Bleach has been granted quite a resurgence thanks to the Thousand-Year Blood War finally receiving the anime treatment. As Ichigo Kurosaki and the Soul Society fight against the Wandenreich on the small screen, there are other avenues that the Shinigami are drawing their swords within. In the past, Warner Bros Japan created a live-action Bleach film that attempted to summarize Ichigo’s early adventures and his first encounters with Hollows and the Soul Society. Now, Japan is once again giving the shonen supernatural heroes a live-action project that is arriving in 2025, sharing a new poster highlighting the biggest characters of the “Rock Bleach Musical“.
The upcoming live-action musical will be in good company when it comes to live-action anime adaptations. In recent years, anime fans in the West have been able to see the likes of Death Note and Attack on Titan not only bringing their stories to the stage, but also giving them some musical beats that create a new kind of anime story. In Japan, countless anime franchises have received live-action stage plays, musical and otherwise, including Chainsaw Man, My Hero Academia, Naruto, The Prince of Tennis, Demon Slayer, and countless others. With many performances finding their way to the West in recent years, there is a possibility that Bleach’s upcoming musical will one day make its way to North America.
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The Arrancar With a Beat
If you’re unfamiliar with the Arrancar, the group was considered one of the biggest threats to the Soul Society within Bleach’s history. Much like how Shinigami were once humans that became a part of Soul Society, Arrancar were Hollows that were able to remove their masks and become beings very much like the Soul Reapers. One of the biggest arcs of the shonen franchise involved Ichigo and company fighting against this supernatural threat, attempting to save Orihime from their clutches in a similar way as Rukia in the fight against Soul Society earlier in the series.
Of the many members that were a part of the Arrancar, the energetic Grimmjow became a fan-favorite, having a personality that worked quite well against Ichigo. In the latest episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, Grimmjow stepped out into the limelight once again, revealing himself for the first time since the latest series began. With Yhwach absorbing the full power of the Soul King, Ichigo and his comrades are going to need all the help that they can get.
Bleach’s Live-Action Return
For those in Japan, or willing to make the trip to see the live-action Arrancar, Rock Musical Bleach will begin on February 8th to February 24th next year at the Tennozu Galaxy Theater in Tokyo. Following this initial run, the second set of performances will arrive from March 1st to March 9th at Cool Japan Park Osaka. As of the writing of this article, no performances are set for North America but this could always change as anime continues to rise in popularity.
Bleach’s future post-Blood War is a mystery to anime fans, as creator Tite Kubo brought the original manga to an end once the fight against Yhwach ended. While Kubo would return to create a new manga chapter in Bleach: No Breathes From Hell, the mangaka has yet to confirm if he will work on additional Soul Society projects in the future. If this latest anime adaptation is the end of Bleach, the Soul Society had an exceptionally good run.
Want to see what the future holds for the Soul Society? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the Shinigami and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
