Bleach says goodbye forever: the Thousand-Year Blood War finale arrives today

Twenty-two years after its first episode, Bleach says goodbye. The anime releases the final episode of Thousand-Year Blood War, the arc that adapts the last stretch of Tite Kubo's manga and that fans have been waiting more than a decade to see animated.

This is not just any ending. Kubo has worked with studio Pierrot Films to introduce changes to the original story, whose manga finale left many readers with a bad taste. That ending, published in 2016, was considered rushed due to the health problems the author faced during its production. Now, the animated version arrives with the expectation of making up for that farewell.

Bleach follows the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, an orange-haired teenager with the ability to see ghosts.yahoo.com

Bleach is part of the so-called "big three" of Japanese manga along with One Piece and Naruto, the three series that drove the global popularity of anime in the 2000s. The story follows Ichigo Kurosaki, an orange-haired teenager with the ability to see ghosts, who balances high school and family life with his role as a defender of humanity against evil spirits.

The original anime aired between 2004 and 2012 across 16 seasons, but stopped without adapting the manga's ending. For years, fans assumed the series would never return. The first part of Thousand-Year Blood War premiered in 2022, a decade later, and the arc was split into four blocks. The last one began airing this past July.

A farewell with tears and friends

BBC Newsbeat has spoken with several fans who are getting ready to watch the final episode. Ruby Ebbs, 27, started reading Bleach at nine and met Nicholas Thong, 30, thanks to their shared passion for the series. "I've made so many friends thanks to Bleach. It's been a wonderful part of my life, both for what it has taught me and for the people I've met," Ebbs says.

Nicholas Thong (left) and Ruby Ebbs became friends thanks to their shared passion for Bleach.yahoo.com

Thong recalls that the series helped him get through high school and connect with other classmates. He even has a tattoo dedicated to the story. They are watching the finale together and, as they put it, they will do so "crying at the same time."

For Itanna Alakija, 28, Bleach has an added value: the way it represents Black characters. "It's one of the few anime that has represented Black characters in a non-stereotypical way," she explains. Alakija highlights how Kubo integrates different cultures within a Japanese artistic format, something she finds "really interesting and amazing."

Itanna Alakija has praised the representation of Black characters in the series.yahoo.com

The final episode arrives with the promise of closing a chapter for a whole generation of viewers. It remains to be seen whether the new ending convinces those who were disappointed with the manga, but no one disputes the weight that Bleach leaves on anime history.