Thousand Year Blood War Arc: Everything We Know So Far!

Bleach, Thousand Year Blood War Arc might be the biggest anime comeback in quite a while. After all, it is coming back after a WHOLE decade.

Everybody is expecting great things from this anime and I think it is gonna live up to the hype. Before we gear up, let’s go through everything we know so far about this final arc.

Thousand Year Blood War Arc episodes will be released in 4 cours(roughly 50 episodes) and will be available weekly. The streaming platform is not yet confirmed. The anime is going to be uncensored and include fight sequences that weren’t part of the manga.

1. Release Date and Premiere

The release date has been confirmed and the final season of Bleach is going to air on the 10th of October, 2022 almost after a decade.

Studio Pierrot has taken up the duty to finish what it started and they are putting in a lot of work to do justice to the show.

The show will be available to watch on Crunchyroll or Disneyplus, but it is not confirmed yet. It will resume from episode 367 onwards where season 16 previously left off.

2. Episode Count

According to official statements, Bleach anime will run in 4 cour. One cour is roughly around 12-13 episodes, meaning that the last season might be anywhere from 48 to 52 episodes.

This number is understandable as the Thousand-year blood arc spans around 206 chapters and makes up almost one-third of all the chapters. I think at 50 episodes, we are most likely going to get a proper adaptation.

The episodes will also be released weekly which is a huge relief for many fans. There’s also going to be a gap period between the cours but nothing has been confirmed yet.

2 pre-screening episodes were released, and fans have been saying that these episodes are a lot longer than usual anime episodes. We do not know if the run time would be longer for other episodes as well, all we can do now is speculate.

3. The Trailers Look Amazing, The Anticipation Sores Higher!

There are two official trailers released so far and the animation is amazing. Sternritter and Quincy King have been introduced. The opening theme song is revealed to be ‘Scar’ by Tatsuya Kitano.

The animation we see in the trailer is gorgeous. The backgrounds look rich, what else, fans who have watched the pre-screening episodes have been saying that the animation is movie quality.

The new characters introduced include the main antagonists Yhwach, the Quincy King and Sternritter. Along with the new characters, the previously defeated arrancars, fullbringers, soul reapers and visoreds will be part of the show.

The cast is huge and for this reason, Studio Pierrot has hired almost around 80 voice actors for the recording.

Bleach has always been known for its great openings and this arc’s opening theme is going to be ‘Scar’ by Tatsuya Kitano. There are also talks that Hiroyuki Sawano has produced the ending song, but it is not confirmed yet.

And finally, we get to hear Ban..kai once again in trailer 2 which was released on 14 September and it fills every bleach fan with pure excitement.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - Official Trailer 2 (2022)
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – Official Trailer 2 (2022)
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War | Official Trailer

4. Look Out For The Gore, Bleach New Season 17 Is Going To be Uncensored

The previous seasons of bleach were toned down by a lot and there was a lot of censoring. This was understandable considering the target demographic.

However, things are going to be different this time around. They are going to air bleach at a much later time in the night for a mature audience.

The anime will not be censored and is expected to have a lot of gore. This is going to add to the weight and intensity of the fight sequences and make them more thrilling.

Tite Kubo Bleach Creator Interview 2022 | Thousand Year Blood War
Tite Kubo Bleach Creator Interview 2022 | Thousand Year Blood War

5. Kubo For the Win

Tite Kubo is going to oversee the entire process of production and animation, fans can only anticipate how much better the show would be with the involvement of the writer.

We also know that Kubo was in a rush to finish the manga and hence was not able to include quite a few fight sequences, but since he is working with the production team he is going to include those fights as well.

He has also mentioned looking out for the Yhwach vs Yamamoto fight, when the writer tells you to look out for something, you can imagine the scale of the fight.

6. Story So Far

As the decade-long wait is coming to an end, let’s refresh our memory a little.

Aizen was defeated but Ichigo has to sacrifice his spiritual energy for the purpose, we see him bid goodbye to Rukia. Seventeen months after the entire fiasco, we see him living a normal high school life.

The peaceful life comes to an end when they encounter an assailant who can manipulate objects. The ability is dubbed Fullbring which is a power acquired by those whose pregnant mothers were attacked by Hollows.

Thousand Year Blood War Arc: Everything We Know So Far!
Ichigo | Source: IMDb

Ichigo trains to use these new powers from Ginjo. However, the friend turns out to be for, and Ginjo steals Ichigo’s powers. Ichigo falls into despair but Rukia saves the day by impaling him with a sword that carries the powers of Thirteen Court Squad captains.

Ichigo regains his soul reaper powers and defeats Ginjo and thanks Rukia.

This, however, isn’t a very satisfying way to refresh your memory, is it? Then what are waiting for, go rewatch bleach and get ready for the new season.

7. Conclusion

Bleach was dropped over a decade ago and we were all anticipating a new season. It is going to be released on October 10. The show is going to be exciting with the new characters and gorgeous animation with Kubo overseeing everything. This is going to be one hell of a ride, so buckle up!!!

8. About Bleach

Bleach is a Japanese anime television series based on Tite Kubo’s manga of the same name. The anime series adapts Kubo’s manga but also introduces some new, original, self-contained story arcs.

It is based in Karakura Town on a 15-year-old high school student Ichigo Kurosaki who becomes a substitute Soul Reaper when Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper, puts Soul Reaper powers in Ichigo. They barely manage to kill the hollow.

Although initially reluctant to accept the heavy responsibility, he begins eliminating some more hollows and also discovers that several of his friends and classmates are spiritually aware and have powers of their own.

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