape to Ardor". There is no way you cannot be reminded of a very heartwarming event.
• "Escalon". Just... Escalon... Is it possible to watch this and not be reminded of Shinji's fight with Grimmjow?
• Kubo chooses theme songs for most of the important characters. Ichigo - "News From the Front" by Bad Religion, Chad - "No Song Unheard" by The Hellacopters, Ishida - "Idioteque" by Radiohead, Isshin - "Don't Drag Me Down" by Social Distortion, Ginjo - "Last Man Standing" by Bon Jovi, Ulquiorra - "Moonshield" by In Flames, Grimmjow - "Step Inside" by A Bombs, and Kyoraku - "Por Una Cabeza" by Carlos Gardel to name a few.

• Here's a good one: "Stand Up Be Strong" from the Bleach: Fade to Black movie, both Part I and II. Its most iconic use so far is Ichigo unveiling the Final Getsuga Tenshou in his fight against Aizen.
• From Porno Graffitti, we get the incredibly energetic ending theme for the Bleach: Fade to Black movie, "Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezu Tomo" ("Tonight, Even if You Can’t See the Moon"). The title and lyrics reflect the Kubo's way of calling Rukia "the white moon."
• The ending theme for Memories of Nobody, "Sen no Yoru wo Koete", is really very beautiful and a definite Award-Bait Song.

• The whole freaking soundtrack of the fourth movie Hell Verse. Shiro Sagisu has seriously managed to top MANY songs from the other Bleach OSTs in sheer awesomeness. Most of the songs contain Ominous English Chanting of epic proportions. After listening some might accuse him of recycling some old songs from earlier Bleach seasons, but it's like the old songs took many levels in pure epicness.
  • "Snakes of Despair". If you ever wanted to know how you can make a BOUNT song sound even more epic, just listen.
  • "SD2_103". For those who need some cool guitar riffs.
  • "4BLM_101_Chokkaku". Yet another version of "Number One". A hard-rock version you can headbang to. It goes without saying that this track is the distillation of pure awesomeness.
  • All iterations of "Incantation" ("Pt. C_Opus1", "Pt. E" and "Pt. F") feature a satanic choir that can only be described as a Madness Mantra to accompany you in your descent into Hell. Parts E and F up the ante with angsty electric guitar riffs as the stakes accordingly ramp up. Part E also plays in the movie's very first scene, stated by Kubo himself to be the most accurate depiction of the brutal duel between Hollow Ichigo and Ulquiorra in his Segunda Etapa form.
    Harmony is not with us, living Hell is coming
    Misery is waiting at the gates of Armageddon
    Raging fires will burn the very souls of dead and dying
    Mortal is the hope of anyone who's even trying

• "Storm Center" makes any fight scene about ten times better.
• "Get Smart" is incredibly catchy.
• "Clavar la Espada". Catchy with a Spanish theme, what more could you ask for?
• "Reminiscence" is mainly used for Byakuya whenever he activates his Bankai. He makes dropping a weapon, a universal sign of defeat, into the ultimate Oh, Crap! You will never make fun of the colour pink and cherry blossoms ever again.

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