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It’s been one year sinceBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warpart 2 ended, and the beginning of part 3 is imminent. Fans are no doubt excited about finally getting back to the story, especially given where it left off, but there are a few things that fans should definitely know before the series resumes airing.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warpart 3, entitled “The Conflict,” is set to return on August 04, 2025. It should pick up exactly where part 2 left off, which should be quite interesting, as part 2’s ending diverged from the manga somewhat. Many fans expect the third part to have quite a lot of added content that wasn’t in the manga, addressing points of interest which original mangaka Tite Kubo was forced to skip over in his attempts to wrap up the story ofBleachin a timely manner.
How to Watch Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3
Bleach’s Return Will Be Available on Hulu and Disney Plus
Episodes will initially be available to stream in Japanese with subtitles; an English dub is confirmed, but it’s not known at present how far behind the subtitled version the dub will be.
Where Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 Left Off
The final episode of part 2 ofThousand-Year Blood War,entitled “BLACK,” saw Ichibe Hyosube showing down with Yhwach, while the rest of Squad Zero dealt with his elite soldiers, the Schutzstaffel.Yhwach performed the Auswhalen, a technique which allowed him to drain the life and abilities of his Quincy subordinates to use on his own, effectively ending most of the battles taking place in Soul Society. He uses this power to enhance the abilities of his Schutztstaffel, allowing them to compete at the level of Squad Zero for the first time.
Lille Barro, one of the Schutzstaffel, fires a shot which pierces Oetsu Nimaiya of Squad Zero, even passing through the Zanpakuto of Nimaiya’s allies to strike him, as he reveals the nature of his Schrift, the X-Axis. Senjumaru repairs Nimaiya’s injuries, andHikifune uses her Cage of Life ability to separate the Schutzstaffel and Squad Zero members into one-on-one fights. As they each fight it out, Ichibe confronts Yhwach, using his ability to cut Yhwach’s power by half. Ichibe calls upon his Zanpakuto’s Shikai form, Ichimonji, which removes the names of anything covered in its ink.
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This prevents Yhwach from drawing his own blade, leaving him shocked. Meanwhile, the other battles are turning against Squad Zero, with their opponents gaining the upper hand slowly. As all four are defeated, the Cage of Life breaks down, releasing the Schutzstaffel.Squad Zero stands back up, however, and declare they’re getting serious, with Kirinji, Nimaiya, and Hikifune apparently killing themselves suddenly. Senjumaru is left alone, and it’s revealed that by doing this, Squad Zero had unsealed Senjumaru’s Bankai, allowing her to pull out her ultimate technique.
Senjumaru creates bespoke prison dimensions for each of Yhwach’s followers, including Uryu and Haschwalth, trapping them inside with seemingly no hope of ever escaping. Back at the battle between Ichibe and Yhwach, Yhwach attempts to steal Ichibe’s ability, but it fails, leaving Ichibe unharmed. Ichibe claims to have total dominion over all things black, and splashes Yhwach with ink, erasing his name.Ichibe activates his equivalent of a Bankai, known as a shin’uchi, which he uses to give Yhwach a new name: Black Ant.
Now with his power reduced to that of an ant, Ichibe uses his ability to stomp “Black Ant” through the platform they were fighting on, then apparently crushes him between two giant hands, as one would an ant. Yhwach and his guard are apparently defeated, but any savvy fan is sure to know that this isn’t the end.
What Manga Chapters Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 Will Adapt
Part 3 Will Adapt Most of the Remaining Bleach Chapters
Part 2 ofThousand-Year Blood Waradapted roughly 5 chapters per episode, a blisteringly fast pace for most anime. Part 2 ended at chapter 609 of 686, so if the same pace were maintained, part 3 would be able to adapt nearly everything remaining. However, a part 4 is confirmed, which is why many fans expect to see a lot of anime-original content in part 3. The addition of anime-original content, such as Senjumaru’s Bankai, will reduce the number of chapters an episode can adapt, effectively slowing the pace of adaptation.
As a result, it’s difficult to say precisely how much of the manga will be adapted in part 3. If the pace were slowed to about 3 chapters per episode, that would leave enough chapters for part 4 to proceed at roughly the same pace, but that could represent more added content than the creators at Studio Pierrot had intended to add. It’s also possible part 3 could continue at pace, with part 4 thus deviating from the manga substantially. GivenmanyBleachfans' problems with the manga version of the final arc, this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, especially with Tite Kubo working closely with the studio.
Part 3 ofThousand-Year Blood Waris likely to be make-or-break for the adaptation ofBleach’s final arc. While the first two parts have been excellently animated and well received overall, part 3’s added content could end up changing the story significantly, which is always a risk, even when it’s needed. With any luck,Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warwill give new life to the story’s final arc, fixing its issues and pleasing fans with an even better version of events than the manga had to offer.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is a sequel series to the popular anime from creator Tite Kubo. This anime follows Ichigo and his friends as they investigate why people are disappearing while trouble arises in the Soul Society. The first season was released in 2022 and has been critically acclaimed since its beginning.
