News
Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Game Offers Thousand-Year Blood War's Ichigo as DLC
posted on by Anita Tai
Bandai Namco America revealed on Sunday Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, the new 3D arena fighting game for the Bleach franchise, will get a new playable character Ichigo Kurosaki (Thousand-Year Blood War version) as a DLC character on June 17. Season pass owners will get early access on June 10. The game's version 1.10 update also introduces the Ranked Matchmaking mode on June 9.
The game launched on March 21.
The game offers a Deluxe Edition that includes a season pass teasing four playable characters, early access for one week, and Soul Crystals. The season pass' four DLC characters come from Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. The Ultimate Edition additionally features five-costume sets for Thousand-Year Blood War and Rebirth of Souls. The pre-order bonus was a Thousand-Year Blood War costume set.
In the game, players use attacks to cut down their opponents' Reishi. Breaking down one gauge of Reishi decreases their opponent's Konpaku, which is their health represented by nine bars. Players can use combos to destroy multiple Konpaku, and use reverse actions while attacking and defending. Accumulated spiritual power lets fighters use Spiritual Pressure Moves, then awaken and unleash Bankai.
The game's story and characters cover the original manga from the "Substitute Soul Reaper" arc up to the "Arrancar" arc.
Bandai Namco Entertainment America describes the game:
Awaken the blade and reverse your fate in BLEACH 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
The 20th anniversary of the Bleach anime "inspired" the game's development.
Katsuaki Tsuzuki is the game's producer.
MIYAVI performs the opening song "Die for Love."

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity will be the fourth and final part.
The anime's first cours (quarter of a year) premiered in October 2022, and ended in December 2022 with a one-hour special that combined the anime's 12th and 13th episodes. Viz Media is streaming the anime on Hulu in the U.S. The anime is streaming on Disney+ internationally, and Ani-One Asia is streaming the series in many Asian countries. The anime's second cours premiered in the United States on Hulu, in Latin America on Star+, and in select other countries internationally on Disney+ in July 2023.
The anime covers the rest of the original manga up through its ending. The Thousand Year Blood War arc is the final arc of the manga, and covers volumes 55-74.
Update: The video above contains spoilers for the anime's final part. Thanks, MFrontier.
Source: Bandai Namco America's YouTube channel
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history