For a time, Tite Kubo's hit series Bleach was considered one of the "Big Three" of Shonen Jump, alongside other mega-star series like Naruto and One Piece. Now, the likes of Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia seem fit to become the new generation of flagship Shonen series.
But Bleach fans may ask themselves: should this venerated series get a sequel anime? It's a tricky question to ask, since the manga tells the entire story, but the anime does not. Some plot threads and character arcs have ended while others are open-ended, and many fans of Bleach may be clamoring for more. Let's go over five reasons why Bleach totally should get a follow-up anime, and five reasons why we should let this series rest.
10 Should: Ichika And Kazui
Ichigo and Rukia, both pictured, are now parents! The ending of Bleach wasn't to everyone's satisfaction, but it did give some tantalizing hints about the future generation of Soul Reapers. Ichigo married his classmate Orihime, and they have a carrot-haired son, Kazui Kurosaki. He's packing some Soul Reaper powers, too.
Rukia married Renji, and their daughter, Ichika, is also a little Soul Reaper in training. They are the last characters we see in the manga, and their personalities are right on point. Why not see what their careers look like as adolescents or young adults learning on the job?
9 Shouldn't: One Of The Pack
Kisuke is looking a little wistful there. Maybe he correctly realized that while Bleach is a beloved classic, its premise is not as fresh as it was back in 2001. By now, we've had many more anime and manga series emerge, which feature magical monsters and swords, and isekai plots.
In a way, Bleach is a soft isekai, since Ichigo and his human friends travel to the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo on magical adventures. By now, a Bleach sequel would feel very "been there, done that," and fans are really into Demon Slayer right now. There might not be room to bring back its older cousin.
8 Should: Nostalgia
Don't underestimate the power of fond memories! It can be safely argued that there's no more room for a "been there, done that" series like this one, but then again, it still retains a strong fan base. Just look at all the fan art and fan fiction out there. Bleach is still on our minds, and many of today's anime/manga fans grew up on it.
This sets the stage for a warm reception if a sequel series came out, especially if it has a different plot and tone than the later parts of the original series. It's not up to us whether a Bleach 2 is financially viable, but we can say that more than a few fans would hear the news and say "Welcome back!"
7 Shouldn't: Enough Isekai Already
We touched upon this earlier, but it really is worth repeating in greater detail. Ultimately, Bleach is about 80% an isekai series, since Ichigo is an ordinary high schooler who gets wrapped up in a world of magic and monsters, and fantasy worlds beyond his own. The only difference is that he can freely go back and forth between magical worlds and home.
We already have series like That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, The Rising of the Shield Hero, Konosuba, Sword Art Online, and more, and those are just the most popular ones. Already, when a new series comes out, some fans lament "not another isekai!" Do we really need more of that?
6 Should: Unresolved Character Arcs
While we only met Kazui and Ichika in the final chapter, many other characters of Bleach were with us much longer, and they never really got a solid ending. Many villans died, but some, such as Grimmjow, are still around. Halibel Tier is still out there, along with her three beloved minions Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun.
And that's not even counting the good guys, like Nelliel and Kukaku Shiba! To be fair, giving everyone a final scene in the manga would lead to a cluttered narrative, but we're still dying to know what comes next. Is it time for Kukaku to stretch her legs and see the world? And will Nel visit Ichigo in the world of the living and have a grand adventure of her own? Let us see that!
5 Shouldn't: No More Obvious Villains
Remember these guys, the big bad Sternritters? They were the final villains in the story of Bleach, and even within that original series, they kind of felt like "just for the sake of it" characters. Really, this series was all about Ichigo learning the ways of Soul Reapers and saving the world from Sosuke Aizen's mad schemes.
After the dust settled on that, everything felt resolved... then the Fullbring villains arrived, and then the Sternritters. Whew! How much more of this can we take? At this point, it seems the only way to provide new villains is to make something up out of nowhere. But that would feel inorganic and cheap.
4 Should: Great Combat System
An action Shonen series lives and dies not only by its cool characters and plot, but the action and combat system, too. Naruto has jutsu and chakra, One Piece has devil fruits, and Bleach is packing swords, kido, and scary hollows. Spiritual pressure and spirit energy are the fuel for all this.
Who doesn't love a terrific bankai or a forbidden kido spell or a clever duel between Soul Reapers? Many characters in this series showed us all they can do, but there is still some room to explore, and some bankai or cool kido spells deserve another chance to shine. It would be a shame to lose such a classic Shonen action system, and replacing something that cool is no mean feat. Care to dust off that bankai and take it for another spin?
3 Shouldn't: No More Stakes
Any story, action-oriented or not, is based on stakes, or something that a character stands to lose or suffer if they do not get their way. In romance, the stakes are whether you are united with your lover or end up alone. In horror, it's your very life at stake, and the same is true in action series.
The Bleach franchise first made Rukia's life the main stakes, during the Soul Society arc. Then the fate of all worlds was at stake when Aizen aimed to become the first true god. If that weren't enough, Yhwach threatened the entirety of reality itself with his own mad scheme. Seriously, how do you top that? We've already put everything at stake!
2 Should: Make It A Small Spin-Off
As discussed above, it seems that there really is no room for a full-sized sequel to Bleach, since there are no more major villains to fight and there's nothing else to hold at stake. So, why not try a more limited spin-off?
Not only does this dodge the issues listed above, but many other TV franchises already do this! We know that the formula works, so perhaps we could apply it to Bleach? Some characters, such as Toshiro Hitsugaya, are still learning and growing, and they still have things to see and do. So, why not make a spin-off featuring more personal stakes and adventures with popular characters like him? It soulds like a good compromise to us!
1 Shouldn't: Stigma Of The Ending
Pictured is Orhime Inoue, Ichigo's lover and now his wife and the mother of his son. Many fans are firmly in the Ichigo/Rukia camp, and they feel like Orihime downright stole Ichigo away! Okay, maybe not everyone was upset about this franchise's ending, but many are.
Like it or not, that ending is canon, and the Ichigo/Orhime and Rukia/Renji pairings are set in stone. A sequel would build off of that, even if it's just a spin-off, and that alone might turn off some fans. They may think "If it's not Ichigo/Rukia, I don't want any part of it." Fans take their favorite franchises very seriously, so this could be a very real hurdle for an animation studio to face.