Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Reviews

Bleach Rebirth of Souls is a love letter to the long-running Bleach anime with full English and Japanese voice-overs in a faithful recreation of the franchise's long story. The game's simple but engaging combat system combine the best elements from anime arena fighters and traditional fighting games for some intense and visually pleasing battles. However, the game's lack of online features repeats the same mistakes of Bandai Namco's past arena fighters, reducing some of the game's replay value.

After a 14-year hiatus since Soul Resurrección on PS3, the world of Bleach has finally returned to console gaming. Developed by Tamsoft, known for the Senran Kagura series, BLEACH Rebirth of Souls brings Tite Kubo’s beloved supernatural world to life with a unique arena fighting experience that both honors the source material and attempts to elevate the often-maligned arena fighter genre. Our review of BLEACH Rebirth of Souls breaks down everything you need to know about this long-awaited ...

BLEACH Rebirth of Souls is a really entertaining arena fighting game, which both fans of the anime and strangers to Ichigo will enjoy.

Awaken the blade within you and reverse your fate in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls! Engage in thrilling battles with powerful sword abilities and characters from this legendary anime franchise.

Bleach: Rebirth of Souls has more depth than most anime fighters, though the single-player offerings don’t make that immediately clear. If you’re aiming to play with others, this is a great anime fighter for fans of the franchise, though those who only want to play against AI may want to hold off.

For non-fans, those not familiar with the anime series, Bleach: Rebirth of Souls is an extremely controversial purchase. For fans of fighting, it is simply okay once you overcome the entry threshold.

Bleach being back in 2025 is wild. I was in high school back when the “Big Three” were exploding in popularity, consistently topping charts and pushing more manga and anime into mainstream spaces in the west. But while One Piece and Naruto are still a constant presence in media and games, Bleach fell off a long time ago. Bleach’s anime ended prematurely in 2012 and hasn’t seen a console video game (aside from crossover appearances) since 2011. Over a decade later, Bleach is back to finish the story with the Thousand-Year Blood War anime series and Bleach Rebirth of Souls, a brand-new fighting game, to go along with it.

Before nerd culture went mainstream, and everyone was into or aware of anime in all its forms, there was what anime die-hards called The Big Three. It was the three iconic and long-running shonen action manga & anime series that were mainstream titans compared to any other series – Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach. The first two have had a healthy variety of video game adaptations over the years, but Bleach has never truly had its moment in the sun. A number of middling arena fighters have come and gone for the stylish and edgy series, but Bleach: Rebirth of Souls aims to be a breakout hit by combining a reverence for the origins of the series with the sleek underground futurism of it’s recent anime revival seasons, all bundled together in what is easily the most inventive anime arena fighter I’ve played in years.

Despite some minor issues holding it back from Bankai, Rebirth of Souls’ excellent combat and well-told story make it the series’ best game.

Bleach: Rebirth of Souls’ satisfying roster and flashy combat makes the most out of these characters’ abilities but simplistic combat and bare-bones modes do little to support a solid story mode.

Bleach, one of the keystone manga and anime franchises of the early 2000s alongside Naruto and One Piece, has finally been given another chance at carving out some kind of legacy in the video game space.

The developers deserve credit – it would have been far too easy to do the bare minimum and call it a day. However, Bleach: Rebirth of Souls is a legitimately compelling and well made arena fighter, that allows for some very thrilling fights. While other parts of the package are weaker and drag it down, this is the rare anime adaptation that can be recommended even to those who may not already be fans of the property.

Rebirth of Souls is fairly standard fare for an anime game, but it will be welcome for content-starved Bleach fans.

Bleach: Rebirth of Souls is an ok game. When it’s at its best, it’s delivering exciting battles and retelling a story many love in a streamlined and sometimes overly simplified manner. When it’s at its worst, it can be a frustrating affair that leaves you feeling a need for a more polished experience and nuanced.

BLEACH Rebirth of Souls features amazing, fast-paced fighting and realistic character designs despite balancing issues and a grind-heavy unlocking system. Apart from some of the issues, it’s a thrilling fighting game for fans.