The Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime was a standout title in the Summer 2023 anime season, alongside Jujutsu Kaisen. The new Bleach anime's second cour is more of what made the first cour so great – bombastic action scenes, electrifying characters, slick animation, and of course, enough shocking plot twists and developments to keep viewers engaged. In the current era of Bleach, nothing is what it seems, and fans can't take anything for granted.
The previous Bleach anime scene swiftly resumed the brutal Thousand-Year war between the Soul Reapers and their longtime enemy, the Quincy empire. Season 2 is packed with explosive new developments for Bleach's heroes and villains alike, subverting expectations and pushing the anime in bold new directions with shocking twists and turns.
10 Askin Invaded Mayuri's Lab
It was shocking enough back in cour 1 when the elite Sternritter appeared out of nowhere in the Seireitei's streets to fight the Soul Reapers, but cour 2 pushed it even further. Early Season 1, it became evident there was nowhere the Quincy could not go, and the Soul Reapers had nowhere to hide.
Bleach fans were used to Captain Kurotsuchi's lab being one of the most secure places in the Seireitei, but Askin Nakk Le Vaar Proved otherwise. He casually strode into Mayuri's lab through the shadows, where he could have wreaked havoc on the defenseless researchers. Fortunately, Mayuri's arrival prompted Askin to take his leave.
9 Yhwach Named Uryu His Heir
Bleach: TYBW's first cour ended with the shocking development of Uryu Ishida's apparent defection from Ichigo's team to the Wandenreich, and cour 2 kept it up. Uryu is doubling down on his Wandenreich allegiance, but he isn't just an extra soldier for Yhwach. To every character's shock, Uryu was publicly named King Yhwach's heir.
Despite his inexperience with the Wandenreich, Uryu secured that appointment, while everyone expected Jugram Haschwalth to be named Yhwach's heir instead. Bambietta Basterbine was so outraged, she took it out on another Quincy, slicing him in half to vent her frustration.
8 Kenpachi Zaraki Used Shikai
Cour 1 of the new Bleach anime shocked and impressed fans when Captain Kenpachi Zaraki defeated the mighty Yachiru Unohana to unlock his true potential. The anime hinted at yet another development when Kenpachi heard his zanpakuto's voice for the first time, but fans didn't get to see much more than that.
Now, the second cour has delivered on that promise in incredible fashion. During his fight with Gremmy Thoumeaux, Kenpachi finally activated his shikai, Nozarashi, and transformed his sword into a massive cleaver capable of slicing a giant meteor. Fans were used to Kenpachi using brute strength alone to win, but in one brutal fight, all that changed for good.
7 Toshiro Hitsugaya Became a Zombie
Acts of betrayal often serve as the most impactful and shocking plot twists in anime, even if a character is being coerced or controlled by someone. A notable and horrifying betrayal took place when Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya became one of Giselle Gewelle's zombies, a foe the Soul Reapers couldn't afford to deal with.
The zombified Toshiro, acting against his own will, struck down several Soul Reapers and may have killed many more, but Mayuri Kurotsuchi knew what to do. Fortunately, Mayuri merely pacified and un-zombified Toshiro, because killing Toshiro to stop his rampage would have cost the Gotei 13 a valuable officer.
6 Mayuri Kurotsuchi Unleashed His Arrancars
Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi wasn't too concerned when he saw Giselle Gewelle slaughtering everyone with her zombified Soul Reaper puppets. Mayuri fought fire with fire, reintroducing four Arrancars as zombified warriors to fight Giselle on equal terms. Charlotte, Dordoni, Luppi, and Cirucci were back for round 2 from the Arrancar saga.
No one expected those previously defeated/killed Arrancars to ever show up again, yet there they were, and they did well against Giselle until the zombified Toshiro showed up. It was one thing for Loly, Menoly, and Nel to return, since they never died, but undead Arrancars was something entirely new in Bleach.
5 Kensei & Rojuro Lost Too Easily To Mask de Masculine
Bleach fans had high expectations for the Visoreds in Bleach's TYBW story arc. All eight of them are experienced Soul Reapers with Hollow masks for added power, but they underperformed in recent Bleach episodes. Captains Kensei Muguruma and Rojuro Otoribashi in particular, dropped the ball when fighting the Sternritter.
Soul Reaper Captains with Hollow masks should have had an easy time crushing the Sternritter, but it didn't happen. Instead, those two characters were easily defeated even when they both used bankai, which was a shocking letdown that made fans wonder how Kensei and Rojuro ever regained their position as Captain. They didn't even try to use their Hollow masks either.
4 Rukia Kuchiki Used Her Bankai
Already, Bleach fans were used to the series generously giving its characters sudden new powers, such as Ikkaku Madarame's bankai or Yumichika's true shikai form. Early in the Arrancar saga, Bleach gave Rukia Kuchiki a glow-up with her shikai, Sode no Shirayuki, and fans were sure that would be the end of Rukia's power-ups.
The TYBW story arc proved that Rukia's potential was far greater than anyone realized. While fighting Sternritter F, Äs Nödt, Rukia first used some new shikai powers, then activated her bankai, Hakka no Togame, which Bleach fans weren't prepared for. Rukia's beautiful, icy bankai took down Äs in one hit.
3 Sajin Komamura Revealed His Human Form
In the first Bleach: TYBW anime cour, Captain Sajin Komamura lost his bankai to Bambietta Basterbine, so he met his canine clan's elder to find a new solution. Bleach fans could tell that Sajin was on the verge of doing something new, but what, they couldn't yet tell. More recently, cour 2 delivered the shocking answer.
Sajin gave up his heart to become an invincible warrior in a humanoid form, which made his victory over Bambietta Basterbine a foregone conclusion. It was bizarre to see Sajin in a new form, and when that new power ran out, Sajin shrank into an ordinary wolf and lost all his power.
2 Bazz-B Attacked Candice's Team
The Sternritter were strong because of their strong loyalty and skillful coordination with one another early in the Thousand-Year Blood War, since they were all driven by the same goal and had King Yhwach to guide them. This means Bleach fans weren't counting on the Sternritter backstabbing each other in cour 2.
The formerly united Sternritter quickly fell to infighting in Bleach's newest season, a stark contrast with their cour 1 performance. The first major example was Sternritter H, Bazz-B, attacking Candice and her team of magical girl-style Sternritter to steal the glory of killing Ichigo himself.
1 Yhwach Used Auswählen to Take Back Quincy Powers
Even if the Sternritter were turning on one another for petty and selfish reasons, Bleach fans felt sure that King Yhwach, the father of all Quincy, would try to get the team back together. However, like Sosuke Aizen before him, Yhwach only saw his minions as disposable tools, meaning the Sternritter weren't so different than the Espadas after all.
Near the end of cour 2, Yhwach used Auswählen to remotely take back several Quincys' powers and give them to the Schutzstaffel, which was fatal for those who lost their powers. Like a Quincy All For One, Yhwach can freely move powers around from person to person, and he was willing to let some Sternritter die so others could power up. He wasn't a benevolent king – he was an exploitative tyrant.
