'Bleach' Teases a Major Byakuya Battle

Although Tite Kubo's Bleach was faced with a truncated end as both the anime and manga headed to a speedy finish, fans of the series are getting their hopes up again as the live-action movie looks better and better.

Along with promises great action set-pieces, there's a tease of a major battle with Byakuya at the end of the trailer that shows the most promise yet.

Fans can see in the newest trailer that not only does Ichigo have Hollows to deal with, up to the one with a connection to his past, but he also has to deal with the other Shinigami such as Byakuya and Renji. The swordplay here looks clean and swift, right up until Byakuya actually cuts Ichigo. The resulting bloody battle wll surely be one fans don't want to miss out on.

The live action Bleach adaptation is currently scheduled for a July 20 release in Japan. The live-action film has just released its first full trailer, along with two brand new ones released at the same time. The movie will adapt the first arc of the series, the "Substitute Shinigami" arc. Early reactions to the film have been positive overall, with there talk of even being a new trilogy of films adapting more of Bleach's material. If this is successful, then a sequel film with the Soul Society is definitely on the horizon.

The confirmed cast includes Sota Fukushi as Ichigo Kurosaki and Hana Sugisaki as Rukia Kuchiki is MIYAVI, who will play Byakuya Kuchiki Ryou Yoshizawa, as Uryuu Ishida, Taichi Saotome as Renji Abarai, Erina Mano as Orihime Inoue, Tomo Koyanagi as Chad Yasutora, Yosuke Egochi as Isshin Kurosaki, Masami Nagasawa as Masaki Kurosaki, and Seiichi Tanabe as Keisuke Urahara.

For those unfamiliar with Tite Kubo's Bleach, the series follows the young delinquent Ichigo Kurosaki, who had the ability to see spirits. He soon obtains the power of a Soul Reaper - one meant to usher lost souls to the afterlife - and now has the duty to defend the living world from monstrous dark spirits known as Hollows.

The manga was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from 2001 to 2016, and was collected into 74 volumes. It has been adapted into English thanks to VIZ Media, and has sold over 900 million copies in Japan. The series was adapted into an anime by Studio Pierrot from 2004 to 2012, and has four feature-length animations, rock musicals, video games, and a ton of other merchandise. The English language broadcast premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in 2006, and you currently find the Japanese and English language versions now streaming on Hulu.