Bleach anime is finally back with the debut of Thousand-Year Blood War on October 10. The new shonen anime is adapting a major arc from Tite Kubo's popular manga series, and will run for four cours (quarter of a year). The first four episodes of the new anime have already been released, and fans can now stream it on Hulu in the United States, and Disney Plus in other regions. The English dub is also set to premiere this November.
In Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, Ichigo Kurosaki and his Soul Reaper companions battle Yhwach and his powerful Quincy army, so shonen fans can expect a lot of new characters, epic fights scenes, power-ups, and deaths in the war between Soul Reapers and the villains of the Quincy army. Only one episode has been released so far, but want to known if there are more stories beyond this epic arc.
With the debut of the new anime, one of the biggest questions fans are asking is: "Is Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War the final arc?" Keep on reading to find out more, but note that we will update this article with more details when we find out more information.
How many manga chapters will Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime cover?
Before we answer answer if Thousand-Year Blood War will be the final arc of Bleach, let's take a look at how many manga chapters the arc covers.
Thousand-Year Blood War runs over 200 chapters total in Tite Kubo's manga series, and it begins from Chapter 480 to Chapter 698, so there's a lot of story to cover, and that's why the new anime will last for four cours and is expected to have more than fifty episodes, but at this point, it's unclear if all the chapters will be covered in the anime series.
There are currently six episodes of Bleach: TYBW available to stream, and it's look like it's on pace to cover all the chapters of this arc.
Is Thousand-Year Blood War the final arc of Tite Kubo's manga?
In August 2021, the Bleach manga series made a comeback following its 2016 closure. Creator Tite Kubo revived the shonen's fandom in a huge way, and it looks like a new arc is officially coming.
The manga returned for that month's Weekly Shonen Jump in honor of its 20th anniversary. The end of that manga chapter reveals Bleach's new arc, which is called Howls From the Jaws of Hell arc, so to answer the question: No, Thousand-Year Blood War is not the final arc of Bleach.
What is the story of Bleach: Howls From the Jaws of Hell about?
Warning: Spoilers from the Howls From the Jaws of Hell arc ahead.
For those who have read Tite Kubo's manga, you know that the manga ends with this special outing with a shot of Kazui. He's shown running down a road with two Hell Butterflies leading the path. Ichigo Kurosaki's son looks calm as he continues the chase, but there's a lot to be worried about. After all, Ichigo just found out that a truly terrifying fact about Hell, and these butterflies might be leading his son to great danger.
The chapter concludes with the reveal of Bleach's new arc, but at the time of this writing, there's no continuation to the Howls From the Jaws of Hell arc yet, and Tite Kubo hasn't shared any recent updates about it.
Related: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Dub Release Date: When Will It Be Dubbed in English?
For more details about the new anime, you can read everything we know about Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, and check out Epicstream's streaming guide.