How to Watch Bleach Without Fillers?

Avatar photoByArthur S. Poe Published on
How to Watch Bleach Without Fillers?

In this article, we will let you know how to watch Bleach without fillers. Bleach was, with its 366 episodes and running from 2004 to 2012, one of the longest and most popular anime franchises in history. The 366 episodes were divided into 16 narrative arcs, five of which were completely original. Since a lot of people want to avoid fillers, we have created a guide for watching Bleach without the fillers!

How to Watch Bleach Without Fillers?

Let’s answer your main question, and that is – how to watch Bleach if you want to avoid all the fillers?

Well, the first you can easily do is remove the five original filler arcs, which will reduce your episode count from 366 to a total of just 203. But, the original arcs are not the only filler content in the anime; there are several individual episodes that are obvious fillers and if you want to avoid them, you can skip those episodes as well.

Here is the complete watching order for the Bleach anime, without fillers:

Main Arc 1: Soul Society Arc

  • Watch episodes 1-32
  • Skip episode 33
  • Pick up at episodes 34-49
  • Skip episode 50
  • Pick up at episodes 51-63
  • Skip the complete “The Bount” and “The Assault” arcs

Main Arc 2: Hueco Mundo Arc

  • Pick up at episodes 110-127
  • Skip episodes 128-137
  • Pick up at episodes 138-167
  • Skip the complete “The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai” arc
  • Pick up at episodes 190-203
  • Skip 204-205
  • Pick up at episodes 206-212
  • Skip 213-214

Main Arc 3: Fake Karakura Town arc

  • Pick up at episodes 215-226
  • Skip episodes 227-229
  • Skip the complete “Zanpakutō: The Alternate Tale” arc
  • Pick up at episodes 267-286
  • Skip episode 287
  • Pick up at episodes 288-297
  • Skip episodes 298-299
  • Pick up at episodes 300-302
  • Skip episodes 303-305
  • Pick up at episodes 306-310
  • Skip episodes 311-316
  • Skip the complete “Gotei 13 Invading Army” arc

Main Arc 4: Substitute Soul Reaper Disappearance

  • Pick up at episodes 343-354
  • Skip episode 355
  • Pick up at episode 356
  • Finish the anime at episode 366

The filler episodes and arcs

For your very convenience, we’ll provide a separate list of all the filler content here:

  • Individual episodes or groups of episodes: 33, 50, 128-137, 204, 205, 213, 214, 227-229, 287, 298, 299, 303-305, 311-316, 355
  • Arcs: “The Bount” (#64-91), “The Assault” (#92-109), “The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai” (#168-189), “Zanpakutō: The Alternate Tale” (#230-265), “Gotei 13 Invading Army” (#317-342)

What about the movies?

There are a total of four Bleach anime movies. The first, Bleach: Memories of Nobody, was released in 2006, with the second – Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion – and third – Bleach: Fade to Black – movies released in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The final anime film, Bleach: Hell Verse, was released in 2010.

Bleach movies
Posters of the four Bleach movies

The four movies are indeed connected to the main anime, although they are separate storylines. If you want to watch them in chronological order, along with the anime, here’s when and how you should do it:

  • Bleach: Memories of Nobody clearly shows that Ichigo is able to use his bankai in the World of the Living, so it happens after the Bount Invasion arc, but before the Arrancar arc as he’s still unable to use his hollow form. This means that the movie is set between episodes 109 and 110, just after the first filler arc.
  • Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion is a bit more ambiguous in terms of chronology, but we can approximately pinpoint its setting. We know that Ikkaku can use his bankai, so the movie is quite probably set after the first invasion of Arrancars (the ones defeated by Toshiro team) and before they entering Hueco Mundo. This all happened around episode 138, so this is when you should watch it.
  • The same applies to Bleach: Fade to Black, whose position in the timeline is also not fully clear. Based on the information we have, we know that it is set during the Arrancar fight, but before the characters entered Hueco Mundo because Ichigo still uses the first form of his hollow mask. So, this one is also set somewhere around episode 138.
  • The fourth movie, Bleach: Hell Verse, is a filler movie where Ichigo uses the second form of his mask and transforms into his full hollow form, so we know that he has already fought Ulquiorra in Hueco Mundo and returned. In relation to the anime, it is set after episode 299.

And there you have it. This is your ultimate guide to watching Bleach, both the anime and the tie-in movies. We recommend watching the whole series, but if you’re not a fan of fillers, we have provided you with all the information you need to watch the complete series like you prefer.

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Arthur S. Poe is a writer based in Europe. He has a Ph.D. and speaks five languages. His expertise varies from Alfred Hitchcock movies to Bleach, as he has explored a lot of fictional Universes and authors. He is currently focusing on anime, his childhood love, with special attention given to Bleach, One Piece, Pokemon, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Demon Slayer. He has also written movie reviews and analytical articles and has been featured on sites such as IMDb. He is currently writing for Fiction Horizon on a permanent basis. Most recently, he has been following The Thousand-Year Blood War arc of Bleach, Nier: Automata ver1.1a, One Piece, Digimon Ghost Game, and is waiting for new episodes of Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen. He likes interesting storylines with philosophical Themes, as well as quirky and psychologically intriguing Characters that he likes to debate and Talk about. His aesthetical approach has been influenced By Hitchcock and Kubrick, while his favorite film writer is Roger Ebert.