Despite its nostalgic appeal and legacy as one of Shonen Jump's legendary Big Three, Bleach was criticized by fans for its excessive reliance on filler material. Bleach aired in a time when filler episodes and arcs were a frustrating but understandable necessity, but its anime-only stories were considered to be some of the worst in anime history.
But as bad as anime-original stories like the Bount or New Captain Shusuke Amagai Arcs were, Bleach's fillers weren't wholly irredeemable. Bleach had its fair share of filler arcs, short stories and one-off episodes that didn't just entertain fans, but also deepened the canon characters and world in ways the manga and anime never thought of.
10 The Karakura Town Superheroes' Adventures
Episodes 33, 50, 213, and 214
One of Bleach's biggest missed opportunities was exploring the daily lives and adventures of Karakura Town's residents. The town was filled with eccentric residents, but they were rarely given their due, especially in the manga's later arcs. Thankfully, the anime gave them their share of the spotlight through some silly filler episodes.
Episodes 33 and 50 had Don Kanonji form the Karakura Superheroes, who then embarked on epic missions like saving cats. Episodes 213 to 214 went the extra mile with the Karakura-Raizer Team and more overt homages to tokusatsu shows like Kamen Rider. These fillers were goofier than Bleach's usual fare, but they were fun breaks from the norm.
9 Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
Episodes 53-365
The Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book was basically the anime's answer to omake chapters. Hosted or presented by Kon, these after-credits shorts and gags gave fans a peep into the everyday lives of Bleach's most powerful warriors and killers. Some sketches were canon or at least approved by Kubo Tite, while others were anime-only.
Regardless of their canonicity and even if they were more of a series of slice-of-life skits than a fully-fleshed out arc, the Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book humanized Bleach's characters through fun jokes and sitcom-styled humor. The manga had its share of gag pages, but none of them were as intricate or beloved as these filler shorts.
8 The Shinigami Make a Movie
Episode 298: Film! Festival! Shinigami Film Festival!
A testament to the Gotei 13's impeccable characterizations and designs was the fact that fans wanted to see them do pretty much anything besides fight Hollows or each other. Filler stories like Episode 298 fulfilled this particular itch by having the Soul Reapers make a movie to celebrate the very first Seireitei International Film Festival.
Throughout the episode, the now-iconic Ichigo Kurosaki dropped by each squad's film shoot and saw what kind of silly picture they were trying to make. As expected, nothing goes as planned and the Soul Reapers mess up even the simplest of tasks. The filler episode was as hilarious as expected, and it was a welcome breather from Bleach's constant battles.
7 Shuhei Hisagi & Rangiku Matsumoto's Romantic Comedy of Errors
Episode 305: Delusion Roars! Hisagi, Towards the Hot Springs Inn!
Bleach had tons of romantic ships and teases, but it never really dwelled on any of them since romance wasn't exactly the manga's priority. Despite this, fans latched onto the pairing of Vice-Captains Hisagi and Matsumoto. The two had undeniable chemistry, even if Hisagi's feelings for Matsumoto were one-sided. Episode 305 took full advantage of this.
Episode 305 was basically an action-packed rom-com starring the two Vice-Captains. Matsumoto just asked Hisagi to help her deal with a Hollow in the red-light district, but Hisagi thought that she wanted things to get romantic between them. This miscommunication led to one of Bleach's funnier escapades that also indulged in shippers' fantasies.
6 The Tragedy of Shota & Yui Toyokawa
Episodes 128-131
While Ichigo was training with the Visored, the Shinigami Strike Force based in Karakura Town, namely Captain Hitsugaya, Vice-Captain Matsumoto, Ikkaku and Yumichika, decided to help a boy named Shota after he was attacked by a strangely overpowered Hollow. However, there was a lot more to Shota and the new Hollows.
This four-episode side filler was a fun and thrilling mystery that served as a good breather before the Arrancar Arc's biggest fights commenced. It was also a return to Bleach's roots, specifically when the earliest arcs focused on ordinary people's relations with the Soul Reapers and Hollows. Bleach needed more grounded stories such as this one.
5 Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya & Karin Kurosaki's Ship Tease
Episode 132: Hitsugaya, Karin and Soccer Ball
One of the best and most unexpected things that Bleach's filler material added was a ship tease between Hitsugaya and Ichigo's younger sister, Karin. Episode 132 started this by having Karin mistake Hitsugaya for a fellow teenager, and roping him into her upcoming soccer game. The episode's take on young love was fun and cute.
Besides kick-staring one of Bleach's most underrated romantic pairings, Episode 132 also showed that there was a lot more to Hitsugaya as a person than his cold demeanor and overcompensation. It was also fun to see how his self-seriousness clashed, then jived well with Karin's more outward and confident behavior.
4 Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya Visits an Old Human Friend
Episode 316: Toshiro Hitsugaya's Holiday!
Captain Hitsugaya was one of Bleach's most popular characters. This was why he got the most filler material, including a whole movie, of the Gotei 13's Captains. His best anime-original story was his solemn day-off in Episode 316, where he reunited with Haru: a now-elderly woman who first met Hitsguya when he was much younger.
Though it had some fun moments like furthering the romantic teases between Hitsugaya and Karin, Episode 316 was a uniquely somber filler story. The episode dealt with human mortality and some spirits' understandable hesitation to move on to the afterlife. Hitsugaya got the kind of depth that his canon stories rarely gave him.
3 Ashido Kano & The Forest of Menos
Episodes 147-149
It could be argued that Ashido Kano's side story during Ichigo's incursion to Hueco Mundo was one of the best mini-filler arcs from anime aired in the late 2000s. His story fit organically into the Arrancar Arc's Hueco Mundo chapters, and it deepened Bleach's world building. It also helped that Ashido was one of Bleach's coolest characters.
Marooned in Hueco Mundo for what must've been decades, if not centuries, Ashido survived alone in a forest full of Menos Grande Hollows. Ashido saved Rukia Kuchiki when she also got lost in the forest and helped Ichigo's group when they rescued her. Bleach forgetting about Ashido soon after was one of the anime's biggest mistakes.
2 Tier Harribel & the Tres Bestias's Flashback
Episode 284: Chain of Sacrifice... Harribel's Past
Even if she was the third-ranked Espada, Tier Harribel was one of Bleach's most disrespected characters. She didn't get a flashback the way her male counterparts, Coyote Starrk and Barragan Luisenbarn, did during the battle for Fake Karakura Town, and she was unceremoniously defeated by Sosuke Aizen when he betrayed her.
This was remedied with Episode 284, which showed how Harribel formed the Tres Bestias and first met Aizen. The episode also explored the gender inequality of Hueco Mundo's ruthless social order. Most importantly, it revealed why Harribel embodied the death aspect of sacrifice, since the manga never bothered to explain it.
1 Rukia Kuchiki's Forgotten Adopted Siblings
Bleach: Fade to Black
Rukia was so well-written and integral to Bleach that she's been considered by fans to either be the anime's second protagonist, or the true main character. The movie Bleach: Fade to Black all but confirmed this when Rukia was erased from everyone's memories by Homura and Shizuku: a pair of siblings who Rukia adopted a long time ago.
Even if it isn't canon and even if it ended with a big Zanpakuto fight as every Bleach story does, the movie is still one of the anime's most emotionally resonant outings. Bleach: Fade to Black deepened Rukia's past and humanity by showing that she was much more than a Soul Reaper, which is something that the manga and anime tended to forget.
