With the final season of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War on the horizon, Johnny Yong Bosch and Masakazu Morita reunited at Anime Expo 2026 to celebrate with fans and share their excitement. As the English and Japanese voices of Ichigo Kurosaki, the two actors performed iconic lines, unleashed their bankai, and presented a special preview of the first episode during the BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War panel on July 4. On stage, Morita also surprised Bosch with a shikishi signed by BLEACH creator Tite Kubo, which moved Bosch to tears as he expressed his gratitude to Kubo, Morita, and the fans.
Anime Trending had the chance to sit down with the two voice actors, who have embodied Ichigo for over two decades, to hear their thoughts on the final part of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War.
The final season of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War is now upon us! As the forever voice actors of the protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki, how did it feel recording this season and possibly some of Ichigo’s final moments on screen?
Johnny Yong Bosch: Definitely happy that it’s back. I was extremely excited when I saw the animation, the story in general, and even the choices [Masakazu Morita] has made as an actor. Everything about it, I’m just happy that it’s here and excited for the fans too, because there was a long span for the fans where I’d see them at a convention and they’d ask, “What’s going on? Did you read the manga?” waiting for it to come back. So, I’m absolutely excited for it.
Masakazu Morita: This twenty-year role is finally coming to a close, and I thought I’d be a little sad about it, but right now? Absolutely not! We got together with the other cast members in Tokyo for an interview, but none of us really felt like it was the end. We have a few more gigs as the game dubbing continues, so we know we will stay as these characters, but most of all, the fans haven’t seen it yet. We really feel like until the fans see it, it’s truly not there.
©Tite Kubo/Shueisha, TV TOKYO, dentsu, Pierrot
BLEACH has existed for quite some time now, with Ichigo changing and transforming so much between each arc. How were you able to maintain the personality of Ichigo while also incorporating new elements into him during the Thousand-Year Blood War recording? Did you have to reference back to source material or previous seasons, or did it just come back to you so naturally?
Johnny Yong Bosch: For me, it did feel like it came back naturally. There’s a core theme with Ichigo, and there’s a line he says, “Become strong not just for your own sake, but for your friends.” So his desire to protect his friends always comes through. It’s also been twenty years of hearing [Morita]’s voice, so it sets the tone as soon as I hear it. I’m locked in. It wasn’t strange for me, but it did feel like I had to [shift] slightly. [Ichigo]’s been doing this for a long time, whereas in the beginning, he was rough around the edges, but now, he’s a soul reaper.
Masakazu Morita: For Thousand-Year Blood War, I have changed my voice for Ichigo. I’ve gotten older with the series, and I can also actually express a range that I wasn’t able to before — a lower, middle register to my voice. I added that to Ichigo’s voice to bring out both his strength and the growth that he’s experienced.
In the Blu-ray DVD interviews, the production team behind Thousand-Year Blood War mentioned adding many new original scenes supervised by Tite Kubo that weren’t present in the original manga publication. While recording, how did you approach these new scenes and incorporate them into Ichigo’s understanding of the world?
Johnny Yong Bosch: I’ve only done three episodes at this point, and in those three episodes, I saw other characters and that animation expanded, but for me, I’m not sure if it’s drastically different at this point. However, seeing the stuff animated in general, I think that question might actually be better answered by Morita.
Masakazu Morita: There are a lot of scenes that are anime original in Thousand-Year Blood War that Kubo-sensei [supervised]. We used to have the source material to use as a guidebook, but with all these original scenes, there is no guide. It kind of feels like going to a foreign country without a tour guide. So we do ask Kubo-sensei the details about what’s going on with certain scenes and go back and forth with him as we do the voice acting. I do think it was the hardest to work on of all the seasons so far.
In your career while recording Ichigo, what was your favorite arc? Or, what was the most memorable moment while recording this character?
Johnny Yong Bosch: There are so many moments throughout. Obviously, I love Thousand-Year Blood War — the animation is amazing. But even just throughout, there are just so many really cool moments that were really exciting to do. One of the first moments is when he calls the ambulance and starts counting people out for them. There’s also Hollow Ichigo, Vasto Lorde, and a lot of battles throughout, but the first arc really set the tone for me. Thousand-Year Blood War feels like it’s leveled up so much.
Masakazu Morita: I love all of them, but the hardest one was the “Arrancar Arc.” Of all the seasons of BLEACH, it was the longest-running one, and so it took the longest, but it also took the most power. In that sense, I do remember it very well.
©Tite Kubo/Shueisha, TV TOKYO, dentsu, Pierrot
BLEACH has resonated with hundreds of thousands of people throughout the early 2000s and now. When reprising your role for Thousand-Year Blood War, what was the reception like from fans, and how did you receive it?
Johnny Yong Bosch: It’s been great. Just about every weekend, I go to events like this where I get to meet fans, and the excitement has been off the charts, which excites me as well because I didn’t know anything. I just thought we were done and had no expectations. I was a little sad about it. But then fans kept telling me, “Hey, did you hear this? Did you hear what’s coming back?” and I’d say, “I can’t confirm because I don’t know!” So the fans got me super excited at the same time and made me ask, “Is it really going to happen?”
Masakazu Morita: All of us really wanted to see it to the end. When we finally heard that Thousand-Year Blood War was coming back, we were relieved. Now that we’ve started, it’s crazy to see how amazing the animation has been, the music, the sounds — it’s really cool. The president of Studio Pierrot, which does the animation, used to be in charge of BLEACH. I think he had really strong feelings for wanting to see BLEACH to the end, and so I think that’s what’s translated into this story arc. I’m really excited to be a part of it.
At events like Anime Expo, fans get to hear Ichigo from both sides of the world in the same room. How does it feel to perform or discuss the character in front of a live audience?
Johnny Yong Bosch: Well, we’re doing that tomorrow, so we’ll find out, but we have done it before, years ago, and it’s sort of the same thing. You really feed off the energy of the crowd and that excitement. There’s a bit of weight to it all on your shoulders, but at the same time, it feels like family.
Masakazu Morita: I was really happy to hear that I was going to be able to do an event with Johnny for the first time in a long time. I don’t experience this with a lot of other people. We’ve been two actors voicing the same person for years now, but we don’t get to see each other or talk very often. So to be able to be in the same room, that’s just something I was really looking forward to. We’ve both aged [laughs], so I think some of the things that we say now are probably different from what we used to say before.
©Tite Kubo/Shueisha, TV TOKYO, dentsu, Pierrot
Thousand-Year Blood War features many fights between characters. Aside from Ichigo’s battles, do any other particular moments stand out to you the most?
Johnny Yong Bosch: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Throughout, there are a lot of great things, but with what they’ve recently released, there are some things that I got to see for the first time, those three episodes, with an audience. The energy — seeing certain people’s Bankai and some of their actions — felt bigger than anything I had experienced. Hearing the crowd cheering when things were going on actually brought a tear to my eye, because I felt the legacy.
Masakazu Morita: The best battle has to be Genryusai Yamamoto versus the fake Yhwach, with the amazing animation visuals. I love Genryusai Yamamoto as a character in his last bout, so that’s my favorite. Another one is Kenpachi versus Kenpachi. It’s the best.
The final cour, BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity, is scheduled to air July 25th, 2026 on Hulu.
