Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War Episode 1 was as good as this show has ever been, perhaps even more than that. It was well-animated, the music was phenomenal ...

This was just the start of what the show is capable of, and it was every bit as good as it has ever been. Everything that the show has been known for was kept up and enhanced in this episode, and the great thing about it is that the source material is just as strong, if not stronger than it used to be. Hence, a reintroduction of everything important about the plot was necessary, and it was handled very well by the episode. The first episode of the final saga of Bleach was absolutely amazing. The final arc of Bleach is directed by Tomohisa Taguchi, who has been involved in the productions of Persona 4 The Animation and Twin Star Exorcists, and the series is based on a manga written by Tite Kubo. It is one of the most popular anime in the west of Japan of all time and is considered a part of the Big Three, a trio of anime widely recognised as having been a part of popularising the medium of anime.

What is this? After a thousand years, war has returned to the doorstep of Soul Society. The Quincy, long thought to have been exterminated by the Soul...

Whether or not either of those things stays true is questionable, but for now this is a damn good return for the series. That was always going to be a factor for this return, but the premiere really leans into it, giving Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, and Uryu stylized name cards as they each show off their powers. Through some unknown means, their former king of the Quincy has risen anew, and established an army of his own to revitalize this blood war and take down the Soul Reapers once and for all. It's a bold move, not even bothering to bridge a decade-long gap in broadcast, but it ultimately serves the introduction well to keep on moving like it never left. In that time, there was a lot of uncertainty about how this juggernaut of 2000s shonen anime would go out, but at last the finale arc of this story is being animated, back with a shiny new coat of paint to conclude it all. This is definitely not a newbie-friendly entry point, and if you're a lapsed fan who hasn't read or watched Bleach in a hot minute, you'll want to re-familiarize yourself with the basics of the main cast and general worldbuilding.