The 7 Moments To Look Forward To in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3

Welcome to the first post of The Izzy Insider! I have very high hopes for this blog, so I appreciate each of you dear readers for tuning in to this post and supporting my work!

To start this blog, I've decided to write a post about my favorite anime series of all time: Bleach! I've been keeping up with Bleach since I was 14 years old, and with Part 3 of the anime's Thousand-Year Blood War arc around the corner (complete with a two-week-old trailer) I can feel it in my bones that 2024 is the perfect year to be a Bleach fan.

Therefore, I want to commemorate the release of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc's third part the only way I find appropriate: by listing all of the moments that I'm looking forward to watching soon!

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The Aftermath of Senjumaru's Bankai

One of the last scenes in the previous part of the Thousand-Year Blood War was Senjumaru Shutara, a member of the Royal Guard, finally activating her Bankai at the cost of the lives of the other Royal Guard members. From there, Senjumaru could incapacitate Yhwach and his Schutzstaffel by sealing them in tapestries with unique abilities.

But as anyone who has read the Bleach manga knows, Senjumaru's Bankai won't spell the end for Yhwach and his Elite Guard, so seeing how they escape their tapestries will be interesting. If I had to guess, Yhwach will most likely use The Almighty to escape his, but if that's the case, a new question arises: how will Senjumaru be defeated? Whatever happens, it's sure to be a spectacle to watch.

The Return of Grimmjow and Nelliel

Words cannot understate the amount of popularity these two characters (understandably) have. I can't tell you how many people fangirl over Grimmjow and Nelliel, especially over Grimmjow! Of course, being one of those fangirls (though I'm more of a Nelliel fangirl), I'm super stoked to see these two characters return.

Since their time in the Hueco Mundo arc ended abruptly, I'm very excited to see what they do in the anime. I know the manga doesn't give them any major page time (especially in the case of Nelliel), but given how the anime has expanded on other things that were vague in the manga, I have a hunch that this might be the case in the upcoming part of the Thousand-Year Blood War anime.

Mimihagi and Ukitake's Past

It seems like the kindest characters in Bleach have had the worst crap happen to them, as everyone has seen with Hinamori and, in this case, Ukitake. Diagnosed with terminal lung disease at age 3, Ukitake was originally fated to die, and he would have if Ukitake's parents had not prayed for Mimihagi, the Soul King's Right Hand, to take his lungs.

If the manga image of a three-year-old Ukitake foaming at the mouth was enough to make me shudder, I can only imagine what Cour 3 has in store for Ukitake's past. With the direction the anime has been going, I wouldn't be surprised if Ukitake's illness was portrayed with more vivid detail, or if we saw how Mimihagi took Ukitake's lungs. Plot-wise, it's not the most long-lasting point of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, but it's still very exciting to see how the anime portrays Ukitake and his past.

Bazz B vs. Haschwalth

Now this scene will definitely tug at some heartstrings once it's animated. Right from the start of the arc, two of the Sternritters that stuck out to me the most were Bazz-B and Jugram Haschwalth. Those two were the faces of the Sternritter for me for a while, and when I saw these two fight in the manga, my jaw dropped to the floor; this was something I never expected in a million years.

Not only is it quite the turn of events from the beginning of the arc, but this fight is going to hit everyone like a punch to the gut once it's animated. From Bazz-B and Haschwalth's shared past to their overall dynamic in the present, this fight gives off a "fated rivals face off" vibe, something that will be spectacular once the anime reaches this point.

Nemu vs. Pernidas

Okay, this fight is admittedly my personal favorite in the whole arc! While the other lieutenants of the Gotei 13 are very active throughout the series, Nemu Kurotsuchi can usually be found in the background by Mayuri's side. Outside of supplying Mayuri with drugs and gadgets, she never truly had any battles or personal conflicts of her own... until Mayuri's fight with the Sternriter Pernidas Parnkgjas.

For the first and only time, Nemu defies Mayuri's orders to not fight in his place and displays a high level of power and a special technique that severely damages one of Pernidas' clones (something he created earlier when he was fighting Mayuri). Sadly, she's obliterated by Pernidas' The Compulsory powers, but Nemu's never-before-seen power, couple with the revelation that Mayuri saw her as his greatest masterpiece, is a moment that fans want to see the new Nemuri Hachigo live up to.

Ishida vs. Haschwalth

The tension between these two builds so palpably in the manga that I could taste it. That tension was even more palpable in the anime, namely when Uryu questioned the executions of the Sternritters Cang Du and BG9. As soon as I saw the conversation between Uryu and Haschwalth in Chapter 565 and Episode 385, I knew immediately that they would eventually fight. And fight they did, with both characters utilizing their never-before-seen Schrifts to the fullest extent.

Although I found the overall fight to be quite short in the manga, I did like Haschwalth's The Balance powers and how they functioned. But most of all, I was also quite shocked when Uryu's A Schrift turned out to be The Antithesis; I originally believed that Uryu would inherit Yhwach's The Almighty since he's his successor. This is definitely another fight that I can predict will be expanded upon in the anime, hopefully with breathtaking results.

Ichigo vs. Yhwach

Of course, this post would not be complete without including the final battle between Ichigo and Yhwach. Given the intense animosity between these two (and the fact that this is a shonen manga), defeating Yhwach would prove to be the biggest hurdle for Ichigo in the series, a feat that would reap the most rewards, namely bringing an end to the last, lingering threat of the Wandenreich.

But the biggest thing I want to see from this fight in the anime is how everything comes full circle. From Ichigo's new Hollow form in which he is in control (in contrast to his form when he was fighting Ulquiorra) to finally defeating Yhwach with the help of the Still Silver Arrowhead (thus avenging his mother), this fight is not only the final, climactic bout of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, it is also the fight that finally settles the conflicts that originated long before the events of Bleach even started.

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So there you have the events that you should look forward to in Part 3 of the Thousand-Year Blood War anime adaptation! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and are as excited by the coming anime as I am!

Like I said at the beginning of the post, I intend to cover a lot of anime-related content in the future in addition to a lot of other topics, such as writing and video games. As such, please keep tuning in to the Izzy Insider for more entertainment content!

Another way you can support me is by checking out my shop: Izzy's Vitality Vibes! In my shop, I sell a myriad of health and vitality products that are 100% natural and enhance focus, memory, and productivity. A lot of gamers and anime fans that I know relate to these products a lot and hold them in high regard, so I recommend taking a gander at my wares without hesitation!

And now, I would like to open the floor to you. What event from the Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 are you looking forward to? Let me know in the comments and thank you for reading the very first post of the Izzy Insider!