Bleach returned with a fresh new coat of paint in the 2020s when Studio Pierrot revived it to adapt the manga's final arc, the Thousand-Year Blood War. Right away, Bleach fans were amazed by the new anime's incredible production values, from its high-def visuals and good sound design to lush colors and smoothly animated battles. The arc's first 13 episodes also impressed fans with its brutal war story and hard-hitting plot twists, and that trend continued in Cour 2.
Cour 2 pickde up not long after Cour 1's ending, with the Soul Reapers and the Quincy armies getting themselves ready for the inevitable second battle of their ongoing blood war. This is Phase 2 out of 4 for the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc, meaning Cour 2 raised the stakes and unleashed even more intense fights while saving the most world-shaking developments for later. In brief, Cour 2 was a middle act. For the most part, Cour 2 delivers in the same ways Cour 1 did, even if it was also too much of a good thing.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 Sets Ichigo Kurosaki Aside, With Good Results
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 focused on the other characters instead of Ichigo
After Ichigo learned the truth of his family tree in Cour 1, he got himself ready to embrace his true Zanpakuto and his inner Hollow, and train one last time to become the ultimate shonen hero. In much of Cour 2, Ichigo worked on that training offscreen. While it may feel disappointing at first for Bleach's hero to be out of the picture, it was for the best. Cour 2 sets Ichigo aside not just so he can train yet again, but so the story can focus on the other heroes.
Bleach's cast has plenty of characters on both sides of the war. With so many Soul Reapers undergoing their own journeys of personal growth in this arc, they need more screen time. While Ichigo trains up in the Royal Guard's palaces, Soul Reapers like Toshiro Hitsugaya, Rukia Kuchiki, Kenpachi Zaraki and Renji Abarai took center stage to show off their new powers and strategies with their respective duels against the Sternritter. This also helped Bleach show off its ensemble cast and not have Ichigo save everyone like he used to do in the original anime.
As Ichigo slogged his way through his training away from Soul Society's main battlefields, Cour 2 built up the suspense by having the Soul Reapers fight the Quincy empire on their own. This was a fine way to build excitement for Ichigo's eventual return, and it gave fans a break from their shonen hero so that his return was that much sweeter. Interestingly, this also echoed Ichigo's delayed arrival at the Fake Karakura Town, when he helped everyone fight and defeat Sosuke Aizen.
In Cour 1, Ichigo was held back because Quilge Opie (Strenritter J: The Jail) restrained him in the Garganta's endless void, but in Cour 2, Ichigo deliberately chose to take time away from the war to prepare for his endgame. The latter development was more exciting. Ichigo's endgame began late in Cour 2, when he arrived just in time to save Zaraki Kenpachi from Bambietta Basterbine's (Sternritter E: The Explode) posse. That said, the real fight will wait for a future Cour, when Ichigo must face Emperor Yhwach at the Soul King's palace.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 Has Too Many Battles & Villains, but They Still Standout
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 featured some of Bleach's best fights yet
When it comes to its fights, Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 is a mixed to positive affair. Every Bleach fan expected plenty of action in Cour 2, especially after the first cour launched the ultimate war between Soul Reaper and Quincy. Cour 2 generally delivers. But on the downside, Cour 2 has the same problem as the Hueco Mundo and Fake Karakura Town arcs from the original Bleach anime -- too many fights with too many villains.
Some fights felt like padding, or obligatory squabbles that only served to make other clashes look good or more intense by contrast. Some of Cour 2's fights were just practice runs for the heroes' new powers, such as the fight against Mask de Maculine (Sternritter S: The Superstar). The Wandenreich's resident wreslter had no meaningful development and connections to either his friends or foes. His sole purpose for existing was to let Captains Kensei Muguruma and Rojuro Otoribashi demonstrate their never-before-seen Bankai before quickly defeating them, then let Renji show off his true Bankai by dying quickly in an unsatisfying duel.
Even if Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 stretched itself too thin with many fights against countless villains, the Soul Reapers were at least given the chance to grow and improve themselves. Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, for example, coordinated his Shikai with Vice-Captain Rangiku Matsumoto's own to fight Bazz-B (Sternritter H: The Heat) without his Bankai. Best of all, Rukia Kuchiki and a revived Captain Byakuya Kuchiki took on Äs Nödt (Sternritter F: The Fear) as a family.
The Kuchikis came full circle in Cour 2 when Byakuya fully acknowledged Rukia's strength, which drove Rukia to happy tears. Rukia didn't just defeat a Sternritter to survive and avenge Byakuya's earlier defeat -- she completed her personal arc and becomes truly strong, all while bonding with her foster brother more than ever. Their fight concluded the Kuchiki siblings' shared arc, and it was touching to watch.
Cour 2 also amazed Bleach fans with Captain Zaraki Kenpach's battle against Gremmy Thoumeaux (Sternritter V: The Vision), who can use his imagination to create and alter anything around him with no limits. It seemed impossible for a melee-only fighter like Kenpachi to win against such godlike power, but their battle wasn't just physical -- it was also psychological, which was something wonderfully new and exciting for Kenpachi.
In this visually stunning battle, Kenpachi won not just because of his newly unleashed Shikai, but because of his unshakable confidence and bloodlust that Gremmy -- who's too used to his foolproof power and a lack of actual competition -- failed to match. It was a mental staring contest, and when Gremmy blinked, his powers turned against him, unable to cope with Kenpachi's unbreakable sword and willpower.
Cour 2's last noteworthy fight involves the Royal Guard clashing with Yhwach's personal bodyguards, the Schutzstaffel. The fight felt a bit generic and obligatory at first, but it became much more interesting when Senjumaru Shutara sacrificed three of her allies to use her overwhelming Bankai: a loom-like prison that quickly defeated the four Schutzstaffel members with customized attacks and fabrics. This happened simultaneously with Ichibe Hyosube seemingly defeating Yhwach with his own powers, namely his domain over all names.
The Royal Guard's apparent and decisive victories were an exciting way to end the cour. Deep down, fans know that the Quincy's defeat couldn't have been that easy, and there must be someone to fight in the next two Cours. Without giving away too much, they're absolutely right in this regard. Now, there's suspense about how and when the ultimate Quincy villains will return for more. This helped Cour 2 end on a strong note.
It's also worth noting that many of these fights were vast improvements over the manga. Some pre-existing fights like Ichigo's duel against Bambietta's posse were expanded upon, while others like Senjumaru's Bankai were made specifically for the anime. These were some of the biggest and best changes that Cour 2 made to the source material. They also redeemed some of the most glaring flaws in Bleach's final manga arc.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 Accelerated the Plot With Shocking Twists & Higher Stakes
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 set the stage for Bleach's grand finale in Cour 3
Bleach's storylines were always straightforward compared to the sprawling plot threads of One Piece and the international politics found in Naruto, but the series made up for this simplicity with clearly defined stakes, emotional drama and intriguing themes. Thousand-Year Blood War Arc Cour 2 kept this up, moving the fight beyond a battle for survival on the Soul Reapers' side. Now, the Gotei 13 must fight not just to protect themselves, but to protect the aloof Soul King, who binds the entire universe with his powers.
Emperor Yhwach's real goal involves the Soul King, creating tantalizing and incredible stakes that make Cour 2 so exciting to watch. Lofty ideas like the Soul King and the fate of the universe were hinted at earlier in Bleach, but now they're at the fore, and Cour 2 does a fine job setting it all up. This made it clearer than ever that Bleach has finally reached its true endgame.
Cour 2 also delivered some personal twists and turns to make it more than just a Soul Reaper and Quincy war. In previous arcs, the Quincy archer Uryu Ishida firmly stood by his friends, such as during the Hueco Mundo mission and the Soul Society civil war before that. But now, the blood war is personal for Uryu, because it's his own people who are involved, and he felt torn in Cour 1. Uryu, like Ichigo, learned more about his heritage and his personal role in the war. In Cour 2, Uryu seemingly turns traitor, joining the Wandenreich and even becoming Yhwach's heir as Sternritter A: The Antithesis, much to the other Sternritters' outrage. Now, Ichigo and Uryu Ishida are on opposite sides for the first time.
Thousand-Year Blood War Cour 2 ended just before the two former friends can resolve this tricky divide between them, giving fans a heartfelt reason to look forward to Cour 3. Bleach was overdue for a dramatic fight between friends like this one, in the same vein as Rangiku and Gin Ichimaru's personal duel in the Arrancar saga. It's appropriate, too, since Ichigo doesn't have lofty goals, like becoming King of the Pirates or becoming the Symbol of Peace.
Ichigo is just a tough young man who fights for his friends, hence the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo arcs. Now, Ichigo has personal stakes once again, fighting to bring back one of his closest friends back to the team. This was exactly the kind of smaller but more intimate emotional resonance that Bleach needed and received in its final arc, amidst the excessive fight scenes and huge stakes.
