(L) Bleach - Thousand-Year Blood War Arc - anime episode discussion

[SidVicious]

Nice first episode.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Yeah, as a manga reader, there's not much to say about this episode aside from the cool visual makes it worth the wait.

Without spoiling, my biggest problem with this arc is that I don't really care much about Soul Society and its denizens aside from a handful of characters. So when something bad happen to them, my reaction is pretty much "Oh no....anyway". That's coz I always think that Soul Society is such a flawed afterlife system where the souls of good people can still suffer after death and yet some of the SS Captains & other higher-ups act so high & mighty that it made them unlikable for me. I swear the afterlife system in Dragon Ball is much better than in Bleach, and I care more for Konoha villagers than Soul Society residents.

Anyway, I just want more episode.

[Strahan]

Watched the first ep, was pretty stoked to see it pop into my notifications. It was pretty cool. I was annoyed with the animators of the ED though... there is a spot during the ED that looked to me like a bug had landed on my screen:

The screen is 142", so at that scale it was just the right size to be a stinkbug, of which I've already captured three in the house. In the theater room, it's totally dark save for the screen so it's not uncommon for bugs to land on the screen if they get in. So it wasn't until I paused it and grabbed my bug catcher that I realized it's just part of the video lol

Originally Posted by Kanon

I'm not a fan of this arc, but I'm still excited that Bleach is coming back. It's the first anime I started watching weekly.

Ditto. I started watching anime when I was 14 (1988) but after watching 4-5 shows, didn't watch any more until I was thirty something. A local gaming store was selling bootleg anime, so I picked up Bleach figuring I'd see what modern anime is like and got hooked

Originally Posted by Kanon

The most important thing is to bring back the same person for the soundtrack.

Same people, not person. The original soundtrack comprises songs from many different artists.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Somebody screwed up and the first episode got leaked. People who have been around long enough would know where to find it.

Going to keep it under spoiler tags since it's not been official released yet.

Spoiler for Episode 1:

The animation is definitely everything I was hoping for and more. The montage at the end of the episode made the difference compared to the old anime even more obvious.

They expanded the fight against the Hollows a lot. I don't think we even saw them fight in the manga. Everyone got to show off their signature move (nice job destroying that building's facade, Chad). Using bankai here was really overkill, it wasn't even a matter of wanting Ichigo's bankai to be in the episode since he uses it later on.

The fight against the arrancar was also nicely animated.

The stage has been set. The final arc begins after all these years.

Agreed about the overkill part; but then, they started leaning on that move a lot in the first run too. Kinda silly to do that for that level of enemy, but for the heroes' introductions I guess they wanted to show them all being cool

[Stark700]

I did some rewatches earlier this year and damn, seeing Bleach on TV again is just as a special feeling. This was a celebration of Bleach and first episode was a great way to reintroduce everyone. That 'Number 1' Song never gets old.

Poor Sasakibe though. That was just as brutal as in the manga.

Ichigo looks like a complete badass in this episode and I'm impressed by the style of this animation. Just a really impressive way for Bleach to make its return after all these years. Seeing that Break recap/refresh gave me so many memories...

Bring on the rest!

[FlareKnight]

Oh man, we are back . This was just fun. Glorious to see Bleach back with this kind of animation. And they leaned in wonderfully with the intro portion. Captured a bit of horror with the hollows and then pure fanservice with the classic 'Number 1' song ringing loud and clear!

And they are not taking it easy in the slightest. The blood and damage isn't being played out in this one.

Ichigo definitely playing a bit too fast and loose with his bankai and that almost cost him here. It's nice to see his maturity in realizing he was being baited. But it doesn't much help if he just walks right into it anyways . Just lucky that either through special circumstances or just being a badass he managed to avoid getting his bankai stolen/sealed/whatever they were doing there.

Even if things got rather messy, I have to respect Yamamoto's absolute confidence. I suppose it's fair. Who needs extra security that's weaker than the person being protected?

[SidVicious]

Disney+ being stupid:

"Unfortunatelly, this time we would like to inform that 'BLEACH' will not be included in the Latin American region."

https://twitter.com/DisneyPlusHelp/s...29617089605633

Nice job with getting the series pirated.

[Frontier]

Bleach is back! The final arc adaption people have all been waiting for is here and Studio Pierrot is firing on all cylinders! As great as it is to have Bleach back and seeing Ichigo and the gang back, it looks so beautiful in Action .

Karakura Town has never looked more beatiful .

Is Shino supposed to be Ikaku's sister? I can kind of see it. Also, Asami Seto for the win .

You know, there could be a fun spinoff with Ryusoke and Shino patrolling Karakura town and their banter and antics. Also Afro-san finally had enough .

Hollows! Can still be as intimidating as ever to anyone who isn't the main cast, but that just made it all the more satisfying when the heroes finally arrived...and we finally heard Number 1 play in all it's glory .

Seeing everyone get introduced and do their attacks was great! Uryu and Orihime's attacks have never looked more amazing! And Chad just shoves a Hollow into an apartment building which...kind of feels problematic .

I know Masakazu Morita has probably done the lines for games or at conventions, but it felt like he'd been holding that Bankai and Getsuga Tensho in ever since the original anime ended! None of the cast have missed a single beat .

Who knew Uryu introducing the concept of Quincies would lead to the new main antagonists of the franchise ?

Ah, I see the trend of everyone freeloading in Ichigo's room continues. Shino looked good in her casual clothes .

Also, has Orihime's bust gotten another upgrade? Not that I mind .

New villain shows up in his room...Ichigo straight up kicks him. That's the Ichigo I missed .

Kind of wondering why so many people are disappearing from the Ryokan district. What are the Quincies doing ?

Also it had been so long I had totally forgotten Nobuyuki Hiyama and Jun Fukuyama were Ikaku and Yumichika. It really reminds you how much star power Bleach had in the day .

Poor, poor Sasakibe...Yamamato didn't even need to say anything to convey the grief he felt, but he did make sure to put the fear of the Soul Society into those Quincies. And his line about him being the best security was peak Yamamoto. Also, his new VA sounds so seamless .

"This guy is trying to get me to use my Bankai! Well, I guess I'll just use my Bankai then!" Although it seems like Ichigo was able to stop him from stealing his Bankai with pure power...I guess .

That guy talked a big game but then his leader just ups and rips his arm off! Although that face and voice seem kind of similar .

They ended on Rapport! What a great catch-up on all the series highlights, Bankai's, major characters, Ichigo looking awesome, and Ichigo's major fights up to this point. It even seemed like they used some visuals from the Openings in it. I can't wait for the proper OP and ED next week .

[Wandering Soul]

Love the updated visuals and animation. Other than that, not much to say since I'm a manga reader and this episode was mostly set up.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Ichigo definitely playing a bit too fast and loose with his bankai and that almost cost him here. It's nice to see his maturity in realizing he was being baited. But it doesn't much help if he just walks right into it anyways . Just lucky that either through special circumstances or just being a badass he managed to avoid getting his bankai stolen/sealed/whatever they were doing there.

He was smart enough to realize the enemy wanted him to use his bankai (note: the fact he kept telling him to use it was kind of a big hint) but too dumb to not give him what he wants. He could have easily handled that guy with his shikai, he wasn't struggling in the slightest. Good thing he has MC plot armor.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Kanon

He was smart enough to realize the enemy wanted him to use his bankai (note: the fact he kept telling him to use it was kind of a big hint) but too dumb to not give him what he wants. He could have easily handled that guy with his shikai, he wasn't struggling in the slightest. Good thing he has MC plot armor.

Ichigo's Shikai never gets its due any more .

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Ichigo's Shikai never gets its due any more .

I think the last time he beat someone with his shikai was back when he one shot Isane, Sasakibe, and Omaeda. And he actually did that bare handed

After that he kept spamming his bankai.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Hollows! Can still be as intimidating as ever to anyone who isn't the main cast, but that just made it all the more satisfying when the heroes finally arrived...and we finally heard Number 1 play in all it's glory .

Just goes to show the impact that unleashing a hoard can have. I'm sure those two could have handled one if they were working together. But that turned into quite the spectacle. I like the little touches. Like the mysterious figure using what seems to be the same lure Ishida used when he had that hollow hunting competition with Ichigo before. Both explaining why the heck that happened and adding further confirmation that these guys are certain Quincy.

Seeing everyone get introduced and do their attacks was great! Uryu and Orihime's attacks have never looked more amazing! And Chad just shoves a Hollow into an apartment building which...kind of feels problematic .

Agreed. Honestly Inoue's attacks have never looked cooler. Her defense looked good and even her healing was silky smooth. Ishida remains great and got a lot of style points. Chad...I feel like he went a bit far there. Leaving the side of an entire building with a massive skull face is...problematic.

I know Masakazu Morita has probably done the lines for games or at conventions, but it felt like he'd been holding that Bankai and Getsuga Tensho in ever since the original anime ended! None of the cast have missed a single beat .

That was such a satisfying Bankai and Getsuga Tensho. I'm so happy these voice actors are back.

Also, has Orihime's bust gotten another upgrade? Not that I mind .

Not sure...but I feel like this does require further investigation . Though I'm sure the show will make sure we don't miss out on more chances to confirm that.

New villain shows up in his room...Ichigo straight up kicks him. That's the Ichigo I missed .

That really is Ichigo in a nutshell. Heck, that was a mature Ichigo. He asked the guy twice to get off his bed. Justified kicking I'd say!

Kind of wondering why so many people are disappearing from the Ryokan district. What are the Quincies doing ?

That is the question. I get their declaration of war. But Quincy shouldn't be targeted innocent and harmless souls. Or I don't think they should be. While maybe they threatened the people into leaving like that, it doesn't seem like a huge struggle was had in that area. So they must have encouraged them to leave somehow. But the why is the big question and I can't begin to guess at that.

Poor, poor Sasakibe...Yamamato didn't even need to say anything to convey the grief he felt, but he did make sure to put the fear of the Soul Society into those Quincies. And his line about him being the best security was peak Yamamoto. Also, his new VA sounds so seamless .

I get that the Quincy would have various reasons to hate Soul Society. Even without knowing the exact thinking of their leader. But that was brutal. Poor Sasakibe got wrecked. Still it showed the threat level and got Yamamoto looking pretty darn serious.

"This guy is trying to get me to use my Bankai! Well, I guess I'll just use my Bankai then!" Although it seems like Ichigo was able to stop him from stealing his Bankai with pure power...I guess .

I'm still going to be proud of Ichigo for at least analyzing the fight well enough. And I can kind of get his mindset. He might not need Bankai in that moment, but what if this guy has backup or things get more serious? If he can find out what he's getting into right now while his friends aren't in the danger zone then even if there is a trap then he can try to work through it. Better than saving bankai for now, but actually getting into a dire spot where he needs it but can't be sure if he can safely use it. Still is pretty loose with using his bankai and is lucky that it didn't work for some reason.

Originally Posted by Frontier

Ichigo's Shikai never gets its due any more .

Which is a shame since it still looks really awesome.

[Alchemist007]

Amazing to see budget for Bleach after so many memories of filler arcs and such .

It will also continue to be amazing to see backgrounds.

[sayde]

Goodness gracious. The overall quality of this episode felt worthy of a movie. Is each episode really going to be like this? Because if so, it's far more than I could've ever hoped for. BGM was perfect and the voice overs don't sound like they missed a single beat over the years (granted some of that could be due to Bleach Brave Souls). This episode also covered 5 whole chapters while expanding on some moments without really skipping anything major in the process. Granted, a big part of that can obviously be attributed to Kubo's short chapters, but so far, the pacing feels on point.

And that ending montage...*chefs kiss*

Anyways, welcome back Bleach. It's nice to see you looking better than ever before.

[Endscape]

My expectations were high after hearing all the praise it's gotten, but this episode still managed to blow me away.

Just an incredible visual spectacle. As a long time Bleach fan, nothing could make me happier. Not only was the episode lovingly done, I liked some of the smaller touches, like that Hirenkyaku animation which I believe is new. I really like how it makes itself visually distinct from shunpo.

Also, that ED! I could listen to that on repeat for hours!

[ars89]

Happy this is back after so long and the animation looks great, let's hope that continues. The ed montage was great nostalgia. They seem to have expanded a little bit so hope that continues because if I remember the final arc seemed rushed in the manga. Also I can't believe I bought no ads hulu just for this.

[FlareKnight]

One thing I didn't notice immediately (but on rewatch) was that Inoue got up during Ebern's "I'm not stepping off this bed" line to hold the window open in expectation of Ichigo kicking Ebern out of it . Such a small thing that didn't need to be done for the scene. But is absolutely glorious. She knows Ichigo . And of course she makes sure to get back to eating after taking care of that business .

[Eragon]

Honestly was bopping my head way too hard when Number One started playing. Nostalgia is one hell of a drug.

(Praying Kubo changes Unohana's arc)

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

One thing I didn't notice immediately (but on rewatch) was that Inoue got up during Ebern's "I'm not stepping off this bed" line to hold the window open in expectation of Ichigo kicking Ebern out of it . Such a small thing that didn't need to be done for the scene. But is absolutely glorious. She knows Ichigo . And of course she makes sure to get back to eating after taking care of that business .

I didn't notice that at all. It's a really nice detail.

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

One thing I didn't notice immediately (but on rewatch) was that Inoue got up during Ebern's "I'm not stepping off this bed" line to hold the window open in expectation of Ichigo kicking Ebern out of it . Such a small thing that didn't need to be done for the scene. But is absolutely glorious. She knows Ichigo . And of course she makes sure to get back to eating after taking care of that business .

I loved Orihime during that scene. She and Ichigo were perfectly in sync.