After almost a decade away, Bleach returns to rave reviews from anime fans

It's finally here. After almost a decade, Bleach has returned to our TV screens – and yes, Ichigo Kurosaki has a big-ass sword. Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War is now airing weekly, and anime fans around the world are losing their minds over the new series, which is winning rave reviews.

"I’ve never be so happy with a show, Thousand Year Blood War really is peak," writes one person on Twitter. "They did everything I wanted in this first episode, it’s just so beautiful." Another adds: "The new Bleach episode is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

There's been substantial praise heaped on the animation, with many social media users commenting on how brilliant the returning series looks. "I cannot get over how good Bleach looks. I'm actually STILL shocked," writes one tweeter. Someone else writes, all caps: "EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT EPISODE WAS PHENOMENAL TO THE ANIMATION, MUSIC AND FIGHTS."

It's not only Twitter that's fallen in love with the opening episode of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War, which adapts the first five chapters of the corresponding manga. Polygon compares the new season to what came before: "Old, semi-stagnant fight scenes have been replaced with operatic high-flying antics that focus a lot more on the movement and feel like much more choreographed fight scenes to entertain, rather than filler to take up time in an episode."

LeisureByte calls the new episode "as good as this show has ever been, perhaps even more", while FictionHorizon says Thousand Year Blood War is "a fantastic Shōnen anime arc, filled with great battles, amazing visuals, and lots of nostalgia."

If you're an anime fan, then, you're going to want to get Bleach in your eyeballs (actually, maybe let's rephrase that...). Here's the full Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War release schedule, so you know how to watch and when to watch each episode this season.