During Jump Festa 2022, the staff of Shueisha has announced the main cast for the upcoming return of the anime adaptation of Tite Kubo’s Bleach. The upcoming anime will focus on the Thousand-Year Blood War and will premiere in October 2022.
The following cast members will return from the original series for the 2022 anime:
- Masakazu Morita (Xin Li in Kingdom) returns to voice Ichigo Kurosaki
- Fumiko Orikasa (Miu Matsuoka in Ichigo Mashimaro) is back as Rukia Kuchiki
- Yuki Matsuoka (Ayumu Kasuga from Azumanga Daioh) as Orihime Inoue
- Noriaki Sugiyama (Sasuke Uchiha in Naruto) as Uryu Ishida
- Hiroki Yasumoto (Hoozuki from Hoozuki no Reitetsu) is back to voice Yasutora “Chad” Sado
- Kentarou Itou (Yoshitake Shiraishi in Golden Kamuy) as Renji Abarai
- Shinichiro Miki (Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist) as Kisuke Urahara
- Satsuki Yukino (Kagome Higurashi in InuYasha) returns to voice Yoruichi Shihoin
- Houko Kuwashima (Tomoyo Sakagami from Clannad) voicing Soi Fong
- Aya Hisakawa (Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon) as Retsu Unohana
- Ryotarou Okiayu (Hisashi Mitsui in Slam Dunk) voices the role of Byakuya Kuchiki
- Tetsu Inada (Enji Todoroki in Boku no Hero Academia) as Sajin Komamura
- Akio Ootsuka (Batou from Ghost in the Shell) is back to voice Shunsui Kyoraku
- Romi Park (Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist) as Toshiro Hitsugaya
- Fumihiko Tachiki (Gendou Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion) is back as Kenpachi Zaraki
- Ryusei Nakao (Freeza from Dragon Ball) returns to voice Mayuri Kurotsuchi
- Hideo Ishikawa (Itachi Uchiha from Naruto) is back as Jushiro Ukitake
New cast members that will make their debut in the new anime were also revealed (alongside a new casting for Yamamoto):
- Binbin Takaoka (Sauros Boreas Greyrat from Mushoku Tensei) as Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto
- Naomi Kusumi (Lian Po in Kingdom Season 2) as Ichibee Hyosube
- Youji Ueda (Robert E. O. Speedwagon from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) joins the cast to voice Ouetsu Nimaiya
- Tomoyuki Shimura (Technology Chief in Towa no Quon) as Tenjiro Kirinji
- Ayumi Tsunematsu (Marina Ismail in Mobile Suit Gundam 00) as Kirio Hikifune
- Rina Satou (Misaka Mikoto in Toaru Majutsu no Index) will voice Senjumaru Shutara
- Takayuki Sugou (Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) as Yhwach
- Yuuichirou Umehara (En Yufuin in Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE!) will play as Jugram Haschwalth
- Shunsuke Takeuchi (Producer from The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls) is voicing the role of Askin Nakk Le Vaar
- Ayana Taketatsu (Suguha Kirigaya from Sword Art Online) joins the cast as Bambietta Basterbine
- Yuuki Ono (Taiga Kagami from Kuroko no Basket) as Bazz-B
- Yumi Uchiyama (Yoko Inokuma in Kiniro Mosaic) as Candice Catnipp
- Natsuki Hanae (Ken Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul) voices the role of Gremmy Thoumeaux
The return of the Bleach anime, which will cover the manga’s final arc the Thousand-Year Blood War, will be in October 2022, during the Fall/Autumn 2022 anime season.
Here is the first trailer for the anime, which gives us the first glimpse of new Bleach animation in over 9 years and also a remix of Number One:
The leading members of the anime’s staff include :
- Director and Series Composer: Tomohisa Taguchi (Akudama Drive, Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World)
- Anime Character Designer: Masashi Kudo (Bleach, Tower of God)
- Music Composer: Shiro Sagisu (Bleach, Neon Genesis Evangelion)
- Animation Studio: Studio Pierrot (Bleach, Naruto)
The new anime will be part of the Bleach 20th Anniversary Project, celebrating 2 decades since the franchise began in 2001.
Bleach was a long-running action shounen manga written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. The series first began publication in August 2001 in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and ended in August 2016 with a total of 74 volumes The series has become one of Japan’s most popular and well-known series. There have been numerous adaptations of the series across various media, including a TV anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot (Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul) that ran from 2004 till 2012, which was directed by Noriyuki Abe (Yu Yu Hakusho, Ghost Stories). Apart from the anime TV series, there have been many Bleach anime films, OVAs, various video games, a few light novels and manga spin-offs, and even a series of musicals that ran from 2005 till 2012. A live-action film adaptation was produced in 2018.
Here is a synopsis of the series from MAL:
15-year-old Kurosaki Ichigo is not your everyday high school student. He has from as far he can remember always had the ability to see ghosts and spirits. A fateful day arrives as Ichigo encounters the shinigami Kuchiki Rukia, who saves him and his family from a Hollow at the cost of injuring herself. During this encounter, with Rukia unable to defeat the hollow she transfers her shinigami powers into Ichigo. In the aftermath, unable to continue with her job, Rukia allows Ichigo to take on the role of a shinigami in her place as they together defeat the Hollows plaguing Ichigo’s town.
The Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime is in production and will air in October 2022, during the Fall/Autumn 2022 anime season.
Visit the anime’s website here: https://bleach-anime.com/
And follow the Twitter: @BLEACHanimation