After nearly a decade-long hiatus, the Bleach anime is expected to return next year with an adaption of the manga’s final story arc, Thousand-Year Blood War.
As a refresher, Bleach is the story about high school student Ichigo Kurosaki becoming a Soul Reaper protecting the human world from evil spirits through powers meant for guardians of the afterlife. As the story progresses, Ichigo discovers the source of his supernatural powers and what his place in the world truly means as a multi-layered mystery across many years is unraveled.
The anime concluded its sixteenth season with an adaption of the Los Agent arc. This storyline revolved around Ichigo encountering Ginjo Kujo, his predecessor as a Soul Reaper of the human realm. From a production standpoint, however, the anime has caught up to the source material manga leaving the producers with two choices: end the anime series with that penultimate arc adapted as an ending for the anime OR put fans through another filler arc that would have no real consequences for the story as they waited for enough of the source material to be released and then adapted for television.
But in today’s world of storytelling, where reboots are commonplace, the producers of the Bleach anime have uncovered a third option: reviving the series as part of an anniversary celebrating in order to adapt a story that never got to enjoy the televised success.
Source: BLEACH 20th ANNIVERSARY website
