This Week in Japan: Bleach Closes the Book After 22 Years
Five stories this week. All of them checked against a second source, because one outlet wrote two different finale dates in the same article. No Thrift Goblin link this week. Nothing in the archive connects without being forced.
Bleach ends, and keeps a movie in its pocket
Episode 50 of Thousand-Year Blood War: The Calamity aired October 26. That closes the anime that started in 2004, went dark in 2012, and came back in 2022 for the last arc of Tite Kubo's 74-volume manga. Twenty-two years, give or take a hiatus.
Two videos followed on the official Bleach YouTube channel. One is a Final Episode Special Ending Movie, extra footage after the main story. The other is a compilation of The Stories Visual, built around Ichigo. Neither is a feature film, so read the headlines accordingly. The real product is Part IV on disc, episodes 41 to 50, March 24, 2027, with the limited Blu-ray at 22,000 yen. Cool.
Bleach: Mirrors High launches
The Bleach mobile game went live October 28, a day after its opening animation dropped. Pierrot Films made the opening, suisoh sings "CRITICAL," and Aizen is playable at launch. It cleared 1 million pre-registrations first. Original character designs are by Kubo. The anime ends on Monday and the game opens on Wednesday. Funny how that works.
Umamusume loses Los Angeles to visas
The Umamusume: Pretty Derby Los Angeles concerts, October 22 and 23 at the Peacock Theater, were cancelled days out. The organizers said they could not get US entry visas after working with lawyers and promoters for over six months. These would have been the franchise's first American shows, with 17 voice actresses on the bill. Tickets, including streams, are refunded. Cygames later said it will cover travel and lodging too.
Fans still showed up. A vigil formed outside the venue on the 22nd, and the weekend moved to Cosplay Trackside at Santa Anita Park, with horse racing and cosplayers dancing the game's routines. London, Seoul and a Yokohama finale are still listed with no dates. Real.
Phantom Busters gets its cast
Neoshoco's Jump Square series now has a first teaser visual, staff and cast ahead of a 2027 anime. TOHO animation STUDIO is animating, Chika Nagaoka directs, and Nobuhiko Okamoto, Natsuki Hanae, Koki Uchiyama and Ryota Suzuki lead. The setup: a classmate who talks to ghosts and struggles to talk to the living. VIZ has been publishing it in English since October 2025, and it sits at 1.4 million copies. No premiere date. Fine.
Iruma-kun gets a January 4 date
Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun: IruMafia Edition premieres January 4, 2027. Twelve episodes at Studio Tatsunoko Production, Keiichiro Kawaguchi directing, the main cast back. The manga is at 50 volumes. The original anime started in 2019. Seven years and still going. Cool.
On the desk
The desk is quiet this week. It reports when it has something worth the space.