Bleach Manga To End With Important Announcement On August 22

When news of Bleach's end broke earlier this year, fans all over the world were sad to hear of the manga's demise. The supernatural story stands as one of the most popular of its kind, selling over 84 million copies in Japan alone since its 2001 debut. Now, fans know the exact date Bleach will end: August 22nd. But, hey - at least fans now known the final chapter will be accompanied by a very important announcement.

Weekly Shonen Jump will be publishing the final Bleach chapter on August 22nd. The end comes a few years after creator Tite Kubo announced the manga had entered its final arc back in 2012, and later updates then confirmed Bleach's 74th volume would be its last. Not too long ago, fans were told by Hisashi Sasaki, the former EIC of Weekly Shonen Jump, that Bleach would end in less than 10 weeks. And, obviously, he was correct.

On Monday, the magazine confirmed Bleach would be ending in the next two chapters. With over 680 chapters total, Bleach will stand as one of Japan's longest-running manga series. Still, the story doesn't even come close to beating out other manga series like Kochikame whose chapters number in the thousands.

Still, Bleach has been - and will continue to be - one of the most popular manga series of all-time. Kubo launched the series to critical acclaim, and Bleach has since gone on to produce both films and video games. However, the manga's best-known adaptation is undoubtedly its eponymous anime which ran for 366 episodes.

With the manga now coming to an end, fans are curious as to what Kubo's special announcement could be. The beloved mangka would certainly thrill fans if he were to announce a new Bleach spin-off, maybe one that explores the Soul Society's origins. But, after 15 years of publishing, I think fans would completely understand if Kubo wanted to take a break.

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