The final season of Bleach is finally animated, but after a 10-year hiatus, you might want to watch Bleach again.
This is a great time to become an anime fan. Not only do we have one new One Piece movie on the horizon and brand new Chainsaw Man anime (incredibly stylish) launch, Shonen Jump’s longtime favorite Bleach is returning to animation to finally wrap up its final installment with Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War.
It’s been ten years since the Bleach anime aired, and while the series spanned over 300 episodes, it never really completed the story as told in Kubo Tite’s original manga. Instead, anime invented new storylines called “sides” to mitigate the fact that anime and manga are often out of sync in their publication. The anime culminated in a spin-off, The Lost Agent, which ended in 2012.
Now, however, as Bleach turns 20, the anime is being revived and the finale comes to life for the first time. The first episode of the Thousand Years’ Blood War has been premiered and will continue to air simultaneously in Japan and overseas next year. Hulu and Disney + so that fans around the globe can keep up with the action as it happens.
But there’s a problem. Not only has Bleach been on the air for ten years, Thousand Years of Blood also provides a recap to quickly engage fans. If you’re a huge fan of Bleach, this is definitely not a problem, but if you’re new to the series looking for a standout, this is probably a bit jarring. And, trust us, we don’t want to have to go back and watch hundreds of TV episodes to catch up — although we definitely recommend turning to manga if you’re looking for something to read, especially since the Thousand-Year Blood War has, so far, been basically ripped right from the page.
But that’s not always possible, and if you want a big hit right now without your homework, we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about Bleach to jump right into the Bloody Thousand Years War with its first episode.
