Bleach 2

**Bleach 2** is a 2017 anime fantasy adventure film. It is the sequel to Bleach and the fifteenth installment in the Anime Cinematic Universe, as well as the third installment of Phase Three.

## Synopsis

Set to the backdrop of 'Awesome Mixtape #2', **Bleach 2** continues the team's adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Ichigo Kurosaki's true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic manga will come to our heroes' aid as the Anime Cinematic Universe continues to expand.

## Plot

In 1980, Ichigo's mother is courted by Papa, a “spaceman” who shows her an alien seedling he had planted in the woods of Amestria.

Thirty-four years later in 2014, the Soul Guardians – Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia, Uryu, Renji, and Chad – are renowned as heroes after defeating the Klaxisaur Princess. They accept a job from the Supreme Kai, leader of the xenophobic Kai race, to defend valuable batteries from an inter-dimensional monster, the Abilisk, in exchange for Byakuya, whom the Kais captured following the Battle of the Soul Society. After defeating the Abilisk, Renji steals several of the batteries for himself, and when the Kais discover this, they attack the Guardians' ship, the *Milano*, with their own fleet. The *Milano* is heavily damaged and forced to crash-land on a nearby planet, but the Kai fleet is single-handedly destroyed by Papa, who reveals himself as Ichigo's father. Papa invites Ichigo to return to his home, accompanied by Rukia and Uryu. Renji and Chad remain to repair the Milano and guard Byakuya.

Supreme Kai hires Kenpachi, who has been exiled from the greater Soul Reaper community for trafficking children, to recapture the Guardians. Kenpachi's crew track down the Milano and capture Renji, but when Kenpachi shows reluctance to turn Ichigo over to the Kais, Ikkaku Madarame leads a mutiny with help from Byakuya, who tricked Chad into freeing him. Ichigo, Rukia, Uryu and Papa, along with Papa’s empathic assistant Orihime, travel to Papa's home, a living planet that is an extension of his body. Papa explains that he is a god-like being called a VIRM, who created a humanoid avatar to travel the galaxy and interact with other species. Ichigo soon learns he can access and manipulate the power within Papa's planet in the form of Hollow power. Uryu becomes friendly with Orihime, who wants to reveal a secret about Papa.

Ikkaku imprisons Renji and Kenpachi aboard the *Eclector* and turns Chad into a mascot for the crew, while Byakuya takes a ship and leaves, planning to track down and kill Rukia, blaming her for the torturous ki enhancements inflicted by their adoptive father Omega Shenron. In their imprisonment, Renji and Kenpachi discover they are very alike, and Kenpachi shares his low opinion of Papa, who originally hired Kenpachi's Soul Reapers to deliver Ichigo after his mother’s death. He reveals to Renji that he decided to keep Ichigo safe in his own way, instead of handing him over to Papa. Chad attempts to steal the Zanpakto for Kenpachi, and is helped by one of Kenpachi's loyal lieutenants. Together, Renji, Chad, Kenpachi and the lieutenant, named Yumichika, escape in a detachable section, and engage in a risky space maneuver to reach Papa's planet in time to help Ichigo. Ikkaku alerts the Kais of the escape, before Kenpachi kills him and the Soul Reaper mutiny.

Byakuya arrives at Papa's planet and tries to kill Rukia. Rukia survives and reaches an uneasy truce, and together, she and Byakuya explore the caverns beneath Papa's planet and discover hundreds of skeletal remains. Papa reveals his master plan to Ichigo: he traveled the universe and planted seedlings on thousands of worlds that would terraform them into new extensions of VIRM, but he needed a second similar power to activate the seedlings, so he conceived children with hundreds of women all across the galaxy and hired Kenpachi's Soul Reapers to collect them. Every other child was killed when they proved unable to access higher power, but Ichigo can harness the power of Hollows, and Papa uses him to activate all the seedlings, which begin their terraforming that will eventually consume every world and every person. Ichigo is hypnotised by Papa's power until Papa reveals he deliberately caused the death of Ichigo's mother, prompting Ichigo to fight back.

Orihime informs Rukia, Uryu and Byakuya of Papa's plan just as Renji, Chad, Kenpachi and Yumichika arrive. Reunited, the Guardians fight their way through a fleet of Kais, as well as Papa himself, to reach the core of Papa's planet where a thick shell protects Papa's brain. Chad plants a bomb made from the stolen Kai batteries on Papa's brain, and most of the Guardians escape while Ichigo remains to battle his father using his access to Hollow power. When the bomb explodes, Papa dies and the planet collapses. Kenpachi sacrifices himself to keep Ichigo safe, as he has come to view him as an adopted son. Later, Byakuya reconciles with Rukia but chooses to leave anyway. The Guardians cremate Kenpachi's remains and releases his ashes into space. Suddenly, a swarm of Soul Reaper ships appear and surround the Guardians' ship. It turns out that Renji sent word about Kenpachi's sacrifice and all the Soul reaper's came to perform a traditional Soul Reaper funeral for Kenpachi, signifying his acceptance back into the Soul Reapers.

Afterwards: Yumichika takes up Kenpachi's Zanpakto and tries to master it, only to end up non-fatally impaling Uryu; Soul Reaper Urahara is moved by the death of Kenpachi, his good friend and former teammate, and reunites with his former teammates; Supreme Kai is seen with a Birth Pod, containing a man inside named Xicor, in response to his fellow Kai questioning him about said machine; years later, Chad continues growing his powers.