Reactions Pour in as Newly Drawn Visual Revealed for Ichigo Kurosaki's New Form "Blood Chains Ichigo" in BLEACH Anime: "I Got Goosebumps," "This Hits Insanely Hard"

In Episode 45 "DEFEND YOU" of the TV anime BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War, currently airing on the TV Tokyo network and other channels, Ichigo Kurosaki's new form "Blood Chains Ichigo" (Kessa no Ichigo) made its appearance. This brand-new, anime-original form—which does not appear in the original manga—is drawing massive attention among fans.

"Blood Chains Ichigo" is a new form designed and named directly by Tite Kubo, the original creator and general supervisor of the series. Awakening the Hollow blood sleeping within him, a semi-Hollowified Ichigo enters Bankai, transforming alongside his Zanpakuto into an ultimate form. Featuring two horns reminiscent of his Full Hollowification and a design where blood-chain Spiritual Pressure (Reiatsu) surges around his neck and limbs, it is depicted as a next-level power awakened during his fierce battle against Yhwach, who absorbed the Soul King.

To coincide with its anime debut, "Blood Chains Ichigo" was unveiled as the latest visual in "THE STORIES VISUAL" series, which highlights the various eras of Ichigo Kurosaki. Furthermore, footage of the scene where this form makes its debut has also been released on the official anime YouTube channel.

In response to this announcement, fans on social media reacted with comments such as: "A BLEACH that even manga readers don't know about has officially begun!!!", "Ichigo Kurosaki is already famous for having way too many forms, and now they're adding even more in anime-original content", "A look that leaves both manga readers and anime-onlys going 'WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!'—the visual goes unbelievably hard," "It's got the Full Hollow design motifs on the wrists and ankles," "So cool I could cry, especially with how stupidly OP his powers are," and "It's been a long time since a voice actor's performance gave me goosebumps."

(C)久保帯人／集英社・テレビ東京・ｄｅｎｔｓｕ・ぴえろ