Bleach’s Thousand-Year Blood War Arc certainly has leaned heavily into the “Blood” in its title as the Wandenreich have slashed their way through countless members of both the Soul Society and the Arrancar. While there are some major deaths that are on the way in the supernatural Shonen’s return, the creator of the series, Tite Kubo, created a sketch to honor one of the first casualties to arise as Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends return to the small screen.
Chojiro might not have as much screen time as his fellow members in the Soul Society such as Rukia, Kenpachi, and Shunsui, but his place within the Shinigami was pivotal. Unfortunately for the Soul Reapers, Chojiro was stricken down as a result of the Wandenreich showing off their power during their first appearance in front of the Soul Society and the most powerful among them, Yamamoto. With the Sternritter recently showing their power by stealing Bankais and leaving both dead Soul Reapers and Arrancar at their feet, Ichigo and his friends have some serious issues to handle as the latest season of Bleach continues.
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Bleach: The Thousand-Year Chojiro War
Tite Kubo took the opportunity to share this new Bleach sketch via his Official Twitter Account, giving us a much younger Chojiro, seemingly years before his unfortunate encounter with the Wandenreich and even his previous match against Ichigo when the two butted heads:
The current season of Bleach has around fifty episodes left in the tank, and rest assured, there will be plenty more bloodshed and violence to be seen as Ichigo and the Soul Society attempt to keep the Wandenreich at bay. Of course, considering the fact that Yhwach appears to be a force of nature that was able to crush the Arrancar seemingly all by himself, this isn’t going to be an easy road for any of our Shonen heroes. Certainly, with the casualties that the Soul Reapers have suffered so far during these new installments, the task of taking down the Wandenreich has become that much more difficult.
What do you think of this heartbreaking new art from Tite Kubo? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Soul Society.