Bleach Releases Anime Remake For 20th Anniversary

The Soul Society is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a Bleach anime remake.

By Evan Valentine

In 2004, Studio Pierrot released the first episode focusing on the Soul Society with the premiere of Bleach. Ever since, the story of Ichigo Kurosaki has remained a stalwart part of the anime world, even in the face of cancellations and life-or-death battles. In recent days, the Shinigami have found themselves front and center on the small screen once again thanks to Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, pitting the supernatural shonen heroes against Yhwach and his Sternritter army. To help celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the series, Bleach has released a new anime remake to recreate some of the biggest moments of the series to date.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is diving into its third part for the fall anime season, continuing the fight against the Wandenreich as Ichigo and his allies are giving it their all. When last we left the anime adaptation, part two saw the Soul Society's Royal Guard fighting against Yhwach and his top lieutenants. As the big bad of the latest arc looks to get his hands on the Soul King to overtake the afterlife, the Royal Guard falls in the face of Yhwach. While Ichigo and his earthly friends have arrived to face down the top villain, defeating him is going to be a different story altogether.

Bleach's 20th Anniversary Anime Remake

While this might not be a full anime remake in the same vein as Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Urusei Yatsura, Rurouni Kenshin, and Hunter x Hunter to name a few, the video sees Pierrot recreating some of the biggest Bleach moments. Anime remakes are becoming more frequent as fans don't mind seeing classic moments given a brand-new coat of paint. The One Piece for example will be one of the biggest remakes as Netflix and Wit Studio will retell the story of the Straw Hat Pirates. Fingers crossed that this new video is a taste of what might lie ahead for the Soul Society. 

Bleach's Blood War Future

The third part of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is confirmed to run for thirteen episodes, with one additional cours set to arrive down the line to bring the fight against Yhwach to an end. Even with this fall season seeing the arrival of major anime hits like Dragon Ball Daima and Dandadan, the Soul Society's return remains one of the most anticipated returns this October. If you want to dive into part three, it will be available to stream on Hulu later today with each subsequent episode arriving on the following Saturdays. 

In terms of what will happen once the Thousand-Year Blood War ends its anime adaptation, it's anyone's guess. Tite Kubo ended Bleach's initial manga run with the Blood War's conclusion but would return to weave a new chapter titled "Bleach: No Breathes From Hell". At present, the manga artist has yet to confirm if he plans to weave more manga stories for the Soul Society though it would most certainly be a welcome return for anime fans. Considering the storylines that were introduced in the latest chapter, there are quite a few ways for Bleach to continue in the future should Tite Kubo want to follow Ichigo Kurosaki. 

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(Photo: Studio Pierrot)

Studio Pierrot's Anime Schedule

While Pierrot had previously worked on anime adaptations like Naruto and Bleach on a nearly weekly schedule, Demon Slayer changed the game for the production house. Seeing what Ufotable was able to achieve with Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps, Pierrot decided to take a more seasonal approach to its series and has seen major success in doing so. Should a full-blown Bleach remake arrive in the future, anime fans should expect it to arrive on a less frequent basis. 

Want to see what the future holds for the Soul Society? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Ichigo Kurosaki and the Shinigami. 

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