Ichigo Begins to Tap Into His New Powers in 'Bleach: Thousand-Year War'

The hotly-anticipated continuation of the Bleach anime is back in full swing with the return of the Thousand-Year Blood War anime. The series strives to adapt the remainder of Tite Kubo's manga, in which the Soul Reapers are ambushed by an army of Quincies who bear a thousand-year-old grudge against the Gotei 13. With the Quincies having long prepared for their vengeance, the Soul Reapers are forced to attain new power in order to stand a chance against the might of the Wandenreich.

As per usual, substitute Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki becomes involved. Ichigo musters every ounce of his untold strength in order to help the Gotei 13 fight back against the Quincies.

As the primary protagonist of the series, however, he tends to discover new layers of power within himself that often make him question everything he thought he knew about the world of Soul Reapers, Hollows, and now Quincies. In fact, he learns that he is closer to the realm of Quincies than he once thought.

There are several factions of warriors in Bleach lore, but Quincies have the spotlight in Thousand-Year Blood War. They were introduced early on in the story as human warriors who hunt Hollows in the world of the living to protect peaceful spirits as they try to pass on.

They are essentially the polar opposite of Soul Reapers and can create weapons using spiritual energy around them. One of Ichigo's closest allies, Uryu Ishida, was introduced as one of the last remaining Quincies in existence after the Soul Reapers exterminated all of them to preserve the balance of worlds.

The Quincies have a major resurgence in Soul Society, where they aim to exact vengeance on the Gotei 13 for nearly rendering their kind extinct. But while Ichigo tries to stop the Quincies and their king from wreaking havoc on Soul Society, he begins to exhibit qualities that are specific to that of a Quincy.

Having lost during the Quincies' ambush, he and his allies undergo rigorous training in order to put up a better fight against them. To that end, however, Ichigo is made to learn the truth of his past.

He approaches his foolhardy father, Isshin Kurosaki, who was eventually revealed to be a Soul Reaper himself and a former captain of the Gotei 13. It's then that Ichigo learns a shocking truth about his own lineage.

Ichigo's late mother, Masaki, was actually a full-blooded Quincy meant to preserve her endangered bloodline. After losing against an especially powerful Hollow, Isshin takes her in and tries to save her life. The two of them go into hiding, with Isshin defecting from Soul Society.

Eventually, the two of them fell in love and had Ichigo, who inherited his father's Soul Reaper prowess and his mother's Quincy powers. That makes Ichigo half-Soul Reaper and half-Quincy, adding to his ever-growing list of powers he shares with other factions in Bleach.

Having accepted the truth about his origins, Ichigo is able to tap into his Quincy abilities and mix them with his Soul Reaper powers in order to attain new strength. However, he must still refine these abilities if he is to stand a chance against the Quincies in their nine-day conquest.

New episodes of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War stream every Saturday on Hulu.