Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War part 4 reveals production designs for Kisuke's Bankai and Yoruichi's Thunder Beast form

On Monday, March 31, 2025, a special live stream event on Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War part 4 was held on TV Tokyo, where the official staff unveiled the production/storyboard designs for Kisuke Uraha's Bankai and Yoruichi Shihoin's Thunder Beast/Cat form. No information on the part 4's release date was revealed at the event.

Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War part 4 serves as the final installment of the Thousand-year Blood War arc's anime adaptation. The series is based on Tite Kubo's celebrated manga series, Bleach. The upcoming installment is a direct sequel to the previous part, which released 14 episodes from October 2024 to December 2024.

TV Tokyo's special episode reveals Kisuke and Yoruichi's character designs for Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War part 4

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On Monday, March 31, 2025, TV Tokyo organized a special Bleach episode to share news on Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War part 4 - The Calamity. During the broadcast, the official staff revealed the storyboard designs for Kisuke Urahara's Bankai, Kannonbiraki: Benihime Aratame, and Yoruichi Shihoin's Shunko: Raijin Senkei: Shunryu Kokobyo Senki (Thunder Beast battle form).

The illustrations featured bare sketches, including the character close-ups. The storyboards for Kisuke's Bankai included his re-constructed hand and eyes, along with Kannon Biraki: Benihime Aratame's line art. Likewise, Yoruichi Shihoin's illustrations featured her movements in her Thunder Beast Battle form. She's seen enveloped in lightning, with features of a cat.

Aside from the illustrations, the series' general director and composer, Tomohisa Taguchi, revealed that Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War part 4 - The Calamity, is in "production phase." In addition, the animator mentioned that the final installment will feature original content in abundance.

Ichigo Kurosaki from the announcement PV of part 4 (Image via Pierrot Films)

While Tomohisa Taguchi didn't reveal a release date, his comments suggest that it will take a while for Pierrot Films to wrap up the production. In other words, it's unlikely for Bleach: Thousand-year Blood War part 4 to be released this year.

Notably, part 4 will pick up the adaptation from chapter 661 of the original manga series. Kubo's manga has only 25 chapters yet to be covered. Therefore, the upcoming installment will heavily incorporate anime original sequences.

Additional information

The previous installment premiered on October 5, 2025, on TV Tokyo and its affiliated networks in Japan. Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ streamed the series outside Japan in selected regions.

Pierrot Films, a new subsidiary studio of Studio Pierrot, directed the third cour under Hikaru Murata's direction. Tomohisa Taguchi was the series' general manager, while Masashi Kudo designed the characters. Shiro Sagisu composed the music of the anime.