Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War will conclude with its fourth season, and with that, all of the original story will be fully adapted into animation. The incredible comeback Bleach has had in both popularity and relevance cannot be understated, and when Thousand-Year Blood War finally ends, its absence will certainly be felt.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War season 4 will be the end of the original story, but that doesn’t mean it will be the end of Bleach. There isn’t much of the original manga left for the anime to adapt, but in the years since Bleach ended, Tite Kubo and other authors have released a multitude of stories set in Bleach’s world, and as such, Bleach’s large amount of extra and supplementary material means it could keep going well after Thousand-Year Blood War ends. There’s no telling if that will happen, but the mere idea is nonetheless exciting to think about.

Bleach Already Released Its Sequel Stories Years Ago

Everything To Know About Bleach's Sequel Stories

The easiest way for the Bleach anime to continue would be for it to adapt the two official sequels that have already been written. The first story, Bleach: WE DO knot ALWAYS LOVE YOU, is focused primarily on Rukia and Renji’s wedding, but it also cleans up some loose ends from the manga, such as what happened to certain characters, how Ichigo and Orihime’s relationship has been progressing, and what was done about the Soul King’s death. Bleach: WE DO knot ALWAYS LOVE YOU serves as a great epilogue to the manga, so it would make sense to adapt it.

The next story, Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World, is even more important. Not only does it finally put Hisagi in the spotlight as Soul Society deals with another major threat, but it ties up even more loose ends for characters like Ginjo and the Espada and finally delves into the lore of the Soul King and the Bleach universe as a whole. Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World is one of the most important stories in Bleach’s canon after the manga, so it would make perfect sense to see it be animated.

What especially helps with that idea is how those stories are already being referenced in the anime. Among Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’s myriad of new material, the anime has been incorporating numerous ideas that originated from WE DO knot ALWAYS LOVE YOU and Can’t Fear Your Own World, such as the history of the Soul King and, most notably, Ichibei trying to mold Ichigo into a potential Soul King replacement. The way Bleach has already been using material from its sequel stories means they need to be animated, and hopefully, it won’t be long before that happens.

Bleach Can, And Should, Do More With Its Big Spinoff Story

Why Burn The Witch Is So Important To Bleach

Another idea for Bleach to continue is through Tite Kubo’s latest story, Burn the Witch. Burn the Witch was Tite Kubo’s first new story following Bleach’s finale, and while on the surface, Burn the Witch has nothing to do with Bleach, as it turns out, Burn the Witch is set around the Western branch of Soul Society, with it being staffed by witches battling dragons as opposed to Soul Reapers battling Hollows. As such, Bleach’s world can continue by further expanding on Burn the Witch’s story, and that could work to add even more life to the overarching franchise.

The main issue with that, of course, is how largely inactive Burn the Witch is. Tite Kubo has made it clear that Burn the Witch is a story he’ll update mostly whenever he feels like updating it, and since it’s been almost five years since the last chapter, people shouldn’t expect Burn the Witch and whatever it adds to the Bleach franchise to continue anytime soon. With Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War winding down, Kubo will hopefully get back to Burn the Witch soon, but when people can expect new content to come out is another story, entirely.

Bleach Needs To Finally Get Started On Its New Arc

Bleach's Echoing Jaws Of Hell Arc Explained

The biggest way for Bleach to continue, of course, is with its brand-new, fully fledged story arc. While Bleach originally ended in 2016, Bleach celebrated its 20th anniversary with a new chapter teasing the beginning of a new arc centered around Hell, the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc. It was a reveal that perfectly capitalized on the momentum of Bleach’s anime returning, and overall, Bleach’s Echoing Jaws of Hell arc is, by far, the easiest way for Bleach’s story to keep going.

Something else to consider is how the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc might connect to Burn the Witch. Not only does Burn the Witch take place in the same universe as Bleach, but its story takes place at the same time as the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc, so ’s new Hell arc can work to set up an official crossover between it and Burn the Witch. The destabilization of Hell and the appearance of the Märchens might even be connected in some way, so there’s plenty that could be done by formally linking the two stories together.

Much like Burn the Witch, however, the biggest issue is the lack of content. While the prologue to the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc came out in 2021, there haven’t been any updates on it since, so whether it’s in the manga or in the anime, Bleach fans shouldn’t expect the Echoing Jaws of Hell arc to continue anytime soon. Naturally, Tite Kubo should be allowed to work on whatever schedule is most comfortable for him, but that doesn’t make the lack of content any less disappointing for fans old and new.

As uncertain as Bleach’s future is, there are plenty of ways for it to continue after the anime ends. Between official sequel content and potential crossovers, Bleach has always done a good job of keeping its world alive past the manga’s ending, and with Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War making the series more popular than ever, Bleach has all the tools it needs to continue after Thousand-Year Blood War ends. There’s no telling how long that would take, but with how great the anime’s revival has been, giving the staff all the time they need will almost certainly yield great results.