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It was all about Bleach in an almost sold-out show. Audience at Empire Stage as the anime series took over New York Comic Con for the return of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War with its third part, The Conflict. It is also a momentous occasion for the series as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Starting the panel off is some of the merchandise relating to Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. Limited Blu-ray editions of the second part and a trailer for the home release were shown to the audience. Next on the list is the trading card game Union Arena, which was unveiled at the panel. On the video games side, we got to see a first look at the upcoming game Bleach: Rebirth of Souls. Some gameplay was shown for the action RPG, which is coming out sometime in 2025. The last thing shown was the new figurines from both Ichibango and Banpresto of Ichigo and Uryu.
For the main portion of the panel, Japanese voice actors Masakazu Morita and Noriami Sugiyama arrived on stage for a Q&A. Voicing Ichigo and Uryu respectively, Morita and Sugiyama dived deep into their characters and their time on the show. They were first asked about their trip to New York for the convention, with Morita saying this was his second time in the Big Apple since 2019 while for Sugiyama it was his first time being in the city and the country. They were both asked about what they loved about working on Bleach. For Morita, it was creating something special for the fans and his interaction with them. Sugiyama answered that it’s been an honor being a part of the show and getting to share the story with generations of fans.
The voice actors discussed what their characters thought of one another whether as friends, rivals, or frenemies. Morita sees Ichigo and Uryu as friends but also as rivals who share their trust in each other. Sugiyama described Ichigo’s personality as strong and friendly, but Uryu rarely shows any emotion. He added that Uryu often does like to do everything himself but would rely on Ichigo when needed as he shares the same trust.
Mirroring their characters, the panelists were asked if they had a similar relationship with them. Morita and Sugiyama shared how they would hang with their cast members during their free time and talk about their love of anime and life. They both recalled playing video games during their downtime and often having Sugiyama come for shopping when it came to tech since he’s an expert on the topic.
Morita and Sugiyama were asked about the work they put into voicing their characters. Both men addressed learning the action scenes. Technique names, and other characters. Morita talked about how his background in kendo and karate has helped him in doing the battle sequences on the show and making it sound real. In contrast, Sugiyama referred to using Uryu’s personality and emotions, putting enough of a balance to portray him.
The next question given to them was their most difficult scenes to portray for the series and how it challenged them as actors. Morita brought up the Quincys’ takeover of the Seretei and how Ichigo’s anger had riled him up to bring up that emotion and connect with it. Sugiyama says there have been a lot of scenes that gave him that feeling. Reading the manga has helped him understand Uryu as a person and shows how much he sees in the choices he has made until now. The voice actor added that it took him some time to capture the essence of the young Quincy and getting to show it on screen.
Both voice actors got to share their favorite scenes from Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War so far. Morita discussed enjoying the appearance of Sanjimaru’s bankai and always wanted to mimic it. Sugiyama also said he liked that sequence due to the amount of energy given to that performance.
Before wrapping up, the two of them told audiences what to look out for in the show’s return. Morita goes into the visuals and original stories, especially the ones the original creator Tite Kubo worked on with the crew. He added that he got to see what goes into Kubo’s mind when working on this series. Sugiyama said he was impressed with the quality of the show and how much work has been put in by the crew to put in so much detail in a production as big as this show.
After doing a live dubbing of some of their scenes, the panelists shared a message with the fans at the panel. Both Morita and Sugiyama thanked the fans for their support and for attending the panel. They both want to give their best for Bleach and see it through to the end.
Look out for more coverage of New York Comic Con coming up. Watch Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War now on Hulu and Crunchyroll.
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