All Bleach Arcs in Order, Listed

One of the most enduring anime franchises ever is Bleach, based on the manga series created by Tite Kubo. The show takes place in a fantasy world where warriors, known as Soul Reapers, defend humanity and departed souls from evil entities. Here are all the Bleach anime arcs in order.

All Bleach Arcs in Order

Including the continuation series Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, there are currently 17 story arcs in the anime series, some of which are filler arcs exclusive to the anime. In terms of the core story, most of Bleach is told in chronological order, with the biggest exception being The Past Arc, which features a story primarily set over a century before the events of the main series. Here are the arcs divided by episodes in release order:

The chronological placement of some of the later anime filler arcs, specifically in the middle of the larger Arrancar storyline, is something of an interlude prior to protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki’s rescue mission deep in enemy territory. This is because, once the action gets underway during the Arrancar story arcs, it really doesn’t let up until the storyline is completely resolved, following the final showdown with the Arrancar and their leader Sōsuke Aizen at Ichigo’s hometown of Karakura. The follow-up storylines take place after a several-month time jump, with Ichigo finishing high school and beginning life as a full-on young adult.

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The original Bleach anime series, which ran from 2004 to 2012, did not fully adapt Kubo’s manga series, leaving its final overarching story, the Thousand-Year Blood War, unrealized on screen for years. The continuation anime series, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, premiered in 2022 with the intention to finally adapt the final story arcs from the Bleach manga. This series is expected to run for a total of four seasons, with the third and most recent season, adapting the arc Thousand-Year Blood War: The Conflict, concluding in December 2024. The fourth season, adapting the arc Thousand-Year Blood War: The Calamity, has not yet received a confirmed release date.

Narratively, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War takes place approximately 17 months after the defeat of Aizen and his Arrancar, placing Ichigo in his final year of high school at Karakura Town. This storyline has Ichigo and his fellow Soul Reapers battle the Wandenreich, a formidable army that quickly overwhelms the Soul Society and leaves Ichigo and his friends on the defensive. This epic storyline ran from Chapters 480-686 of the manga series, leaving quite a bit of source material that the original Bleach anime series had left untouched in its initial adaptation.

Bleach is quietly one of the most influential anime series of its time, certainly in terms of helping the medium gain popularity in North America. Boasting some truly thrilling fights and memorable characters, Bleach has a timeless quality that has endured for over 20 years, entertaining longtime fans and new viewers alike. And with an impressive number of story arcs, even without the anime filler arcs, there is a sweeping saga that audiences can experience to dive into the full story of Ichigo Kurosaki and the Soul Reapers firsthand.

And those are all the Bleach arcs in order.

Bleach is available to stream on Crunchyroll.