Is Tsunayashiro Tokinada Coming? Kubo Hints At the Debut of an Important Character in Bleach’s Finale During the Cour 3 Blu-Ray Interview

On May 31, 2025, the Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Cour 3 Blu-Rays have finally arrived and, along with some touch-ups and minor changes to the episodes, we received an exclusive interview with Bleach author Tite Kubo and directors Tomohisa Taguchi and Hikaru Murata for a look behind the scenes in the production of the anime.

The Meaning of the Conflict

Within this interview, we see the process of how the subtitle for Cour 3 came about, with varying interpretation from each creative involved.

Question 1: The subtitle for the third cour is “The Conflict.”

When you heard the word “Conflict,” or learned its meaning, what kind of scenes from BLEACH came to mind?

Tite Kubo: When I heard the word “The Conflict,” I thought it must have been chosen with the relationships shown in the third cour in mind—namely, Ichigo and Uryu, and Haschwalth and Bazz-B.

That’s what came to mind right away.

Hikaru Murata: Same for me.

When I first heard the subtitle, like Kubo-sensei mentioned, I immediately thought of the dynamics between “Ichigo and Uryu,” and “Haschwalth and Bazz-B.” I think everyone who’s seen the third cour probably had similar thoughts.

Those two relationships are central to the cour’s emotional weight, and I felt the word “Conflict” captured that beautifully.

It’s a term that resonates equally with both the creators and the viewers.

Tomohisa Taguchi: When I first heard the subtitle, it was during a confirmation meeting where someone said, “We’re thinking of using ‘The Conflict’ for the third cour—how does that sound?”

It was my first time hearing the word, so I looked up its meaning right away (laughs).

Once I understood what it meant, I had the same impression as the others—“Ah, I see.” It felt like a well-chosen word.

I thought, “Who came up with that?” Was it your idea, Kubo-sensei?

Kubo: No, it wasn’t me. On the contrary, I assumed that you, Murata-san, and the editorial and production teams decided on it together.

Was I mistaken?

Taguchi: You are! (laughs)

So then… who did come up with “The Conflict”?

Staff: There was a meeting where many people involved in the anime’s production gathered, and everyone contributed ideas and proposed candidates.

Since the second cour was titled “The Separation”, we wanted a word that could naturally follow “The Separation” and also represent the entire third cour.

What came to mind—just as the three of you have already said—were the relationships between Ichigo and Uryu, and Haschwalth and Bazz-B.

Those dynamics led us to keywords like “opposition” or “facing off.”

That became the core theme.

However, using a word like “opposition” directly didn’t quite feel right, so we tried to find a more fitting term.

In the end, it was the collective wisdom of the team that arrived at this.

Taguchi: I can really feel how deeply everyone researched words for this. The passion comes through! (laughs)

Key Visual

It seems that the subtitle is a lot more thematically-linked to Bleach than we realize as the kanji used combine the characters for “Fate” and “Blade”, two words when linked together correlate to Ichigo’s core principle in using his blade to cut down fate, and that seems to be quite close to Kubo’s intent as he intentionally thought of the term to mean a “sharpening of one’s personal blade” in the midst of clashing destinies.

Question 2: In the key visual for The Conflict, the phrase “Gathered fates, sharpen the blade” is written.

Who came up with that wording?

Kubo: That was me. Since we were using the term The Conflict (相剋), I thought it would be nice to play off the characters for “fate” (相) and “blade” (剋).

I researched their meanings carefully, and from there, I came up with the phrase to liken it to sharpening one’s blade in the midst of clashing destinies.

Taguchi: Reading “相” as Sugata (form/appearance) is pretty cool, isn’t it?

Murata: To craft an entire phrase from just the nuance of the word The Conflict… Only Kubo-sensei could pull that off.

The Origin of Renji vs Uryu 

Kubo was approached when making rough storyboards of additional scenes, such as in drawing not only Uryu’s Vollstandig introduced for the anime but also the anime-original fight between him and Renji in Episode 33: “Gate of the Sun”.

Question 3: There are many impactful anime-original scenes, such as those between Ichigo and Uryu, and Uryu and Renji.

What was the process behind deciding to depict those scenes?

Taguchi: At first, from the anime production side, we bring up ideas in scenario meetings, saying things like, “We’d like to do a scene like this.”

At that point, the proposal is still in a flexible state—something that hasn’t been finalized and can still be revised.

So we present it to Kubo-sensei while it’s still taking shape.

After that, we discuss with him whether the scene should be included in the anime or not.

Sometimes, I’m fortunate enough to meet with Kubo-sensei at the Dubbing sessions, and during those moments, I’ll consult with him directly about a scene we want to include.

For example, during a script meeting for Cour 3, someone said:
“Since Uryu will have a stronger presence as a key character in this cour, we’d like to increase his role.”

But if we couldn’t make that addition on our own, we brought the proposal to Kubo-sensei for consideration.

Kubo: When I’m first approached with something like that, I usually ask, “To what extent should I develop this?”

Then the director replies, “Let’s try putting it into plot form first,” and that’s where the process begins.

After it reaches me, I either add to it, rewrite it, or refine it through back-and-forth discussions.

And when I feel that more precise direction is needed, I’ll draw a rough storyboard (name) and hand it over to the team.

Staff: Uryu’s techniques were clearly conveyed through the visuals—that really helped a lot.

Kubo’s Involvement in Rewriting the Anime

Question 4: How much rewriting do you actually do?

Kubo: It depends on the case. Sometimes I rewrite the entire thing into something completely different.

And other times, if I feel like “This must be a scene the director really wants to depict,” I’ll ask about their intentions and leave it mostly untouched.

Taguchi: That’s why we ask Kubo-sensei to review everything down to the finest details.

He always gives us more feedback than we expect.

On the other hand, when relying only on written text, there are times where the intended nuance might not come through, or could be misread.

So having him sketch out things like, “This is the kind of feeling we’re going for,” has been incredibly helpful.

Kubo: There are times when I think, “I probably don’t need to check this far,” but deciding where to draw that line—what needs reviewing and what doesn’t—is tricky.

So now, I’ve decided to just check everything that comes my way.

Roles of Each Director

Ever since Cour 2, the series director Tomohisa Taguchi has been seemingly less involved but in actuality, they go back and forth in terms of responsibility, with Taguchi being mostly responsible for the script and checks up the animation techniques and the visuals for the anime.

Question 5: Does Director Murata also take part in that back-and-forth?

Murata: Not in every case, but I do take part in the exchange from time to time.

That said, since Taguchi-san handles most of the script work, he’s usually the one leading that process.

Kubo: From my impression, Taguchi-san handles most of the checks related to techniques and visual ideas, while when it comes to story-related matters, both of you bring in suggestions from your respective angles.

Cour 3 Assignments

Question 6: With so many anime-original scenes added in Cour 3, was it more difficult compared to Cour 1 or 2?

Taguchi: In TV anime production, a single cour is generally capped at 13 episodes.

Both Cour 1 and Cour 2 followed that structure, each with 13 episodes.

But Cour 3 ended up with 14 episodes for some reason. (laughs)

Just that one additional episode brought a significant increase in workload.

Normally, production is spread out across the team in a rotating format—it’s not like the same people work on every episode in sequence.

For example, someone who worked on Episode 1 might also be assigned to Episode 3, and so on.

It’s structured so that production duties are balanced.

During Cour 1 and Cour 2, each episode was assigned in turn, and by the time we reached the final episode, Episode 13, those who had some availability would pitch in—and we’d all go all-out for that last one.

But because Cour 3 had 14 episodes instead of 13, we suddenly had to figure out:

“Who’s going to handle Episode 14?”
“How do we assign staff for it?”

This wasn’t something we could solve using past experience—we had to rethink the structure entirely.

It was a real challenge.

Kubo: So in the end, people who had free time just stepped in?

Murata: Exactly. It was kind of like pedaling a bicycle nonstop just to keep going. (laughs)

Taguchi: For the final episode, we all jumped into production together. All the supervising directors joined in as well. (laughs)

Murata: It felt like a festival—there was this energy like, “Hey, something exciting is happening over there!” (laughs)

Taguchi: Yeah, even just saying it now makes it sound like a celebration. (laughs)

Everyone: (laughs)

Friend Was the Most Important Episode

Midway into the anime’s Fall 2024 release, the fight between Bazz-B and Haschwalth was given the most marketing and hype.

It seems like “Friend” was quite the priority episode.

Question 7: Were there any scenes in Cour 3 that you were particularly focused on during production?

Taguchi: Of course—we poured our attention into every single scene. (laughs)

Everyone: (laughs)

Taguchi: That said, Episode 38—which features Haschwalth and Bazz-B, one of the core themes of Cour 3—was under especially intense pressure from those around us.

Even when I met Kubo-sensei at a dubbing session, he said:

“Episode 38 is the most important one in Cour 3, so I’ve been feeling the pressure.”

Since Episode 38 leads directly into Episodes 39 and 40—the climax of the cour—there was a sense that everything had to be built around that moment.

It ended up being the part with the most weight and was the hardest to structure. (laughs)

Kubo: That makes sense. Right before the end is when you most want to put in your strongest effort.

Taguchi: Exactly. But that doesn’t mean we were only focused on Episode 38.

If you think of Cour 3 The Conflict as a whole, then Whats left, is maintaining the quality across the entire run, which becomes the real mission.

Even if just one episode falls short, it throws off the balance of the entire cour.

So we had to keep the quality and energy consistent across the board—even beyond Episode 38.

It wasn’t just about managing the pressure around Episode 38—we had to elevate the quality of every episode to that same level.

Kubo’s New Storyboards for the Anime

As it was confirmed that in Cour 2, Kubo drew storyboards for Shutara Senjumaru’s Bankai, which was introduced in the anime, some fans have wondered which parts of the anime have been storyboarded by Tite Kubo himself.

Kubo provides rough storyboards that are made into proper storyboards by the storyboarders assigned on those episodes

What was shown so far was that Kubo was responsible for Ichigo vs Yhwach in Episode 28: “Kill the King”, as well as the dream sequence where Ukitake met Mimihagi in his Inner World in Episode 29: “The Dark Arm”

Question 8: At the advance screening, Directors Taguchi and Murata mentioned that “Kubo-sensei has been drawing more rough storyboards (names).”

Did that start with Cour 3?

Kubo: No, I was already drawing names in Cour 2.

The parts I’m involved in flow seamlessly across the series, so there’s no clear distinction like “this changed starting in Cour 3.”

Taguchi: One that stands out to me was the rough battle layout when the Bambies appeared.

Kubo: Ah, yes, that one.

Taguchi: And when it came to the names, I asked Kubo-sensei to draw Ukitake’s scenes in depth.

Kubo: Ah, right—the spring inside Ukitake’s dream.

Fine Plays

Question 9: Were there any standout “fine plays” by the staff during Cour 3’s production?

Taguchi: As a director, I try to keep an overall view, but it’s really the on-site staff who handle things in the moment, so I can’t always catch everything myself.

If any fine plays happened, I think they’d be more aware than me.

Personally, I think Murata-san pulled off a fine play in every episode of Cour 3.

He helped me out on every single episode—so that’s 14 fine plays. (laughs)

Murata: No no, I wouldn’t say that! (laughs)

What I do remember is this: during the final editing stage we call “V-edit,” where we make final tweaks while checking the footage, someone noticed,

“Wait… isn’t this character’s color off?”

Looking closely, the character was supposed to be in the shade, but had been colored like they were in direct sunlight.

Even though we noticed it, there wasn’t any time to fix it during the final editing stage.

We were about to just let it go, but the color operator caught it and adjusted the character’s color right on the spot.
That was some serious skill—truly a fine play.

Taguchi: For the record, stuff like that doesn’t happen every episode! (laughs)

Kubo: (laughs)

Murata: Every now and then, small things slip by—things nobody notices or overlooks—and that’s where those kinds of moments are born.

Staff: Someone even noticed that the number of Yoruichi’s drumbeats was off during the night scene.

But Isn’t that a fine play too?

Taguchi: Right! In the scene where Yoruichi fights Naak Le Vaar and activates Shunkō: Raijin Senkei, there’s a moment where the number of drumbeats changes.

In one cut it’s six, and in the next cut it jumps to seven.

We noticed it right before the final delivery.
Trying to fix it then might’ve caused new drawing errors, so we were thinking,

“We figured we might have to air it as-is…”

Kubo: So in the end, it aired with seven drumbeats?

Taguchi: Nope! It actually got fixed. I was seriously surprised.

We asked the photography director,
“Can you fix this?”
And somehow, they managed to pull it off.

Kubo: That’s impressive. (laughs)

Taguchi: I honestly thought, “This is tied to the animation layout—there’s no way this can be fixed cleanly.”

But they connected the timing beautifully with effects, and when I saw the corrected cut, it was seamless.

No visual breakdown at all.

Murata: I don’t think anyone watching would’ve even noticed.

Kubo: Would you be able to tell if you paused the footage?

Taguchi: Even then, I doubt it.

Murata: You’d have to compare the pre- and post-fix versions side by side.

That’s how subtle the difference is.
It was a textbook fine play.

Kubo’s Favorite Staff Member

Question 10: Kubo-sensei, from your position overseeing the entire production, you interact with many different creators.

Could you share if there was any particular staff member whose work left a strong impression on you?

Kubo: That would be the color designer, Ms. Saori Goda.

I always look forward to the finished product, because I feel she’s doing work I personally wouldn’t be able to pull off.

To me, she’s someone who can “see colors that other people can’t.”

That’s the impression I get—and it’s fascinating to watch.

Bleach TYBW’s Color Design

Question 11: What exactly do you mean by “seeing colors that other people can’t”?

Kubo: I haven’t actually confirmed this with Goda-san directly—it’s just my impression.

But I think she’s the kind of artist who draws color from light itself.

She seems to perceive more subtle shades of light than most people.

Taguchi: That’s exactly right—she really draws out such a wide range of colors.

I’ve known Goda-san for a long time and we’ve talked a lot.

Kubo-sensei’s impression is spot-on. (laughs)

For example, she’ll ask things like:

“What kind of light feels like winter?”
“What kind of light feels like summer?”
“When sunlight filters through the trees, how many colors are hidden in that light?”
“How can I recreate that effect?”

She’s always thinking about light in those kinds of terms.

Murata: When you look at her finished work, nothing feels out of place—
and yet, she always adds a twist that makes her color choices feel a bit different from the norm.

Take something like an apple.
Most people think “red,” right?

But instead of just coloring it red, she might add a touch of blue to make it appear red.

She uses contrast and balance rather than just raw color.

It’s hard to put into words, honestly. (laughs)

Kubo: Exactly. Color on its own doesn’t hold meaning—it changes based on how it’s placed in relation to others.

Even something that’s just “blue” can be made to look “red” depending on what surrounds it.

That’s what makes her work so impressive—she understands how to manipulate that effect.

Taguchi: Even during BLEACH’s production, her insistence on “wanting to create this exact color” was really strong.

As long as there was time, she’d keep working on it through retakes until she got it right.

Murata: There’s something we call a “color script” that guides the palette and tone across each episode.

Usually there’s one per episode, but in BLEACH, she often makes five or six—sometimes even ten—different versions per episode.

Kubo: I always ask to see the color script before the final episode is delivered.

When I see it, I often think, “Ah—this color approach is perfect.”

Stand Outs in Color Design

Question 12: Was there a scene in Cour 3 where Goda-san’s color work particularly stood out to you?

Kubo: There were so many amazing ones, but the scene in the Soul King’s Palace—where Orihime, Chad, and the Royal Guard are fighting—
the way she used colors that felt like fresh morning light really surprised me.

I remember thinking, “I didn’t know something could be expressed with such clarity and freshness.”

Kubo’s Involvement in the Voice Acting Process

Question 13: Kubo-sensei, you’ve attended nearly every recording session.

What kind of impression have you had from participating in the dubbing process?

Kubo: It’s always easy to attend, and I felt like I was really welcomed. That made me happy. (laughs)

Murata: We’re really glad to hear that.

Honestly, the fact that Kubo-sensei comes to the studio for every episode is something we deeply appreciate.

Having him there to watch the performances directly allows us to consistently deliver high-level acting.

In anime production, character acting is a hugely important element, and I think having him involved helped us keep BLEACH’s emotional core intact.

From a director’s standpoint, I do think relying too much on the original creator can be risky—but in this case, his presence is invaluable.

Kubo: That said, I rarely ever give direct direction myself.

Murata: Oh no, not at all! You’re being modest. (laughs)

I usually just handle the final checks, like “is there anything that feels off here?”

But by that point, directors like Taguchi-san and many of the other staff have already covered most of the direction.

So when it gets to me, even if there’s something I don’t fully grasp, I still end up understanding the intent clearly just by looking at what’s been done.

How the Bleach TYBW Anime has Evolved

One of the pressures in the process of adapting the manga into the anime is on whether or not the anime can replicate or match the impact of the manga panels done by Kubo and it seems Kubo’s advice and the team’s experience has been quite helpful in that regard, especially on how Kubo says he always has the camera angle in mind when he constructs panels.

Question 14: Taguchi-san and Murata-san, after working as General Director and Director respectively across Cour 1, 2, and now 3, could you share how your perspective on BLEACH has evolved?

Taguchi: I’ve always felt that Kubo-sensei’s work is created with a level of visual imagination that goes beyond what’s typically “just for manga.”

When we began animating the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, I kept thinking,

“How do we make sure this scene hits the viewer with the same impact it had when they read it for the first time in the manga?”

Even when it’s just a single line, I keep wondering whether the shot we chose really delivers the same emotional weight.

Murata: I feel the same way Taguchi-san does.

As we work through production, we constantly consider how much impact each moment or cut can deliver to the audience.

Even though we work with great animation directors and highly skilled animators, and they deliver excellent work,
sometimes even a beautiful cut doesn’t fully land if compared to the manga.

Now that I’ve been overseeing everything as director in Cour 3,
I’ve realized how incredibly difficult it is to faithfully capture the unique feel of BLEACH’s artwork.

Taguchi: In the past, Kubo-sensei told me,

“When I draw manga, I already have the camera angles in my head. I mentally cut the scene and lay it into panels as I draw.”

So I thought: if that image is already in place, we should be able to recreate something with the same impact.

But the truth is, it’s really hard..

Matching the emotional weight of a manga panel with animation is something I’ve always struggled with.

Changes Between Taguchi’s and Murata’s Direction

Question 15: Starting from Cour 3, Taguchi-san became General Director, and Murata-san took on the role of Director.

Did those changes affect how you worked?

Murata: They definitely did.

Up through Cour 2, I was just handling the specific episodes assigned to me.

But starting in Cour 3, I was responsible for the entire cour.

So naturally, the amount of work went up—especially the number of people I needed to communicate with.

As a director, I had to be out on location more often and coordinate with a much wider range of staff.

For example, the first time I went to a recording session, I felt so out of place. It was rough. (laughs)

I’ve gotten more used to it now, but there are still parts of the job that are difficult.

I think they’ll be ongoing challenges in Cour 4, too.

Also, since I was now responsible for overseeing the whole picture, I also had to make sure the overall quality held up.

Before, if I didn’t catch something, someone else might catch it for me.

The pressure of being the final checkpoint—of not letting anything slip through—was huge.

There were times I felt crushed by the responsibility of not letting BLEACH, and Kubo-sensei’s work, be compromised by any of my oversights.

Taguchi: With Cour 3, I also started to feel that the on-site staff had really settled into their rhythm by the third round of production.

Everyone on the team had become more familiar with the specific demands of BLEACH, and started independently thinking things like:

“How do we keep the quality high?”
“What’s the best way to preserve the series’ tone?”

Especially in the action scenes—I think the quality control in Cour 3 was handled at a much higher level than in Cours 1 or 2.

Murata: One unexpected benefit of becoming director was that I started finding joy in areas beyond the usual animation duties. (laughs)

Taguchi: You mean… like, in your personal life?

Murata: Yeah! For example, last year I saw news online like,

“Ohtani just hit a home run! Yes!”
Even though I’m not really into baseball at all. (laughs)

Kubo: So you’re the type to relieve stress through little things happening around you?

Murata: Exactly. Or I’ll watch cat videos. (laughs)

Kubo: Just like you both said—when you move up in position, you end up delegating more and more.

And even if that takes some of the physical burden off you, I think it tightens the screws mentally.

That’s probably why you end up carrying more stress.

Taguchi: Kubo-sensei’s watching out for us. (laughs)

Kubo: Well, I personally think manga artists are the kind of people who can’t really trust others to do the job. (laughs)

So I completely understand the urge to do everything yourself.

Most Fun Part for Kubo’s Involvement

Question 16: Kubo-sensei, as the original author and General Supervisor, you’ve been directly involved in the anime’s production.

What has been the most “fun” part for you?

Kubo: Honestly, I’ve enjoyed all of it.

Especially the dubbing sessions. Since I normally work alone and don’t interact with people often,
being in a place full of people has actually been a lot of fun for me. (laughs)

Maybe the anime staff thought I was just hanging around idly,
but for me, that different atmosphere was refreshing.

I went to each dubbing session genuinely looking forward to being there. (laughs)

Staff: Director Taguchi, you were having so much fun, didn’t Kubo-sensei catch you mid-bite while you were eating?

Everyone: (laughs)

Taguchi: No, no, that’s not how it was! (laughs)

What happened was, I had my mouth full because of a scheduling crunch,
and Kubo-sensei walked up to me while I was eating, so I just kind of nodded as a greeting.

It wasn’t intentional! (laughs)

Staff: That just shows what a warm, family-like atmosphere the dubbing site had.

I think that’s thanks in part to the cast members—like Morita-san and the others—who created such a positive vibe.

Taguchi: That’s definitely a big part of it.

Final Message

This message is the most crucial hint towards how different Cour 4 will be from the rest of the TYBW adaptation as we might get a whole new character that Kubo has waited so long to bring forward into this rendition of his work’s final arc.

Some fans have eagerly waited for the canonization of Tsunayashiro Tokinada, the main antagonist of the latest light novel, Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World, published a year after the end of the Bleach manga, especially considering not only Tokinada’s role in the post-Thousand Year Blood War status quo but also in how he exposed the Original Sin of Bleach, the mutilation of the Soul King Adyneus, which Cours 2 and 3 have been revealing more of in the anime.

Question 17: Lastly, could each of you share a message for the fans looking forward to Cour 4?

Taguchi: In Cour 4, we want to create something that delivers the same sense of emotional payoff as finishing the original manga—
something that makes you go, “Yeah, this is BLEACH.”

Starting from Cour 2 and Cour 3, we’ve been gradually adding more anime-original elements.

We hope you’ll look forward to how those continue to evolve in Cour 4.

Murata: If you’ve been watching from Cour 1 to Cour 3, I think you’ve probably noticed how the overall visual quality has steadily improved.

We hope you’ll continue to enjoy seeing that.

In Cour 3, for example, we added scenes where the backgrounds were made entirely using CG.

In Cour 4, we’re planning to take on even more of those kinds of creative challenges.

It’s not just me—many different creators are testing new approaches behind the scenes,
all in service of delivering the best possible quality.

We’re working at the very peak of what we can do, so I hope you’ll be excited to see what comes next.

Kubo: In Cour 4…
that character will finally appear..

I believe their arrival will be the biggest surprise in all of BLEACH!!

Source: Twitter

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Conflict ~ Cour 3 Blu-ray Interview 🧵 pic.twitter.com/PGym86KMiy

— Ichigo Taichou 🧡 (@IchigoTaicho9) May 31, 2025

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