The long-awaited Jump Super Stage Ex 2023 has begun. Fans who attended Jump Festa 2022, where a key visual and trailer for the Bleach Thousand Year Blood War anime was officially released, were anticipating today’s announcements with bated breath.
With the quality of storytelling and animation, Bleach TYBW has already impressed fans this year. They are really happy with the way Studio Pierrot’s animation of the franchise has undone some of the flaws of the manga. However, today’s lack of announcement for the series also disappointed much of the fandom, who had hoped for a new game of the franchise or news on Bleach‘s Hell arc.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Bleach TYBW.
Table of Contents
Jump Super Stage Ex announced a special finale episode for Bleach TYBW
What happened at Bleach Jump Super Stage Ex?
The voice actors of Ichigo Kurosaki (Masakazu Morita), Uryu Ishida (Noriaki Sugiyama), Rukia Kuchiki (Fumiko Orikasa), Renji Abarai (Kentaro Ito), and Byakuya Kuchiki (Ryotaro Okiayu) were interviewed during the Jump Festa 2023 Bleach Super Stage Ex, which took place on December 17, 2022. Tite Kubo returned after a long absence, and the series’ director, Tomohisa Taguchi, also made a brief appearance.
The Super Stage Ex event saw the creators and voice actors of Bleach TYBW discuss their favorite scenes. Mangaka Tite Kubo also revealed some of his creative processes, as well as how much material was adapted or left out. In addition to these, a new key visual for the penultimate episode of the series was also unveiled.
Special episode and new key visual
Towards the end of the segment, it was revealed that an hour-long episode would be released to mark the end of part 1. The special will air on December 26 and will combine episodes 12 and 13 of the anime. However, before that, it was confirmed that Bleach TYBW episode 11 will air on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, at 12 am JST.
Moreover, an official new poster for this special episode was also shared for the first time at Jump Festa 2023, where Ichigo is shown holding Zangetsu in the image. Isshin and Masaki are also featured in the Shinigami and Quincy colors of black and white in the background.
Besides the special episode announcement and poster, it was disclosed that Ichigo’s past will be revealed in the final episode. This suggests that anime fans will finally get to see Masaki’s Quincy origins, how she met Isshin, and how Yhwach is responsible for her death.
The Bleach exhibition
There was also talk about a special exhibition of Bleach, called BLEACH EX, that will feature Tite Kubo’s original illustrations from the series. The franchise’s exhibition will commence its tour on December 22, 2022, in Fukuoka, Japan. The previous BLEACH EX was held from December 18, 2021, to January 16, 2022, and was open to all.
While many fans enjoyed the lighthearted banter, some were clearly disappointed by the lack of actual announcements. Expectations have been skyrocketing since fans hoped Kubo would reveal a new Bleach game or the next issue of the coveted Hell arc.
The future of Bleach TYBW anime
Bleach TYBW is supposed to be divided into four parts with breaks in between. The second cour will adapt manga volumes 55 to 74, where the Quincies will return to obliterate Soul Society. While Ichigo will use his Quincy, Shinigami, and Hollow powers to protect everyone, Yhwach will increase his to godly levels. Hence, it remains to be seen how the Soul Society will handle this overpowered villain.
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