The original Bleach anime and the new Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime series can be compared and contrasted in many ways, and not just the obvious difference of the TYBW anime having slick modern animation on par with the likes of Jujutsu Kaisen or My Hero Academia. For the most part, the Thousand-Year Blood War anime does many things right that the original Bleach anime did not, which helps improve the anime's reputation. For years, Bleach felt like the weakest of the Big Three and wasn't even finished, but all that is changing for the better.
After more than 10 years, longtime Bleach fans may see their beloved shonen adventure reach its conclusion in this explosive final arc, with Ichigo Kurosaki and the Soul Reapers fighting the Quincy empire for the fate of the universe. Not only is the Bleach anime finishing the story, but it's also sharpening and refining the narrative to create a truly compelling shonen saga, and Thousand-Year Blood War makes the original Bleach anime feel more dated and clunky than ever.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Has Better Pacing and Writing Than the Original Anime
No Filler, No Padding, and Less Exposition Help Elevate Thousand-Year Blood War Above its Predecessor Anime
It's been a general trend in the anime industry to use tighter, leaner pacing to tell a complete story in just a few seasons at most. The days of 300+ episode epics are more or less over, with Eiichiro Oda's One Piece being grandfathered in from that era with its enormous 1,100+ episode count (and still counting). Otherwise, though, the anime industry seems determined to tell more stories in far fewer episodes, and the results are highly positive.
One notable example is Demon Slayer, with the source manga telling a complete story in just 23 volumes, which is modest compared to Naruto's 72 volumes and Bleach's 74. And while series like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia are still ongoing, they clearly have pacing more akin to Demon Slayer's than Bleach's, and it's just as well. The manga/anime industry is packed with titles, so fans are missing out if they have to spend 70+ volumes or 400+ episodes to finish just one story. In many ways, the overall Bleach franchise feels dated compared to its spiritual successors, namely Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer, and modern anime fans may not like the original Bleach anime's pacing if they want to see the legendary anime that inspired JJK and Demon Slayer.
Fortunately, the Thousand-Year Blood War story arc has caught up with its successors anime, and many fans may agree that it's better late than never. Even if the original manga's Thousand-Year Blood War arc was hefty, its anime version is lean and efficient with its pacing, which is a remarkable feat. In four cours of 12–13 episodes each, the Bleach anime will portray the entire TYBW story arc, from Ichigo's long-awaited return to King Yhwach's final downfall. Also, given how long anime fans have waited for the story's end, it's great that the end will come sooner than later with this sharp pacing.
Best of all, the Bleach anime doesn't even have to make any serious sacrifices to make this unprecedented pacing possible. In fact, the anime is actually adding material that author Tite Kubo intended to include in his manga. This is possible because the production of Bleach's current anime avoids all the pitfalls the original fell for. Perhaps the original Bleach anime was a product of its time, but it had issues such as drawn-out fight sequences, padding material such as re-using action shots, unnecessary reaction shots from characters, and most of all, generous use of filler episodes. Like its Naruto counterpart in the 2000s, the original Bleach anime seemed to slowly and leisurely savor itself, almost like someone talking slowly when reciting a story, so every word can really sink in. In the eyes of modern fans, though, it just feels like padding as an excuse to air more episodes and sell more DVDs.
Thus, the new Bleach anime is a condensed adaptation that favors quality over quantity, with smart, efficient animation and writing to keep the complex story moving at a rapid clip without ever slowing down. Thus, pacing is the new Bleach anime's single best asset, allowing it to "feel" like its spiritual successors Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer rather than a bloated 2000s relic. Even major story events and plot twists such as the successful Quincy invasion of the Soul Society and Ichigo's training with the Royal Guard unit take just a few episodes each to complete, contrasting favorably with the previous anime's arcs, such as the Hueco Mundo arc and even the Soul Society arc. The latter had decent pacing, given how dense the story was at the time, but the Thousand-Year Blood War anime is still handling its pacing and production better.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Has Better Tension and Stakes
The Heroes Are Actually Threatened This Time
Any shonen action anime must present its heroes with credible threats and challenges to make sure the entire adventure is actually worthwhile for the audience, from an intense shonen-style rivalry to a deadly villain hellbent on killing the hero. Deep down, shonen fans know that the heroes will always win in the end – that's just a fact. To make a willing suspension of disbelief possible, a shonen action manga/anime must challenge its heroes with powerful enemies and create the real possibility of death. Ideally, the hero will find a natural, non-contrived way to succeed on their own merit, such as by practicing a new technique or cleverly exploiting the enemy's weakness. The original Bleach anime regularly challenged Ichigo that way, but the Soul Reapers rarely faced anything resembling a meaningful challenge. It's a matter of course that a shonen anime's lead is properly challenged, but the story will still feel weak if the hero's allies can breeze their way through just about any hardship.
For example, no one died in the fondly-remembered Soul Society arc, and in the Hueco Mundo and Fake Karakura Town arcs, only the villains died, while Ichigo and the other Soul Reapers enjoyed some conspicuous plot armor typical of shonen anime. Anime fans might even cynically say that anime like the original Bleach are just going through the motions to pretend the villains are a serious threat, just so a fight scene can be easily written and resolved. Ichigo may have struggled against foes like Byakuya Kuchiki and Ulquiorra Cifer, but in the Fake Karakura Town arc, the heroes mopped up the villains and only hit a roadblock with Sosuke Aizen himself. The Arrancars weren't that much of a threat after all, and even Aizen thought so, too. And things were even easier in the Xcution arc, with Kugo Ginjo and his Fullbring allies being paper tigers at best.
Meanwhile, the Thousand-Year Blood War arc pushes Bleach's heroes to the absolute brink, challenging them to grow and adapt as both warriors and people. Even against Espadas and Aizen, the Soul Reapers have an air of invincibility around them, especially when heroes like Ichigo and the Visoreds arrive to provide more plot armor. The entire Thousand-Year Blood War arc had a theme of the Soul Reapers' arrogant complacency in peacetime catching up to them, while their Quincy nemeses were ready for round 2 after their earlier defeat. That became nightmarishly clear when King Yhwach and his Sternritter invaded the Soul Society, slaughtering Soul Reapers and even stealing bankai. Captain Byakuya Kuchiki finally met his match against Äs Nödt and very nearly died at his hands, and later, Sajin Komamura gave up everything to defeat Bambietta Basterbine. Captain Unohana had to give her life just so Kenpachi would stand a chance in the next battle.
Thus, the Thousand-Year Blood War anime did a much better job than the original anime of creating serious, meaningful tension and stakes with all-out warfare. Mopping up Arrancars is surprisingly dull work, while desperately fighting Quincy who have all the advantages is something else entirely. Even Ichigo, with all his shonen protagonist powers, was helpless against Yhwach and his right-hand man Jugram Haschwalth early in this new anime, and Ichigo's zanpakuto was swiftly broken.
Thus, Ichigo had to learn the truth of his family tree and embrace his true powers to finally forge his final zanpakuto in time for the final fight. Ichigo grew a great deal as a hero in that way, and his Soul Reaper allies were similarly humbled as they went Plus Ultra to get ready for the next fight. Even seemingly untouchable heroes like Soi Fon and Toshiro Hitsugaya got to work training and working out like humble shonen protagonists, something Bleach fans had never seen before.
In an era where shonen heroes like Kyojuro Rengoku and Kento Nanami die at the hands of supervillains like Akaza and Mahito, it's past time for Bleach to do the same and shatter the heroes' illusion of invulnerability to show that this final arc means business. The original anime was evidently too squeamish about killing off or writing out heroes to create palpable stakes and tension, but that's over now. This is a war arc, and as the anime's final arc, the Thousand-Year Blood War must drive the stakes and danger to their apex so this shonen anime can go out with a bang. And at this rate, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War will definitely stick the landing.
