Summary
- Long battles in Bleach involve intense encounters between key characters, and they span several chapters and episodes.
- Battles like Ichigo vs. Aizen showcased epic action, combined with significant events and crucial character development.
- The Thousand-Year Blood War is made up of multiple big battles between numerous Shinigami and Quincy.
One of the many things that has cemented Bleach as one of the Big Three of the shōnen battle genre (alongside One Piece and Naruto) is its extensive length. After all, this is a huge and rich story that spans across 686 manga chapters and almost 250 anime episodes, so it’s only reasonable that many long battles have taken place within it.
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The fights in this series are always incredibly exciting, but they can also get surprisingly long, especially in story arcs in which there are numerous encounters taking place at the same time, among many different key players. There are a lot of great battles in Bleach that go on for numerous chapters and episodes, and the following eight are the most fascinating examples.
8
Ichigo Kurosaki And Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck Vs. Nnoitra Gilga
12 Chapters (6 Episodes)
Nnoitra Gilga is one of the most relentless and stubborn antagonists in Bleach, so it is no surprise that he’s the star of one of the longest battles in the series. This powerful Espada attacks Ichigo Kurosaki right after the main character had defeated Grimmjow, which, combined with his great offense and defense, gave him a significant advantage against the protagonist.
But the tide of the battle is completely altered when Nnoitra attacks a little Arrancar girl named Nel, which unlocks her real adult form and reveals her true identity as Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, the former Espada #3 who had a complicated past with Nnoitora himself. Nelliel is strong enough to give her longtime enemy a good fight, but she eventually reverts to her child form, and both she and Ichigo eventually had to be saved by Kenpachi Zaraki.
7
Shunsui Kyoraku Vs. Coyote Starrk
12 Chapters (11 Episodes)
The entire Arrancar Saga is filled to the brim with multiple great battles of extensive length that all occur simultaneously, with one of the most notable examples being the clash between Captain Shunsui Kyoraku and Espada #1, Coyote Starrk. One of the main reasons their fight is so long is because it got abruptly interrupted by Wonderweiss, who stabbed Kyoraku and took him out for many chapters.
Fortunately, he managed to recover and face Coyote for a second time, and that’s where their true battle begins. Starrk is a pretty fascinating character with a sad backstory which, combined with the revelation of Kyoraku’s complex Shikai, contributed to extending the length of their epic battle. Nevertheless, this is still one of the best encounters in the entire series, and the Captain of the First Division managed to use his incredible power in order to come out on top.
6
Ichigo Kurosaki Vs. Sosuke Aizen
14 Chapters (6 Episodes)
The war between Soul Society and the evil Sosuke Aizen was one of the most important events in the entire series, so it is no surprise that it was incredibly extensive, especially because it involved many battles between multiple individuals, with the main fight between the antagonist and Ichigo Kurosaki being the longest one. Of course, it kicks off when the main character attacks Aizen in Fake Karakura Town, with the help of his father Isshin, Urahara and Yoruichi.
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A lot of stuff happens in-between both halves of their fights, like Ichigo spending a lot of time training in the Precipice World and Gin betraying Aizen. Nevertheless, it all concludes with an epic and over-the-top rematch on the outskirts of Karakura Town, in which Ichigo gets to show Aizen how much stronger he has gotten and finally puts an end to his evil plans with his destructive Final Getsuga Tensho. This is definitely one of the best action sequences in all of Bleach.
5
The Gotei 13 And The Visored Vs. Gerard Valkyrie
15 Chapters
Gerard Valkyrie is not only part of Ywhach’s Schutzstaffel, but he’s also the Heart of the Soul King, which means that he’s one of the most absurdly powerful entities in the entire series. Needless to say, it took the combined efforts of both the Gotei 13 Captains and the Visored in order to hold him back.
This is an incredible fight where some of the best characters in the series get to show off their most potent and impressive techniques, with Toshiro Hitsugaya, Kenpachi Zaraki and Byakuya Kuchiki being some of the biggest standouts. While at the end, Gerard Valkyrie was eliminated by Yhwach himself, the Gotei 13 and the Visored certainly put up a great fight that, fortunately, is going to be adapted in the upcoming fourth cour of the Thousand-Year Blood War anime.
4
The Gotei 13 Vs. The Sternritter
15 Chapters (4 Episodes)
Of course, battles that involve multiple characters fighting against each other are understandably some of the longest ones in the series, and the climactic encounter between the Gotei 13 Captains and the Sternritter during the Thousand-Year Blood War arc is obviously no exception.
Six powerful Shinigami warriors clashed against eight powerful Quincy warriors while trying to protect Soul Society, and it resulted in a chaotic flurry of unique abilities and over-the-top techniques, not to mention that some of the Sternritters even turned against each other. This is one of those crucial but intense moments that reminded viewers and readers why this event is fittingly named the Thousand-Year Blood War.
3
The Royal Guard Vs. The Schutzstaffel
15 Chapters (4 Episodes)
The stakes of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc got incredibly high when Yhwach invaded the Palace of the Soul King alongside his Elite Guards, the Schutzstaffel. While the Quincy King went directly to where the Soul King was resting, his underlings had to face the monarch’s five Royal Guards: Ichibe Hyosube, Kirio Hikifune, Senjumaru Shutara, Tenjiro Kirinji and Oetsu Nimaiya.
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Needless to say, both the Schutzstaffel and the Royal Guards possessed some truly creative but complex and powerful techniques that were used to their fullest potential in their encounter. This factor, combined with the high number of players involved, explains why their fight was so incredibly long, both in the manga and in the anime. For example: Senjumaru’s Bankai, Loom of the Six-Colored Floating Patterns of Death, is so long that it took her almost an entire chapter/episode to use it in its entirety against her six opponents.
2
Ichigo Kurosaki Vs. Ulquiorra Cifer
17 Chapters (9 Episodes)
The fourth Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer, is without a doubt one of the most complex and most memorable antagonists in Bleach. His unusual relationship with Orihime was simply fascinating, not to mention that it fueled his intense rivalry with Ichigo Kurosaki. After downright killing him in their first encounter, Ulquiorra faced Ichigo for a second time at the top of Las Noches, and it resulted in one of the most incredible clashes in the entire series.
This is an epic brawl that truly has it all: two powerful fighters with unbelievable abilities and transformations, high emotional stakes and impeccable choreography. But both its anime and manga versions are also infamous for being some of the longest fights in their respective industries, mainly because it takes its time to properly develop both Ulquiorra and Ichigo, not to mention that it concludes with the shocking revelation of the latter’s Full Hollow Form.
1
Renji Abarai, Uryu Ishida And Mayuri Kurotsuchi Vs. Szayelaporro Granz
18 Chapters (15 Episodes)
The eight Espada, Szayelaporro Granz, is a man of science, so it is no surprise that he decided to face Renji Abarai and Uryu Ishida with more defensive and methodic strategies: he traps them in a chamber that restrains their Shinigami abilities, he throws his Fracción at them, and he even unleashes his Resurrección, which he uses to make clones of them. And that’s not even accounting for Pesche and Dondochakka, who also contribute to the battle’s incredible length with their goofy comedic antics.
This is a slow battle that takes place across many manga chapters and anime episodes, to the point that Szayelaporro even took a small break in the middle of the fight in order to change his clothes. Of course, he was such a powerful and intelligent villain that it was almost impossible for Renji and Uryu to defeat him, so they required the assistance of captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi. This was a match made in heaven, because he’s also a mad scientist who used his knowledge and his own experiments to trick Szayelaporro in order to poison him with a Superhuman Drug, and he eventually dies in one of the series’ most cruel and ruthless scenes.
