BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War The Calamity Premieres, Confirmed for 10 Episodes

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 4 - The Calamity officially premiered on July 25, 2026, bringing the long-running anime adaptation of Tite Kubo's manga into its final stretch. The concluding cour is confirmed for 10 episodes, with the series finale set to air on September 26.

A Final Cour to Close the Saga

The premiere episode, titled "GOD OF THUNDER," launched on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ for international audiences, with both English subtitles and an English dub available from day one. In Japan, the series airs on TV Tokyo and its affiliate networks. New episodes will release weekly on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. PT / 10:30 a.m. ET, running uninterrupted through the end of September.

The 10-episode count places The Calamity on par with the previous cours of the Thousand-Year Blood War adaptation, each of which delivered tightly paced arcs that expanded on the manga's final battles. Studio Pierrot Films has indicated that this final part will feature even more original material than its predecessors, building out scenes and confrontations beyond what appeared on the printed page.

Staff and Cast Return for the Finale

Tomohisa Taguchi returns as chief director, with Hikaru Murata serving as director for this cour. Composer Shiro Sagisu - whose orchestral scores have defined the series' tone across all four parts - is back to handle the music. The opening theme, "I-BULL" by jo0ji, and the ending theme, "Rasen" by 9Lana, were both personally selected by creator Tite Kubo. Kubo stated that he wanted viewers to discover these artists through Thousand-Year Blood War and then become fans of them afterward.

The voice cast is intact for the final run. Masakazu Morita reprises his role as Ichigo Kurosaki, joined by Fumiko Orikasa as Rukia Kuchiki and Yuki Matsuoka as Orihime Inoue, among a full ensemble of over 18 credited Japanese voice actors. The story picks up with Ichigo and his allies confronting Yhwach and the Sternritter in what the series frames as the definitive conclusion to the Thousand-Year Blood War.

Early Theatrical Screenings Set the Stage

Before the streaming premiere, the first three episodes of The Calamity received an early theatrical release in U.S. cinemas, giving fans a chance to experience the opening salvo on the big screen. This theatrical-first strategy mirrors the approach taken by several high-profile anime finales in recent years, and it clearly served as an event launch for the cour's debut.

The theatrical screenings also underscored the production ambitions of Pierrot Films for this final chapter. The Thousand-Year Blood War adaptation has been widely praised for its elevated visual quality compared to the original Bleach anime, and the decision to debut episodes theatrically signals confidence in the animation work on display in Part 4.

What Lies Ahead

With 10 episodes and a clearly defined end date of September 26, The Calamity will bring Bleach's anime journey to a close nearly two decades after the original series first aired in 2004. The adaptation has covered all major arcs of Kubo's manga, and this final cour promises to deliver the climactic battles that manga readers have awaited since the source material concluded in 2016. New episodes are streaming weekly on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally.