How to Watch Bleach in Chronological or Release Order

Are you ready to dive into the action-packed, expansive world of Bleach? Stick around—we’ll show you the best ways to get started. Bleach is a long-running and much-loved anime show with over 400 episodes and 4 movies in total, and there are a few different ways to take it all in: you can watch the show chronologically, in release order, or minus all the unnecessary filler episodes. Read on for the ultimate guide to binge-watching Bleach…in the right order!

How do you watch Bleach in order?

Anime expert Richard Moore says the Bleach series is listed in chronological order by default. Start with season 1 and watch all the way through season 16. Then, move on to The Thousand-Year Blood War. The Bleach movies aren’t considered canon, so you can watch them whenever you want.

Section 1 of 7:

How to Watch Bleach in Chronological Order

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The Bleach anime TV series Luckily, it’s pretty easy to watch Bleach in chronological order. The series is already in chronological order by default, so all you have to do is watch each season in the order it was released—from the first season of Bleach released in 2004, The Substitute Soul Reaper, through the latest season of Thousand-Year Blood War (the sequel series), released in 2024.^{[1]
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- Season 1 - The Substitute Soul Reaper*** (20 episodes)
- Season 2 - The Entry*** (21 episodes)
- Season 3 - The Rescue*** (22 episodes)
- Season 4 - The Bounty*** (22 episodes)
- Season 5 - The Assault*** (18 episodes)
- Season 6 - Arrancar: The Appearance*** (22 episodes)
- Season 7 - The Arrancar Part 2: The Hueco Mundo Sneak Entry*** (20 episodes)
- Season 8 - The Arrancar Part 3: The Fierce Fight*** (16 episodes)
- Season 9 - The New Captain*** (22 episodes)
- Season 10 - The Arrancar Part 4: Arrancar vs. Soul Reaper*** (16 episodes)
- Season 11 - Turn Back the Pendulum*** (7 episodes)
- Season 12 - The Arrancar Part 5: Battle in Karakura*** (17 episodes)
- Season 13 - Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale*** (36 episodes)
- Season 14 - The Arrancar Part 6: Fall of the Espada*** (51 episodes)
- Season 15 - Gotei 13 Invading Army*** (26 episodes)
- Season 16 - The Lost Agent*** (24 episodes)
- The Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1: The Blood Warfare (Episodes 1 - 13)
- The Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2: The Separation (Episodes 14 - 26)
- The Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3: The Conflict (Episodes 27 - 40)
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The Bleach movies We’ve kept the Bleach movies separate from the series in this “chronological” list because they’re not officially canon and they don’t quite fit into the series progression. So, if you want to watch Bleach chronologically, you can watch the movies in order of their release dates—but you don’t need to watch them alongside the series. Here’s the chronological order:
- Bleach The Movie: Memories of Nobody (2006) [released after season 5, episode 15]
- Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion (2007) [released after season 8, episode 2]
- Bleach: Fade to Black (2008) [released after season 10, episode 9]
- Bleach: Hell Verse (2010) [released after season 14, episode 34]

Section 2 of 7:

How to Watch Bleach in Release Order

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Since Bleach began airing in 2004, hundreds of episodes (and four movies) have been released. That’s a lot to get through if you plan to watch all of Bleach in release order, so we’ve put together a plan for you to follow—with movies included according to their release dates. Here’s how to watch Bleach in release order:^{[2]
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- Season 1 - The Substitute Soul Reaper*** (Episodes 1 - 20)
- Season 2 - The Entry*** (Episodes 1 - 21)
- Season 3 - The Rescue*** (Episodes 1 - 22)
- Season 4 - The Bounty*** (Episodes 1 - 22)
- Season 5 - The Assault*** (Episodes 1 - 15)
- Bleach The Movie: Memories of Nobody
- Season 5 - The Assault*** (Episodes 16 - 18)
- Season 6 - Arrancar: The Appearance*** (Episodes 1 - 22)
- Season 7 - The Arrancar Part 2: The Hueco Mundo Sneak Entry*** (Episodes 1 - 20)
- Season 8 - The Arrancar Part 3: The Fierce Fight*** (Episodes 1 - 2)
- Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion (Movie)
- Season 8 - The Arrancar Part 3: The Fierce Fight*** (Episodes 3 - 16)
- Season 9 - The New Captain*** (Episodes 1 - 22)
- Season 10 - The Arrancar Part 4: Arrancar vs. Soul Reaper*** (Episodes 1 - 9)
- Bleach: Fade to Black (Movie)
- Season 10 - The Arrancar Part 4: Arrancar vs. Soul Reaper*** (Episodes 10 - 16)
- Season 11 - Turn Back the Pendulum*** (Episodes 1 - 7)
- Season 12 - The Arrancar Part 5: Battle in Karakura*** (Episodes 1 - 17)
- Season 13 - Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale*** (Episodes 1 - 36)
- Season 14 - The Arrancar Part 6: Fall of the Espada*** (Episodes 1 - 34)
- Bleach: Hell Verse (Movie)
- Season 14 - The Arrancar Part 6: Fall of the Espada*** (Episodes 36 - 51)
- Season 15 - Gotei 13 Invading Army*** (Episodes 1 - 26)
- Season 16 - The Lost Agent*** (Episodes 1 - 24)
- The Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1: The Blood Warfare (Episodes 1 - 13)
- The Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2: The Separation (Episodes 14 - 26)
- The Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3: The Conflict (Episodes 27 - 40)

Section 3 of 7:

How to Watch Bleach without Filler Episodes

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Maybe you prefer to watch longer shows without all the bells and whistles—pure plot and no unnecessary filler episodes that aren’t relevant to the overall storyline. All good! In that case, you can ignore the many episodes that contain filler content; they’re entertaining but don’t drive the story forward. If you want to watch Bleach without filler, skip the following filler episodes:^{[3]
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- Episode 33 (season 2, episode 13)
- Episode 50 (season 3, episode 9)
- Episodes 64 - 108 (all of season 4 plus season 5, episodes 1 - 17)
- Episodes 128 - 137 (season 6, episodes 19 - 22 and season 7, episodes 1 - 6)
- Episodes 147 - 149 (season 7, episodes 16 - 18)
- Episodes 168 - 189 (all of season 9)
- Episodes 204 - 205 (season 10, episodes 15 - 16)
- Episodes 213 - 214 (season 12, episodes 1 - 2)
- Episodes 228 - 266 (season 12, episodes 16 - 17 and all of season 13)
- Episode 287 (season 14, episode 22)
- Episodes 298 - 299 (season 14, episodes 33 - 34)
- Episodes 303 - 305 (season 14, episodes 38 - 40)
- Episodes 311 - 341 (season 14, episode 46 - 51 and season 15, episodes 1 - 25)
- Episode 355 (season 16, episode 13)

Section 4 of 7:

Is it okay to skip the Bleach movies?

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Yes, the Bleach movies are mostly skippable, standalone adventures. In other words, you won’t miss any critical plot moments for the overall Bleach storyline if you skip the movies, but you can still watch them for some extra Bleach content. One Bleach movie—Memories of Nobody—is referenced in a chapter of the manga series, but that’s as close as any of the movies come to being canon.
- The other 3 Bleach movies are completely non-canon adventures released alongside certain seasons of the show (as outlined above); you don’t have to watch them to follow Bleach’s plot.
  - Memories of Nobody was released after Bleach episode 107 (during season 5).
  - DiamondDust Rebellion was released after episode 153 (during season 8).
  - Fade to Black was released after episode 198 (during season 10).
  - Hell Verse was released after episode 299 (during Bleach season 14)

Section 5 of 7:

Where to Watch Bleach

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Watch Bleach on Hulu (or Disney+ internationally). Viewers in the United States can find all 366 episodes of the original Bleach anime as well as Thousand-Year Blood War on Hulu. Plus, both the sub (subtitled) and dub versions of the original Bleach series are available on the platform! International viewers should head to Disney+ to catch the entire Bleach series instead.
- All Bleach episodes and all four movies are also on Amazon Prime Video, but they’re only available for purchase.
- You can also buy or rent the movies on YouTube, Google Play, and Apple TV.
- Bleach used to be watchable on Crunchyroll (a popular streaming platform for many anime shows), but it’s now unavailable there.

Section 6 of 7:

What is Bleach about?

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Bleach is an anime about a high-school student who sees ghosts. It follows Ichigo Kurosaki, whose life changes dramatically when he meets Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki.^{[4]
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Brandon Riley
Anime and Manga Enthusiast

Expert Interview} Rukia turns Ichigo into a substitute Soul Reaper, granting him the power to protect humans from Hollows (souls of the dead who lost their hearts) and help lost souls reach the afterlife.^{[5]
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- From there, Ichigo’s journey takes him to the spirit world (known as the Soul Society) and beyond during the long-running anime series.
- In terms of genre, Bleach is a supernatural action-adventure with ghosts, spirit powers, and intense action!
- The original Bleach aired from 2004 through 2012. Its sequel series, Thousand-Year Blood War, follows Bleach’s final story arc from the manga and began airing in 2022.
- Bleach is also called one of the “big three” anime alongside One Piece and Naruto. The three series are extremely popular and well-known among anime fans.

Section 7 of 7:

Frequently Asked Questions About Bleach

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How many episodes of Bleach are there? There are 366 episodes of the original Bleach anime. Combined with Thousand-Year Blood War, there are currently 406 Bleach episodes altogether.
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How long does it take to watch all of Bleach? The Bleach anime series has roughly 134 hours of content (about 5½ straight days of watching the show). That amount grows when you factor in the movies and Thousand-Year Blood War—possibly over 200 hours, depending on how you pace things. So, it can take quite a while to get through all of Bleach!
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Do you need to read the manga before watching Bleach? The anime series is an adaptation of the manga. While the anime makes some changes from the source material, you don’t need to read the manga to enjoy the anime (or vice versa).
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Is Bleach 2004 and 2022 the same? No. Bleach from 2004 is the original anime series, while Bleach from 2022 is Thousand-Year Blood War—an adaptation of the final arc from the manga. So, it’s best to watch the original Bleach series before you watch the newer Thousand-Year Blood War; otherwise, the 2022 series probably won’t make much sense.
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When will Thousand-Year Blood War finish airing? There’s one more 13-episode season of Thousand-Year Blood War episodes coming up, and it’s expected to air sometime in 2025.