Voice of Bleach's Chad joins Rurouni Kenshin season 2 anime

Modified Jan 20, 2025 19:09 GMT

On January 20, 2025, the official X account for the Rurouni Kenshin season 2 anime series confirmed that the voice of Bleach’s Chad has joined the series in its latest episode. The official X account also released a graphic announcing the news, featuring comments from voice actor Hiroki Yasumoto about his role as police chief Ryusaku Arato.

While Yasumoto’s role in Rurouni Kenshin season 2 is significant, it won’t be on the same level as some of his leading roles in the past, such as Bleach’s Chad. Other notable roles for Yasumoto include Fairy Tail’s Elfman Strauss, One Punch Man’s King, Yowamushi Pedal’s Shingo Kinjo, and many more.

Hiroki Yasumoto, also known as Bleach’s Chad, joins Rurouni Kenshin season 2’s cast in latest episode

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As mentioned earlier, Yasumoto debuts in Rurouni Kenshin season 2 as police chief Ryusaku Arato. While the character’s role in the episode is relatively minimal and fleeting, it’s likely that Arato will return later in the season as the plot progresses. His reappearance is especially probable considering the roles of Hajime Saito and other police officers in the series’ ongoing events.

With the second season already halfway through, fans can expect Yasumoto and his character Arato to return sooner rather than later. It is also likely that fans will see the pair return in the presumed eventually coming third season of the series. Additionally, fans can expect to see Yasumoto return as Bleach’s Chad in the final part of the Thousand-Year Blood War anime adaptation, which will conclude the series overall.

Rurouni Kenshin season 2 first began airing in Japan in October 2024 and is airing for two continuous cours. Crunchyroll has been streaming the series weekly with English subtitles and is also offering an English dub. However, the English dub is roughly three episodes behind, having released its first episode three weeks after the season premiered in Japan.

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Yuki Komada is directing the new season at LIDEN FILMS, continuing the readaptation of mangaka Nobuhiro Watsuki’s original series. Hideyuki Kurata is returning for the series scripts, while Terumi Nishii is back to design the characters alongside Kazuo Watanabe, who also returns from the first season. Yu Takakmi is once again credited for composing the anime’s music.

Watsuki’s original manga series began in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in April 1994 and ran until its conclusion in September 1999. Since then, Watsuki has released several sequel series, including the completed Restoration and Master of Flame stories, as well as the ongoing The Hokkaido Arc.