Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War was not only a long-anticipated anime adaptation of Bleach's final story arc, but has also proven to be worth the wait, as the anime has improved upon the manga's story in several ways. The original manga's creation was beset with problems, from pacing issues and deadlines to Tite Kubo's failing health, so the anime has offered a chance to rewrite the story as Kubo always dreamed of.

Thousand-Year Blood War depicts the conflict between Bleach's Soul Reapers and the Quincy, a group which they believed had been all but exterminated a thousand years prior. With the return of their seemingly unstoppable leader, Yhwach, the Quincy begin an assault on the Soul Society that causes mass destruction, and all the while, Yhwach is growing closer to his true goal: the destruction of reality and the creation of a new universe. The reveal of other Quincies pits Ichigo and his Quincy friend Uryu against one another, bringing a personal element to the struggle for survival.

10 Yamamoto's Final Fight Was Extended

Episode 6, "The Fire"

Head Captain Yamamoto's final battle in the series was extended in the anime, with many additional shots of his combat with the Sternritter who disguised himself as Yhwach, Royd Lloyd. Given this is the first time that fans really got to see Yamamoto let loose and use his full power, it was certainly satisfying to see him put up an even better fight than he did in the manga. Most notably, a number of flashbacks were added to Yamamoto's original battle with Yhwach 1,000 years ago, showing how the two fights paralleled one another.

The added shots have the net effect of driving home the seriousness of this battle, and makes Yamamoto’s final fate all the more shocking, since his power was more fully put on display. Yamamoto may not have actually been fighting Yhwach, but it was still an honorable death.

9 Introducing the Original 13 Captains

Episode 7, "Born in the Dark"

The anime adaptation added scenes flashing back to the original confrontation between the Quincy and the Soul Reapers 1,000 years ago, and included among those was a shot of the first generation of Soul Reaper captains. There are some familiar faces in the bunch, such as Yamamoto and Unohana, but there are also a number of brand-new characters, designed by Kubo, who are shown off for the first time. These characters are seen again in flashback during episode 9, "The Drop," offering closer looks at some of these captains, whom Kyoraku calls the strongest generation of captains.

Fans were especially excited by the addition of these new characters, as many believe they will be relevant to the “Hell Arc,” which was first teased in the anniversary special one-shot. While this remains to be seen, the added history of the Soul Society is still appreciated by most fans.

8 Ichigo's Irazusando Training

Episode 15, "Peace from Shadows"

Thousand-Year Blood War added some very important new scenes of Ichigo’s training with Squad Zero, depicting him traveling down a path known as "Irazusando"—a forbidden path that leads to a shrine. Ichigo must simply walk down the path, but with each step it becomes more difficult, and as he progresses, Ichigo begins receiving visions of the Soul King’s life, including the very creation of the world in its current state, as well as the Soul King’s dismemberment, which made him into the keystone of reality.

Given that Ichigo did manage to reach the end of the path, it would seem he ed the test.

The scene was hotly debated when it first premiered, with many fans believing that this is a test to see if Ichigo was a potential candidate to become a new Soul King. Given that Ichigo did manage to reach the end of the path, it would seem he ed the test.

7 Shinji Hirako's Bankai is Revealed

Episode 16, "The Fundamental Virulence"

Teased in early previews of part 2, the reveal of Captain Shinji Hirako’s Bankai, which had been skipped over in the manga, became a hotly anticipated moment in the Thousand-Year Blood War anime. Shinji’s Bankai, when activated, manifests as a giant flower which releases a pink mist, causing confusion among friend and foe alike, leading to the enemy wiping each other out. It immediately becomes apparent why Shinji doesn’t usually use his Bankai—it’s a serious threat to his own allies.

Shinji’s Bankai ability is certainly a worthy one, but it only makes sense to use it in situations like this one, where one’s allies have already been killed. Of course, it does still have one weakness: attacking indiscriminately can still allow enemies to hit Shinji, and that’s precisely what happens when he goes up against Bambietta Basterbine.

6 Squad Zero Demonstrates Their True Power

Episode 26, "BLACK"

The battle between Squad Zero and Yhwach’s elite guard goes down very differently in the anime. Instead of being defeated, the other of Squad Zero kill themselves, unlocking a blood seal on Senjumaru Shutara’s Bankai. Senjumaru uses her Bankai on all of the of Yhwach’s elite guard, creating bespoke prison dimensions for each of them, which mirror their final fates in the manga.

Even Uryu is captured in this way, and the Quincy are completely unable to fight back against her overwhelming power.

This change had a massive impact on how Squad Zero was perceived by fans. While many felt they went down too easily in the manga, this new scene revealed just a taste of what these elite Soul Reapers were capable of, and seems to have finally proved they’re worthy of their incredible status.

5 Ukitake's Added Backstory Makes His Sacrifice More Poignant

Episode 29, "The Dark Arm"

The anime takes time to dive into the backstory of Captain Jushiro Ukitake, revealing exactly how he became the host of the Right Arm of the Soul King, Mimihagi. Born a sickly child, his parents prayed to Mimihagi, who was then seen as a local deity in the poorer districts of the Soul Society. Ukitake’s lungs were possessed by Mimihagi, who took pity on his situation, enabling him to live a long, normal life and become the successful Soul Reaper that he was.

As far as he’s concerned, his entire life has been borrowed time, and he’s glad to fulfill what he has always seen as his ultimate destiny.

Adding this backstory to Ukitake just before he makes his sacrifice by turning over his entire body to Mimihagi enhances the tragic element of it, and emphasizes just what a heroic figure Ukitake is. As far as he’s concerned, his entire life has been borrowed time, and he’s glad to fulfill what he has always seen as his ultimate destiny.

4 Yhwach's Past is Expanded Upon Greatly

Episode 14, "The Last 9 Days" (and others)

Yhwach’s past is expanded upon in a number of episodes, showing past events like his meeting with Ichibe 1,000 years ago. Yhwach’s birth and early life are also revealed, as he is exalted among the people whose souls are linked with his—the Quincy. These flashbacks help to give more context to Yhwach’s actions; the scene with Ichibe in particular shows the moment where Yhwach decided to destroy the current reality and that this was the only option available to him.

While these scenes don’t fully justify Yhwach, they do make him into a slightly more sympathetic character, one who has seen his father humiliated and used to maintain a world order that does a great disservice to the Quincy. Like Ichigo, Yhwach has a goal he is driven to accomplish, and their opposing wills must clash.

3 Yhwach and Ichigo Fight

Episode 28, "Kill the King"

Part 3 of Thousand-Year Blood War added a major new fight sequence between Ichigo and Yhwach, where Ichigo gets to flex some of his new power. Ichigo initially seems to be doing quite well against Yhwach, but Yhwach soon reveals that he had not been using the Almighty, and as soon as he starts doing that, things go south for Ichigo very quickly. While the end result is the same as the manga, the new fight scene is certainly exciting, and it makes more sense for them to clash here than not.

The change helps to drive home just how big the gulf in power is between Ichigo and Yhwach, while simultaneously making Ichigo look better for putting up a real fight even against such a powerful adversary, especially when fans had just seen Yhwach utterly defeat Ichibe.

2 Uryu Defeats Senjumaru

Episode 27, "A"

Since Senjumaru used her Bankai to imprison Yhwach’s elite guard, something that didn’t happen in the manga, there had to be a scene which showed how they escaped, as characters like Uryu still have a large role to play in the manga’s version of the plot. This led to the creation of a brand-new fight scene between Uryu and Senjumaru, wherein he manages to stand up to the powerful Squad Zero member for quite some time. When it looks like Uryu might lose, he’s able to use his Schrift power, the Antithesis, to reverse the situation, putting Senjumaru at his mercy.

One common complaint about the manga’s version of Thousand-Year Blood War is that Uryu is a bit too ive for a story that’s ostensibly centered on him, and this fight puts Uryu in a much more significant position, making him directly responsible for freeing Yhwach’s elite guard.

1 Uryu and Ichigo Fight

Episode 30, "The Betrayer"

In the manga, Uryu and Ichigo have a very brief confrontation, which results in Uryu knocking Ichigo off the Soul King’s Palace, sending him careening down below. However, this scene doesn’t really deliver on what a confrontation between these two friends should. The anime added an extended fight sequence between Uryu and Ichigo, with Ichigo reluctant to harm his former friend. Uryu uses his Quincy Vollstandig on screen for the first time, something he never did in the manga, and is even able to compete with Ichigo’s Getsuga Tensho, however briefly.

This scene has a lot of emotional weight to it as the two finally come to blows, and reveals Ichigo’s Quincy heritage to Uryu for the first time. It also better explains how Uryu manages to win the trust of Yhwach’s elite guard, since he has seemingly proven he has no qualms with fighting his former friend. Due to the emotional impact alone, this is the most significant added scene in Thousand-Year Blood War, at least to date.