Warning: Contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Episode #28 & Bleach Volume #74.One of the best parts of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War was the original content that was not in the original manga, and this is especially true for the original fights. The anime has done things like greatly extending the fight of Kenpachi and Unohana or completely reworking the battle between the Royal Guard and the Schutzstaffel, and between their animation and the additional character work, they have all been great to see.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Was another episode with an original fight, this time between Ichigo and Yhwach. The manga skips right to Ichigo unknowingly killing the Soul King, so not only does the action do a much better job of expanding on their conflict compared to the manga, but Ichigo and Yhwach’s original fight in the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Anime made a definitive statement on how strong Ichigo is supposed to be. In some respects, Ichigo is even stronger in the anime than in the manga, and this has big implications for where the story is expected to go.
Ichigo is officially on par with Bleach’s strongest characters
most of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Episode #28 was spent on an original fight between Ichigo and Yhwach, and it wasn’t as one-sided as one might expect. While Yhwach the Quincy King was as strong as ever, Ichigo’s new power was more than enough to overwhelm him, and he even broke through his Sankt Zwinger, the ultimate defensive technique for Quincies. This resulted in Ichigo dealing a massive blow with his Getsuga Jujisho and forcing Yhwach to use the Almighty, meaning that Ichigo is officially strong enough to hold his own against Yhwach in his base form.
Naturally, once Yahweh started using the Supreme, Ichigo couldn’t touch him and was quickly beaten, but everything before that is still worth highlighting. The only other characters who could ultimately hold their own against Yahweh when he wasn’t using the Supreme were Yamamoto and Ichibei, two of the strongest characters in bleachSo if Ichigo can do the same, that means Ichigo’s fight with Yhwach makes him officially one of the strongest characters in bleach. The manga never did anything to suggest Ichigo was at this level, so to see the anime do it is nothing but great.
Bleach’s new action justifies the manga’s biggest plot twist
Something that is also noteworthy about the new fight between Ichigo and Yhwach is how it could justify one of the biggest twists from the end of the manga. Yhwach sadly used the almighty to destroy Ichigo’s new bankai because it was strong enough to threaten him, which everyone found hard to buy with how much Yhwach dominated their battle. however, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Has a much better justification for Yhwach destroying Ichigo’s bankai due to how well Ichigo fought Yhwach in his base formSo it wouldn’t be as disappointing a turn as in the manga.
Will Ichigo & Yhwach’s final battle in Bleach be the same in the anime?
How bleach can change the final battle
Thanks to the new fight, Ichigo is fighting at a much higher level than in the manga, and the anime is also placing much more emphasis on Ichigo’s training in the Irazusando, something that is even brought up in episode #28. With these reasons combined, Ichigo and Yhwach’s final fight in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Will likely be much different from the manga thanks to Ichigo’s new power and status as a potential Soul KingAll that will likely lead to being much more even than the original action.
As it would be otherwise, the most obvious point of divergence would be with Ichigo’s bankai. With how much stronger Ichigo is compared to the manga, in addition to how involved he was with the expanded lore, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Can Ichigo temporarily resist the Almighty and use his bankai against YHVH before it is destroyedLike that would do a better job of tying in the boost in power the anime’s given him. Ichigo never using his new Bankai has always been controversial, and this would be a great way to change that issue.
Conversely, the anime could take something of a middle-ground approach to give Ichigo a better showing. A lot of the Almighty is based on precognition, with Jehovah seeing the future and changing it to suit his needs, so Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Could simply show the audience Yhwach’s vision of Ichigo’s Bankai before it is unceremoniously destroyedWhich could show Ichigo’s power and still keep the story the same. Whatever the case, everything Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War It was great to see with Ichigo’s new power, and ideally, it will lead to even bigger things from the anime.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Releases new episodes Saturdays on Hulu.