Bleach: Sennen Kessen-hen

In 2012, Bleach ended its long anime-run without adapting the final arc from the manga. Dubbed as part of the 'Big 3', it almost felt like an end of an era. Some fans were left confused that the anime omitted its final arc although it's understandable that the manga was still ongoing at the time. Almost 8 years later, Bleach's massive 20th Anniversary Event breathed new life into the franchise as we got the final arc anime announcement: Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War. Mind you, this isn't just an announcement for what fans wanted after all these years. It's a celebration for the entire Bleach fandom.

Tite ... Kubo has amassed a loyal fanbase and I confidentally say that he deserves it for his creative vision and sheer determination. Initially, he didn't expect Bleach to bloosom into the franchise as we know today but mangaka Akira Toriyama provided the encouragement for him to succeed. Tite Kubo's creative vision to make characters dressed up in kimono and supernatural monsters associated with spiritual themes is what made this franchise so special. Of course, he was influenced by other works but Bleach still stands out as a very special show on its own. And with the final story arc, this served as the ultimate sendoff for anime viewers who had hoped to see this one day.

Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War is based on the final story arc of the manga, pitching Ichigo Kurosaki, the Soul Society, and his allies, friends against a new enemy known as the Wandenreich. They make an immediately impact by disposing a lieutenant and challenges against the very best of Soul Society. Led by the Quincy King Yhwach, their true agenda remains a mystery but it's clear that they are a prominent threat against all of Soul Society and the human world. Even the world of Hueco Mundo isn't safe from their wrath as Ichigo and his allies decides to take a stand against this new threat. Watching the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc immediately shows just how dangerous and capable the Wandenreich is with their special abilities, equipment, and ruthless ambitions. While not much is known about their, some of their members display a malevolent aura that borderlines on a God-like complex. If there's anything Bleach has taught me about its antagonists, it's that they often come across as charismatic characters such as Sosuke Aizen and the Espadas. While we don't know much yet about Wandenreich, it's clear that they a force to be feared.

Our oranged hair main protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki is still the same Shinigami we came to know since previous seasons. Joining him in his quest to stop the Wandenreich includes his loyal friends such as Rukia, Renji, Yasutora Sado, Orihime, and of course, the Soul Society. The oddball of this show is Uryu Ishida, because of his status as a Quincy, and this is a source that gets complex this season. Unfortunately, this season doesn't truly dive into Uryu's motivations or what his true purpose is yet. Most interestingly however, we come to know a deeper background story of a few Soul Reaper captains including Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Kenpachi Zaraki, and Retsu Unohana. Even Ichigo's parents gets a spotlight this season as we come to know how Isshin and Masaki met in their past. It's important because Bleach has a large cast of characters and we can easily get lost. This season took its time to give these characters more meaning with their stories. But fear not, other favorite characters in the franchise also makes a return including Toshiro and Byakuya. They've received storytelling about their backgrounds in the past before so this season mainly reminds us how strong they've become.

Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War is exactly how it sounds, a war with bloodshed and been in the making for a thousand years. Narratively driven, this arc goes to show the importance of how the past can affect the future in the Bleach world. It goes to say that with every story arc, there's usually some sort of main antagonist but also lessons to be learned. Ichigo has learned a lot from his first days as a Shinigami and this season will he will learn again what it means to be one. Watching this series serves as a celebration and ultimately, a way to give fans back what they've wanted all these years.

Despite the near decade long absence on television, studio Pierrot knew it had to step up and deliver this arc to its eager fans. Thankfully, the quality of this season received a well-deserved upgrade. Character designs looks like it got a next generation upgrade with their detailed outlines and expressions. Battles scenes have been enhanced to bring the fights alive from the manga. Most importantly are the way this season adapted its character emotions. There are several episodes where we see how characters are pushed to their limits when emotions take over. This season captures the essence of those emotions at their fullest. Similar, the theme songs and battle soundtrack still remains stellar like the old days. You can say whatever you want about the Bleach but the the music has always been top tier class for this franchise.

Bleach is a franchise that always stood out with its large colorful cast of characters, themes, and pushes its lore to a level we've fondly remember. This season takes another step forward to showcase the final story arc from the manga. Believe me, Bleach fans have always wanted this for years and this was another one of those cases of 'not if, but when'. The 20th anniversary was the perfect storm to announce this show and since then, we've been graced with one of the most memorable arcs so far in just 13 episodes. Fear not for this is just the first season of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. There's so much more left to tell and we're only just getting started.

Even in the best that Bleach has to offer, some still won't be able to appreciate it. It's bad, shallow, no writing..and the nitpicks go on. To those saying nothing is happening at all, are you even watching the show, because a goddamn war is actually taking place, which goes beyond just (oh look..there's a new big baddy now).
Where is the worldbuilding or character developement?- some ask....here's the thing its only been three episodes for these things to show up immediately, Bleach doesn't spoonfeed those thing at you right out of the gate. Kubo always liked the ''show, don't tell'' method, so he takes ... his time with developing characters, forshadowing and worldbuilding. So far most criticisms are:
''Me don't like Bleach, me rate 4.''

Bleach TYBW is by far the most ambitous arc in Bleach. This first cour will contain the first Quincy Invasion of the seretei, which is by far considered by fans of the series as Bleach at its peak. As a reader of the manga I will say that this arc has a lot to offer in terms of character developement/progression, reveals and twists, worldbuilding and fights... a lot of em.
The production value of the series is definitily impressive so far, from the visuals, compositing, music, voice acting. Bleach keeps showing that it deserves all the hype and praise it's been getting. Simple as that.

This has been a long time coming. From those who've been with the series from it's start, to newer fans through the years, to finally not only have more Bleach, but to have a continuation and finally an adpation of this long awaited arc that so many fans have craved for, and wanted for so long. How is it fairing up? Let's see...

Story and characters: 9
You've seen the comments, you've seen the ratings, you've seen the hype, and the lore, the attention to detail with each and every step. The faithful adaption of it's story and it's context. As I've said, it's as if Bleach ... had never left us, and wanted to come back to finally showcase it's final arcs in style in animation form. Fans who have long awaited this will be happy about it. The characters are as you'd expect them to be, nothing is out of place in the sense of that they look wrong, sound wrong, feel wrong, it's all done really well, and you'll have a blast with it. Bleach came back and it's here to stay.

Art and sound: 9
Honestly, it feels as if Bleach never missed a beat. As if it's come right back from how it was before, but with it of course, a more modern and stylish touch that you would expect from shows these days, but even with that, it doesn't look bad at all. If anything as just stated, it's as if Bleach Looks as it should, if not better, showing already the care and consideration brought into this, they were deadly serious, and not just on the art from. The voice acting is on point, and classic voices you all remember are front and center.

Bleach was, and always will be a BIG THREE for a reason. Even now, it's standing above so many other shows, you'll be very pleased to know, it's been continuing right. Watch it when you can, watch all of the Bleach before, or even read it. You'll love it, like you'll love this. I need to say no more than this, this is a great adpation, that you should DEFINITELY be considering, if not watching already.

This season of Bleach is one that i waited for a long time.The animation is something else, something good.I couldn't wish for a better animation.The story is on track with the manga and it keeps adding new dialogues.This season is for all bleach fans and it is a piece of art.
The new characters they have the voice that you expected the to have.To put it simply the voice actors are perfect.But now it really starts the fight, the big fights and i think it will be better than naruto's fourth shinobi war, which i liked that very much.I am a Bleach fans and i ... know this arc will be the best of the entire series and one of the best this season.
Every monday i am excited to see a new episode and i keeps bringing.Always take note that some episodes will be without action, like in all anime we are seeing, but it is worthy.If you like action packed anime, with couple of funny situations, well built characters and well built villains, this season and this anime is for you.

- I haven't read the manga
- I actually took the time to think if what I am about to say is what I actually feel or is nostalgia. I even rewatched the episodes again to confirm this

This is my very 1st review to an anime since I joined MAL, I really feel like it deserves it. I will try to keep things short and easy to follow:

PROS:
- Beautiful animation
- Fight scenes are just....on another level. Something AMAZING happens and blows your mind, you think nothing can beat that and BOOM something way better comes out
- As I have mentioned, I have ... not read the manga, but I have read oppinions of the people who did and from what I can tell, they are taking their time with the anime, adding scenes etc. which will improve the quality greatly
Every episod is just so full of everything, I feel like I can't even blink or I will miss something important. It absorbs you into it. 7 episodes so far and they all together feel like you watched a trailer.

CONS:
- This is being brought up by many people, that things feel rushed. I have mentioned this in the PROS, lots of things happen each episode. However, for me that is by no means a con. Look, the anime has only 7 episods, patience is the key, I am sure we will get an answer to all our questions, but in time. Maybe you should wait until it's actually finished airing before watching.
- Also related on how fast things are moving, my thoughts are that mate, they need to be quick (the quincy). They need to strike fast, as the opponent does not know what to expect. I mean, sure, they have announced their invasion but that does not mean muchh if you don't know what you are about to expect. Peopple falling left and right is something like a blitzkrieg strategy, they don't want to give the shinigami the time to figure out how their powers work and how to counter them. This is seen like something negative by many people, but again, it's just strategy. As we see in episode 7, the quincy can only spend a limited amount of time in Soul Society.

Overall, I do recomand it with all my heart. It's been a while since last time I have been so engaged with an anime. It's just beautiful and it should be appreciated for what it is, but again, might be a good ideea to wait until it's finished airing to watch it, as I strongly believe your enjoyment will be significantly higher.

Bleach fans REJOICE!

Being one of the first anime I fully watched, I can thank bleach for turning anime into a passion for me (or maybe not? hahaha), which lead to me loving Japan, and the next thing you know, I have been living there now for a bit and am much thankful for it.

Does that make me biased? Hell yes, and aren't we all in some way?

Let me pull out a bit of negatives before I fanboy away; Bleach has never been the best in terms of consistent plot, nor has it been with power scaling, and a lot of people would mention that ... it doesn't have very deeply developed main characters, which I generally agree with (although they do fit with the anime). BUT out of the big three shounen, I would say it has the best "VIBE": it has good music, awesome villains and STYLE; no seriously did you look at the DRIP that the characters have? Kubo should really have designed clothing... I am basically stating that, Bleach is a vibe.

It helps that I love supernatural settings (hello Yuu Yuu Hakusho) too; I just can't get enough of that sense of "mystery" that just pairs well with the music (or maybe it's the music that makes it that way?) and the story in general and it's... uniqueness; and no, not in terms of the generic shonen story, but in terms of the overall feel it gives compared to other shounens. I guess if you don't like it, you just don't get the vibe???

Jokes aside, let's talk about the current anime. I have read the manga until the end and yes there are scenes that I am kind of disappointed that are cut, but in the first place; those were cut because of complaints (from what I have heard, which is second-hand information); consumers are never happy aren't they? Ok, I agree, although I was hype, I feel like the first episode could have been a bit better, and there are bits here and there that I would have changed in the 2nd too (trying not to spoil so won't be too specific), but overall I know this arc is gonna rock and I am sure Kubo is looking at the big picture too; there are a lot of things that will happen, thus some things might need cutting. Even though I am nitpicking, I still think it was pretty well directed and executed overall and I was still hooked.

Although the new animation looks beautiful, I am not a fan of the 3d animation they used in the first episode for the hollows. The fights and cleanness from all the rest though compensates totally for it, and we won't be seeing much of it I presume as this arc doesn't contain a lot of hollows. Besides that, Bleach has never looked any better; which I am so thankful for.

The music remixes from old OST have been also a hit; the intro is a banger; I feel like bleach never disappoints when it comes to music, I would even come to say that it's the main reason why I truly enjoy the show. Music is completely subjective, but most people I know or talked to all agree that bleach's music is one of the big reasons why people fall in love with it. Some may not like it, and that's fine, surprisingly not all people in this world like chocolate either (weird right??), I wasn't a fan of the hollified remix; but I still think it fit and I am sure it's just a matter of getting used to it.

The characters are alsowhat made people stop bleach and made others into bleach fans at the same time. I agree that the main cast is very.... boring?; to a point where it gets pretty easy to know what most of them will say and how they will act at most times, and I am saying this even though I love them (let's exclude Orihime from here hahaha). Their dialogue is pretty easy to guess. This season they haven't seemed to change that much either, but I am liking the tension that stems from Uryu. The side characters and the villains thought? Broooooooooo. My favorite captains are back with style and am happy that you could see them in the first few episodes. I am also super stoked to see the villains in this arc come on air. I am also looking forward to the fights; this is the war arc after all.

For me, anime; like any form of entertainment; it all boils down to enjoyment. Even though I have some knicks and knacks, I have never felt this excited again to watch anime; and bleach, even though has never been the best show for me from a critical point of view, has always been the best at hyping me up and getting me excited to watch the next episode; a feeling I haven't felt ever since I was in my early teens, where I would go to school and just think about Bleach all day and would run back home just so I could binge watch it. I rewatched it, even with fillers, and still felt that way the second time and even when reading the manga. Rare are shows, or games nowadays that give me this feeling, and somehow, even through my nagging, I just can't contain my excitement for the next episode of this season.

Bleach is back and it is better than ever. The Thousand Year Blood War is for me the second best arc this story has to offer.
I know a lot of people hate on Bleach because it's popular. A lot of people are already complaining even though we only have 4 episodes up until now.

People are saying it's too fast paced. It's not, a lot of shounen now and in the past just adapt stories way too slow. If it was paced slower it would become boring, like what happened in the original anime.

People are saying it's too slow paced and that it's taking ... too long for the invasion to start. You need build-up before you introduce your villains, you know.

People think the fights are repetitive and boring. The fight with Opie is amazing. And yes, Opie suddenly reveals a new ability and to some that might feel like an asspull. But that's what makes the fights in any shounen intresting. New techniques and enemies. Some of the abilities Opie shows are things Uryuu has used in the past. We are only 4 episodes in and let me tell you, there are some amazing fights to come.

People find the characters boring. But they're not. I do feel like certain characters could have been used more, but even those characters aren't boring to me. They all add to the story in their own way. Whether that be being useful in a fight or adding comedy to the story or adding humanity to it.

People are saying this is just a cashgrab. The anime was always supposed to come back. Plus, most people think that Bleach got cancelled because of low ratings. What financial gain would you have by reviving a dead series, unless it's not actually dead. This video goes more in-depth about why the anime was cancelled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npQvWmqIoAE

People are saying Bleach is a boring series. But it is part of the Big 3 for a reason. People liked it back then, it became popular for a reason. People enjoy it right now for a reason. It's entertaining. I know there are a lot of issues with Bleach. I read the manga and I know why people hate certain aspects of it. But the staff is really trying their best with this anime and you can clearly see it. If you are searching for a deep story with a convoluted plot then maybe this is not your cup of tea. But not a lot of shounen is that. Not Bleach or Naruto or One Piece or My Hero Academia or Hunter x Hunter or Jujutsu Kaisen or ... . None of those anime are that. They have a message, they have something that can strike a cord with you. But they not that deep. They are just here to entertain and they are doing a great job at that. I love all those series and out of all of them, I like Bleach the most.

as big fan of this series i love what they done with this arc.
they delete all comedy content from the manga and make minor changes, and what we see now is masterpiece.

Sounds
the ost in bleach series is Fire ,and this arc no doubt is fantastic I LOVE IT.
10/10

art
bleach is always known of wonderful animation back days, this arc is worth the wait
this gorgeous animation is in next level.
... 10/10

characters
at this point we all know all the old characters and how great they are.
for the new enmy so far they only 5 eps we can't talk too much here.
but for what we see is well done characters.
10/10

story
with 4 to 6 chapters adapt per episode and what we see until now make the story phenomenal.
10/10

overall 10/10

6th episode will be the famous "6th episode" after next week and probably will hold the "best bleach episode ever" title until the end of time.

I really can't understand the viewpoint of the people who give mid scores to this anime and say it's cutting a lot of material from the manga, as a person who watched the old bleach and read the whole manga I am really enjoying this "fast pace" on the early episodes. It brings this arcs shock effect to the maximum and plus Tite Kubo is in this adaptation people, it's probably the writer's choice to give bleach a fresh, jump ... start after loads of fillers and silly fights lasting like 5 episodes. Personally, I am really enjoying it so far.

So if we are done with these gibberish arguments I would like to point out the things that are going crazy in the anime right now. I am writing this review and only 5 eps are out right now. 5th episode was crazy and like I said 6th episode will be the famous 6th episode after next week and probably will win the "best bleach episode ever" title until the end of time. I don't wanna spoil anything., just holding on to your chairs, maintain your blood pressure throughout the episode, and hopefully finish it before dying from joy would be my advice.

Soundtrack-wise, I am speechless. Shiro Sagisu was always great but making this soundtrack this good in his sixties is a crime. The way he gives Quincies their brand-new menacing imperial themes, bringing old soundtrack with a new taste and adding his "epic theme collection" new tunes every single episode is just.. like I said, I am speechless. I was waiting for a good OST but this one blew my mind and I hope after the first break this season he releases some of the tracks cause I can't wait 2 years to listen to this masterpiece.

The animation- is good. I can't say I lost my mind over it, definatly doesn't have the vibe of the old episodes but a new taste of its own and I think that appropriate to the situation Bleach is in right now, like after what, 8-10 years you are animating the last arc of an anime and it looks different. Tho to be honest even in manga the distinction between the TYBW arc and the rest is very clear, at least it is to me. So animation and color palettes are different from old but I don't think they are bad but fitting to the situation at hand. I am sure some will say old was better drawn and some will say new has fluent action, I will say I love both and am very pleased with the animation quality for this arc.

Gotta add something about the voice actors real quick, I have 4 issues in mind, first,
-Yamamoto's voice actor passed away and the new VA nailed it so that's a relief.
-Ichigo's VA has grown old I think, his voice is more crispy, and especially the Getsuga-Tenshou sounds a bit different but I am okay with that right now.
-I don't know what happened to Hitsugaya and Byakuya tho. Both have the same VAs but Hitsugaya sounds very deep and Byakuya is just not the Byakuya, he doesn't have that sound in his voice anymore and speaks very casually. I guess the only thing I dislike about the anime at the moment is how they butchered Byakuya's sound with the same actor.

Final notes--
Watching Bleach with this new look and fast pacing really is a lecture on "how you bring a 10-year-old shonen anime to life" and i think we will be seeing this formula for other old animes in upcoming years. Loving how Bleach proceeds right now and I am very satisfied with the outcome, cant actually wait for the new episodes, it's that good.

bleach returned to the top.the animation is very well done. It's a little rushed but nothing that spoils the experience when watching.

The ART style is fantastic, seems like a movie.
I love it and recommend it to everyone.

I'm looking forward to seeing the main fights of the arc, Kubo said there will be a lot of extra content


Is the story unique? If it was predictable, did you enjoy it anyway because you like this genre/set-up? a littele but os shonen
Do you think the art style is fitting for the story? Yes
... Were the characters well-rounded? Did they have flaws and strengths, or were they unusually strong/smart/stupid?
The characters are just like the manga
Did the characters react to situations and events in a realistic way? yes
Do you think others will enjoy/dislike this series, even if you didn't? Why?
Because the número os back

There is still so much more to see if you know what happens during the Thousand Year Blood War arc, so I doubt it could be condensed into only 13 episodes. I will say though, from what else has released this year Bleach is leagues beyond a majority of other new Anime out this year. Great designs, fights, OG voice actors, the animation is superb in so many areas compared to something like Demon Slayer (which is still good in its own way). I would recommend Bleach and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners as the two top contenders for this year alone, but again its ... just getting started 6 episodes deep, still a ton going on, but you know this is gonna be a long and action-packed arc if you've read the manga.
Overall, I'm giving it a 10 because unlike other Shonen that have lost a lot of what made them special back in the day (Think about how Naruto has devolved into Boruto), I really only think the only other Anime that can stand the test of time like that is One Piece. In terms of the sub vs dub I think both are great but there's definitely a lot of rust going on with the dub voice actors comparatively to the OG japanese VAs. Johnny Yong Bosch sounds identical and gives the same energy as he did way back in the day as Ichigo, of course, and Chad's voice actor replacement fits superbly but overall I think the sub may be more ideal if you are new to Bleach. Back then, the dub was one of the best around and still holds up, I just think COVID has complicated a lot of the recording process for the dub artists and in Japan it's more intimate (you're required to show up at the studio to record in most circumstances, whereas western dubs you can usually get away with recording at home). It's more of a circumstance of the time we're living in, but it's amazing to see Tite Kubo's work brought to life once more for one final masterpiece.

The final arc of Bleach started and honestly a lot of importance has happened to make it worthy a review of the whole thing. This is about the first 3 Episodes and it seems people want to push the hate over the quality of the show. This review will give you a different perspective with foresight about what to happen.

These 3 episodes so far where everything and build up with mostly talks giving us information we didnt knew while information we don't know being kept reserved.
The pacing is better than in the manga but even with that it took 3 episodes for the set up ... for the invasion of the Wandenreich, the main antagonist, to finish.

The anime is fixing out a lot of content from the manga, most were needless like the interaction between Arrancar and the main cast mid battle against one of the lastest foes. But that can hardly be called a battle since after each attack there were several minutes worthy on characters sharing information.
Additional content promised add much either. Uryu and Ryuuken get a scene where they interact and it would seem Uryu would push his dad for more information... sadly we don't see that happen. Thus many of the additional scenes feel welcome.
Another needed scene is that is that the whole cast appear to fight a bunch of hollow instead of just Ichigo. Despite being vastly superior, they all use their strongest abilities like Ichigo using his freaking Bankai against to welcome the fans once again. If someone is complaining fanservice just because its dumb ichigo will use it on weaker enemies then they were never fans on the first place.

Regarding the infogreat scenes, the viewers are introduced to 2 POV characters who suppose to be fully-fledged Shinigami, did seem to have gotten a briefing about the area they are going to protect like how Ichigo Kurosaki looks like and Spiritual Awareness.

The setting is also lifefull. While it was night while the hollows attacked, the explosions and chaos created during the fights did cause a lot of panic.
Same in Soul Society where a murder ocurred off screen and we don't see any of it.

Also the anime adapted perfectly Kubo's cinematography visually like how Ichigo recalls what Uryu said about the phone call infogreat in the manga, a missing scene in the anime that got so needed to be expanded to safe animation and pace in the runtime. Kubo is apparently involved but a very good scene like that is gone to the heavens.

But if you turn on your brain and consume the pretty visuals and excellent narrative, it is easy to get what is going on. Certainly worthy a movie or old style OVA. The opening is also a great advertisement treating characters that do a lot later as important. But the opening and ending songs are amazing. Some redone ost are also good like Number 1 while others like Hollowfied sound better.

If you have already read the arc, you are getting much out of it unless you want to see the big scenes animated for which you have to wait at least for episode 4 where the invasion begins.
If you are a intelligent consumer, if you like pretty colors... great animation, visuals, complex characters and great story. you have them here
If you want something else, then go look for it.

Bleach is the Goat and what a fucking finale episode it was!

From animation to music everything was top tier. You are guaranteed to have at least 1 goosebumps moment in every episode, I certainly enjoyed it more than overrated CSM.

From baddass characters to awesome VA's everything about this first cour is splendid.
The best thing for me was the quincy king and his subordinates, they were baddass uff, I enjoyed them the most.

I wasn't even that big of a fan of bleach before but now after this marvelous season it's in my top 10. I don't wanna spoil you so without making it any longer ... let me tell you watch it enjoy this epic arc.

We are back in number one baby!

The animation are top tier, the story flow nicely compared to old bleach, people who said it never changed, is just a pure hater of bleach or just didn't watch enough of it.

The fights are like Anime movie is superb!

Also I like that they didn't hold back on the gore and mature content, I was worried that they will butchered and make it heavenly censored, I'm glad they did not.

I think a lot of people will like this even new viewers or just starting their journey on Anime world, a lot of people considered Bleach is the weakest ... in the Big #3 and I big to differ. I've been watching that Big 3 since I was still in Primary School, and bleach is really the top for me, 2nd Naruto and last DBZ (I don't watch boruto or DBZ anymore) I'm just glad that they didn't destroy Bleach and actually they make it so much better!

I'm just sad that a lot of people and a fan of Bleach will never ever see this masterpiece because they are not here anymore. It makes me also think to the people who are waiting for HxH how long it will take.

(Technically this is not a review. This is just the words of a Bleach fan.)

When Bleach ended nearly 10 years ago and when its manga ended nearly 6 years ago, I was heartbroken probably like every other Bleach fan out there. I was heartbroken because I thought we'd never get to see Thousand-Year Blood War arc on screen. I DID MY WAITING, 10 YEARS OF IT! Jokes aside, the day I thought would never come finally arrived. I just completed it and I still can not believe I actually watched 13 episodes of TYBW on screen. The day the first episode aired, I was afraid ... that my expectations (due to the long waiting) could never be satisfied but I have never felt so wrong in my life. TYBW exceeded my high expectations and left me craving for more.

Amazing animations from character designs to battle scenes, heavy tension from the beginning till the end, bloodbath, amazing flashbacks for characters like Unohana, Zaraki, Isshin and Masaki, Yamamoto and so on. TYBW gave me everything I could possibly ask for, except more episodes but hell, my waiting for the arrival of the continuation of this will be easier now compared to the past because I know it will be here sooner or later.

Even though I don't really enjoy shounens that much anymore, Bleach will always have a special place in my heart and I will keep enjoying it even if I'm 60 years old. Thank you Tite Kubo for this amazing work and thank you studio Pierrot for bringing this work into life so brilliantly.

10/10

INTRODUCTION
I'm a recent fan of Bleach, so much so that just this week I finished Bleach and with the huge hype that was for this new arc I threw myself in head first and I can tell you that Bleach - A Thousand Year Blood War is an inexplicable work of art.
Studio Pierrot has undoubtedly done a magnificent job in terms of animating Bleach even from the original anime as well as this new arc that exceeded limits and gave a gift to all the fans who have waited years for this continuation and I am a recent fan. ... I can understand the passion that Pierrot put here, The animations are magnificent, the soundtrack is spectacular and above all the combat choreography is ridiculously incredible.

The story
As I'm not a manga reader at least not in this new arc, I'll try to summarize with what we've been presented so far, Bleach Thousand Year Blood War takes place as a continuation of the events of the original anime saga after the Fullbringer arc. We are then presented with a new threat Yhwach "The Quincy King" and his Stein Ritter army that comes in search of the complete destruction of Soul Society, and this is a very brief summary so as not to give you the entire plot that is being developed throughout these episodes.

Animation
As I already mentioned in the introduction, animation is an aspect that Pierrot has undoubtedly put all its passion into, and that passion is visible, all the scenes are impeccable, 3D is used but it is not something strange and ridiculous, but something that it makes the experience even more captivating if seen on high quality monitors, without giving away spoilers I want to give my personal opinion about episode 6 "The Fire" which is a superb visual spectacle and which made me "applaud" the work put here.

Characters
Well, Bleach's characters, quite charismatic and incredible, are characters that you can undoubtedly get attached to and all of them with very different characteristics and with a phenomenal presence, I'm not going to lie, I wish there was more emphasis on certain characters than it's been shown so far it's pretty good having some changed looks which I thought was really cool.

The Pace of the Episodes
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I'm not a manga reader in this arc and I'm just going to stick with what I'm seeing in the anime.
There are some animes that don't know how to make an interesting pace, but in Bleach that doesn't happen, since the beginning it's full of action and things happening and that makes the experience so addictive that we don't even realize the 24 minutes of the episode to pass, the estudio knew how to balance the story scenes with the fight scenes very well and applied the BRUTAL soundtracks that make Bleach Thousand Year Blood War a spectacular arc.

Conclusion
Bleach Thousand Year Blood War is an excellent continuation of what the original anime was and is a love letter to all the older fans of this anime and the more recent ones who have joined this magnificent work of art created by Tite Kubo.
And I highly recommend seeing this sequel, it's a superb job by Pierrot and my grade is without a doubt a very high 10.

Thanks for reading this far
NitreX

Hate or Love Bleach, you cannot deny that Bleach tybw was the perfect adaptation! I waited until the series was completed to rate and give my opinion on the series as a whole.

Animation & Art 10/10 - You can tell the love and effort that was put into this arc.

Story 10/10 - Bleach has been known for all action and no story, but we got so much revelations, news, lore, flashbacks, and so much more with this arc only.

Pacing 10/10 - The problem with OG Bleach was the pacing which is bound to happen with the anime being so close to the source ... content, but the pacing in tybw was perfect. not too slow but not too fast.

Conclusion: I came into tybw not expecting much, but this series blew me! The best return of any anime i've ever seen. I can't wait for the 2nd cour to come this summer. ICHIGOAT!~

Let's get something straight, Bleach as a story and everything about it is not a 10/10. But if we're talking about this season and the medium that is anime and what Pierrot has accomplished, this is nothing short of a masterpiece. The directing, the music (Bleach always had the best bangers of all the big 3), the animation, it's peak anime. Judging just solely off an artistic standpoint Bleach TYBW is what other animes strive to achieve and it might be the nostalgia talking but I don't even care, I have no regrets giving it a 10/10. Bleach was once at the top, beating out ... everyone and had insane potential. You can tell that the studio and everyone working on this is really passionate about finishing off one of the most iconic anime with the justice it deserves, and as a fan who long awaited for it's final arc to be animated I couldn't be happier with what we got.

What's interesting about the storyline

The story is definitely not predictable especially for anime onlys, overall for the story it was awesome, sometimes mind-blowing, especially On that one episode was shown, where the Head Captain Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryusai was fighting against the Quincy King, Yhwach, the animation was Top-tier, words can't describe how awesome that episode was, but I can ASSURE you, it was DEFINITELY better than that new season of Demon Slayer (Demons got defeated, u know the scene where demon siblings was in a total defeat, both d£cap!tated, died side by side). The massive plot-twist at the end of episode 9 also caught ... us all off-guard despite the Head Captain Yamamoto showing-off his enormous and monstrous powers (4 Bankai destroying "Yhwach") It was a huge disastrous Brute Force against Brilliant Strategy. the Zangetsu = Not really Zangetsu, but rather, the appearance of the Quincy King, 2000 Years ago, legit I was in a massive shook. Y'all won't believe it, my reaction and legit every youtube reactors faces was in TOTAL DISBELIEF, MASSIVE SHOOK hits us hard.

The Animation Quality

The animation for the art style IS MOST DEFINITELY fits the story 100%, I even consider it's better than the colored manga, NGL TO Y'ALL.. The visuals, artworks, animation quality is a SPOT ON! To the point where it rivals the Demon Slayer new season's OP animation quality, and don't get me wrong! Both has showed us amazing visuals so far. Not to mention the gore visualized from the very start of the episode to eps 13, the brutality, the gore, ruthlessness of the characters was WILD. 💀 I'd like to name every Dangerously OP, characters with Top-Tier Powers of both Warring Factions.

Gotei 13 & their second in Command:


1.The Head Captain (Commander in Chief): Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryūsai, age: over 2 milleniums (+2000 Years Old) Powers: Ryūjin Jakka, the Blade of the Enormous Flame, Bankai: East, West, South & North (details on *spoiler alert* episode 9, old man Yama VS Yhwach)

2. Zaraki Kenpachi (Captain), Dangerous man, considered as one of the 5 Special Threats issued by the Quincy King. Powers: Extremely Durable, Relentless Brutal Strikes, Ruthless Deadly Slashes, Overwhelming amount of Spiritual Pressure, Gets stronger everytime he receives strikes.

3. Kyōraku Shinsui (Lately Appointed Head Captain) Powers: He can teleport straight behind, under, and within enemy's shadows to perform a deadly strike, Dual-wielding Zanpakuto user. Deadly and wide huge scale of Bankai radius. He appears weak but deep down, he's too dangerous and cold-blooded. Bankai: Katen Kyokotsukaramatsu Shinju.

4. Aizen Sōsuke (Currently under 20.000 Year of Sentence). A cold-blooded Four-eyes mf, Zanpakuto: KyokaSuigetsu (Complete Hypnosis); He can put every individuals including those with OP traits under his mirage, fake and full of hypnosis, after making visual contact on his Zanpakuto), he can freely put everybody under complete hypnosis whenever he wills. Has reached a higher type of entity above Quincy, Espada, Soul Reapers, Arrancar & Hollows.

5. Urahara Kisuke (Former Captain put under Exile of the Previous Gotei-13)
ALSO considered as one of the 5 Special Threats issued by the Quincy King, Master of Tricks, Urahara Kisuke. Mastered every type of Kido & Bakudo, Possess a very mysterious Bankai (a bizarre and deadly one).

6. Kurosaki Ichigo


The characters are nice and well written, especially in the colored manga where the details are included. But when they all comes alive in the anime, everything is absolutely SPOT ON and legit comes out with each characters has their own unique and power traits, from the very Top to Low Tier level. Both factions (Gotei 13 & Sternritter) each with their own crazy amount of spiritual pressures and deadly firepowers (legit I mean, they're like the PHD's when it times to brutal k!llings, relentless ch()ppings, slash!ng their enemies with no mercy nor any remorse was truly horrifying, and I'm being honest with y'all, it could affect you psychologically, mentally and it sticks to your minds once you guys witness the brutality shown in the anime like a super glue. None of us manga readers was expecting the gore, none of us manga readers expected any brutality in this massive 10-years long awaited return, and the victims of those brutalities was visualized so real thanks to the voice actors, the screaming, terrifying high-pitched screaming in agony caught us all manga readers off-guard.

I’ve watched bleach a little in the past but never watched past the soul society arc (which I thought was good). With the announcement of this season, I watched from start to finish in order to catch up and be able to watch weekly with friends. Let me say this…:

This is EASILY one of my favourite arcs in Bleach, THE RISK, SENSE OF DANGER, REMIXED OSTs, EPISODE TITLE REVEALS, POEMS, ART DIRECTION, THE SYMBOLISM the list goes on and on!! For those who are saying that “it feels rushed” and “seems boring with boring music and dialogue” I’d say coming off of the previous seasons ... it does not seem rushed (picking up essentially right where it left off after the fullbringer arc) and pacing has been AMAZING. Fights have been animated beautifully and the stakes are kicked up to 💯

If it’s been years since you’ve watched the previous seasons I’d recommend a recap video on YouTube at least first before diving in. And as for the music?? Absolute BANGER remixes of the beloved OST soundtracks, loved it from start to finish

WELL DESERVED comeback 🔥