Soul Reapers around the world, it’s finally time. Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. has officially announced that the mega-popular Bleachanime/mangaseries will be getting its own 3D arena fighter, titled Bleach: Rebirth of Souls.
The game was unveiled at the Bandai Namco Summer Showcase, which was held at this week’sAnime Expo 2024in Los Angeles, CA. The event, which boasted appearances fromDragon Ball Sparking! ZeroandSword Art OnlineFractured Daydream, was held both in-person and livestreamed on Bandai Namco Entertainment’s YouTube channel. While series creator, Tite Kubo,let out the surprisea bit earlier than planned, fans of Bleach were treated to a flashy-yet-upgraded look at the new title, which as of writing, does not have a release date.
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Bandai Namco has released a statement regarding Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, saying:
Awaken the blade and reverse your fate inBLEACH REBIRTH OF SOULS.Engage in thrilling action-packed battles with iconic characters from the legendary anime franchise including Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Uryu Ishida, and Yasutora Sado (Chad). In the game, players will be able to unleash unique sword abilities like Bankai and unlock new forms in battle to claim victory against their opponents. Bandai Namco will unveil many more exciting details about the game in the months to come.
The Blade is You
For those who may not be familiar with the franchise, Bleach, stylized asBLEACH, is a sword-fighting action manga created by Tite Kubo that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump until 2016. The series follows regular high-schooler Ichigo Kurosaki, who, after one fateful night, becomes a Soul Reaper, a swordsman who slays evil spirits in Tokyo and beyond. Many fans know the series for its popular anime, however, which ran from 2004 to 2012, and then a sequel series/continuation, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, which started in 2022. Many anime movies, stage plays and even a big-budget 2018 Japanese film adaptation have been made, with many considering the franchise one of the fated Big Three alongsideNarutoandOne Piece.
On the video game front, the Bleach franchise hasn’t had a huge game on consoles since Bleach: Brave Souls, a free-to-play Gacha game, in 2016. Since then, only mobile releases like Bleach: Paradise Lost and Bleach: Soul Rising have been released. Even before then, it only had a few games on PlayStation 2 and 3, as well as Nintendo DS. Now fans of the iconic manga/anime can revel in a true big game worthy of the series’ name on modern-day consoles.
The full roster of Bleach: Rebirth of Souls is being kept a secret, with only Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Uryu Ishida and Yasutora “Chad” Sado being officially announced. We do see many returning characters fighting like Renji Abarai, Kisuke Urahara, Byakuya Kuchiki and Yoruichi appear throughout the trailer, though. Still, there is a wide variety of iconic characters from Bleach that would feel right at home in the game, from Soul Reapers like Kenpachi and Tōshirō to villains like Aizen and Yhwach.
This game does contribute to the running trend of anime fighting games. While it’s hard to pinpoint when it started, entries likeDragon Ball FighterZ,Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed ClashandJump Forcebrought about more relevance to the genre. Funnily enough, outside of Jump Force and other Shonen Jump games, Bleach has had a fighting game with 2006’s Bleach: Blade Battlers, released on the PlayStation 2. A sequel was released a year after, but none of them were localized for Western audiences. With Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, players can finally get to fight as their favorite characters and unleash their Bankai on the battlefield in style.
Bleach: Rebirth of Souls is coming soon exclusively to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. For more information, visit theofficial website.
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