Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Anime Removes Infamous Orihime Scene

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 – The Separation has officially reunited Ichigo Kurosaki with Orihime Inoue and Chad Yasutora before the next slate of fights in anime, and the newest episode of the series has sparked a debate among fans for seemingly removing an infamous moment between Orihime, Ichigo, and Yoruichi Shihouin from Tite Kubo's original Bleach manga! Fans have been waiting over a decade with the hopes of seeing Bleach's final manga arc actually getting an anime adaptation of its own, and it kicked off in full last Fall as fans started to see many of the moments animated they have been wanting to see for a long time. 

At the same time, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has been a notable anime adaptation as it has both added and removed material from the manga to provide a more complete experience that only retrospect can provide. Some of the more infamous moments from the manga's final arc have already been removed in favor of showcasing the Thousand-Year Blood War arc in a more efficient way, but the the newest episode making a major change to Yoruichi's return to the series has caused a stir for its lack of highlighting Orihime's new makeover. 

I wished this was kept. It was a really cute moment between Ichigo and Orihime, and Yoruichi finally return after a very long time, so her return was meh compard to how it was in the manga. It's not a big issue, but I thought this was fun. pic.twitter.com/J47txD9u9G

— BSG-B (Toby) (@BSGBAssociate) September 9, 2023

Bleach: TYBW: Orihime and Yoruichi's Reunion Has Been Changed?

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 – The Separation Episode 22 officially brings Yoruichi back to the anime, but it shuffles around the events of the manga quite a bit. Focusing more of the fight between Giselle and the Soul Reapers, this takes some material from the later chapters and moves them up (while moving moments such as Yhwach's arrival in the Soul King's region to later for a more streamlined watch, most likely). The reunion in Bleach Chapter 589 sees Chad taking a moment out of all the intensity to ask Ichigo what he thinks of Orihime's new look. 

This results in Orhime being embarrassed, and explaining it's an outfit that Kisuke Urahara had essentially tricked her into wearing it. Yoruichi returns to the series by literally inserting herself into the conversation in Orihime's bosom, and then chastises Ichigo for not complimenting Orihime on the outfit instead. It's a totally rauchy moment that fans liked in the original, but the anime has been absent of those kinds of scenes to really hammer home how serious it all is (with the removal of Rukia's "peach" scene being another notable example). 

While many fans were hoping to see this scene animated, there are just as many who appreciate the much more serious take on the events even more. Ichigo and the others just went through Uryu's betrayal, and are about to go through their toughest fights yet. So it makes sense that the anime remains a more dour and intense mood as a result. But with the anime shifting its timeline of these events from the manga around, this scene could pop up later. But it's also not an egregious absence by any means. 

How do you feel about Bleach's new anime removing this infamous Orihime scene? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!