Bleach Mirrors High Launches as Anime Era Ends
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Anime
- Bleach
- Mobile Games
- Manga Adaptations
Bandai Namco launched Bleach: Mirrors High globally on October 28, opening a Tite Kubo-approved mobile chapter just after the TV anime's finale.
A New Soul Reaper Rises the Day After the Finale
Hypebeast reports that Bandai Namco Entertainment launched Bleach: Mirrors High worldwide on October 28 as a free-to-play title for iOS and Android, arriving the same week the Thousand-Year Blood War anime reached its finale.
Instead of following Ichigo Kurosaki, players assume the role of a newly awakened soul in Karakura Town, with extensive customization for their character's appearance and Zanpakuto.
The game is set after the events of the Thousand-Year Blood War and introduces an original storyline developed in close collaboration with series creator Tite Kubo, who also designed a new cast of Soul Reapers specifically for the game.
Why the Timing Makes This a Handover Moment
What makes the release striking is how directly it answers the anime's conclusion. With the Thousand-Year Blood War adaptation having just wrapped its run, Hypebeast frames Mirrors High as the franchise entering a new chapter rather than going dormant.
Studio Pierrot — the studio behind the TV anime — produced a specially made opening animation for the game, bringing back dynamic sword-fighting sequences and familiar faces like Ichigo and Rukia Kuchiki alongside a new generation of Soul Reapers.
The theme song 'CRITICAL' by suisoh was co-arranged with Takahiro Yamada of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, whose band previously contributed the opening 'After Dark' to the original Bleach anime.
Squads, Cards and New Faces in Soul Society
According to Hypebeast, gameplay combines fast-paced action with strategic, card-based combat, letting players assemble three-character squads and execute coordinated attacks through the game's 'Soul Drive' system.
Alongside returning favorites including Byakuya Kuchiki, Toshiro Hitsugaya and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the game introduces original characters such as Shirin Migishima and Shirane Sanari.
Meanwhile, Koreeda's Look Back Draws Festival Praise
FILMHOUNDS Magazine, reviewing the London Film Festival 2026 screening, reports that director Hirokazu Koreeda has brought a gentle, live-action hand to Tatsuki Fujimoto's one-shot manga Look Back, previously adapted into an acclaimed 2024 anime by Studio Durian.
The reviewer praises refined performances from all four leads — Furi Nanase and Rokka Okada as the young Fujino and Kyomoto, then Natsuki Deguchi and Aju Makita — and Yuta Bandoh's sweeping soundtrack, while noting the final act's tonal shift feels 'somewhat gratuitous' even as it lands like an emotional gut punch.