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The Perfect Sequel Anime to Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Is Just Begging to Be Adapted

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Over the years, the Bleach franchise didn’t always shine as brightly as its counterparts like Naruto and One Piece. While the former two wrapped up successfully and the latter continues to thrive, the original Bleach anime faced a decline. However, it made a comeback with the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime in 2022. Now, Bleach is regaining its footing and popularity, but it still has some ground to cover before it fully recovers from its past setbacks, needing more than just the current anime series for a complete turnaround.

Indeed, the freshly released “Bleach” anime is making significant strides in reviving this classic shonen series. However, the shonen anime landscape is highly competitive, and the current audience has specific standards for “Bleach”. Once the new anime successfully concludes its run, it’s crucial to delve into the Echoing Jaws of Hell mini-arc from the manga and produce the best animated adaptation of “Bleach” yet.

Bleach Needs to Capitalize on Its Precious Momentum Right Away

A New Bleach Movie Should Keep Fans’ Attention a Little Longer

There are several compelling arguments why Studio Pierrot should adapt the Echoing Jaws of Hell story arc from the Bleach manga. For one, maintaining the franchise’s relevance is crucial given the fierce competition in the anime industry today. Despite its quality animation, Bleach might appear a bit outdated compared to more contemporary shonen anime like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, which seem to build upon and surpass the strengths of Bleach. This makes it challenging for the older storyline to hold its own in today’s market. Additionally, many long-time fans of Bleach have moved on to newer franchises due to the anime series ending years ago, and there is a risk that newcomers might lose interest once the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime wraps up in cour 4.

In simpler terms, the revival of the Bleach franchise, though a risky move given its size and the passage of time, has been successful so far, managing to regain the interest of fans. The return of such an old anime like Bleach was quite a gamble, but it seems to have paid off well. At present, Bleach is holding its ground against popular titles like Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan. However, due to the limited run of the TYBW anime adaptation, there’s a chance that the franchise might lose steam once it concludes. To ensure continuity, they plan to introduce the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc from the manga.

In today’s streaming era, where viewers have an abundance of anime choices at their fingertips, it’s becoming increasingly challenging for long-running series like Bleach to maintain their relevance. Unlike in 2004 when the anime first premiered, fans now consume and move on from shows quickly due to the sheer volume of high-quality content available. To keep up with this fast-paced environment, it may be beneficial for the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc of Bleach to be released as a short movie instead of an extended series, ensuring that the franchise stays fresh and engaging for its dedicated fanbase.

This specific approach may not last long due to the limited duration of the ongoing “Echoing Jaws of Hell” arc, and consequently, any resulting Bleach movie would also be short-lived. Nevertheless, a well-known franchise like Bleach can leverage its resources effectively, and history has shown that anticipation for anime movies can run high. Over time, anime movies have evolved from supplementary, non-canonical content to integral parts of the franchise’s storyline. Fans eagerly await the upcoming project, which is why Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was a box office hit in 2021. If a canon Bleach movie were announced as a bonus adventure following the conclusion of the TYBW anime, it would help maintain the franchise’s momentum and prevent fans from forgetting about Bleach too quickly.

Bleach’s Echoing Jaws of Hell Arc Is Fresh Canon Material to Enjoy

Only the Most Dedicated Manga Readers Are Spoiled for This Story Arc

One advantage to adapting the Echoing Jaws of Hell storyline is that many fans of manga/anime may not have encountered it yet, even if it’s canon material. Since this arc doesn’t appear until later in the Bleach story, readers who finish all 686 chapters might still miss it. This makes the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc stand out from other movie-worthy storylines like the Mugen Train and Reze arcs in Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man, which were introduced partway through their respective series and thus are difficult to overlook. The movie adaptations of these stories present an unusual situation because they interrupt the original anime series of Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man while also making manga readers wait for those arcs to become full-length films.

In a different phrasing, Bleach didn’t introduce any such storyline during its run, primarily because mid-series films weren’t prevalent when the big three shonen series were airing. Instead, the Echoing Jaws of Hell story arc is a lengthy manga chapter that followed the original manga’s narrative both in terms of in-story timeline and real-world release. Unlike the Mugen Train or Reze arcs, the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc is an additional tale that came after the main story, similar to an extra scene at the end of a movie. Consequently, only avid Bleach manga readers have encountered this side story, while anime-only fans missed out on it entirely. This situation works in favor of a potential Echoing Jaws of Hell movie since most viewers would be encountering fresh, unseen material. In contrast, only those who followed the anime-exclusive Demon Slayer series experienced something new with the Mugen Train film.

Bleach Is Overdue for a Fully Canon Movie

Bleach’s First 4 Movies Are Non-Canon Fluff

One strong argument for Studio Pierrot to create a movie adaptation of the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc from Bleach is that it would mark the first canonical film in the series. While fans may have enjoyed the initial four Bleach movies, their enjoyment was somewhat diminished due to them being mere side-adventures. These movies were enjoyable at the time as they explored new aspects of Bleach’s lore and setting, such as Senna being a collection of memories or Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya going rogue. However, for dedicated fans, these movies might have felt insignificant because they were non-canonical anime films presented as animated features. Fillers are generally disliked by anime fans, and even though filler movies don’t disrupt the main anime, they can still be considered unnecessary fluff.

Over time, fans of anime have grown accustomed to tie-in movies being genuine canon stories, and it was past due for the industry to elevate its standards to this level. Although they are well-known and influential, all three giants of shonen had many non-canon films, which might seem odd or wasteful to contemporary anime fans. Anime movies possess the ability to be far more than just speculative content, and now Bleach is set to make improvements in this regard. If Bleach hopes to keep pace with its spiritual successors such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer, it means delivering a canon sequel movie that rivals the and Mugen Train. The bar may be high, but devoted Bleach fans are willing to give this older franchise the benefit of the doubt and assume it can easily surpass it, with the “Echoing Jaws of Hell” chapter paving the way.

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2025-04-28 06:07

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