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Bleach reportedly getting Thousand-Year Blood War anime in 2021

Brent Koepp
Viz Media / Pierrot

Popular anime Bleach is reportedly making its long awaited return. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the groundbreaking franchise is supposedly getting a new set of episodes in 2021 to cover the Thousand-Year Blood War arc.

Bleach originally debuted as a manga in the iconic Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, however its 2004 anime adaption made it a household name. The animated series ended in 2016 and didn’t cover the full story – until now.

According to reports, after an almost 10-year hiatus, the beloved property will make its return to television to tackle the ‘War’ arc in the long-running saga. Here is everything we know about the new show.

Bleach reportedly making its return

The long-running series was formed into an anime by studio Pierrot, and aired from 2004 to 2012 for a total of 16 seasons. However, much to the dismay of fans, the final arc was never given an adaptation.

Scans of an upcoming Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine made their way onto social media, and surprisingly revealed that Bleach will get a new set of episodes.

Twitter user TheOrihime tweeted out pictures taken from the magazine and exclaimed, “It’s Confirmed!! The Bleach Anime Is Being Animated yay!” with one of the pages confirming a “2021” release.

According to gaming outlet Polygon, the announcement was supposed to be revealed during a panel at AnimeJapan 2020 – but was cancelled due to the ongoing virus crisis.

The official announcement seems to be set for March 20th, as Shonen Jump’s official YouTube account has a “20th anniversary project” stream which is scheduled to go live then.

Fans of the anime went absolutely wild for the breaking news, and took to social media to celebrate, such as user ‘DinoDeeBleDee’ who emotionally said “I honestly want to cry… ITS BEEN 9 YEARS. APRIL 2012. since Bleach ended!”

Bleach follows protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki who has the ability to see ghosts. The teenager meets a death god called a Soul Reaper, and inherits its powers. He then takes on the responsibility of destroying evil spirits, and ensuring souls reach the afterlife.

Those interested in experiencing the series’ epic plot can catch the show in its entirety on Crunchyroll and Netflix. It’s the perfect time for fans to catch up, and for new viewers to start watching before the new season arrives.

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