In 2001, Tite Kubo marked a milestone in shonen history with the release of its masterpiece, a supernatural action series simply titled "Bleach". Within a few years, “Bleach” joined “Naruto” by Masashi Kishimoto and "One piece" by Eiichiro Oda as part of shonen's legendary "Big Three," but over time, these three manga titans have faced different fates. While "Naruto" had a satisfying ending and "One Piece" is still ongoing, “Bleach” ended abruptly, leaving many fans unhappy.

In 2016, the final arc of the “Bleach” manga came to a seemingly hasty end, depriving fans of several developments and events they had been hoping to see. Over time, many disappointed fans have come to terms with the reality behind “Bleach’s” early ending, reflecting a current trend in the manga industry. Fortunately for the franchise and its many fans, the anime adaptation has kept “Bleach” relevant and popular today, regardless of what happened in the 2010s.

By today's standards, ending a manga series after 74 volumes is not considered a "premature" ending. Even the epic “Shingeki no Kyojin” was less than half that length, and the ultra-popular “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” told a complete story in just 23 volumes. However, “Bleach” was written at a time when long-running series were the norm, and Tite Kubo intended to continue his series for longer than he actually could. For him, the most important thing was to tell the complete story he had planned, no matter how many volumes it took.

Unfortunately, it wasn't possible. “Bleach” ended early due to several factors working together. One of the main ones was Tite Kubo's health, which suffered more and more as the serialization of “Bleach” continued. Although Kubo knew from the beginning that drawing manga weekly would be a demanding job, the reality of being a published manga artist caught up with him. Apparently, Kubo began to suffer from colds and other illnesses more frequently and intensely, to the point where he needed a week to recover in bed or even ended up in the hospital. These increasingly serious health problems finally convinced Kubo to finish his series while he still could.

The other big reason was commercial: “Bleach”’s popularity was gradually waning. While it continued to be widely praised as a valuable part of the “Big Three,” in relative terms it was losing ground. The Weekly Shonen Jump staff finally decided that “Bleach” needed to end and cut its losses. This decision, combined with Kubo's health issues, led to the unexpected and early ending of "Bleach," which meant not only concluding the series ahead of schedule, but also cutting short the final and most epic story arc, the "A Thousand Years of Blood War."

When the “Bleach” manga came to a premature end, depriving the “Thousand-Year Blood War” arc of its true potential, fans must have been upset and confused. In retrospect, many shonen fans sympathize with Tite Kubo's experience, and time has been kind to him. Since then, everyone involved in the creation, publication, and consumption of Japanese manga has become more aware of how stressful it is to be a manga artist, and the paradigm has shifted. Now, manga is treated with more indulgence, with the awareness that without the health and happiness of the artist there can be no manga and everyone loses.

As the “Thousand-Year Blood War” was rushed in the manga, the anime adaptation seeks to remedy as many of the deletions as possible. Numerous fights were extended, such as Yhwach vs. Yamamoto and Unohana vs. Kenpachi, and some completely new battles were included. Four of the five Zero Squad members are defeated off-screen in the manga, but the anime shows all of their individual fights.

Fans also get to see Shinji's Bankai, the highly dangerous Sakashima Yokoshima Happoufusagari, which can apparently turn allies into enemies and vice versa. However, one of the biggest changes in the “Thousand Year Blood War” arc is the addition of the original Gotei 13. The only information available in the manga was that two of its members were Yamamoto Genryusai and Unohana Retsu, but the anime shows all of them, complete with names and detailed character designs created by Tite Kubo himself.

Fans hope this trend continues in future seasons as there are still many unanswered questions. Most importantly, the final battle between Yhwach and Ichigo needs to last longer than a single chapter.

©SHUEISHA