Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Trailer Pits Quincy Against Soul Reaper

The Bleach gang is back, or at least, that’s the impression the new trailer for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War gave off. Shown off at Anime Expo 2022 during Viz Media’s panel, the video highlights the combatants participating in the manga’s concluding story arc. The new series debuts in October 2022 [Thanks, ANN!].

Check it out below.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War adapts the last story arc of the Bleach manga, which was never covered in the anime. The trailer opens with a recitation of the prophecy of “The Confined Quincy King,” referring to the foretold revival of Ywach, the ancient king of the Quincy civilization. The Quincy are the people which Bleach character Uryu Ishida is descended from, a group of humans with powers that rival those of Soul Reapers. The trailer then transitions into a montage of many of the characters present in the arc, including the Captains of Soul Society’s Gotei 13, and members of the Quincy’s elite Stern Ritter. Characters who previously did not appear in an anime adaptation like Bambietta Basterbine, Bazz-B, Jugram Haschwalth, Asguiaro Ebern, Quilge Opie, and Ywach himself will make their debut in Thousand-Year Blood War.

Check out some key art from the panel featuring fighters on both sides.

In a recorded message, Bleach creator Tite Kubo confirmed that he’s involved with all aspects of the anime production. He said that they’re working on covering some material, such as battles and scenes he couldn’t get into in the manga, with the anime adaptation.

The Viz Media panel also confirmed key staff positions for the project at Studio Pierrot, which is animating it. Tomohisa Taguchi, who worked on Akudama Drive and Kino’s Journey – The Beautiful World, will direct the show. He’ll work on scripts too, alongside Masaki Hiramatsu. Character designs and music will once again be provided by Masashi Kudo and Shiro Sagisu, respectively. Most of the voice cast is also returning, though Binbin Takaoka will play Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Yamamoto’s original voice actor Masaaki Tsukada died in 2014. Some newer voice roles for characters from the Soul Society Royal Guard, Stern Ritter, and others were cast for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War.

• Askin Nakk Le Vaar – Shunsuke Takeuchi (Gonta Gokuhara in Danganronpa V3, Zack in Astra Lost in Space)
• Bambietta Basterbine – Ayana Taketatsu (Labrys in Persona 4 Arena, Leafa in Sword Art Online)
• Bazz-B – Yuki Ono (Gran in Granblue Fantasy, Louis in Beastars, Josuke in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable)
• Candice Catnipp – Yumi Uchiyama (Erika from Mahouka, Rudeus Greyrat in Mushoku Tensei)
• Gremmy Thoumeaux – Natsuki Hanae (Falco from Attack on Titan: The Final Season, Tanjiro in Demon Slayer)
• Ichibei Hyosube – Naomi Kusumi (Shimano in Yakuza, Honda Tadakatsu in Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere)
• Jugram Haschwalth – Yuichiro Umehara (Mars in Black Clover, Goblin Slayer in Goblin Slayer)
• Kirio Hikifune – Ayumi Tsunematsu (Alicia in Astral Chain, Magnolia in Bravely Default, Marina in Gundam 00)
• Lille Barro – Satoshi Hino (Botasky in Cat Shit One, Rengoku in Demon Slayer, Daichi in Haikyu!!)
• Oetsu Mimaiya – Yoji Ueda (Speedwagon in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hanaoka in March Comes In Like A Lion)
• Senjumaru Shutara – Rina Sato (Makoto in Persona 5, Mikoto Misaka in A Certain Magical Railgun)
• Tenjiro Kirinji – Tomoyuki Shimura (Takuro in Bakuman, Yusuke Saito  in Darker than Black)
• Ywach – Takayuki Sugo (Shinpachi in Golden Kamuy, Cardeas Vist in Gundam Unicorn, Sweyn in Vinland Saga)

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is in production. It will air in October 2022. The original series is available on Crunchyroll and other platforms for streaming, while the manga is published by Viz Media in English. Bleach: Brave Souls is available on PS4 and mobile devices.