Bleach Thousand Year Blood War debuted at a stage when fans were both filled with anticipation and anxiety over the new series. Bleach has always been a legendary anime, and the original 2004 series has received widespread praise. Thus, it is inevitable that every move and sequence in TYBW would face a comparison with its prequel series.
However, sometimes, it goes beyond control as some fans are quick to judge TYBW. Since the sequel series has a different vibe from the original one, people are quick to give it a negative tag.
Bleach Fans Need to Stop Comparing Bleach Thousand Year Blood War with the Orignal Anime
Many fans judge Bleach Thousand Year Blood War based solely off of the original Bleach anime. However, these two were never made to be similar to each other. Despite TYBW being a sequel to Bleach, it is not obligated to be a copy of the series; rather, its goal is to embody the essence of Tite Kubo’s final arc of the manga.
Both Bleach (2004) and Bleach TYBW have their own merits, but TYBW was created with a more modern and sharp style with a graver tone. Some fans don’t like how it’s not as funny as the last anime, and the worldbuilding is not as elaborate. But it also has its own merits at the same time.
At the end of the day, saying Bleach TYBW is bad simply because it does not follow the same vibe as that of the previous series is just unfair to the author. After all, TYBW is a close adaptation of the final arc of the manga, and it does not include any fillers like the 2004 anime. Calling it bad is insulting the genius of Tite Kubo.
What Bleach Thousand Year Blood War did Better than Bleach (2004)
One thing everyone can agree on is that TYBW anime has far better animation than the previous one due to the usage of modern animation techniques. Bleach (2004) was also an iconic series, but its animation was limited by the technology available at the time.
TYBW has no filler episodes, as opposed to the original series, which consists of 45% fillers among 366 episodes. Fillers often disrupt the pacing of the series and distract fans with storylines that are non-canon, mostly to create a gap for the mangaka to finish the story. Since TYBW adapts an already finished final arc, it has no need for fillers.
The pacing in Bleach TYBW is also far better. Since Bleach (2004) is an older and lengthy series, it has a sluggish pacing. This can cause fans to be frustrated and give up on the anime entirely. However, in TYBW, the episodes are very fast-paced, and developments aren’t dragged out necessarily, as it stays true to the source material.
Bleach manga is available to read on Viz Media. The Bleach anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, and the Thousand Year Blood War series is available on Disney+.
