::A Geek in Korea::

I’ve been watching the Japanese series Bleach and have made it through two of the major story arcs. Characters were introduced in a modern setting of Tokyo. Since I’ve been to Tokyo, and listened to many people talk about this series, I decided to give it a look. The series got me hooked on the premise of a boy who was given powers and learns of his responsibility to fight the forces of the restless undead as he grows in power. It’s something like a Japanese version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer now that I think about it. Perhaps I liked it for the similiar themes of responsibility, duty, and loyalty to friends in the face of crisis.

Then, the story arc shifted to a secondary story about the rescue of one of the characters in a land of souls that was like feudal Japan. Characters entered this society and did battle with the resident captains of the army. They all gave their swords silly names they would call out, then strike each other repeatedly. No one ever "died". They simply vowed revenge, ran away, then fought another day. They introduced a ton of new characters, each with special swords and special attacks. Entire episodes centered around these new characters battling each other started to draw out the simple story into something much longer and more complex about duty and the fate of people in society governed by rules.

While some of the episodes were interesting enough to watch, I started getting annoyed by how slowly the arc was moving towards it’s completion. The story had started to stall. Instead of resolving things, people would battle, run away, only to battle again in another episode. I’m about three episodes from completing the story arc, and then I’m going to stop watching show entirely. From what I’ve read, the next set of stories will be entirely made of "filler" episodes. Nothing happens important enough to keep me interested any more. Now I’ve invested all this time into a series only to have the story turn to crap. There was even a video game based on the animation I was considering buying, which is something I very rarely do. Sadly, without the interest of the animation, I won’t be purchasing it.

My wife and I have had this happen to us before. We started watching the box sets of Alias before the series was done on the recommendation of a friend in the States. We got hooked, watched two seasons together, then found out that the quality of the third season wasn’t worth bothering to see from the same friend. Instead of sinking more money and time into a series that went downhill, we decided to stop watching immediately.

My wife’s rule seems to be that she doesn’t invest herself emotionally in following a series that isn’t complete. That way she can make a judgement about if it is worth a purchase or not before getting emotionally attached to something that eventually will either end, or get worse. Her sole drama at the moment has begun to extend its story line and she’s just waiting for it to get bad.

I happen to be of the opposite style and like to watch a show progress and evolve as I watch it. I follow several series at a time and love the suspense of waiting for the next episode of an anticipated show because I want to see what happens next. If something gets bad, or betrays its roots, I give it a few episodes to see if it will clear up, then drop it. I’ve stopped watching Lost this season for that very reason, saving myself from buying the DVD set and getting set up for yet another disappointment.

I won’t get upset about losing another series until Battlestar Galactica comes back. If it’s not good as season two was, you’ll hear my geeky rage.