The official Bleach: TYBW website put out an announcement describing a hiccup with these shows’ release. Episodes 8 and 9 of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War have been delayed by two weeks. This moves their original air dates of November 28th and December 8th, respectively.
The announcement itself doesn’t specify what exactly caused this delay in airing. It also doesn’t specify if the postponement is restricted to Sendai Broadcasting or if it will impact international releases via Hulu and (Japanese) Disney+. Fans are assuming that the international release dates will indeed be affected by this change in release pattern.
With this delay, Studio Pierrot also does not discloses what will be happening during this two-week break. However, one possible reason could be an (assumed) broadcasting conflict with something else set to air on Sendai Broadcasting at the same time. Another option could be that Studio Pierrot is taking some time to touch up artwork and sketches based on recent fan feedback. A number of fans have been pleased and vocal about the adaptation; Pierrot could have focused on the fact that it is not as appreciated in Japan.
‘Bleach: TYBW’: What to Know Before Catching Up
Regarding Bleach: TYBW anime, it is still set to run for four cours with beaks in between cours. It will also still cover the rest of the original manga up to its canon ending. At the same time, Viz Media also confirmed that the cast from the original anime series would be reprising their roles for Thousand Year Blood War. This list includes;
- Johnny Young Bosch as Ichigo Kurosaki
- Michelle Ruff as Rukia Kuchiki
- Derek Stephen Prince as Uryu Ishida
- Stephanie Sheh as Orihime Inoue
- Wally Wingert as Renji Abarai
- Doug Erholtz as Kisuke Urahara
With this delay, both episode 8 and episode 9 of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War will premiere on December 12th. Currently, the anime is available to stream on Hulu.
