Bleach is officially over, 22 years after it started. Did the anime finally get the ending right?
Why it hits youBleach is one of the 'big three' anime a lot of people grew up on, and it's streaming on Disney+ in the UK. Its first ending let fans down. This was the creator's second chance to finish the story properly.
The final episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has aired, ending an anime that began in 2004. The manga's 2016 ending was widely called rushed. This time, most fans are calling it perfect, but not everyone.
The Facts
What everyone agrees on
Before anyone spins it. Every one of these is checkable.
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The final episode, episode 50 of Thousand-Year Blood War, aired on TV Tokyo in Japan at midnight on Monday 26 October, Japan time. Bleach official anime site ↗
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In the UK it streams on Disney+. The English dub of the finale is due on 30 November. The Tab ↗
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The original Bleach anime ran from 2004 to 2012 and never caught up with the manga. Thousand-Year Blood War, which adapts the final arc, started in 2022 and was split into four parts. BBC Newsbeat ↗
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Bleach was created by Tite Kubo and ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2001 to 2016, across 74 volumes and more than 130 million copies. Anime Corner ↗
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The manga's ending was divisive and widely seen as rushed. Kubo oversaw major changes for the anime version. BBC Newsbeat ↗
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The last two episodes were delayed to October “to improve quality”. Anime Corner ↗
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The final part, The Calamity, is rated 8.90 out of 10 by more than 57,000 users on MyAnimeList. MyAnimeList ↗
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A Bleach festival with 15 voice actors is set for 27 and 28 February 2027 at Makuhari Messe near Tokyo. BLEACH FES official site ↗
Every Side · 1 of 3
The fans who loved it
“The perfect conclusion”
For most fans this was the ending they'd waited a decade for. One fan told BBC Newsbeat it was the “perfect conclusion to the entire arc of Bleach”; another said “I honestly think I laughed more than I cried”. The voice of Ichigo in Japan, Masakazu Morita, signed off with the dates of the whole run: “2004.10.5 – 2026.10.26.” CBR's reviewer said the anime “redeems” the manga's ending: “Studio Pierrot overpromised and overdelivered.”
- Fans speaking to BBC Newsbeat
- Masakazu Morita, voice of Ichigo
- CBR
Side labels are our editorial calls for now. How we'll rate lean
Every Side · 2 of 3
The fans who wanted more
“We needed at least one extra episode”
Not everyone was satisfied. Some fans said the final episode was light on action, and one Reddit fan quoted by The Tab felt it “needed at least one extra episode”. A big question is left hanging: why Ichigo's true Bankai, his ultimate power, changed back is never explained. Even CBR's positive review said the peak came too early, and the last episode becomes “more of an epilogue with injected nostalgia”.
- Fans quoted by The Tab and BBC Newsbeat
- CBR
Side labels are our editorial calls for now. How we'll rate lean
Every Side · 3 of 3
What happens now
The anime's done. Bleach isn't
There's no announced sequel. Fans hope for an anime of the Hell arc, based on a 2021 one-off story by creator Tite Kubo, but nothing's confirmed, even with a teasing post-credits scene. What is confirmed: a Bleach mobile game, Mirrors High, with a new story by Kubo, launches today; the English dub of the finale lands on 30 November; and a Bleach festival in Japan with 15 of the voice actors is set for February 2027.
- The Tab
- Anime Corner
- BBC Newsbeat
Side labels are our editorial calls for now. How we'll rate lean
The Blindspot · what the headlines skip
The finale is mostly an epilogue, and that's why it splits people
The last episode follows the manga's “ten years later” ending: Rukia becomes a captain, and Ichigo and Orihime are married with a son. If you wanted one last fight, that's a letdown. If you wanted to say goodbye to the characters, it's the point.
The Blindspot · what the headlines skip
The creator got a do-over most don't
The manga's rushed ending was linked to Kubo's health problems. For the anime he supervised far more closely, adding scenes and new material, including a bigger final battle and two new characters he drew for the last episode.
The Blindspot · what the headlines skip
“Ending” is also good business
The finale lands the same week as a new Bleach mobile game, which passed a million pre-registrations, and ahead of a ticketed festival in Japan. The story is over; the brand is very much not.
Your Call
- The fans who loved it: not yet
- The fans who wanted more: not yet
- What happens now: not yet
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Hero image: File photo: Altan Dilan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Bleach cosplay at MCM London Comic Con, May 2016 ↗
By No Glaze News · published