BLEACH Rebirth of Souls, developed by Tamsoft, brings the beloved anime and manga series back into the spotlight. Launched on 20th March for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam, the latest iteration promises to deliver the high-octane action and intense combat that fans have grown accustomed to. Featuring breakneck combat and faithful character representation as its key focus, does Rebirth of Souls make the BLEACH franchise proud?
Launch Trailer
Abridged but Impactful – Reliving BLEACH’s Legendary Tale
Rebirth of Souls covers all 16 seasons of BLEACH, delivering the series’ key moments in an abridged format. With the original anime debuting in 2004, the leap in visual fidelity makes this a fantastic way to experience the story anew. However, the game moves at a breakneck pace, skipping filler and even some important details. While it’s a streamlined retelling, there’s little here to justify replaying the story mode once you’ve seen it through.
That said, while plenty of care has gone into adapting the story, the real focus is on gameplay.
Strategic Combat with Depth – A Fighter That Rewards Skill
The roster boasts 31 beautifully rendered characters, each bringing their own unique fighting style. Combat is easy to pick up, but there’s surprising depth, with differences in playstyles making each character feel distinct. Attacks are divided into quick strikes, strong attacks, and signature moves, alongside special abilities and follow-up attacks. It’s clear that Rebirth of Souls takes inspiration from DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, and that’s not a bad thing.
While the comparison is obvious, Rebirth of Souls moves at a slower, more deliberate pace, where strategy takes precedence. Every strike feels meaningful. One of the best mechanics is the dodge-time it perfectly, and you’ll trigger a cinematic moment where your character appears behind the enemy, their shocked expression adding to the thrill.
Things get more complex when it comes to the game’s UI and the multiple resource bars at play. Three key meters-Reishi, Reverse, and Evolution—govern battles. While the tutorial does an excellent job of explaining them, it still takes some practice to fully grasp. Unlike traditional fighters with round-based matches, Rebirth of Souls uses Reishi as a life system. Flashy signature attacks can drain three, four, or even five lives, and once you hit zero, the battle is over.
Reverse acts as a buff system, enhancing attacks and defences, extending combos, or recovering Reishi. Meanwhile, Evolution builds as you deal or take damage, eventually unlocking your ultimate transformation-Bankai. The layered mechanics may feel overwhelming at first, but that’s also the game’s greatest strength. Rebirth of Souls dares to break away from the conventions of typical anime fighters, offering something fresh and rewarding for those willing to master its systems. It stands out against the other anime games published by Bandai.
Stunning Battles, but a Few Rough Edges
Visually, Rebirth of Souls is stunning-at least during battles. Characters are beautifully rendered, bringing the BLEACH universe to life in a way that surpasses its 20-year-old manga origins. Animations carry a real sense of weight and fluidity, while transformations and finishing attacks are as flashy and impactful as fans would hope.
Story mode, however, is a different story. While it’s impressive to see Ichigo’s rise as a Soul Reaper presented with greater visual fidelity than ever before, there are moments where it falls short. Characters viewed from a distance often appear washed out, likely due to a cel-shading issue, which dampens some of the immersion.
One long-standing gripe with anime-to-game adaptations has finally been addressed—the return of the original English voice actors. Hearing familiar voices is a welcome touch, though not every performance lands. Rukia’s delivery, for example, feels a little stiff, though reprising a role after so many years can’t be easy. That said, one glaring omission stings: Number One, Ichigo’s iconic theme, is nowhere to be found. Hopefully, this gets added as DLC, because it’s just not BLEACH without it.
A Standout Anime Fighter with Room to Grow
I’ve been enjoying my time with BLEACH Rebirth of Souls, but the experience on PC has been a bit rocky. Meanwhile, Respawning’s very own Luke has been playing on PlayStation 5, where things have been much smoother.
Revisiting the story-even in its abridged form-has been a fantastic experience. While some of the art direction choices throughout the retelling are questionable, seeing BLEACH presented with such impressive visuals makes it worthwhile.
After finishing story mode, I jumped into online matches, and it’s been a mixed bag. At times, it seemed like opponents were quitting mid-game, but considering my own crash during an online match, it’s just as likely their game was crashing too. The matches I did complete ran smoothly, and it’s been exciting to see how other players approach combat. Watching the wider community experiment with combos has been fascinating—give it a month, and I expect to see some truly insane plays.
I have attempted to run the game on my ROG Ally, and it’s not a good experience. If you’re looking for a handheld anime fighting experience, right now the game isn’t in an optimised state for your devices to be able to power through it. While there’s some reports of people being able to play at 30 fps on Steam Deck, there are others reporting problems.
BLEACH Rebirth of Souls is easily one of the best anime games Bandai has released in years, standing proudly alongside DRAGON BALL and NARUTO. Whether you’re a new to BLEACH or already a fan, this is easily a recommendation and worth picking up.