Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 Gets A New Trailer And Premiere Date

It's been known for a while that part 2 of "Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War" would premiere in July 2023, but we now have a concrete date and a trailer to go with it. The next batch of "Bleach" episodes, subtitled "The Separation," will begin airing on Saturday, July 8, 2023, at 7:30 a.m. PT. The series will continue to be simulcast outside Japan, with subtitles in six languages available upon premiere: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and German. Information about dub release dates should be forthcoming following the premiere.

"Thousand-Year Blood War" adapts the final arc of Tite Kubo's original manga, published in Weekly Shonen Jump. "Bleach" is the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a Japanese teenager with red hair, a punk attitude, and the ability to see ghosts. One day, he's attacked by an evil spirit called a Hollow and given the power to defeat it by Rukia Kuchiki, a Shinigami girl ("Soul Reaper" in English). Soul Reaper powers manifest as Zanpakuto, or swords that hold personalized powers.

"Thousand-Year Blood War" is about the Soul Society, the home dimension of the Soul Reapers and the afterlife for mortals, being invaded by the Quincies: humans who can wield spirit energy. Determined to defeat Quincy leader Yhwach, Ichigo discovers he's connected to him in ways he never imagined.

The "Bleach" anime initially ran from 2004 to 2012, then took a hiatus while the manga concluded. The manga wrapped up in 2016 and after a lull, the anime returned in 2022 to give itself a proper ending. Directed by Tomohisa Taguchi, "Thousand-Year Blood War" is set to be 52 episodes total, with four parts and 13 episodes each. 

"Thousand-Year Blood War" Part 1 adapted "Bleach" chapters 480 to 543, ending with Ichigo forging his new swords and the reveal that his friend Uryu Ishida had joined his fellow Quincies. The new trailer picks up from there, with Yhwach declaring Ishida his successor. Most of the trailer consists of character shots, with the Quincies plotting their war strategies and the Soul Reapers preparing to fight back. Also confirmed are appearances by new Quincy villains and their voice actors: Aoi Yūki as the gluttonous Liltotto, Tsuyoshi Koyama as the Valkyrie-themed Gerald, Sōichiro Hoshi as fork-tongued Nianzol, and Nao Tōyama as the necromancer Giselle.

Now, the aesthetics of "Bleach" are its soul, so how does the trailer look on that front? The animation appears as good as Part 1, with just the right shading to make the colors pop. The dominant colors of this trailer, and seemingly "The Separation" as a whole, are blue and red. The sky of the Soul Society has turned red after the Quincys' slaughter while the title text is rendered in blue. A new poster shows Ichigo and Ishida standing apart, the former in red and the latter in blue. Compare this to Part 1, which bathed its trailers and title sequence in pink. 

New Key Visual! ⚔️ Ichigo Kurosaki will face the rise of Uryu Ishida.#BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War, Part 2 – The Separation streams in six languages starting on July 8. pic.twitter.com/lwfa1gYyKb

— VIZ (@VIZMedia) May 28, 2023

The trailer also debuts the new theme song: "STARS" by Japanese band w.o.d., replacing "Scar" by Tatsuya Kitani. So far, I do prefer the previous theme, but we'll have to wait and see what the accompanying title sequence for "STARS" looks like.

New episodes of "Bleach" premiere on Hulu in the U.S., where the rest of the series is currently streaming.