0215MADman's Guide to Bleach Filler

Bleach is hands down my favorite of the major shounen action anime. I connected to it a lot as a teenager and I've only liked it more as an adult. However, Bleach is one of the most notorious examples of filler in anime. Shows like Naruto have random segments of filler sprinkled throughout, but what made Bleach special was that when it did filler, it would be full seasons worth. It would commit to halting the main story to start a brand new one for several months before going back to the main story like nothing happened. The plus side to this is that now that the series is finished, you can skip all of the filler and have the canon episodes make sense (with one exception which we'll get to).

So you should just skip all the filler, right? Well, no. The word "filler" is typically synonymous with "bad made-up stories to skip", but there's plenty of good filler in anime, look at Fullmetal Alchemist. Bleach has both good and bad filler, much of which is unfairly treated as "all bad". Some will disagree with me here but the filler episodes that aren't long arcs that go on forever can be a lot of fun. At times they shine light on characters that the main story doesn't have time to develop.

People over the years have asked me to provide a guide to navigating Bleach's filler. I wrote a short guide two years ago to send over Discord, and here I'm providing a fleshed-out version of that guide. Back at the start of 2022, I showed akasinan all of Bleach to prepare for Thousand-Year Blood War. We watched every episode EXCEPT for the full season filler arcs, those I am strictly going off my memory of watching as a teenager. Also in case anyone brings it up, I'm using the Viz translation terms (so instead of Shinigami it's Soul Reaper). That's just what I'm familiar with. Let's go!

- Short Version

Skip episodes 64-109, 128-131, 168-189, 204-205, 230-266, and 317-341. All of the other filler is either good or harmless to the point that you'll survive.

- Long Version

- Episodes 33 & 50 - Watch

The first three seasons of Bleach only have two filler episodes: 33 and 50. Both involve Ichigo's sisters and the kids from Urahara's shop helping Misaomaru "Don" Kanonji with fighting hollows. These are fun diversions and don't overstay their welcome.

- The Bount (Seasons 4 & 5, Episodes 64-109) - Watch episode 69, Skip the rest

uggggggggghhhhhhhhhh

Oh you'll think you can handle The Bount. It starts off pretty innocently. But The Bount gets to you eventually. It got to me when it moved to the Soul Society in the second half known as The Assault. Yeah IT ASSAULTED MY PATIENCE!

This 46 episode long filler arc, easily the longest in Bleach, is divided into two halves. The first 28 episodes are The Bount and the last 18 episodes are The Assault. The Bount takes place in Karakura Town while The Assault takes place in the Soul Society. Karakura Town is more interesting than the Soul Society, it just is, it's like if Naruto took place in a Kyoto suburb it rules. I want to say that if you've got time to kill you can watch The Bount while skipping The Assault, but man that's 28 episodes. You can watch most of the shows on this site in that amount of time! I guarantee you a lot of those are worth more of your time.

You should, however, watch episode 69. And no, not because it's the funny sex number.

See, The Bount is the only filler arc of Bleach where the canon episodes (specifically seasons 6 & 7) pretend like any of this shit mattered. Characters will go "the Arrancar are pretty bad, and we haven't fully recovered after fighting the Bount!" and will be dead serious about it. So I recommend watching episode 69 because it tells you what the fuck the Bount are and also why there are three new mod soul dolls. As for other episodes worth bringing up, Episode 80 is my favorite episode in The Bount but it's completely optional. Episode 109 is like 50% a Bount epilogue and 50% side content from the manga, I skipped it when showing akasinan it's not important. Also you should know who the guy on the left is because he shows up in an otherwise canon episode at one point but it's not worth watching a full episode from The Bount.

Do not watch The Assault oh my god it is so boring and Uryu is so stupid in it it is such a waste of your time.

- Episodes 128-137 - Skip episodes 128-131, Watch the rest

The first four episodes of this stretch suck. Toshiro helps some soul boy pass on by finding his soul sister, it is boring as hell I do not recommend it. The rest are some of the best filler Bleach has to offer. One episode has the gang help a ghost chef. Another episode has Keigo Asano's sister convince Ikkaku to be in the school's Kendo team. These episodes are why I made this guide.

In a previous version of the guide, I wrote that episodes 136 and 137 were boring. I dunno I guess it just depends on which side of the bed I wake up on. They're definitely better than 128-131.

- Episodes 147-149 - Up to you

In the manga, Ichigo and friends make a straight shot to the Hueco Mundo castle. In the anime, they get lost in the woods for a few episodes. I dunno, these episodes are harmless. They didn't bore me but I get if they bore other people.

- The New Captain Shuusuke Amagai (Season 9, Episodes 168-189) - Skip

akasinan, who grew up with Naruto, did not believe me when I told him that this arc starts with the narrator telling the viewer that they are pausing the main story to do something else for 5 months. I showed him the beginning of episode 168, that is exactly what happens.

The ONLY thing I remember about this arc is that the titular new captain is comically bad at holding his alcohol. Past what's shown in the OP, I don't remember anything else. Skip.

- Episodes 204 & 205 - Skip

These are continuations of The New Captain Shuusuke Amagai, skip these too.

- Episodes 213 & 214 - Watch

In these episodes, Urahara makes a Super Sentai team featuring Kon in Ichigo's body, Don Kanonji, a tomboy, a lesbian, a loser friend of Ichigo, and that one girl that works for Urahara. They are the Karakuraizers. Why would you skip these?

- Episode 228 - Watch

BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE

- Episode 229 - Watch

This episode features Keigo Asano and his sister who wants to fuck Ikkaku because he's bald. They are the funniest characters in Bleach. Keigo Asano should've gotten a spin-off like Rock Lee did.

- Zanpakutō: The Alternate Tale (Season 13, Episodes 230-265) - Skip

In this arc, all of the Zanpakutō that you know and love are manifested and engage in a civil war with the soul reapers. I don't know how accurate that is, and I don't care, because this is my least favorite filler arc in Bleach.

The last 12 episodes are actually pretty neat, I remember the episode where Ikkaku's Zanpakutō has to take care of a baby that was fun. But they are not worth the first 24 episodes. Good lord, easily the most bored I've ever been watching Bleach. The OP isn't even good, Porno Graffitti have done way better. Avoid.

- Episode 266 - Skip unless you actually watched that 36 episode slog

This is a recap episode that's only here to catch you up on what's actually happening in the story, which was needed since it had been 9 months. If you skipped the last filler arc, then the only reason you should watch this is if you took a break and forgot what was going on.

- Episodes 287, 298, 299, 303-305 - Watch all of these

This is around when the filler writers just start saying fuck it when it comes to filler plots. I'm not sure they're the best but they're the weirdest. And how can you look at me face to face and tell me that the soul reaper captains making movies for an episode isn't a stupidly brilliant idea?

The only one of these you can probably skip is episode 299, that's mostly a prequel to the Hell Verse movie. I don't really like that movie but everyone else does so you might as well watch the episode. We're at the 300s, another episode is not going to kill you.

- Episodes 311-316 - Watch

These are fun diversions happening immediately after the absolute peak of Bleach's main story. They harken back to those earlier filler episodes, and hey some of them even have Ichigo. That's rare!

- The Invading Army (Season 15, Episodes 317-341) - Skip

You probably noticed a trend at this point: if the filler are full seasons, they should be skipped, but if they're one-off episodes then they should be watched. Out of the four filler arcs, this is the best but that's by default. This arc is about Kon and some girl and the captains are fighting each other, I don't care and you shouldn't care either. Don't skip episode 342 though, that's actually canon.

- Episode 355 - Watch

You've made it this far, just watch the damn New Year's special.

I guess I should talk about the movies. Four Bleach movies were made during the show's run. I have not seen any of these since I was a teenager but here's what I remember:

Memories of Nobody - After the Bount arc, this was a better made version of it that was a breath of fresh air. Probably the movie I'm most curious about rewatching, I'll update this when I do.

The DiamondDust Rebellion - This is the worst anime movie I've ever seen in my life. Not just Bleach, oh no I mean the whole medium. Worst theatrically released Japanese animated film. I hate this movie, it is all of the worst aspects of Bleach in 92 minutes.

Fade to Black - By contrast, I remember loving this movie. I mean it's not spellbinding but for a 94 minute filler movie, especially one that takes place in the Soul Society, it's everything you could ask for. Maybe I'll feel differently on a ten-years-later rewatch, but if you only watch one Bleach movie make it this one.

Hell Verse - Here it is, the big one. The Bleach movie all the fans talk about. I fell asleep watching this.

If there's any episodes that I didn't mention, just watch them anyway, they're probably canon.