Published Jun 27, 2026, 12:01 PM EDT
Joshua Edward Ryan Fox is a freelance writer for Screen Rant with a passion for pop culture. Joshua grew up in Connecticut where he developed an appreciation for writing and entertainment and has earned a Master’s degree in professional writing and technical writing. His writing has been quoted by both the anime streaming site Crunchyroll and the anime YouTuber Gigguk.
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Warning: Contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War: The Calamity episode #3.From the moment Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War began, most of its story has centered around building up its main villain, Yhwach. As the original Quincy, the person who would eventually kill Yamamoto, and the one responsible for the death of Ichigo’s mother, Yhwach is easily the biggest villain in all of Bleach, which is befitting his status as the final villain, and none of that is even getting into the nigh-invincible power of his Schrift, The Almighty.
Yhwach has truly been a standout villain in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War who has more than lived up to his hype at every turn, and that makes it all the more surprising that he isn’t the true villain of the anime. The first three episodes of the final season of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, The Calamity, have been released in theaters as an early preview, and they contain a major reveal about who the real villain in Bleach is, and it changes everything.
Despite all the attention being given to Yhwach, the first three episodes of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 4 reveal that the true villain of the anime is none other than Ichibe Hyosube of Squad Zero. For starters, the first three episodes confirm that Ichigo’s training in the Irazusando in part 2 was a test to see if Ichigo could be a replacement Soul King if Yhwach won, meaning Ichibe was planning to mutilate Ichigo and leave him barely alive so his power could maintain the integrity of the three realms, just like he did with the original Soul King.
Ichibe’s villainy goes even further than that, though. Part 4 revealed that black represents the Soul King’s power, and with Ichibe’s ability to control everything black, it’s all but stated that Ichibe was using his powers to control the Soul King. To what extent and for what purpose Ichibe would do all of that is unclear, but it makes him look so much worse, and it makes his plans for Ichigo even more horrifying in hindsight.
Despite his jovial personality and presenting himself as a genuine ally to Ichigo, Ichibe is actually one of the most twisted and manipulative characters in all of Bleach, and he’s arguably responsible for everything that’s happened in the anime in the worst of ways. Ichigo made it clear that he didn’t care about what Ichibe was doing, as none of it would matter as long as he defeated Yhwach, but that doesn’t make Ichibe’s actions any less horrifying, and the fact that he even surpasses Yhwach’s villainy in Bleach to shame says a lot.
The extra context Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has given to Ichibe’s character is great, and it perfectly highlights how the anime needs to adapt Bleach’s sequel, Can’t Fear Your Own World. Not only do many of the revelations about Ichibe’s character come from Can’t Fear Your Own World, but the story, in general, is about resolving the story of the Soul King, so seeing it animated would do a lot to pay off all the revelations of Ichibe’s villainy, especially if a hypothetical anime could add more content to the story.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War will come to an end by 2026, and here’s a breakdown of where all the main characters end up after the finale.
Even with Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War in its final season, there’s plenty of story left to tell both in and out of Bleach’s original narrative, especially when taking Can’t Fear Your Own World into account, and surprisingly, a lot of that story goes back to the heinous actions committed by Ichibe in the name of peace. All of that only serves to make Bleach’s future stories more exciting, and hopefully, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and beyond will more than deliver on the potential storytelling that comes with Ichibe’s villainy.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War ](/db/tv-show/bleach-thousand-year-blood-war/)
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Tomohisa Taguchi, Mitsutoshi Satô, Hikaru Murata, Hodaka Kuramoto