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The Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (TYBW) arc has captivated fans with its intense battles and emotional storylines. There is a lot of scope for impact when the three realms are at stake, and the final battle is nigh. However, behind the scenes, the anime’s production took an unexpected turn and returned to its roots.
Abarai Renji vs Uryu Ishida | Credits: Studio PierrotIchigo and Renji’s training at the Soul King’s Palace was a unique scene that the keen eye of the fans might’ve noticed seems a bit different from the regular scenes. This is because that scene had overlaps and required a return to old-fashioned recording methods, a live recording.
The voice actors Masakazu Morita (Ichigo) and Noriaki Sugiyama (Uryu) shed light on how this decision by the staff brought a new level of authenticity to their performances.
A nostalgic return to traditional recording
The Thousand-Year Blood War arc typically followed modern recording standards, separating voice lines to allow for cleaner audio and easier editing. However, for the training scenes between Ichigo and Renji, the production team opted for a live recording style. Morita revealed in an interview that the goal was to preserve the natural flow of dialogue to craft a raw performance.
Hollowfied Ichigo in Bleach. [Credit: Studio Pierrot]Morita described it as a throwback to early Bleach recording sessions in a Bleach special interview, decades back when scripts were sometimes handwritten with personal touches to the production process and live recording was a normal event.
This overlaps with what I said in the interview for the first season, but the scene where Ichigo and Renji train at the Soul King’s Palace was the only one in the “Thousand-Year Blood War” arc that was recorded the old-fashioned way.
Nowadays, we have to completely separate the sound sources of the lines, so even in scenes where the voices overlap, we sometimes have to re-record.
But for this scene, the staff said, “Please show us the dialogue between Ichigo and Renji,” so we didn’t stop the flow at all and performed it all the way to the end, even if the voices overlapped.
We’re both originally from the stage, so we were really happy to be able to act live.
When I watch the finished video, I think the lines come alive.
– Masakazu Morita (voice of Ichigo Kurosaki)
Morita reflected on how Ichigo and Renji’s training scenes benefited from a live recording to showcase an organic performance.
Ishida’s voice actor, Sugiyama, echoed this sentiment, noting that split recordings risk losing the natural rhythm and that there were notable differences between the separate and live styles of recordings.
Character development is reflected through dialogue
Voice actor Morita noted that Ichigo’s voice during these moments shifted to a tone closer to his earlier appearances, invoking nostalgia while also emphasizing vulnerability and growth.
Abarai Renji in Bleach | Credits: Studio PierrotSugiyama also shared insights into Uryu’s portrayal, revealing that he deliberately avoided emotional nuances to maintain ambiguity about the side he chose.
Fans can expect a visually stunning and emotionally impactful finale enriched by performances that are uniquely thought out and are bound to be impressive.
You can stream Bleach on Netflix and Crunchyroll.
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