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With the Bleach: TYBW series' latest trailer, fans have finally gotten a true look at the series’ animation with clips from Studio Pierrot's (Naruto, Black Clover) upcoming series. While some fans are disappointed that Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War will be a four-cour production, everyone (including these disheartened fans) is raving over the animation quality of the series.
One major positive from the trailer, however, is that fans’ concerns regarding Bleach: TYBW’s animation quality have been fully eliminated. However, in turn, it has led them to wonder exactly how dedicated Studio Pierrot is to the Naruto franchise, given Boruto’s questionable track record in terms of animation.
Follow along as this article fully breaks down why Bleach: TYBW’s fantastic animation raises the question of how committed Studio Pierrot is to the Naruto franchise, specifically with Boruto.
Studio Pierrot’s devotion to quality control on Bleach: TYBW has fans claiming favoritism towards the former over the Naruto franchise
One of the most serious criticisms leveled at Studio Pierrot over the years has been their handling of the original Bleach and Naruto series adaptations. Many fans argued that, despite landing two series from what would eventually be called the Big Three, Pierrot unfortunately botched both adaptations.
Both series were laden with unintriguing filler, poorly paced arcs, and bad animation during keyframes, fights, or scenes. While Bleach: TYBW seems poised to stray from that path, the Naruto franchise’s Boruto series finds itself in the same position as the aforementioned two series.
With Bleach: TYBW and the Naruto franchise’s Boruto belonging to essentially the same generation of anime, it raises some questions regarding interesting discrepancies between the two. One of the biggest which fans can compare and contrast with is the animation quality, especially with the latest trailer for the former series giving fans a great look at the in-series animation.
The TYBW anime appears to be a perfect swan song for the original Bleach series, adapting what remains of the canonical story with (presumably) no filler and great overall quality. The Boruto anime, meanwhile, is as replete with filler as the Bleach or Naruto series, boasting the same animation quality issues as well.
In fact, recent months saw what was Studio Pierrot’s attempt at showing Boruto’s titular protagonist crying become a widespread meme, even beyond the anime and manga community. The scene is horrendously animated, with the eponymous hero looking his absolute worst in the incredibly short yet memorable (for all the wrong reasons) scene.
The animation quality definitely highlights a difference in valuation and prioritization for the two continuations considering their production occurred during the same time period. While many argue in defense of Boruto's being a weekly series, the series is likely not popular enough to argue for keeping it weekly with the level of quality it has.
This, however, begs the question of why Pierrot keeps the series as a weekly anime, despite potentially giving it more financial, critical, and fan success as a seasonal series. One of the biggest reasons is likely that Studio Pierrot doesn’t view Boruto as a bigger draw than Bleach: TYBW, meaning they likely don’t want to overinvest in the former series.
While certainly a possibility, the Boruto franchise is still quite popular, especially in its manga form, where it’s serialized monthly in Shonen Jump magazines. While the anime adaptation is certainly not as well received or popular, it still has the Naruto franchise name to piggyback off of.
As a result, it certainly appears that Studio Pierrot is playing favorites with Bleach: TYBW over the Naruto franchise’s Boruto series. While both are popular and profitable for the studio, there is clearly one project that they value higher.
Be sure to keep up with all Bleach: TYBW anime news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2022 progresses.
