Noitora - Reception

Reception

The Hollows of Bleach have received praise and criticism from several publications for anime, manga, and other media. Anime News Network praised Kubo's "grasp of character and storytelling" in his creation of Hollows who are not "the average monster of the week", but have "strong emotional ties" to their victims. Meanwhile, the later introduced Arrancars are described as conceptually interesting.

Of the Hollow characters, the Espada character Grimmjow has garnered the most attention, with ActiveAnime describing him as "the most psycho of them all". Additionally, IGN commented that "it's very difficult to take a book seriously when one of its main characters is named "Grimmjow Jeager-Jacques" but damned if this book doesn't pull it off". In contrast, Anime News Network lamented that the first battle between Ichigo and Grimmjow was "a lumbering, inelegant mess". Grimmjow is also the most popular Hollow character with readers of Weekly Shōnen Jump, placing fourth in its fourth Bleach Popularity contest. Ulquiorra, another Arrancar character, was voted into tenth place in the same poll, though he had also appeared in the previous poll in twentieth place.

The visual appearances of the Hollows in the anime and manga have also received notice from reviewers. The Los Angeles Times compared the early Hollows to "the misshapen fossils of unsuccessful dinosaurs". Of the Arrancar characters, Yammy is described as a "stereotypical, muscle-bound anime villain", while Ulquiorra is likened to "L from Death Note, with a bone hat and some tear makeup".