When Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War finally reached our screens, it was an understated success among anime and manga fans. The faithful and beautifully animated adaptation perfectly encompassed the growth these characters had gone through, and its success went beyond just the fans’ expectations.
After just two episodes, this arc was immediately rated as the second anime in the MyAnimeList 2022 Fall slate, just behind Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Naturally, one can hardly compete with a fandom as evidently passionate as Fullmetal Alchemist‘s. For this reason, the placing of Bleach on the list is already a significant feat in and of itself.
In the penultimate arc, we see Ichigo, Orihime, and Uryū once more, slightly older than they were in previous arcs. With that in mind, how old is Orihime in the Thousand Year Blood War?
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How old was Orihime after the time skip?
Even though the manga series sees Ichigo in the epilogue as 27 years old – and therefore, Orihime is the same age – we meet both teenagers at a much tender age. In the Fullbringer arc, which occurred right before the Thousand Year Blood arc, both Orihime and Ichigo were around 16 years old, already facing challenges that no teenager their age should ever face.
However, in the Thousand Year Blood arc, which only lasts about six days, the duo is already 17 years old.
Considering the events of the manga – that starts with both teenagers at 15 years old – and the gap between the initial events and the Thousand Year Blood arc, the story naturally progressed until the duo of characters was around 17 years old when the war broke out. It is also the last time we see them as teenagers, right before the epilogue that introduces them as full-grown adults.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is available to watch on Hulu. The manga is available to read on Viz.