Story & Characters: By now, you're probably familiar with Bleach enough to know that the war between the Quincies and Soul Reapers rages on in this second part, labeled as The Separation. Why it's called that, I'm actually not sure, but this marks the second part out of four. Is it worth continuing this adventure? Absolutely. This part fleshes out some more details both about why Yhwach is seeking to invade the Soul Society, and just how powerful some of his comrades are. Like Soul Reapers, they all have their own specialized abilities and even if some are a little ... more duller than others, they still make for some fantastic fights. What I will say is that fights are a touch less creative than previously seen in both the Blood War arc, and the main Bleach storyline, just because many of the Soul Reapers are now going all-out. It's pretty easy to guess what this means for most of them, but some fights, such as those seen with Bambietta's crew, are probably the more entertaining ones. They just never reach the level that we saw with Head Captain Yamamoto.
Some audiences will probably be at least a little disappointed with Ichigo and crew's lack of screentime in this part, especially with the former who really doesn't have any fights here at all. Sure, character progression is important, but not seeing Zangetsu in action is a bit of a bummer. Like I alluded to earlier, the series more than makes up for it with other captains entering the fray, so it isn't too much of a deal breaker. We all know that Ichigo will be involved in fights in future installments, so we just need to wait and see. Chad and Orihime still haven't seen much action at all and that disappointingly doesn't change much here. Kisuke's knowledge is put on display once again, and even seeing Mayuri's reactions to some of the outcomes are still present, which leaves for some lighthearted moments. While captains should be the top of the crop in the Soul Society, some get hilariously outmatched in a few fights so the somewhat epic wind up will leave some audiences a little disappointed.
That being said, we get introduced to the Soul Society's Squad Zero, and they are most certainly welcome additions to this war. They have some insane power of their own, especially seen by Senjumaru and Ichibei. Their fights are easily the best, and I'm glad that those were kept for last. It does feel like there's more to be seen, but we obviously have plenty of story left to go seen if more is to come. Yoruichi returns to the story, but she doesn't add much to the story quite yet. Some of the old visards also make brief appearances, but do not participate in combat.
Quite honestly, the story of this season of Bleach doesn't amount to much because we already have a firm hold on what the story is, and this season's job is to only further that. Returnees are mostly welcome and new characters are awesome. If you're looking for deep storytelling, you probably won't find it here, though the brief stories that we get about certain Quincies are welcome. I'll be eager to see where the story goes and how much action we continue to see. (Story: 7/10, Characters: 9/10)
Art: Pierrot still continues a strong level of quality with their animation, something I wasn't sure would continue because of the studio's history with past anime. It remains crisp, with flashy fights and dark backgrounds. (10/10)
Sound: I can't say I was a huge fan of the new OP or ED, as both seem like odd choices for a war setting. Voice cast are still amazing, with Jeannie Tirado (Senjumaru) probably being my favourite this time around. I was also very impressed by A.J. Beckles as Gremmy. Our favourite power couple still did not return - Bill Butts replaces Travis Willingham as Charlotte Chuhlhourne and Hyorinmaru, and Anairis Quiñones replaces Laura Bailey as Hiyori. Early on in production, Quiñones replaced Wendee Lee as Yoruichi, but this was changed after a few episodes, causing some pretty significant backlash on her, unfairly. Lee insisted that it was a scheduling conflict from the producers end of things, but really didn't do herself any favours in some, now deleted, posts on X. I was pretty upset to see this considering how much of a fan I was of her in her work over multiple decades, but any cyberbully to both Lee and Quiñones should be toned down. (9/10)
Overall: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Separation is still amazing, though the hype is significantly lower this time around. Doing this in four parts which don't air as one huge season does unfortunately bring down the hype a little bit. Still, flashy action between Soul Reapers and Quincies is why I'm here and we get that in spades. Disney+ did a much better job at bringing a new episode each week, though the day in which the dub aired was still pretty random. I can't wait to watch more next year! (9/10)
 Alternative Titles Synonyms: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Arc Part 2 Japanese: BLEACH 千年血戦篇-訣別譚- Information Type: TV Episodes: 13 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Jul 8, 2023 to Sep 30, 2023 Premiered: Summer 2023 Broadcast: Saturdays at 23:00 (JST) Licensors: VIZ Media Studios: Pierrot Source: Manga Demographic: Shounen Duration: 24 min. per ep. Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity) Statistics Score: 8.721 (scored by 107,736 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #522 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1015 Members: 229,711 Favorites: 3,715 Available AtResources |
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