I think it’s one of those things that’s made to be entertaining enough to watch even if you don’t get every single reference or immediately recognize a character. The whole thing is kind of the crescendo sendoff to the original series, but they’re also trying to generate hype for the “Hell Arc” that’s coming later. A general knowledge of Bleach characters is helpful but not required.

There are a lot of big names from throughout the entire world of Bleach and a lot of fan service is being crammed in. There’s a lot going on in most episodes, but the overall plot is simple enough that you shouldn’t ever feel lost just because you haven’t watched or read everything (or anything for that matter) that preceded it.

My interest in Bleach has come and gone throughout the course of the series and I’ve been loving TYBW so far.