'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Day 1 of Jump Festa 2022 is almost at an end, and the Bleach Super Stage EX has delivered everything it promised and more. On the occasion of the year being the 20th anniversary of the series, the seventeenth and final season of the anime was announced, almost nine years later.
Bleach Super Stage EX highlights and announcements
Highlights on the stage
The Bleach Super Stage EX featured a panel hosting the voice actors for Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia, and Ishida Uryu. and began with a trip down memory lane. They displayed an extended video collage put together with clips from the very first season of the anime in 2004, all the way to 2012, tracing the anime’s iconic journey.
This brought tears to Rukia’s voice actor Orikasa Fumiko almost to tears, as the three actors expressed their delight and excitement at reprising these iconic roles after so many years.
Morita Masakazu (voice actor of Ichigo), Orikasa, and Sugiyama Noriaki (voice actor of Uryu) all act out some manga panels to be animated and Morita also reads out a message from creator, Kubo Tite. The stage ends with all three artists hoping that the Bleach 2022 anime will be a huge success.
Key visual, teaser and release date
The Super Stage EX event has fans giddy with excitement, as it revealed not only a key visual but also a teaser for the new season along with a release date. The Thousand-Year Blood War arc of the anime is expected to premiere during Fall 2022. While a specific date hasn’t been announced, the panel confirmed it will be in October 2022.
The art of the new teaser shows a distinct shift from the older anime seasons, both in terms of character design as well as color palettes. The new art style has a more modern touch to it with the animation much more detailed and fluid. The teaser, accompanied by the iconic Ichigo’s Theme, has given the community high hopes for this season, especially in terms of the execution of the many epic action sequences in the upcoming arc.
EX exhibit
The stage also launched a trailer advertising the 20th anniversary special Bleach EX art exhibit. This is the second promotional video launched for the special exhibition that will display Kubo’s artwork from throughout the manga. The trailer, featuring the song Rapport by Kitani Tatsuya, also unveils two new artworks made by Kubo specially for the occasion. The exhibition will be open to visitors in Tokyo from December 18, 2021 to January 16, 2022.
More on the anime
The Jump Festa 2022 Bleach Super Stage EX reveals a host of characters, including those who haven’t yet been introduced in the anime. The exhibition trailer shows art for major characters like Ichigo, Rukia, Ulquiorra, Aizen, Yhwach, and others, captioned by manga chapter numbers and titles. Though there hasn’t been any official announcement, it is possible that Rapport will be featured in the upcoming 2022 season as well. More updates on the anime will soon be available on the anime's official twitter account.
