Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity has taken the number one spot in the Anime Corner Fall 2026 Week 3 rankings, pulling in 20.15 percent of the votes from 7,067 participants. The win came during the same week the anime aired its series finale, Episode 50, titled “DEATH & STRAWBERRY,” on October 26, 2026, closing a story that first began on television screens in October 2004.
A Landslide Victory Over Firefly Wedding
The gap between first and second place was massive. Firefly Wedding finished second with 9.23 percent, which means Bleach held a lead of 10.92 percentage points over the runner-up. The race below the top spot was much tighter, with only 1.04 percent separating second, third, and fourth place.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 returned to the top three with 8.82 percent, while STEEL BALL RUN JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure 2nd-3rd STAGE placed fourth at 8.19 percent. Even the Student Council Has Its Holes!, which had won the previous two weekly polls, dropped to fifth with 5.62 percent, ending its two-week winning streak.
The rest of the top ten included FX Fighter Kurumi-chan in sixth (5.26 percent), Black Clover Season 2 in seventh (3.40 percent), Ranma ½ (2024) Season 3 in eighth (2.15 percent), The Ramparts of Ice Season 2 in ninth (2.14 percent), and Blue Box Season 2 in tenth (2.01 percent).
The Finale That Closed a 22-Year Chapter
Episode 50, “DEATH & STRAWBERRY,” served as both the final episode of The Calamity cour and the last episode of the entire Bleach anime franchise. The title is a direct callback to the very first chapter of Tite Kubo’s manga, which was also called “Death and the Strawberry”.
The finale aired on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 8:30 AM PT on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ internationally. Netflix carries the series in select Asian regions. The English dub for the final two episodes is scheduled for November 23 and November 30, 2026.
The episode jumped ten years into the future after the war against Yhwach. It showed a rebuilt Soul Society, new leadership among the Gotei 13, and the next generation of characters, including Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue’s son, Kazui. The episode also included a tease of a lingering spiritual threat, giving longtime viewers one last mystery to think about.
The two final episodes were originally set to air earlier but were delayed by one month so that Studio Pierrot and Pierrot Films could improve the quality of the closing stretch. The production team used the extra time to polish the animation and deliver a stronger finish.
Fans and Critics Respond to the Ending
Reactions to the finale were largely positive, with many fans praising the changes made from the original manga ending. The manga’s conclusion, published over a decade ago, was widely considered rushed because Tite Kubo was dealing with health issues at the time. The anime version, with Kubo closely involved, expanded the final battle and gave the story more room to breathe.
BBC Newsbeat spoke to fans at the finale. One longtime viewer, Ruby, 27, said:
“I honestly think I laughed more than I cried in this episode. I’m just really happy that Kubo finally got to show us his true vision for the story that he wasn’t able to back in the early 2010s.”
Another fan, Itanna Alakija, 28, described the revised ending as a “perfect conclusion to the entire arc of Bleach.” He added that the anime succeeded in taking the original manga “a step further”.
Anime News Network gave the finale a community score of 4.8 out of 5. Its reviewer wrote that the ending felt “satisfying and complete as an ending to Bleach” and called the episode “a great note for Bleach to end on”.
Gizmodo praised the finale for delivering “gorgeous animation, larger-than-life battles” and called the series a “fitting conclusion to a landmark shonen series many fans never expected to live to see completed”.
A Milestone on MyAnimeList
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity also made waves on MyAnimeList, one of the largest anime databases in the world. The season entered the site’s all-time top ten with a rating of 9.03, knocking Hunter x Hunter down to the eleventh spot.
At one point during the season, the rating climbed to 9.11, placing it above Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (9.09) and behind only Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (9.33) in the site’s overall rankings. The high score reflects both the quality of the adaptation and the loyalty of the Bleach fanbase, which has stayed with the series through a decade-long television break between 2012 and 2022.
The Long Road Back to the Screen
The original Bleach anime ran from 2004 to 2012 across 16 seasons but ended before it could adapt the final arc of the manga. Fans waited ten years before the first part of Thousand-Year Blood War premiered in October 2022. The arc was released in four parts: The Blood Warfare (2022), The Separation (2023), The Conflict (2024), and The Calamity (2026).
The return was directed by Tomohisa Taguchi as chief director, with Hikaru Murata directing the final cour at Pierrot Films. Composer Shiro Sagisu returned to score the series, and the adaptation added new fights, extended scenes, and extra lore that were not in the manga.
Where to Watch the Final Episodes
For viewers who have not yet seen the finale, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity is streaming on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ in most international markets, including the UK, Canada, Australia, and India. Netflix carries the series in select Asian countries. The Japanese broadcast aired on TV Tokyo at 12:00 AM JST on October 27, 2026, which corresponded to the October 26 streaming release in the West.
A Big Week for a Beloved Franchise
The Anime Corner Week 3 win placed Bleach ahead of several strong competitors, including returning seasons of The Apothecary Diaries and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. The poll ran from October 16 to October 23, 2026, and captured votes from anime fans around the world.
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For a series that started in 2004 and went on an unexpected ten-year break, finishing on top of a seasonal ranking in its final week is a notable bookend. Bleach now sits alongside Naruto and One Piece as one of the “big three” shonen manga, and its anime has now told the full story from start to finish.
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