Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Part 3 has returned for the Fall 2024 anime season and is making a huge buzz online. It may have taken seven episodes, but Studio Pierrots’s effort was deeply encouraged as the latest episode was a love letter to Renji fans, showcasing his face-off against his former ally, Uryū Ishida.
Bleach TYBW focuses on the conflict between the Soul Society and the Wandenreich, a hidden Quincy faction. Almost every episode has expanded on character motivations and world-building to flesh out the originally sparse content of the manga. With the addition of a new prequel, Tite Kubo introduced many new faces that are even outshining our old cast from the classic Bleach.
As new characters gained recognition, manga readers were calling for justice for fan-favorite character Renji, urging Studio Pierrot to deliver the best cinematic episode for Renji fans, sending them into a state of frenzy.
Studio Pierrot’s Secrets Behind Bleach TYBW Episode 7’s Triumph
Bleach recently marked its 20th anniversary, leaving many fans nostalgic with the franchise’s recent official tribute video. Bleach‘s last episode aired back in 2014. Naturally, many fans felt the anime wouldn’t return, especially when the epilogue felt pleasing.
For decades, Bleach has stood as the pillar of the Big Three and is recognized as one of the greats, on par with One Piece and Naruto. Bleach‘s comeback was met with positive feedback, earning widespread applause for its improved animation and refined picture quality.
Animator:- Tsuguyuki Kubo#BLEACH #BLEACHTYBW pic.twitter.com/rK88DRcGem
— Raunak Pandey (@Raunak26241491) November 19, 2024
In every iconic series, there’s often one character who endures the worst treatment in the anime adaptation, and for Bleach, that character is Renji. When Renji was first shown in the Agent of the Shinigami arc, he was stronger than Ichigo and had achieved shikai.
Sadly, this isn’t a dynamic that lasts long. Since the return of TYBW, fans have eagerly awaited Renji’s spotlight, and Studio Pierrot answered with an unforgettable episode that puts Renji center stage, eclipsing Uryū Ishida.
Amid the overwhelming success of TYBW Part 3 Episode 7, the production team placed their trust in the legendary animator, Tsuguyuki Kubo, to ensure it avoided any criticism or backlash. Tsuguyuki Kubo is a veteran animator and designer with a nearly 60-year-long career.
He was the main figure behind the character design side of Topcraft’s work, Sally The Witch, and several veteran Toei shows, making him regarded as a legendary animator in the community.
Simply put, Renji’s anime-exclusive fight against Ishida lived up to the hype. Episode 7 perfectly showed off the power and versatility of Renji’s Bankai, with him exhibiting abilities like manifesting skeletal hands and even more dynamic fire-based powers.
This brought much-needed variety to Renji’s skillset, which was very refreshing to witness, especially after the manga offered little development for his new Bankai.
Bleach Creator Reveals the Most Complex Character in the Series
Despite being on the good side, many fans still view Mayuri Kurotsuchi as an evil character. This is understandable given Kubo designed Mayuri as a complex character who wasn’t timid about his immoral methods. However, this only resulted in some viewers disliking his beliefs and character.
Interestingly, in a joint interview with My Hero Academia‘s creator, Kōhei Horikoshi, Kubo opens up about his initial insecurities while designing Mayuri’s character.
After learning about Mayuri being Horikoshi’s favorite character, Kubo talks about the common misjudgment readers have against him.
The mangaka revealed he never planned to portray any of the 13 Court Guard Squads as the bad guys. However, Mayuri’s complex character made the fandom misunderstand his good intentions. It’s a creator’s job to highlight the complexities of black and white through their work and Mayuri’s character is a testament to Kubo’s beliefs.
Bleach and Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War are available for streaming on Crunchyroll
