Bleach, the magnum opus of Tite Kubo, is coming back after eight years with season 17. It will adapt the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, which may serve as the anime’s finale.
Despite its massive popularity, “Bleach anime” got canceled in 2012. The show ended with the Fullbring arc and with no proper conclusion. Meanwhile, the manga continued with the final arc, and officially ended in August 2016.
Aizen is going to be back, and I am looking forward to seeing him again in the anime. The dashing villain still has some parts left to play, and Yhwach needs to watch his back around Aizen.
Check out everything that you need to lookout for before the final season’s release, right here.
1. Bleach Season 17: Official Announcement
In March 2020, on Bleach’s 20th-anniversary project, Shonen Jump Official revealed that the makers finally renewed Bleach season seventeen.
The PV shows two projects from the franchise in celebration of its 20th anniversary. Project 1 being a Bleach OVA titled “Burn The Witch,” and Project 2 being “Bleach season 17.”
2. Bleach Season 17 Release Date
Bleach season 17 will adapt the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. The anime is scheduled to be released in October 2022 as a part of the franchise’s 20th-anniversary project.
The upcoming season is likely to have around 50 episodes since the next arc is the biggest in Bleach.
The anime will start from episode 367 onwards as season sixteen ended with episode 366.
Author, Tite Kubo reveals that the most anticipated “Thousand-Year Blood War Arc” will not be censored. He also confirmed that the anime will air at midnight allowing fans to enjoy the rawness of Bleach’s most anticipated upcoming arc.
3. Key Visual
A fantastic illustration from Tite Kubo, the manga artist himself was released along with the renewal announcement of Bleach season 17.
The illustration shows Ichigo at the center with his sword exuding a dark aura, and a contrasting vibrant background full of characters behind him.
Viz Media also revealed key art for Bleach season 17 during the Anime Expo 2022.
The visual featured the Stern Ritter members and the Soul Society members, who will be making their debut in the upcoming installment. The visual also revealed the October 2022 release frame of Bleach season 17.
During the Jump Festa 2022 event, a teaser was also released to reveal the release date of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War.
The teaser introduced Ichigo, Sado, Ishida, and Orihime in a spectacular way before giving us a brief peek of Yhwach, the “Father of the Quincy.” The new character designs for the upcoming season were also showcased in the teaser, at the end we got a glimpse of Ichigo’s new move which had the fans on the edge of their seats.
Another trailer was released at Anime Expo during the VIZ Media panel.
The trailer mainly focused on the Stern Ritter characters including Asguiaro Ebern, Quilde Opie, Bazz-B, Bambietta Basterbine, and Jugram Haschwalth. Gotei 13, comprised of new and old captains was also introduced making the battlefield even both on the Soul Society’s side and Quincy’s side.
Yhwach, the “Father of the Quincy” has woken up from his 900 years long sleep and has given the Soul Society a nine days countdown. As the trailer comes to an end a voice asks Ichigo to protect the Soul Society.
5. Plot/Storyline
Bleach season 17 will start with the long-awaited “Thousand Year Blood Battle.” It is from the manga’s final arc, which begins from Chapter 480 and stretches from Vol. 55-74.
With Hollow Ichigo’s sudden disappearance, chaos breaks out. The Wanderich’s secret group will finally launch their attack on the Soul Society resulting in an all-out war between the Shinigami and Quincy.
The Wandenreich, which means “The Invisible Empire,” is a secret group of Quincy. A thousand years ago, the Quincy lost the war with the Shinigami, following which they escaped and created a hiding place.
They have been biding their time and slowly gathering their forces to win the defeated war.
The reason for Hollow Ichigo’s disappearance is due to the super-intense training he has to undergo. So, he can fight against Wandenreich and save the Soul Society.
6. New Characters
Along with the rest of the characters from Bleach, this season shall see many new characters but Yhwach is the most noteworthy amongst them.
I. Yhwach
Yhwach is one of the antagonists for the season. He is the “Father of the Quincy” and also the emperor of the Wandenreich.
He is the son of the Soul King, who absorbs the Soul King, gaining a dark mask of eyes covering the upper half of his face.
7. Staff
| Position | Staff | Other works |
| Director | Tomohisa Taguchi | Akudama Drive |
| Series Composition | Masaki Hiramatsu | GARO: Versus Road |
| Character Design | Masashi Kudo | Tower of God |
| Animation Production | Studio Pierrot | Tokyo Ghoul |
8. Bleach Season 17 Episode Count
Bleach series has never had a constant number of episodes in its previous installments. As such, it has its lowest episode count in season 11, with only seven episodes. The highest episode count is 51 episodes from season 14.
So, the upcoming season’s episode count may likely fall anywhere between these numbers. If Bleach season 17 adapts the entire arc, which is 218 chapters long, it might come up with at least 50 episodes.
9. About Bleach
Bleach is a Japanese anime television series based on Tite Kubo’s manga of the same name. The anime series adapts Kubo’s manga but also introduces some new, original, self-contained story arcs.
It is based in Karakura Town on a 15-year-old high school student Ichigo Kurosaki who becomes a substitute Soul Reaper when Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper, puts Soul Reaper powers in Ichigo. They barely manage to kill the hollow.
Although initially reluctant to accept the heavy responsibility, he begins eliminating some more hollows and also discovers that several of his friends and classmates are spiritually aware and have powers of their own.
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