At the height of its powers, the anime Bleach shared the same level of popularity as its wildly popular brethren Naruto and One Piece. That star dimmed as the series wound down and came to an end, but the franchise gets a fresh start in the fall when a spin-off series called Burn The Witch releases on Crunchyroll October 2.
Bleach creator Tite Kubo penned the manga about a “Western Branch” of the Soul Society, which debuted in August, but Viz media has yet to release the manga in English. Bleach fans will recognize Soul Society as the underworld organization Ichigo Kurosaki and the original cast were heavily involved in. Burn the Witch is only tangentially related following the exploits of two witches Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole and their exploits hunting evil dragons in a reverse of London. Burn The Witch will be one of the biggest releases of the fall when it goes live worldwide. The simultaneous release includes a special theatrical event screening in Japan for two weeks and include a special BluRay edition.
The official website for Burn The Witch began streaming promotional videos for the anime ahead of its release revealing at least one tantalizing detail. The video previews the series theme song “Blowing” sung by NiL. Its also a first look at the animation done by Studio Colorido and the industry veterans on Team Yamahitsuji. The series anime Japanese voice cast has also been released, but no details on a dubbed version yet. The anime features features Asami Tano as Ninny and Yuina Yamada as Noel Niihashi.
It’s been eight years since the Bleach anime ended in Japan and four years since it ended its run on Adult Swim and absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Bleach had a unique style thanks to Kubo’s sensibilities and the look at Burn The Witch suggests a return to the early days of the show.
Perhaps the break was a necessary evil because there was a reason that Bleach did not share the popularity of Naruto and One Piece by the time it ended. The show's plot got bogged down in complexity and became a slog to watch the anime and read through the manga by the time it ended.
When Burn The Witch releases it will certainly enjoy the hype of being both new and a bump from those simply wanting more Bleach. Whether its success leads to something longer is yet to be seen, but for now its good enough to bask in the glow of a return to this world.
Burn The Witch releases on Crunchyroll October 2.
Source: Anime News Network