Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War appears to have set a golden standard for future anime revivals.
Released in October of this year, Thousand-Year Blood War is currently the highest-rated series on MyAnimeList’s “Top Airing Anime” chart, beating other major contenders with an impressive 9.10 rating. As detailed on the popular anime site Honey’s Anime, Bleach’s wildly successful comeback has initiated a conversation about why other studios should invest in reviving older anime.
Where Bleach Succeeds in Rebooting Itself
Honey’s Anime argues that Thousand-Year Blood War sets a solid example for other series. The show “pays heavy homage to the original anime with similar music but updated tunes,” which satisfies both old and new fans. They also point out that Bleach benefited from a more polished animation style than its 2004 predecessor, stating that it “looks like the original but sharper and more focused on the source material.” Other creators are also taking advantage of the modern animation era to revive older shows. One example is Orange’s Trigun remake, titled Trigun: Stampede, which showcased its CG animation at Anime NYC this year.
Honey’s analysis also sheds light on the fact that many older series ended prematurely, either due to a perceived lack of viewership by the series’ creators or other reasons. They cite the example of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter X Hunter manga, which still has strong fan support despite the author taking multiple hiatuses for health-related reasons. In Bleach’s case, fan devotion continued after the original series’ ended via “social media and other various outlets” which presumably caught Pierrot’s attention and led to serious discussions about a Bleach revival.
The Bleach Anime Is Timeless and Nostalgic
According to Honey, the case for series’ revivals is also bolstered by the “timeless” quality of anime, with the popularity of shows like Pokémon, Case Closed and Gundam persisting for decades after release. Certain shows, like Yu-Yu Hakusho, aired back in the 90s yet still have active fanbases that voraciously follow franchise developments and promotions on social media, showing that interest in a series can continue long after the last episode airs. It appears that more anime studios are picking up on this fact. In addition to the aforementioned Trigun reboot, there is also a TV reboot in the works for Kentaro Miura’s Berserk.
Directed by Tomohisa Taguchi, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War returns to the supernatural world of “Substitute Soul Reaper,” Ichigo Kurosaki as he fights to stop an all-out war from erupting between the Soul Society and a rogue faction called “the Wandenreich.” As this conflict unfolds, Ichigo also discovers that his crusade to rid the world of evil spirits called Hollows is causing negative rebound effects on the Shinigami world. Masakazu Morita and Fumiko Orikasa reprised their roles as protagonists, Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, respectively.
The original 2004 Bleach series and Thousand-Year Blood War are available to stream on Hulu.
Source: Honey’s Anime
Leave a Reply