Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time we address the big elephant in the room that is – Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War by manga creator Tite Kubo.

Now for those that don’t know, the first episode of Bleach aired on the 5th of October 2004 with a total of 16 seasons before its sudden, erupting conclusion in March 2012, which strangely enough, didn’t incorporate its final arc, that is the “Thousand-Year Blood War”.

Our hero of this spiritual journey is a high-school boy by the name of Ichigo Kurosaki, a human that can see ghosts. On one fateful night, he runs into a female soul reaper from Soul Society going by the name – Rukia Kuchiki.

With the last of her strength, she offers to turn Ichigo Kurosaki into a substitute soul reaper and without hesitation, the young man promises to dedicate his life and powers to protecting the innocent and tortured spirits themselves to find peace.

The Thousand-Year Blood War begins when longtime enemies of Soul Society known as Quincies, which were once thought to be exterminated make a daring declaration of war.

And now, a decade after its sudden conclusion, the Bleach anime has returned and with it, shook the very foundations of the anime industry to its core.

Not only did this long hiatus for the anime bring back the old fans but generated new ones at an alarming rate and it’s no conspiracy that the Bleach manga’s ending did not deliver on the scale that was expected.

Instead, it felt rushed, it left a lot of questions unanswered, and the answers that were given to you weren’t so clear that you’d comprehend them at the first read-through.

Fortunately for us long waiters for the Bleach anime to return, studio Pierrot seems to understand this matter and took fans’ reaction to heart, taking a final arc that was once dust and turning it into pure gold.

The Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime with the help of studio Pierrot and animation director Tomohisa Taguchi have outdone the manga in so many ways and we’re only through the first quarter of the arc.

They’ve cleared up so many of the inconsistencies that plagued the manga, for example, the King of the Quincies somehow being Ichigo Kurosaki’s father, or how Zaraki Kenpachi first came to get his name and the complicated relationship between Soul Reaper Isshin Kurosaki, and Quincy Ryuken Ishida when they’re meant to be mortal enemies.

Reading the manga and watching the anime feel as if they were from two completely different sources.

It’s without a doubt, a fact, that the anime captures the emotional weight of this entire arc in almost every scene, from how Ichigo Kurosaki’s parents met to the heartbreaking reunion of Ichigo and Byakuya which left tears in my eyes.

It’s pure magic and I can’t help but think to myself that this is why so many anime adaptations begin to fail after several seasons.

Things like these take time, 2 or 3 years at best to get the best animation quality which can further enhance the lore, and bring a different perspective to the story, something Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War was able to achieve.

Even though I’ve read and completed the manga of Bleach, watching the Thousand-Year Blood War adaptation has felt so refreshing, so magnetizing, every episode needs to be watched at least twice in case you missed something lol…

Part 2 has been confirmed to return in July 2023, if it is anything as close to Part 1 then I can reassure all fans out there that we are in for a hell of a ride.

I give Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War a PERFECT 5 out of 5 ratings.

Let me know in the comments section whether you agree or disagree with the review and let’s get the conversation started.

It’s so good to be back and I have no one but all of you to thank. Thank you