'Bleach' Creator Pens New Shinigami For Manga Anthology

Fans have been mourning over the ending of Bleach several years ago, but every now and again the creator of the series, Tite Kubo, goes out of his way to add a little more to his universe.

Tite Kubo recently drew up a brand new Shinigami, and this new character has one detail that fans absolutely love and are befuddled by.

As part of the Kuramochibon, an official manga anthology comic for Kuramochi Fusako, released on January 25 in Japan, Tite Kubo designed a new Shinigami. While he shares a few facial features with the already established character Kisuke, as fans have pointed out, this is a brand new Shinigami.

Kubo drew this for "Kuramochi Fusako Official Anthology Comic" released on the 25th Jan from r/bleach

Along with Kubo's famous calligraphy and bold ink lines, the strangest addition to this new Shinigami is the rooster perched on his head. Fans are definitely curious as to why the rooster has been included as part of the sketch, but perhaps it is connected to the works of Kuramochi Fusako in a way fans of Bleach aren't especially clued in to. But at the same time, many of Fusako's Shoujo works do not have that wide of a reach outside of their native Japan. Her most notable work, Tennen Kokekko was adapted into a live-action film in 2007 but didn't gain much of an audience in the United States.

Fusako, however, has been publishing manga since 1972, beginning with Megane-chan no hitorigoto.

For those unfamiliar with Tite Kubo's Bleach, the series follows the young delinquent Ichigo Kurosaki, who had the ability to see spirits. He soon obtains the power of a Soul Reaper - one meant to usher lost souls to the afterlife - and now has the duty to defend the living world from monstrous dark spirits known as Hollows.

The manga was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from 2001 to 2016, and was collected into 74 volumes. It has been adapted into English thanks to VIZ Media, and has sold over 900 million copies in Japan. The series was adapted into an anime by Studio Pierrot from 2004 to 2012, and has four feature-length animations, rock musicals, video games, and a ton of other merchandise.

The English language broadcast premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in 2006, and you currently find the Japanese and English language versions now streaming on Hulu.