Warning: Contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 3, episode #9.Filler is an infamous part of older anime, and few anime were worse about it than Bleach. Not only did they have all the usual problems of excessive length and poor writing, but thanks to how long Bleach’s canon arcs were, the filler arcs would often abruptly force the main story to a pause for months on end, making their already divisive existence even worse to those who watched them.

Bleach is one of the best examples of why filler arcs are so contentious, but if any of Bleach’s filler arcs that most people think is worth watching, it’s the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc. Between the interesting premise and all the new characters it introduced, the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc is commonly seen as Bleach’s best filler arc, and surprisingly, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 3, episode #9 might have hinted that the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc is canon. This wouldn’t be the first time Bleach has done something like that, but unfortunately, the truth is more complicated than one would think.

How Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War References The Anime's Best Filler Arc

Bleach's Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc Reference Explained

In Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 3, episode #9, Kyoraku finally unveiled his Bankai, Katen Kyokotsu: Karamatsu Shinju, and as he got to the end of his series of attacks, Kyoraku’s Zanpakuto spirit manifested by Kyoraku, although Lille, keeping in line with Bleach’s mechanics, couldn’t see her. What was notable about it, however, was that the spirit of Kyoraku’s Zanpakuto had the same appearance she had in the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc, so the physical appearance of Kyoraku’s Zanpakuto spirit being the same in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc implies that the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc is canon.

This isn’t the first time Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has referenced filler material, of course. Several episodes ago, it was mentioned that Yukio and Riruka could move through the Royal Palace thanks to the Valley of Screams, a pocket dimension introduced in the first Bleach film Bleach: Memories of Nobody, and since Ichigo said he was familiar with the Valley of Screams, that means that ’s first film is officially canon according to Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. That sets a precedent for filler stories becoming canon, so it would make sense to assume the same of the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc.

Is The Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc Finally Canon To Bleach?

The Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc's Relation To Canon Explained

It would make sense to assume that the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc has been made canon, but it’s more complicated than that. While Bleach: Memories of Nobody could reasonably fit within canon, the same can’t be said of the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc, as it was one of several filler arcs that just abruptly put the main story on pause and made no effort to tie into canon. The timing, or lack thereof, for Bleach’s Zanpakuto Rebellion arc makes it impossible for it to be canon, so Kyoraku’s Zanpakuto spirit having the same appearance is likely just an Easter egg, at best.

Something else that prevents the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc from being canon is the main antagonist of the arc, Muramasa. In the anime, Muramasa is just a regular Zanpakuto spirit, but Bleach’s sequel story, Can’t Fear Your Own World, introduced a new version of Muramasa that served as the ancestral Zanpakuto of the Kuchiki clan, making him far more important in the overall worldbuilding. Add in how that version of Muramasa was perfectly fine when the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc ended with Muramasa’s destruction, and the differing appearances of Muramasa is further proof that the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc isn’t canon to Bleach.

Bleach Has The Best Approach To Making Filler Stories Canon

Why Bleach's Handling Of Filler Is So Good

Bleach’s Zanpakuto Rebellion arc is definitively non-canon, but the story’s way of handling it is still a great one. The way the original anime was structured makes it too complicated to simply make the Zanpakuto Filler arc canon, but between the design of Kyoraku’s Zanpakuto spirit and Muramasa appearing in Can’t Fear Your Own World, Bleach is at least acknowledging that the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc was one of its few good filler arcs through various Easter eggs. That’s the easiest way of incorporating filler into canon, and it’s great to see it at play for the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc.

That practice, of course, can also be seen in how Bleach: Memories of Nobody was recently made canon. Memories of Nobody is generally seen as one of the best Bleach films thanks to the great writing for Senna and her chemistry with Ichigo, and because of that, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War officially making Bleach: Memories of Nobody canon in such a big way is a clear acknowledgment that it’s one of the few Bleach movies worth watching. It’s unknown if Bleach will do anything like this again, but even this is great to see from such a long-running franchise.

Why Bleach's Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc Is One Of Bleach's Only Good Filler Arcs

What Makes The Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc Bleach's Best Filler Arc

Much has been discussed about the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc’s place in Bleach’s canon, so it’s important to examine why people would want that, to begin with. While Zanpakuto spirits largely fell to the wayside in canon after the Soul Society arc, the concept was the entire focus of the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc, and because of that, the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc finally allowed fans to see what every other Soul Reaper’s Zanpakuto spirit looked like in Bleach. Right off the bat, it gave fans something they had wanted for years, and that’s something few other filler arcs have going for them.

The overall writing of the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc also did a lot to sell itself as an arc. Not only do all the new Zanpakuto spirits have great personalities to go along with their interesting character designs, but the mystery surrounding Muramasa’s character is also great to watch unfold, and it’s plenty easy for someone to endear themselves to Muramasa’s character by the end of the arc. Bleach’s Zanpakuto Rebellion arc does a great job of selling its story and the new characters involved in it, and that’s not something that can usually be said about filler arcs.

Between its interesting premise and the surprisingly strong writing that came from it, the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc is easily Bleach’s strongest filler arc, and as such, the strengths of the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc make it easy to see why people would have wanted it to be canon to Bleach. That, of course, hasn’t come to , and it likely never will, but the fact that Bleach is acknowledging the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc at all is still great to see for anyone who was a fan of what it brought to the franchise.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War releases new episodes