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*Spoilers for Bleach, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and the first three episodes of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Separation*

Tite Kubo's 7.2 Billion dollar Bleach Empire. Bleach is and has always been an extremely popular anime/manga series. Even before Bleach had an anime adaptation, it was still pulling some large numbers and stood on the podium of the highest-grossing manga series of its time. And from the very beginning, since 2001 when the first chapter was released till 2016; a little more than 15 years, Bleach has been compiled into 74 volumes and has approximately 130 million copies in circulation, making it one of ... the best-selling manga titles ever, while also solidifying its position in The Big Three of anime/manga series of the early 2000s.

And thus, 193 days—just over half a year—after the last episode of The Blood Warfare, the Bleach anime is back with Part 2: The Separation. And although I am still really happy about its return, this season could be a disaster in the making as around 70 or more chapters would be adapted from the manga would be adapted into 13 episodes, which worries me about the story's pacing. However, the pacing appears to be okay as of the first three episodes, but only time will tell if that will continue to be the case.

STORY - 10

Some of its strongest points are its narrative and world-building. However, it could be just me, but the first episode requires you to remember points from earlier in the 2004 adaptation and some of the episodes from the first Cour, which aired a little over 6 months ago. Nevertheless, this is a minor issue and has little bearing on how much your viewing experience will be impacted as a whole. As I stated before, the plot is also one of the most engaging aspects of the show. The story keeps you intrigued since the plot never becomes stale and rarely slows down, alongside the major foreshadowing from parts prior.
This stays true even in the newest Cour when the Wandenreich invades the Soul Society. Within moments, there is absolute chaos.

Another major element that I like about Bleach is worldbuilding. There are numerous distinct races in the Bleach universe, and each of these races has a characteristic that sets it apart from the others. The characters don't always have the same appearance, they don't always have the same ability, they don't always follow the same rules, and they don't always have the same aims and beliefs, and this uniqueness can be found in almost every arc of the story, allowing for variation between the arcs. Finally, there are the dimensions, each of which has unique properties. The settings can be anything from a planet with a constant night and an unending white desert to an afterlife that resembles the world of the living without many of the hardships and struggles, plus many more.

The plot of this story has so many twists and turns that it never gets predictable, which is one feature I particularly liked about it. Every episode leaves you wondering what's going to happen next. I could go on and on describing the plot, but much of it would just be me recounting earlier things that happened in The Blood Warfare Part 1. So in short, the first three episodes of Part 2 certainly have one of the best forms of storytelling I've seen in recent times and I cannot wait to see where it goes from here.

ART - 9.5

Tite Kubo's art style is one of my favourites, and I love the way he creates his characters. But if you asked me why I would say that, I wouldn't know how to respond; I just like it. But, aside from that, the way the characters are drawn in the anime is also reasonably good, albeit not as aesthetically appealing as the art in the Bleach manga, but it is still good.

The quality of the backgrounds is magnificent, they're detailed, beautiful and full of detail, everything looks so believable and the overall presentation of the backgrounds was beautiful to look at, even if I wasn't paying attention to them at first. The same may be said for the animation. It was smooth (for the most part), with good facial expressions and body language. However, there were certain times when things felt out of sync, but the animation did an outstanding job depicting the characters' feelings. Did I mention how good the visuals for the opening and ending are? The opening is a masterwork in itself, featuring great camera angles, characters and some stunning backgrounds and colour schemes, and paired with a great song adds to the overall experience.

In terms of detail, I'd say they put more effort into quality than smoothness, as each individual frame was visually spectacular, but the fluidity or smoothness suffered as a result. To summarize, the art is beautiful, and the animation is appropriate for the events taking place. There isn't much to complain about in terms of visual and animation choices.

SOUND - 9

As far as I'm concerned, the sound design was flawless, albeit this was to be expected. The music fit the scenes well, and the voice acting, which also happened to fit every scenario, added to my enjoyment. Because of the fantastic work of their VAs, the characters feel like they've been brought to life, and the opening theme song for this Cour is really outstanding!

Did I mention how good the SFXs are? Well, although I wouldn't compare it to the sound effects that are done by David Production in Fire Force and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the sound effects are still very impressive and do a good job when needed. Great voice acting, incredible sound design, a fantastic soundtrack, not much to complain about.

CHARACTER - 10

One of the main reasons I enjoyed this series so much was because the characters were so well-developed. The characters were mentally and physically different.

Another thing I love about the characters is their design and how their personalities are distinctive from one another, as well as their physical attributes, making them all memorable. They each have unique personality traits and designs that make them distinct from one another but also in a sense personifies their abilities, making them look like they are the embodiment of their abilities themselves. Such an amazing job was done with the designs of these characters to really allow them to be distinguished among themselves as well as giving each character the identity that they deserve and need to express their ability.

ENJOYMENT - 10

Let me begin by saying that this was a wonderful journey thus far; it built on the prior material we had learned about during the first cour and provided us with a great introduction back into the world of Bleach, as well as the narrative and events that are taking place. The animation, voice acting and sound design, dialogue between characters, the colours used to convey the mood and even the characters themselves were well executed and fit together very well, with no issues that heavily stood out or took away enjoyment from the experience. While I cannot say how well the anime will go on, after this episode, I hope the future ahead is bright. One thing that did strike out for me was how short it felt, despite each episode being only 24 minutes long. Nothing felt rushed. It's entertaining, fascinating and will undoubtedly leave you with enough to think about until next week when the next episode airs.


OVERALL - 10

With an outstanding start to the series that was filled with amazing artwork, wonderful animation, a superb soundtrack, engaging voice acting and writing, all delivered smoothly and seamlessly that really makes you feel immersed into the setting and characters of Bleach, all of which blend together nicely and gives the viewer a pleasant experience. While the length could have been longer, everything was well-paced so there was never a moment where it felt like it was tedious or where any scene seemed to drag on longer than it needed to. For such a long-running series, I don't think there has ever been an anime that has captured my interest quite like this before, and while this is only the beginning, this is a very promising start and I can't wait to see what else is in store for us. I'll leave it at that, but if you have not watched or read Bleach yet, do yourself a favour and pick it up, because this is definitely something worth watching! That's all I have to say for today and have a wonderful rest of your day!