Earlier this month, we lifted the lid on our full release plans for bringing Naruto to Blu-ray, and it’s been fantastic seeing so much excitement and enthusiasm for our Collector’s Edition release of this classic show from all of you – be sure to get your pre-order in if you haven’t already!
© Tite Kubo/Shueisha, TV TOKYO, dentsu, Pierrot
Of course, that product reveal also left many of you asking the question – what about BLEACH? Well, it’s finally time for us to lift the lid in full on our plans for this particular shonen powerhouse, so start powering up your bankai while you read on to find out what we have in store for you!
Before we start though, a quick note for your calendars – pre-orders for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1 begin on August 1st, while BLEACH Part 1 pre-orders begin on August 15th. Both pre-orders will open at 5PM UK time, so now you’ve set reminders for those important dates and times, let’s proceed!
Before we get on to the classic, original BLEACH series, let’s start with a quick detour towards the newest iteration of the series, as this will be the first to hit retail!
BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1
As opposed to the original show, which ran as a single series across a multitude of arcs, the brand-new continuation of Ichigo’s saga is split into clear seasons, and so for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War we’ll be releasing this across per season sets, beginning (of course), with its first season. Let’s take a look at the contents of our Part 1 Collector’s Edition!
This release follows our typical Collector’s Edition release model which will be familiar to many of you, boasting a rigid slipcase with hosts an Amaray case (with reversible sleeve) for the two Blu-ray discs which contain the full thirteen episode season, together with a lovely 76-page art booklet packed to the brim with artwork, episode guides, behind the scenes content discussing key scenes with director Tomohisa Taguchi and original author Tite Kubo, and a whole wealth of character design artwork.
The BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1 Collector’s Edition launches with an SRP of £69.99, but as always expect to see discounts to this price across all of the usual retailers. For our part, we’ll be launching with our usual Early Bird pricing of £39.99 for one week after the launch.
For those who prefer it, we will of course be giving the series our typical Standard Edition Blu-ray treatment, with all of the same on-disc content presented in an Amaray case.
Alongside this, we’ve also cooked up something a little special for customers of HMV specifically – whether it’s in-store or online, you’ll be able to find an HMV-exclusive version of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1 with a bonus O-card featuring the show’s original key visual!
Both Collector’s and Standard Editions will hit retail shelves on Monday, 30th September, so set aside some time for a bit of quality anime viewing when your copy arrives.
As we mentioned up top, pre-orders for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 1 open TODAY, Thursday, 1st August. Make sure you’re ready by bookmarking the links below, as we’ll be running an Early Bird offer for the Collector’s Edition of just £39.99 (versus an SRP of £69.99) for our pre-order launch week!
BLEACH (2004)
During the Paris Japan Expo event, we gave you all our first sneak peek at our first Collector’s Edition volume of the original “classic” BLEACH series, and we were met with a wave of excitement, but also plenty of very understandable questions, so let’s delve into our release strategy for the entire 366-episode series and how you’ll be able to own and collect it!
We’ve spent quite some time hard at work on finding the optimal way to bring the series to you on Blu-ray, and given the length and configuration of the series we’ve ultimately conceived of a strategy that we believe brings fans of the show the best of both worlds – a full, BLEACH Collector’s Edition experience but without an eye-watering total cost of ownership. So, here’s what we plan:
There will be three Collector’s Edition sets of BLEACH launched throughout our Blu-ray release run – these will feature volumes 1, 6 and 10 of the series.These Collector’s Editions will each contain just one volume of the series, but will also serve as storage boxes for additional Standard Edition volumes. For example, as we’ll see in a moment, our first BLEACH Collector’s Edition will contain Part 1 of the series, but have space to house Parts 2, 3, 4 and 5.Each Collector’s Edition set is planned to feature a large, comprehensive artbook using all of the assets at our disposal, with artwork for each book spanning the volumes of the series that can reside within each storage box. Again, to use our first Collector’s Edition as an example, the art book included will span parts 1-5 of the series.
Put simply, to own the entire series, you’ll be purchasing three Collector’s Edition sets, and then ten Standard Edition Blu-ray releases to fill out the Collector’s Edition storage boxes. Thus, you’ll end up with a beautiful and expansive addition to your anime collection that will fit comfortably and attractively on your shelf.
Of course, if you’re just looking to own the series on Standard Edition Blu-ray, all 13 volumes will be released in that format (including those which are part of the Collector’s Edition sets), so if you want a full BLEACH on Blu-ray experience in that form we’ve also got you covered.
Each volume of the series will feature approximately 27 episodes (with some variances dependent upon the length of story arcs), with discs which match the US release as a point of comparison.
Now that we’ve laid the groundwork for our release plans, let’s get into our part 1 release specifically!
BLEACH Collector’s Edition Part 1
Let’s start with a look at our first Collector’s Edition storage box – as noted above, this initial Collector’s Edition will contain the first part of the series on Blu-ray (containing episodes 1-27), with space for Parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 on Standard Edition Blu-ray to sit snugly inside.
Our goal for these Collector’s Edition sets is sleek, stylish and striking, allowing us to focus on some of the most awesome artwork the series has to offer for our cover stars – which, of course, for this first set are Ichigo and Rukia.
Moving on to the contents, you’ll find Part 1 of the series on Blu-ray in a standard Amaray case with O-card, within which you’ll find four discs containing those first 27 episodes of the series as well as a set of three character art cards.
Also included within the storage box is our piece de resistance – a 220-page art book. This book collects character design artwork across the initial part of the series with an impressive roster of characters, as well as a collection of cover artworks from the show.
Whether you pick up the Collector’s Edition or Standard Edition of Part 1, and regardless of retailer, you’ll find the same core configuration at its heart, with that Amaray case, O-card, set of four discs and trio of character art cards. The O-card and art cards are exclusive to the first print run of each part, so be sure to pre-order early to make sure you get yours!
Our Part 1 Collector’s Edition release will sport an SRP of £79.99 (but, of course, make allowances for retailer discounts so expect to see a lower price on store fronts), with Standard Editions each sporting an SRP of £49.99.
Pre-orders for both our Part 1 Standard Edition and Collector’s Edition will open across retailers on Thursday, 15th August at 5PM – including, of course, at our own AllTheAnime.com store. We’ll also be running an Early Bird price for two weeks of just £49.99, so don’t miss this opportunity to start your BLEACH collection at this low price!
Both our Standard and Collector’s Editions of BLEACH Part 1 have a street date of November 4th 2024, so you’ll be able to find them in retail stores or arriving on your doorstep in early November.
We already have parts 1-5 of the series approved and going into production, so expect to see parts 2-5 launch for pre-order at a rate of approximately one a month, with street dates also staggered on a monthly basis. We may take a short pause in our BLEACH release schedule at this point before launching our second Collector’s Edition set – as you can imagine, these larger releases require more design and approval work so may take longer to reach completion – but we’re keen to keep up as regular a release schedule as possible until you can hold all of this beloved series in your arms to cherish!
In fact, we can give you a first peek at our designs for parts two through to five on Standard Edition Blu-ray right now, as they’re all approved and ready to roll!
As per part 1 of the series, the first print run will feature an exclusive O-card and set of three character art cards – across these releases, this first batch of volumes takes us up to episode 139 by the end of part five. A lot of BLEACH, and a lot to look forward to, so stay tuned for pre-order and release dates for each part moving forward via all of our usual channels!
And that just about sums up our plans for the UK Blu-ray releases of BLEACH, so consider the lid on what we have in store well and truly lifted! We’re beyond excited to bring this show back to our shores on Blu-ray, and we can’t wait to get both the original series and Thousand-Year Blood War into your hands!
Of course, if you have any questions, be sure to ask us in the comments section below, or drop us a message on one of our usual social media channels, and we’ll be happy to help.
Until next time, take care folks!
