bleach spotlight: The End Or Beginning of Bleach?

year 19, month 9

Yes everyone, the Thousand Year Blood War series is at its peak with everyone on their toes for even more amazing content and the dramatic conclusion that may or may not result in Yhwach's downfall (no spoilers to be found here). We've seen some of the most heavily anticipated things such as various bankai, the powers of the Sternritters, the appearances of the Royal Guards and much more! But with cour four on its way and an expected release date next year, people are already asking the big question; What is next for Bleach?"

There's been plenty of speculation on where Kubo may go next as well as some words from the man himself over time, and there's two main prevailing thoughts but let's go over what may come for the future, if there even is one.
 

Howl From The Jaws Of Hell

The most prevailing theory of what comes next is the Howl From the Jaws of Hell arc. This teased arc comes from a one shot produced by Kubo himself back in 2021, which came a year after the announcement of the adaptation of the Thousand Year Blood War in the 20th Anniversary Announcement in 2020. Before 2020, all anyone could do was sit and hope for something new coming and with the buzz for the Blood War, this potential for a new arc only made people's imagination soar.

Since we've all been happily digesting the Thousand Year Blood War, there's been few talks about what's next, but now that we are reaching the last round, many fans have their eyes already set on this possible Hell arc and having the story of Ichigo and company continue, now including the Bleach next generation with his son Kazui and Rukia's daughter Ichika. Everyone is approaching this with due caution since we know that doing next generation runs for an anime can go wrong (*cough* Boruto *cough*). However, with the long wait we had for the Blood War, a next gen continuation could be highly welcomed!

Burn The Witch

And then of course, we have the acclaimed spin off series that gained traction fairly quickly. In 2018 whilst waiting for some sweet scraps to fall from Kubo, we were served something different and unique, a special spin off called Burn The Witch that seemed to take place in an entirely different world. A mirror dimension of London called Reverse London where we were introduced to Witches, Dragons, and the big organisation Wing Bind. It wasn't exactly Bleach, but people still ate it up nonetheless. Or was it?? For you see, one thing that was made abundantly clear was that Wing Bind was also known as the "Soul Society West Branch", and in a promotional video for the series, we saw the letters of Burn the Witch painted red, revealing "B L E A C H". Coincidence?! I THINK NOT!

Thanks to that, everyone began to come up with many theories on how the Soul Society and Reverse London could be connected and hopes for a future where they actually were began to bloom. Hell, even just a full continuation of Reverse London becoming it's own unique story became a fan favourite concept for the future of the Bleach brand and I think we can all agree that we'd be on board for that. Perhaps a full series on its own with dotted easter eggs of the Soul Society, maybe one or two occasional character appearances as well for some fan service.

Words From Kubo Himself

Generally, since the announcement of the Thousand Year Blood War, Kubo has mostly been fixated on ensuring the very best adaptation we could ask for, working very closely with the production and also fixing inconsistencies along the way. As for what Kubo has given us directly, all we know for certain is that he'll be finishing the Thousand Year Blood War and then taking a nice and honestly well deserved break. He has confirmed that he'd be updating Burn The Witch at his own leisure but that may be more sparse than we all may think.

As for what we could glean from his activities, it does seem most likely that the end of Bleach comes at the completion of the Thousand Year Blood War. So far, all of the chapters written post-Blood War have primarily served as chapters made to make the lore more ironclad, tie up loose ends and answer questions more than explore a new storyline. So, the best bet here is that Burn the Witch may take over as the new story if Kubo desires to do another long project. But who knows, the mind of an artist can never be predicted after all!  

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