Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – Part 3 Episode 1 Review

It’s Fall 2024, and the time has finally come once again – Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is back, for its third part, titled The Conflict. Considering the events of the first two parts of the Thousand-Year Blood War, one has to wonder just how intense things are going to get this season for it to only now be considered a ‘conflict’, but I digress. Part 2 of the series ended on one of the most unrelenting cliffhangers in recent memory, so the return of Bleach is a cause for celebration in more ways than one, and we’re here to talk all about it.

The season kicked off today with its premiere episode, and there’s a lot to talk about. Plot points from the first two parts of the Thousand-Year Blood War will be discussed, as well as the events of today’s episode, so be warned! Spoilers ahead! With that being said, let’s get into the first episode of my most anticipated anime of the season!

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The Review

Image by Pierrot

Where Part 2 left off, viewers were locked in to the fierce battle between the Quincies and Squad Zero. Few fans are likely to forget where the season concluded, as we watched Senjumaru and Ichibē reveal their fearsome bankais, and appear to turn the tables on Yhwach’s army. Well, if you really enjoyed those scenes, you’re in luck! A somewhat annoyingly large chunk of today’s premiere is dedicated to recapping those scenes, frame by frame.

I couldn’t help but feel a little deflated when I realised just how much of Part 2’s finale was being recapped here. Particularly for a premiere episode, fans are looking to get back into the action, see the plot points of the season set up, and after waiting for as long as we have, experience some new content. The Squad Zero bankai scenes were stunning, but we’ve seen them already, and they were so unforgettable on a first watch, that a recap seemed entirely unnecessary.

When we get past the padding, however, Bleach proves that Pierrot has still got it. At heart, Bleach is an action show, and the action here is as good as ever. The animation packs the same punch that the other Thousand-Year Blood War parts did, and the anime manages to grip its viewers with an intensity that very few of its contemporaries can match. Watching Bleach’s action scenes has always been visceral, and it’s looking like Part 3 will offer no lower standard.

Image by Pierrot

Thus far, the Thousand-Year Blood War has not felt particularly divided in its parts. Bleach’s original run was as a weekly anime, and the vibe of the Thousand-Year Blood War has felt the same, with seasons only divided by the time gaps between their release, rather than feeling separated as seasons. This is a particularly prevalent vibe in this episode, as it really feels like this episode picked right back up where we left off. There’s no grand introduction to mark this as a season premiere, no change in tone or theme – we’re thrown right back into the fray.

In some ways, this is a strength, but in other ways, it leads me to question why the series has been split up the way that it has. I’ll go into more detail on this shortly, but this episode, to me, felt like a much better finale to Part 2 of the Thousand-Year Blood War, rather than a start to Part 3. Would one more episode have really been impossible to fit into Part 2, in exchange for a much better dividing point between Part 2 and Part 3?

Beyond the action, though, the episode did have some shocks to offer, mainly the deaths of Ichibē and Senjumaru. I think we all sort of saw this coming, or at least, we knew they weren’t going to defeat Yhwach and the Quincies then and there. However, the brutality of the deaths, particularly that of Ichibē, was jarring. Much like when Yamamoto was killed, the death of Ichibē was a reminder that no one is safe in Bleach, regardless of how strong they are.

Image by Pierrot

Or, so I thought at least. Ichibē makes a shocking return at the end of the episode, which in itself feels like a curtailing of the intensity of the episode otherwise. With his death being non-permanent, the episode had little else to offer plotwise, aside from Senjumaru’s death. Of course, the action and animation were top-notch as always, but…maybe this is spoiled of me to say, but I expect that from Bleach at this point.

This is majorly why, when the credits rolled, I felt a little shocked. Don’t get me wrong, it was an enjoyable episode, but I absolutely cannot shake the idea that this was originally intended as the Part 2 finale. The inconsequentiality of Ichibē’s death, the practical non-existence of Ichigo himself in the episode, and the huge teaser of Aizen at the end – all of this feels like a much better conclusion for last season, than a beginning of this one. That being said, I’m still very much excited for episode 2, so the episode succeeded in that regard.

Overall, the episode excelled in action and animation, and made for an entertaining watch (recap aside), but it lacked the punch that I was hoping for from the premiere episode of a series as anticipated as this. Bleach’s standard has been so high recently, I was hoping for a more memorable episode to kick off the events of The Conflict, and I do feel like this episode was just a little short of the mark in that regard.

What did you think of this premiere? Are you happy with how the show returned, or were you expecting a little more from the first episode? Be sure to let us know in the comments?

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Where to Watch Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War?

Image by Pierrot

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War airs weekly on Disney Plus, every Saturday. You can also catch all previous episodes of the Thousand-Year Blood War on the platform, as well as the original run of Bleach from 2004. This season of Bleach marks 20 years since the anime began, which we’ve covered in an article you can find below. Happy watching!

See also: Bleach 20th Anniversary

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