The following contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Episode 1, "The Blood Warfare," now streaming on Hulu in the US and Disney+ internationally.

After ten long years, the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime adaptation has arrived to deliver the original manga's final story arc on screen. The final battle has begun and an all-new enemy -- the mysterious Quincy empire known as the Wandenreich -- is ready to conquer the world and has already claimed a major casualty: Lieutenant Chojiro Sasakibe of Squad 1.

There are a lot of Bleach characters to keep track of in this new arc, and as the anime must move at a brisk pace, it can't spend too much time on side characters like Chojiro Sasakibe. That said, anime-only fans may want a reminder about why Sasakibe's death is such a serious blow to the Soul Reapers. Knowing that will add serious emotional impact to Bleach's "Thousand-Year Blood War" arc.

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Who Was Lieutenant Chojiro Sasakibe In Bleach?

sasakibe kneeling to yamamoto

Each of the 13 Soul Reaper squads in the Soul Society has two leaders: the overall Captain and a Lieutenant, the second-in-command and often the Captain's personal bodyguard. Squad 1 is the overall command squad, led by the elite Captain-General Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, and no ordinary Soul Reaper would suffice to serve by his side. Yamamoto only trusted Chojiro Sasakibe to serve in that role, and the two have been allies and friends for centuries now. This means Chojiro has been by Yamamoto's side since before Captain Byakuya Kuchiki was even born, ranking Chojiro among the squads' most veteran officer of all -- but now he's gone.

Chojiro was almost like a son to Yamamoto, with the two being familiar to the point that he used to gently tease Yamamoto about the scar on this forehead -- before giving him a second scar in a fierce sparring match. Most of all, Yamamoto had deep respect for Chojiro's lightning-based bankai, and in Bleach: TYBW's first episode, it was his bankai in the distance that warned Yamamoto of the Quincy incursion. Chojiro had been quite a powerful Soul Reaper in his day, though for plot reasons, he couldn't stand up to Ichigo Kurosaki during the "Soul Society" arc.

Amusingly enough, Chojiro loved Western-style food while Yamamoto heavily favored traditional Japanese food, making them total foils and counterparts when it comes to cuisine. Fun little details like that in Bleach can really endear certain characters to the fans and make them feel more real, but all that is gone now. Chojiro has eaten his last hamburger, having lost his life to a sudden Quincy ambush.

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What Chojiro Sasakibe's Death Means for Bleach's Final Arc

chojiro sasakibe just got stabbed in the bleach anime

Lieutenant Chojiro Sasakibe's sudden defeat may feel anticlimactic or like a wasted opportunity, since viewers didn't see him fighting back against his Quincy foes or his evidently powerful bankai. However, that is actually the point; Sasakibe's sudden, brutal murder sets the tone for the new Bleach arc, making it clear that much blood will be shed in the coming battles. Previous story arcs had plenty of action but the heroes had pretty thick plot armor -- even side characters like Momo Hinamori and Ikkaku Madarame. Anime fans could have rightly criticized Bleach for sabotaging its tension with so much generous plot armor, but that's over now. Sasakibe's death heralds a new, armor-free era where anything can happen.

Sasakibe's tragic demise robbed him of a chance to show off his powers, and the Quincy soldiers knew what they were doing by targeting him first. This makes Yamamoto and Bleach viewers alike more alert to sudden danger. As Squad 1's Captain, Yamamoto didn't just lose a powerful subordinate; he lost a longtime friend who had been like a son. As Captain Kyoraku noted in the manga, Yamamoto's grief is deeper, darker and more overwhelming than any other Soul Reaper could comprehend.

Bleach fans can only imagine what was going through Yamamoto's mind as he watched Sasakibe's funeral pyre burn -- and wonder who will be next. Perhaps it will be Renji, with the Quincy aiming to make Ichigo and Captain Byakuya Kuchiki feel the same pain Yamamoto is now feeling. These foes know how to strike both the flesh and the heart, and round two will likely crank up the casualty count in shocking ways.