SEO/SMO: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Officially Returns November 2026

Published Sep 22, 2026, 10:36 AM EDT

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Bleach is one of those anime projects that could feasibly go on forever. We've seen 366 episodes spanning 2004 to 2012, which is already a massive run for an anime, much less a shonen, which has tons of competition at any given time.

The sequel series returned in 2022 to keep the legend going, but the 2012-2022 gap saw a ton of other projects, including games and tie-ins. All the while, new fans continued to grow thanks to the Adult Swim run of the original series. Thanks to an official reveal from Bandai Namco, we know that more Bleach is on the way for November.

On November 13, 2026, Bleach will unleash Volume 3 in Union Arena, a card game that involves multiple IP duking it out over a common ruleset. Much likeUniVersus CCG (which features characters from Street Fighter, Tekken, Godzilla, Ninja Turtles, Attack on Titan, Guilty Gear, and more),you only need to know one set of rules, but you can play characters from multiple shows and projects.

Union Arena is very anime-heavy, so you'll find characters like Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen, or Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach. That's exactly waht you can expect from Volume 3, which is heavily themed around the Thousand-Year Blood War sequel.

This set also includes embossed signatures on select cards, signed by the cast of Thousand-Year Blood War. Here are all the signatures you can get from this set:

• Ichigo Kurosaki — Voiced by Masakazu Morita
• Uryu Ishida — Voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama
• Orihime Inoue — Voiced by Yuki Matsuoka
• Yoruichi Shihoin — Voiced by Satsuki Yukino
• Shunsui Kyoraku — Voiced by Akio Otsuka
• Sosuke Aizen — Voiced by Shō Hayami
• Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez — Voiced by Junichi Suwabe

Packs will run you $4.99 each and contain 12 cards per pack. If you end up getting a display box that's 16 packs, and one case is 16 display boxes.

Not to leave another gimmick by the wayside, Bandai Namco also has a limited action point card serial-number promotion, with a "very low rate" of cards numbered in booster packs. These will also be autographed by the cast, but pull rates have not been revealed.

If you're in the mood for Bleach pre-release, you can partake starting from November 6 onward, through the full launch on November 13. Check with your local stores to see if they are running any OP (organized play) events for Union Arena.