Warning! Spoilers for the Bleach 20th anniversary one-shot manga ahead!
The manga community received a massive blow when mangaka Tite Kubo's incredibly popular Bleach series ostensibly concluded in 2016, but Shonen Jump just released a one-shot for the franchise's 20th anniversary that hints the possibility of an all-new series.
The one-shot manga starts at some point after the original series ends and revolves around an upcoming ceremony in Soul Society known as Konso Reisai, which involves the slaying of Hollows in front of the graves of Captains who died 12 years ago. In preparation, Renji Abarai uses a soul pager to call Ichigo Kurosaki who's living on Earth as a translator while Captain Kurotsushi communicates a message to all Assistant Captains about gathering in the land of the living to round up the Hollow sacrifices. During this time, the manga introduces many new characters, each of whom are assistant captains. Rindo Atau from division seven doesn't talk, but his Kido or Demon Art involves summoning animals such as hawks that dive and rip into his enemies. The overly flamboyant Yuyu Yayahara of the eighth company is obsessed with the Japanese fashion subculture known as Gyaru (even more so than girls in the living world, according to Ichigo) and creates a vicious bear maw for her Demon Art, which clamps down violently upon her enemies.
Of course, as everyone starts to gather together to begin the preparations for the ritual, the whole operation ends abruptly with a surprise attack from strange hollows that only Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai's daughter Ichika Abarai can see at first. These hollows, which don't possess any spiritual pressure, are quickly destroyed by Soul Society's Shinigami before things escalate even further with the appearance of the slain Arrancar Szayelaporro Granz. While he reveals a terrifying truth about Soul Society's Konso Reisai and even attempts to murder young Ichika, what he says near the end of the one-shot is more captivating as it proves that a whole new story is possible: The gates of hell that had been holding the likes of Aizen and Yhwach have disappeared. And as Szayelaporro returns to the flames, the one-shot manga concludes with the words "The End" followed by an ellipsis, creating the impression that there's more to come.
Even when the original series ended, fans rightfully believed that the Bleach villain Aizen would never die, since he's immortal and all, so there was always a possibility that he could return, as this one-shot manga suggests he has. Plus, he had already escaped from prison before with help from Shunsui Sakuranosuke Jirō Kyōraku, so why couldn't he break out again? The last time fans saw him, Aizen was serving his 10th year of incarceration after his second defeat, so he just needed someone else to free him. Szayelaporro also hints that Yhwach, the Father of the Quincy, is alive. So, together, the two darkest forces to have ever threatened Soul Society in the modern era are back, which definitely merits a new series.
In addition to going through the hassle of introducing new characters, Bleach's one-shot manga leaves other mysteries that demand their own answers. The most pressing is why Ichika is able to see the hollows who didn't possess any spiritual pressure when powerful characters including Ichigo and Renji couldn't. Then there's the whole side story involving Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue's son Kazui Kurosaki. By bowing and clapping a certain number of times in front of a shrine in the land of the living, a portal to who knows where opens up. While it's interesting that worship etiquette in Japan dictates the performance of the very same motions in the exact order as he performed them, what's even more intriguing is where the portal leads, which is currently a mystery. Regardless, mangaka Tite Kubo has provided more than enough cliffhangers in this one-shot manga to herald a new age of Bleach.