Story & Characters: There's really not a ton to expand upon with the story, and, given the landscape that we already have, that's perfectly fine. Ichigo and friends finally make it to the castle where Yhwach is standing by, and the entirely of the Soul Society needs to find a way to stop him - by any means necessary.
Something that often gets expanded upon with new characters in a final season are more backstories. That's something that happens once again with a few of the Sternritter and while the stories, particularly with Bazz-B. While these tales are solid on their own, inserting them into the main story really breaks the continuity and pacing of the series. It's so hard to implement well, as something like Demon Slayer has struggled to do this properly. I'm mostly okay with the way Pierrot Films has gone about this because it builds something up for our characters. We even get some background story on Nanao, someone who we haven't seen much during our Bleach journey. It's unique and her weird relationship with her captain makes a lot more sense now.
Some characters from the past return, affecting the story in different ways. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but it never really feels like they're totally there for a reason, outside of "save the world". It's fine, but nothing mindblowing. Fight sequences, however, bring no indecisiveness to what's going on, and while we did get a bit too simple with some fights, there's no question that they're flashy, and display just how strong some of our cast members are. We obviously haven't seen everyone at full power yet, and that leaves us with more to chew on when the final season airs. (Story: 8/10, Characters: 9/10)
Art: Animation remains consistent throughout the season for the most part. This is the studio that also did Naruto, and I was expected some amount of lower quality at some point because of their history. I'm happy to report that the series looks solid. (9/10)
Sound: Monochrome, the ED by suisoh, was probably my favourite tune this time around. I wasn't too high on the OP though. Voice work remains strong, with more returnees from the first series bringing in strong work, including Lucien Dodge (Yukio), Cristina Vee (Riruka) and David Vincent (Grimmjow). Terrance Stone (Mayuri) might've put together my fabourite performance this time around though. (9/10)
Overall: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Conflict remains strong, even if it's still not as good as the first season. There's tons of action, plenty of story weaved in throughout and we can tell we're finally building up to the final showdown. I'm very excited, as should each and every other Bleach fan out there. (9/10)
