Bleach is a name known far and wide in the anime community. If you ask fans about it, they will tell you that it was one of the Shonen Big Three alongside Naruto and One-piece or how it had more useless filler than even Naruto or the best fights amongst the Big Three. But fans will agree that the anime ended on a low note, and the editors nerfed its potential. But now, after a decade-long break, Bleach has returned stronger than ever in its final arc, the 1000-Year Blood War.

Recap

Bleach tells the story of Ichigo, a teenager who seems to be a delinquent with the ability to see ghosts. His mother died in a tragic accident when he was just a child, and now he lives with his ecstatic father and two younger sisters. He uses his powers to help lost ghosts crossover to the other side. But one day, he encounters a monster attacking a weird girl that only he can see. After some tense scenes, the girl Rukia transfers some of her powers to Ichigo, allowing him to transform into a soul reaper and deafening the monster known as Hollow. From here, the story starts as he goes on adventures with the Soul Reapers of Gotei 13 and faces some of the most iconic villains in anime, like Aizen. The final of the old anime arc aired around 2012 and centered on Ichigo regaining his reaper powers.

The Long A Waited Blood War

The start of the 1000-year blood war is where the new series starts, as we are soon introduced to the new Quincy Army, which was thought to have been eliminated by the Gotei 13 long ago. With their arrival, we see them take on some of the strongest Soul reapers and win, taking their Zanpakutos. This caused massive concern in the ranks of Gotei 13 on how they will face this new threat that could destroy them.

Some manga fans may be happy to know that series creator Tite Kubo has said that the anime will feature different story beats and that he will create a different ending this time, hopefully, better than the manga version. We can already see this taking effect in the latest episodes as the anime cuts out the filler or redundant scenes in place of putting more attention on pivotal moments. Such as the back story of Gotei 13’s leader Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto in which we are shown how he got his name and backstory with the arc’s main antagonist Yhwach the true king of the Quincies.

Yhwach is the main antagonist of the final arc and has been in the series since the starting arcs. He was the old man in Ichigo’s Zanpakuto realm. Why he helped Ichigo and his actual goals are unknown as of now, but he wishes to take the Zanpakutos of the Gotei 13 to eliminate them as a possible threat.

New Style, Same Soul

Studio Pierott has changed a lot since 2012, which can be seen in just the first few frames of the first episode. Using a mix of new digital animation and old-school hand-drawn one, the studio is able to attain a unique style that pays homage to the classic while being as good as some of the recent anime being released. Fights have also gotten a big glow-up as they now have far more dynamic motion and crisp visuals for all iconic attacks. Ichigo hasn’t looked this good, even in some of the movies. With the current way the show is animated, we can hope to see this quality maintained for the whole arc. Some of the most hype moments where the studio spent much time were the first time Ichigo used his iconic Zangetsu and seeing head captain Yamamoto show his true strength in the recent episodes.

Conclusion

Bleach’s return is not only great news for the fans but also hope for other shows. After Bleach’s announcement of Bleach, Devil became a part-timer, and Tiger and Bunny were also given continuation after years of being on a hiatus. This shows us that many in the industry are looking into bringing back some fan-favorite series and who knows, if Bleach continues to succeed, we might even get to see the elusive season 2 of No Game No Life.