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When Blue Exorcist made its return to Toonami back in November 2024, the block opted to restart the series from the beginning for both new and returning viewers, as the original series last aired on the better cartoon show in 2014. With Toonami set to air the final two episodes on April 26th and May 3rd respectively, the stage is now set for Toonami viewers to finally get to see the newer arcs of this long running franchise by Kazue Kato.
This morning, it was announced that on May 17th that not only Toonami announced that Blue Exorcist season 2, the Kyoto Saga, will finally make its debut on the better cartoon show at 1:00 a.m. EDT/PDT; it was announced that Bleach, another legacy program that Toonami fans have been awaiting its return since 2014, will finally get to showcase the Thousand Year Blood War arc to Toonami viewers at 12:30 a.m.
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Since Blue Exorcist finished its Toonami run in August 2014, Blue Exorcist was subsequently renewed for three more seasons and counting. This includes the aforementioned Kyoto Saga in 2017, the Shimane Illuminati Saga in January 2024, and the Beyond the Snow Saga in October 2024. Despite this, Toonami hasn’t been able to bring back the show until now. Season 2 was under Hulu exclusivity during its 2017 premiere, and deteriorating relations with the Aniplex-Crunchyroll consortium since their parent company Sony initially severed their relationships with the block upon the Crunchyroll-Funimation merger back in 2021 complicated matters further.
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It should be noted (especially for new viewers of the show) that the final eight episodes of season 1 considerably diverged from the manga to make its own ending for the anime, as the manga had nowhere near enough content to adapt during its original Japanese airing in 2011. The Kyoto Saga would retcon the events of Episodes 18-25 as the season kicks off immediately following the events of Episode 17.
In a similar vein, Bleach fans have had to wait over a decade to see the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, the story’s final arc, in animated form since the show ended prematurely in 2012 (and 2014 for dub/Toonami viewers). Fans of the long running series by Tite Kubo finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel with the premiere of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War in 2022, but those following the show on Toonami would not be able to exit said tunnel themselves, so to speak, as Disney would secure the simulcast and dub premiere rights for Hulu and Disney+ instead. That was until now.
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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War will be a four-cour anime season (48-52 episodes) with breaks in between every 12 or so episodes. Part 1: The Blood Warfare, aired in Japan from October 11-December 27, 2022. Part 2: The Separation, aired from July 8-September 30, 2023. Part 3: The Conflict, aired from October 5-December 28, 2024. The fourth and final cour: The Calamity, is presently in production.
Studio Pierrot have returned to animate the series, with Tomohisa Taguchi as series director (taking over for Noriyuki Abe) and scriptwiter alongside Masaki Hiramatsu, Masashi Kudo as character designer, and Shiro Sagisu as music composer. The season’s opening song is Scar by Tatsuya Kitani, while the ending theme is Saihate by SennaRin.
Johnny Yong Bosch returns for the final arc as the English voice of Ichigo Kurosaki, alongside the likes of Michelle Ruff as Rukia Kuchiki, Derek Stephen Prince as Uryu Ishida, Stephanie Sheh as Orihime Inoue, Wally Wingert as Renji Abarai, Doug Erholtz as Kisuke Urahara alongside other new and returning faces. There are several exceptions to this, David Lodge turned down reprising Kenpachi back in 2012 due to a pay dispute, stating that “they didn’t want to give me a raise, I had young kids, and I had better offers for more money. So, they took it, and they released me and they hired my friend Patrick Seitz.” And Jamieson Price willingly abdicated the role of Chad to Alain Mesa as he “no longer audition for roles of people of color.” Anairis Quinones took over the role for Hiyori Sarugaki from Laura Bailey, and was also briefly given the role of Yoruichi in episode 22. But the role of Youichi was given back to Wendee Lee after the original recast was made due to an “error” by dubbing studio Studiopolis.
Adult Swim and Toonami previously premiered the English dub of the Bleach anime from September 9, 2006 to November 2, 2014. The series served as an anchor for Adult Swim Action during its twilight years, persevering even amongst the late 2000’s anime bubble burst and during the height of Cartoon Network’s “Network Decay”, and played a pivotal role in Toonami’s revival in 2012.
Before Blue Exorcist begins the Kyoto Saga and Bleach returns to the better cartoon show on the 17th, the preceding broadcast on May 10th will see a marathon night of Lazarus. Following the premiere of episode 6 at midnight, Toonami will marathon all six episodes that have aired up to that point, for those late to the party or just want to rewatch the series right before the halfway point of the season.
And on that note, for those wanting to see the Japanese language version of Lazarus, the first two episodes are now available to view stateside on Max, with new episodes released subbed on Thursdays, four days following the Saturday broadcast.
While this is a bit earlier than the original plan of releasing the sub “30 days after their English-language premiere” as reported by Variety; this has caused some controversy amongst viewers watching via the sub, given that the show airs in Japan on TV Tokyo on Sunday nights, meaning that it is not a true simulcast.
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What are your thoughts on today’s Toonami news? Are you looking forward to Blue Exorcist’s Kyoto Saga and Bleach’s return for its final season? Sound off in the comments below or on our social media outlets.
