Which episodes of Bleach aren't worth watching?

[Dylan]

Well, I'm finally getting into the series, but I've heard that it's notorious for its filler episodes. My main question is what episodes or arcs are clearly not worth watching?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

All of it?

I got really into it and then it proceeded to become complete filler and just suck on a regular basis.

The show was a great property that was grossly mishandled, suffered from wildly inconsistent animation quality and 90% filler from start to the current episodes.

But it's not all bad, it is a good series, just watch the first season and part of the second, skip the rest of the filler and pick up where the series is currently airing in Japan.

The movies aren't all that bad, so watch them if you get a chance.

[molotovwars]

I don't remember off hand, but you can check the episode lists on Wikipedia. There are entire filler Arcs. You can skip those.

[lisalover1]

Everything after season 3 is simply not worth it. The story arc in seasons 4-5 is okay, but the first three seasons were definitely the best.

[the7k]

The show was a great property that was grossly mishandled, suffered from wildly inconsistent animation quality and 90% filler from start to the current episodes.

My thoughts exactly. I love the style and the characters, but just like so many Shonen Jump properties, it kept dragging on and on after the episode count hit double digits.

That's just how Shonen Jump stuff is, for the most part. They start off strong with a lot of lovable characters, then they end up becoming a massive and empty timesink, with a lot of people dropping it long before its finished.

... huh - reading that back over, Shonen Jump and JRPGs have a lot in common.

[skyknight]

It's a mixed blessing when Japanese broadcasting is totally different from the US, which does factor in how the filler arc works. Since Japanese do honor contracts, they can't just put the show on hiatus when anime series is catching up to the latest manga segment. But poor shows will definitely get the axe in Japan.

The worst case could be Hunter x Hunter where fans never got a closure from manga and anime series, since it was never finished, when artist did suffer a breakdown and is still in process of recovering.

Definitely check out the ep list on Wiki, the early arc which stops at Ichigo rescuing Rukia in Soul Society is the one you want to watch. The entire Bound arc is to be skipped, since it had no relevance to the main storyline, and actually put in several pointless characters that linger on in the anime series!

[jfrost]

I'm a huge Bleach fan, but the fillers are mostly indeed terrible. I try to remember the good times I have reading the weekly Jump chapters when I'm watching a pathetic filler episode.

Anyway, not all fillers are equally bad. There are a few worth watching. So, this is how I would put them:

033 and 050 - Neither episode is too annoying but they won't change your life.
064-109 - Bount arc. Avoid these episodes entirely. Complete waste of time, ridiculous story, boring characters.
128-137 - Although not in the same level of badness as the Bount arc, these are forgettable at best.
147-149 - Menos Forrest filler. The character introduced in these episodes was actually designed by series creator Tite Kubo, but wasn't used in the manga for lack of time. The episodes aren't bad, though it's a shame that the character wasn't put to better use. I would watch them.
168-189 - Fillers (Shusuke Amagai arc). Do not watch this, seriously. It's incredibly bad. It's worse than the Bount arc. Not only is it bad, it doesn't even fit into the timeline of the series. The writers were not even trying. Avoid completely.
204-205 - Characters used in these fillers are from the Shusuke Amagai arc. They also don't fit the timeline and are bad. Don't waste your time.
213 and 214 - Very funny. These are some of the best fillers I have ever watched. Do yourself a favor and definitely watch them.
227 and 228 - Omake. Watch them for the bits of humor. Although not great, solid.
229 - Boring filler, pitiful attempt at humor.
230-??? - Current arc (Zanpakutou Unknown Tales arc). Boring and forgettable. Like the Shusuke Amagai arc, it doesn't fit the timeline. Avoid these. Wait until next year (right now, the series is on episode 246) when the awesome battles in Hueco Mundo come back.

[AmishSamurai]

Watch it until they reach Soul Society, back when it was Ghostbusters with swords. It becomes an idiotic train wreck afterwards.

[Erik_Twice]

All of them. No kidding.

Bleach was okay, Not great, okay. Like your average FPS or 16-bit plataformer, they are okay but there are way better ways of using your time.

However the quality started to drop when they rescued Rukia. When you watch that stop watching or prepare to be dissapointed. I know, I watched until after the Bound arc hoping that it would get "good" again. It didn't.

[Dylan]

Yikes, sounds like the series has considerably worse problems than I thought. Oh well, I'll probably just drop it at the bount arc and then maybe pick it up some time in the distant future when I'm advised it gets good again.