We’re slowly learning more and more about Bleach’s return as we get closer to Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, and now we know how long it’s going to be.
After 20 years and nearly 400 episodes, the Bleach anime series is coming to an end. Yes, Ichigo Kurosaki has really been fighting the forces of evil on our screens for all this time, and while it may be hard to accept, he’s about to lay down his sword for the last time.
In 2022, Thousand-Year Blood War kicked off, adapting the massive final arc of Tite Kubo’s hit manga. We’ve been treated to two cours so far, and Cour 3 has now been confirmed to be 13 episodes long, promising a meaty salvo as the penultimate chapter of the franchise.
So far, Bleach’s 17th season, Thousand-Year Blood War, has given us 26 episodes. Cour 3 will therefore be the same length as the previous parts.
This is a relief, because sometimes the last episodes become feature-length or truncated productions, as was the case with Attack on Titan. Alas, Pierrot seems to avoid this problem, also offering an adaptation that is not too long, another problem that Attack on Titan suffered from towards the end.
Directing Bleach’s final hurrah is Tomohisa Taguchi, an increasingly accomplished anime filmmaker whose other credits include the Persona franchise and 2022’s underrated anime film The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes . Given his track record to date, this final chapter will be one to remember.
There are four planned cours, so after that, there’s only one episode left and Ichigo’s story is over. The franchise has seen mileage that very few achieve, rivaling One Piece in terms of overall length, but without the same consistency.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 3 will premiere on October 5, 2024. It’s easily one of the biggest upcoming anime of the year, and comes just as Dragon Ball Daima and My Hero Academia: You’re Next also land.
