It's been over ten years since the Bleach anime concluded mid-way through the manga's run. From the start, Bleach was a breath of fresh air for American audiences, the first truly adult shonen I can remember airing since Inuyasha. As a preteen who had grown bored with the censored versions of Naruto and One Piece (thanks 4Kids) it was nice to see an adaptation true to the original material. Gouts of blood, edgy characters, and the occasional curse word made it an anime that met me at my level of maturity.
But the series had a problem through it's long 300-plus episode run. It kept reaching the point where the ongoing manga was at and needing to scale itself back to allow more of the manga to release. Meaning so much filler and padding was put into Bleach that it dragged. There were whole seasons of filler — that's how bad it got.
With the manga completed and no barriers to telling the story, Studio Pierrot has hit it out of the park with Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War, one of the best anime series of last year (on par with Chainsaw Man for me).
Picking up after the Fullbringer arc (the end of my read-through in this recent review), Ichigo and his friends are continuing to defend Kamakura Town from Hollows. But with little build-up and a need for plot to start, the Soul Reapers greatest enemies, the Quincies, reappear and begin their war against Soul Society.
Thousand Year Blood War doesn't slow itself down to recap what happened over the 300-plus earlier episodes and just gets right into the action. With a panache for pace and breakneck action, Soul Society's coolest Soul Reapers face off with the strongest enemies the series has showcased yet. All as the past comes to light and Ichigo's origins reveal why he is as powerful as he is.
If you've watched Bleach before you know that nothing about the series' setup is new. As usual, ten different battles take place at the same time and each character progressively levels up until they finally manage to defeat their foe. But unlike previous arcs, Thousand Year Blood War actually includes character deaths. In fact, while Bleach was more violent and bloody than many other shonen, this season amps up the gore to a delightfully brutal level. If ever you needed to know that this is approaching the end of the series and the author wants to go out with a bang...the tone and violence definitely announce it.
All of this is compounded by gorgeous animation. Every fight is so clean and the characters look better than ever. Studio Pierrot has done an immaculate job of bringing Tite Kubo's style and design into an animated field. It's quite possibly the best looking anime I've seen in quite a while — and that eye candy plus the killer soundtrack and mostly fantastic pacing makes each 20 minute episode feel like it was five.
My only real complaint with Thousand Year Blood War are the same complaints I leveled on the manga. Things just kind of happen, the explanations for Ichigo's power make sense but weren't hinted at early on, and the final few episodes aren't nearly as brisk as the early ones. All of this pales in comparison to the sheer entertainment value of Thousand Year Blood War. This is what I watch anime for and I cannot wait to see the series continue with a second season this summer. A definite must watch.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War is available on Hulu.
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Sean Newgent has been with KGUN9 since January of 2020 and is Good Morning Tucson's executive producer. He graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in broadcast journalism. He is a critic and cultural commentator. Share your story ideas and important issues with Sean by emailing sean.newgent@kgun9.com.
