Worst Cour 4 Episode Yet? What to Expect from Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Episode 43

In the previous Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War episode, Kisuke Urahara finally reveals his Bankai, Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame.

Chapter Adapted

Episode 43 is titled, “Blood of my Bone”

Episode 43 will adapt Chapter 658: “Fatal Matters are Cold” (pages 7-17), Chapter 659: “There Will Be Frost” (pages 1-5), Chapter 666: “Dull, Doll, Null” (pages 14-17), Chapter 667: “Bigger, Louder, Stronger”, Chapter 668: “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” (pages 1-4),  and Chapter 675: “Blood of My Bone”, where the episode title is from for a total of 60 pages adapted and 6 chapters chosen.

Altogether, the compilation movie adapted a total of 177 pages or a full volume of content, which is expected for a 67 minute film.

Now this leaves remnants of Chapter 674 onwards yet to be covered for a total of 12 chapters remaining for the 7 episodes.

This episode covers some anime-original lore about the Soul King, with Ichigo finally learning from Yhwach Ichibei’s plan for Ichigo to become the Soul King, something that should have happened inthe manga.

Three of Gerard Valkyrie’s early encounters happen here, mainly a modified Vizards fight, the brief Toshrio Hitsugaya skirmish and the arrival of Kenpachi Zaraki.

Staff:

SB/ED: Shinichirou Ueda
Chief Animation Director and Solo Key Animator: Toru Hasegawa

This might be the thinnest staff list for any anime, especially for an episode with a decent amount of action still present rather than a full-on dialogue episode, as they left most of the heavy lifting to one.

This would explain the minimal animation for the Gerard fights, as it is bad enough they need to ensure Gerard is not a CGI giant and at the same time make him more mobile than a PNG.

Furthermore, leakers have noted there was a notable change from the theatrical version for Orihime’s part in the fight against Yhwach.

In the original version at the start of the episode, after Orihime saves Ichigo from falling with Santen Kesshun as a cushion, we see the current team attempt to replicate the old Spiritual Pressure visual effect as both Ichigo and Orihime are pulled down and made to kneel.

What makes this different is that while the previous anime adaptation had the whole screen vibrate, the current team chose to isolate the effect solely on the two characters.

However, in the episodic version, they seem to have added more effects or lines to add more visibility when that was not necessary, likely an exaggerated response to anime fans wanting to see the old effect back, yet it is clear that

Next Episode Poem: Kenpachi Zaraki

“What will change is…”

We get another Kenpachi Zaraki anime-original poem but interestingly, it is spoken with adult Yachiru Kusajishi’s voice.

This is the Shikai form speaking, not the Bankai, who takes on the appearance of child Yachiru.

Once again, Kenpachi’s only manga poem is never used, which is quite lengthy and philosophical from the short ones he has received.

Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Episode 44 is titled, “The Perfect Crimson”

This will cover the entire Gerard Valkyrie fight, from Chapter 668: “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” (pages 5-17) to Chapter 671: “The Perfect Crimson 2”

This means Episode 45 will lead to the Horn of Salvation and even True Bankai content.

Episode 44 will be released on  August 15, 2026.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE ANIME EXPLAINED WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT NOW!