When Tite Kubo’s Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War released its first episode all the way back in 2022, it led to unreal hype and a resurgence of Bleach fans. The series is believed to be on par with the original series, with some even considering that it is better than it. The new series received a ton of changes, apart from featuring new abilities and faces in the anime.
The old characters underwent massive changes, along with superior animation. Though the fans were happy with everything introduced in the current series, it featured a major change: the original gore from the manga was skipped for the majority of the part in the anime.
Though fans are unhappy with this decision, it turns out there was a clever reason behind it, which has only led to the anime becoming more popular than before.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Skipped Gore Over A Crucial Reason
One of the many reasons that Tite Kubo is considered a master of his craft is because he takes his time to create a mesmerizing piece of work. Such is the case with Thousand-Year Blood War, which elevated the scenes from the manga, and for the most part, it has remained immensely faithful to the source material.
However, there is one aspect that the series has chosen not to feature in the anime, and that is avoiding the blood and gore from the manga. Although the first couple of episodes did not shy away from the bloodshed of mutilation and disembodiment, it eventually diverted from the idea.
For the most part in the manga, characters are getting brutally killed, while in the 3rd episode titled March of the StarCross, Soul Reapers were getting their heads blown off, with Arrancar being torn to pieces and two Vice-Captains getting pierced where one died, while the other one was left in a mess.
The anime decided to deviate from showcasing too much brutality on the screen so that it does not get an R-rating or, worse, is taken down from the streaming platform. While this has been a clever move from the anime adaptation and the studio, ardent fans are not entertaining this idea because of how the whole perception of the war has changed.
The censoring and skipping of gore is not something that Tite Kubo’s Bleach has not done in the past, but not getting right into the action has been poorly received among the viewers, affecting the ratings of the show.
Bleach Fans Criticize Thousand-Year Blood War For Skipping the Gore
As Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War goes deeper and deeper into the original, the criticism following the adaptation gets louder. This feeling resonated among the fans when, in r/bleach, a user shared a post asking the opinion of the fans about the current series so far.
Naturally, fans were fuming as they criticized the anime adaptation primarily for being PG-13 and following this notion that ruins the very essence of the series.
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Even though it is somewhat annoying because the series has deviated from showcasing the intense bloodshed, which might not have been a good step as it has divided the fandom, being true to most parts of the source material saved it from further backlash.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War can be streamed on Hulu.
