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The release ofBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Waris imminent, and fans are ecstatic about its return. After having seen the first two parts of the new anime already, it’s not hard to see why they’re so excited, as the franchise is at a peak it’s never really touched before.
I remember first encounteringBleachonAdult Swim back in the early 2000s, and I was captivated by the intricate world and diversity of characters that the series had to offer, even from the start. As the story expanded into the Soul Society arc, I was hooked, watching each week to find out just how Ichigo and his friends would manage to save Rukia from this powerful organization of Soul Reapers. It captured me in a way thatOne PieceandNarutonever really managed to do, and I knew from then on thatBleachwas the Big Three series for me.
Even with that nostalgia, though, it’s easy to say thatThousand-Year Blood Warrepresents the best the anime has ever been, and it’s even improved on the original manga.
Bleach’s Return Is What It Always Should’ve Been
Bleach’s Original Anime’s Issues Are Completely Gone
Of course, the originalBleachanime isn’t a perfect adaptation, as most fans will readily admit.One ofBleach’s biggest problems was filler and padding, both types of content designed to drag out a story. Padding often took the form of unnecessary recap of recent episodes, reusing animation from those episodes to cut down on the total amount of new animation needed per episode, while filler represented content created from whole cloth for the anime which had no basis in the original manga.Bleachbecame infamous for its season-long filler arcs which often weren’t very good, and were inserted awkwardly into the story.
The anime had other issues as well; animation quality could vary substantially from episode to episode, often to save budget for big fights that would require more detailed animation. Censorship was also rampant in the anime, with wounds being depicted as far less severe than they were in the manga (one such case saw Uryu losing his entire hand in the manga, only to injure it beyond use in the anime). Of course, at the time I was watching it originally, many of these issues were rather far from my mind, as I was simply eager to find out what happened next.
Thousand-Year Blood Warhas fixed every one of the above problems without question. Instead of padding out events to drag them out longer, the anime has been adapting manga chapters at a rapid pace–some might even say too fast. The animation quality has been top-notch throughout, with every big fight given the respect it deserves. Even the censorship has been toned down substantially, with wounds being depicted every bit as grisly and terrifying as they were in the manga. It really feels like a full realization of what the manga had to offer.
Thousand-Year Blood War is Improving Upon the Manga
The New Series is Elaborating on Plot Points the Manga Barely Touched
One thing thatThousand-Year Blood Warhas done that’s really improved its quality as an adaptation is expanded on the content that’s there in satisfying ways. “Expanding on the content” may sound a lot like filler, but there really couldn’t be a bigger difference.Bleach’s filler was often irrelevant, and designed so as not to affect the on-going plot of the manga.Thousand-Year Blood Waris instead taking things from the manga that were breezed past and giving them the attention that they originally deserved.
Fans of the manga know thatTite Kubo endedBleachin a bit of a rush, as his health was failing, and he had agreed to finish the manga in a certain period of time. That meant there were many scenes which he wanted to explore more thoroughly, but simply wasn’t able to due to the circumstances. Kubo has been working with theThousand-Year Blood Warproduction team to help them expand on some of these moments, ensuring that the anime will have everything it needs, and won’t have to suffer because of the rush during the manga’s ending.
I Know The One Thousand-Year Blood War Scene The Anime Needs To Fix
The Bleach manga’s version of Thousand-Year Blood War has one scene which desperately needs to be fixed in the anime adaptation: the final battle.
In effect,Kubo is being given the chance to tell the manga’s ending again in a more satisfying way, and he’s seized upon this opportunity by incorporating new flashbacks showing Yhwach’s past, new scenes regarding Ichigo’s training, and revealing abilities, like the Bankai of Shinji Hirako and Senjumaru Shutara, which he couldn’t include in the original manga. These are all things that fans of the original manga really wanted to see, andThousand-Year Blood Warhas delivered beyond their expectations.
Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 Should Only Get Better
Part 3 Offers Room for More Positive Changes
With only about 76 chapters left to adapt, and both part 3 and part 4 yet to be released, it’s looking likely that the second half ofThousand-Year Blood Warwill have far more added content than the first half did. This is the part of the story that suffered the most from the rushed ending, so it definitely needs the most improvement. We’ve already seen from the trailers that there’sat least one new substantial fight, Uryu versus Senjumaru, that wasn’t in the manga, and hopefully that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Several characters could benefit from new fights, particularly among Ichigo’s friends.
There’s also the added scenes of Ichigo’s training to consider. These scenes have implied a connection between Ichigo and the Soul King, and just what they mean isn’t yet clear. It’s quite likely that this will play a role in part 3, since the Soul King will finally be appearing, as well as in other incarnations that fans have already seen.
While there have been some rumors of difficulty at Studio Pierrot regarding the production ofThousand-Year Blood War, the studio seems set on taking its time and getting this adaptation right. At the moment, there’s no reason to take these rumors seriously, and every reason to have high hopes for part 3 as it returns. I’m as excited forBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warpart 3 as I was to watch the original each week all those years ago, and that’s an achievement that signals just how highBleachhas been able to climb.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
Cast
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is a sequel series to the popular anime from creator Tite Kubo. This anime follows Ichigo and his friends as they investigate why people are disappearing while trouble arises in the Soul Society. The first season was released in 2022 and has been critically acclaimed since its beginning.
