Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Anime's 1st Part Ends on December 26 With 1-Hour Special

The official Twitter account for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, the television anime based on the "Thousand Year Blood War" arc of Tite Kubo's Bleach manga, announced on Tuesday that the anime's first cours (quarter of a year) will end on December 26 with a one-hour special that combines the anime's 12th and 13th episodes. The 11th episode will air on December 19 as scheduled.

Aniplex began streaming a video highlighting the first 10 episodes of the anime on Monday.

The show premiered on October 10 in Japan on TV Tokyo and its affiliates, and is streaming on 20+ services in Japan, including Hulu and Disney+. Viz Media began streaming the anime on Hulu in the U.S. on October 10. The English dub of the anime premiered on Hulu on November 4. Viz Media held the anime's North American premiere at New York Comic Con on October 8. The anime is streaming on Disney+ internationally, and Ani-One Asia is streaming the series in many Asian countries. The anime will run for four cours (quarter of a year) with breaks in between.

The anime will cover the rest of the original manga up through its ending. The Thousand Year Blood War arc is the final arc of the manga, and covers volumes 55-74.

Tomohisa Taguchi (Twin Star Exorcists, Kino's Journey - The Beautiful World, Akudama Drive) is replacing Noriyuki Abe to direct the anime at Studio Pierrot. Masashi Kudo is returning as the character designer, and Shiro SAGISU is returning to composing the music.

Tatsuya Kitani, who performed theme and image songs for the "Bleach Ex" exhibition, is singing the opening theme song "Scar," while SennaRin is singing the ending theme song "Saihate" (The Farthest Reaches).

The show's Japanese returning cast also includes cast members who have not appeared in the anime, but are reprising their roles from the Bleach: Brave Souls game.

Sources: Bleach anime's Twitter account, Famitsu.com, Aniplex's YouTuube channel