VIZ Media brought the voices of Ichigo Kurosaki and Uryu Ishida back together on November 9, sharing a new video of Masakazu Morita and Noriaki Sugiyama talking about the characters they have played since 2004. The clip arrived 2 weeks after Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War aired its last episode in Japan, closing out an anime that started on TV Tokyo 22 years ago. Check out the official post down below:
The anime adapts Tite Kubo's manga, which has sold more than 130 million copies according to the official anime site. The full run is split into 2 series: the original Bleach, which aired 366 episodes from October 5, 2004, to March 27, 2012, and Thousand-Year Blood War, which covered the manga's final arc across 50 episodes from October 2022 to October 2026. Studio Pierrot animated both, and 4 theatrical films were released during the original run.
The Original Bleach Series In Order
The original series follows high school student Ichigo, who can see spirits and takes on the duties of the Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki after she is injured protecting his family. VIZ licensed the series in 2006, and the English dub premiered on Adult Swim on September 10, 2006. The episode guide is divided into 16 seasons, and 5 of them tell anime-original stories that do not appear in Kubo's manga.
- Season 1, The Substitute Soul Reaper: Episodes 1 to 20
- Season 2, The Entry: Episodes 21 to 41
- Season 3, The Rescue: Episodes 42 to 63
- Season 4, The Bount: Episodes 64 to 91 (anime-original)
- Season 5, The Assault: Episodes 92 to 109 (anime-original)
- Season 6, Arrancar: The Appearance: Episodes 110 to 131
- Season 7, The Hueco Mundo Sneak Entry: Episodes 132 to 151
- Season 8, The Fierce Fight: Episodes 152 to 167
- Season 9, The New Captain Shusuke Amagai: Episodes 168 to 189 (anime-original)
- Season 10, Arrancar vs. Soul Reaper: Episodes 190 to 205
- Season 11, Turn Back the Pendulum: Episodes 206 to 212
- Season 12, Battle in Karakura: Episodes 213 to 229
- Season 13, Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale: Episodes 230 to 265 (anime-original)
- Season 14, Fall of the Espada: Episodes 266 to 316
- Season 15, Gotei 13 Invading Army: Episodes 317 to 342 (anime-original)
- Season 16, The Lost Agent: Episodes 343 to 366
The first 3 seasons cover Ichigo's training and the rescue of Rukia from Soul Society, ending with Sosuke Aizen's betrayal of the Gotei 13. The Bount and The Assault follow a group of soul-eating humans created for the anime, and Season 9 introduces Shusuke Amagai, a new captain of Squad 3 who never appears in the manga.
The Arrancar storyline runs through Seasons 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 14, taking Ichigo into Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime Inoue and ending with his fight against Aizen in Karakura Town. Season 11 is the exception inside that stretch. Turn Back the Pendulum is a 7-episode flashback set 110 years before the main story, adapted from Kubo's own manga chapters, and it shows how Shinji Hirako and the Visored were exiled from Soul Society.
Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale has the Soul Reapers' swords take human form and turn on their owners, while Gotei 13 Invading Army has Kagerouza Inaba create fake copies of the captains. The original run closes with The Lost Agent, which adapts the manga's Fullbring arc and ends at Episode 366, setting up the jump to the final war.
Where The 4 Bleach Movies Fit
All 4 films are original stories made for theaters, and Hulu's own episode guide places each film after a specific episode of the original series.
- Bleach: Memories of Nobody (December 16, 2006): after Episode 63
- Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion (December 22, 2007): after Episode 109
- Bleach: Fade to Black (December 13, 2008): after Episode 189
- Bleach: Hell Verse (2010): after Episode 229
Memories of Nobody introduces Senna, a girl who cannot be found in Soul Society's records. The DiamondDust Rebellion centers on Toshiro Hitsugaya and a stolen royal artifact, Fade to Black follows Ichigo after Rukia loses her memories, and Hell Verse sends Ichigo into Hell after his sister Yuzu is taken. VIZ collects all 4 in the Bleach: 4-Film Collection.
A live-action Bleach film was also released in Japan on July 20, 2018, with Sota Fukushi as Ichigo. It adapts the opening Substitute Soul Reaper arc and is separate from the anime's continuity.
Thousand-Year Blood War In Order
Thousand-Year Blood War picks up after The Lost Agent and adapts the manga's last arc, in which the Quincy army known as the Wandenreich, led by Yhwach, invades Soul Society. Tomohisa Taguchi directed the series, Shiro Sagisu returned for the music and Masashi Kudo handled character designs. It aired in 4 parts:
- Part 1, The Blood Warfare: 13 episodes, October 11 to December 27, 2022
- Part 2, The Separation: 13 episodes, July 8 to September 30, 2023
- Part 3, The Conflict: 14 episodes, October 5 to December 28, 2024
- Part 4, The Calamity: 10 episodes, July 25 to October 27, 2026
Here is the first official trailer VIZ released for Thousand-Year Blood War:
Part 1 opens with the Wandenreich's first attack and the death of Head Captain Genryusai Yamamoto. Part 2 covers Ichigo's training with Squad Zero at the Royal Palace and the second invasion, and Part 3 follows the Quincy's assault on the Soul King Palace.
The Calamity, The Final Part
The Calamity covers Episodes 41 to 50. VIZ's official synopsis has Ichigo and his allies heading for the Soul King Palace after Squad Zero is defeated, while Yhwach seizes the Soul King's power and begins remaking the world with the Quincy capital Wahr Welt. In the US, VIZ's subtitled release ran Episode 49 on October 19 and Episode 50 on October 26. The official site lists Episode 50 as "DEATH & STRAWBERRY," set 10 years after the war as new captains are appointed.
Here is VIZ's official trailer for the final part:
The English dub is still rolling out. According to VIZ, the English and Spanish dubs of Episode 49 arrive on Hulu on Monday, November 23, and Episode 50 follows on Monday, November 30, both at 9:30 AM MST. The English, Spanish, Portuguese and German dubs reach Disney+ outside the US on the same dates, and the French dub follows on December 14 and December 21.
The last 2 episodes were pushed back during the broadcast, as covered in Delays Push Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War -The Calamity's Last Two Episodes To Late October. The finale itself was covered in Bleach Anime Officially Ends After 22 Years As Thousand-Year Blood War Airs Its Final Episode.
Where To Stream Bleach
In the US, both series stream on Hulu, which is also available inside Disney+. Hulu's Bleach page carries the original 366-episode run, and a separate Thousand-Year Blood War page holds all 4 parts. Outside the US, VIZ lists Disney+ as the streaming home of Thousand-Year Blood War.
For physical media, VIZ sells the Thousand-Year Blood War Parts 1 to 3 collection alongside the 4-Film Collection. VIZ also publishes Kubo's manga in English under its Shonen Jump label, including a 2-in-1 edition, and the series' chapters are available in the Shonen Jump digital vault. The manga launched in Weekly Shonen Jump on August 20, 2001.
The official anime site also announced the launch of BLEACH Mirrors High, a new smartphone game, in late October, with Sosuke Aizen headlining its first limited gacha. Morita also looked back on more than 20 years as Ichigo with his English counterpart Johnny Yong Bosch, as covered in Ichigo's Voices Reflect On More Than 20 Years Playing The Bleach Hero.
Do you watch the anime-original Bount and Zanpakuto seasons on a rewatch, or go straight from the Soul Society arc to the Arrancar invasion?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.