Bleach: Here’s What You Need To Know About Ichigo & Rukia’s Kids

It’s been less than a year since Bleach ended, but fans of the supernatural series continue to grapple with the manga’s end. Having wrapped last August, readers of Tite Kubo’s acclaimed story found themselves blindsided by the manga and its epilogue. With the Thousand-Year Blood War arc done, readers picked back up with Bleach after an extended time-jump. When fans caught up with Ichigo and Rukia, readers were stunned to see where the pair wound up in life, and plenty of shippers were quick to go to war.

After all, Bleach ended with Ichigo married to Inoue Orihime while Rukia married Renji Abarai. The couples divided fans, but that was only the beginning. Soon enough, the story revealed that both Ichigo and Rukia had kids of their own. And, as you might expect, the young Soul Reapers inherited the best (and worst) parts of their parents.

As for Ichigo’s kid, Kazui Kurosaki is the only son of the Substitute Soul Reaper. Gifted with his father’s orange hair, Kazui looks much like his mother and is more bubbly than Ichigo. The boy was born less than ten years after Bleach‘s final battle arc, and he lives in Karakura Town. In the manga, fans watched as Kazui briefly used his own spiritual gifts to cleanse some of Yhwach’s remaining reiatsu, but he isn’t able to explore his powers for long. Before Kazui can do anything else, the boy finds himself faced with Ichika Abarai after the young girl transports to his house.

The girl is none other than Rukia’s daughter with Renji. Ichika has the same hair as her father, but the girl’s face is a replica of Rukia. Known for his confidence, Ichika is one who gets into fights often. She is allowed to travel to the Human World every so often with her parents, but her mischievous behavior gets her in trouble. When she abandons her folks to go visit Ichigo, Ichika puts up a big show in facing down Kazui before the boy reveals he is also a Soul Reaper. As expected, the secret leaves Ichika a bit perplexed, but the two quickly work past their differences.

It is as they say: like parent, like child.

You can read Viz Media’s synopsis of Bleach below:

“Ichigo Kurosaki never asked for the ability to see ghosts—he was born with the gift. When his family is attacked by a Hollow—a malevolent lost soul—Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, dedicating his life to protecting the innocent and helping the tortured spirits themselves find peace.”

Bleach is author Tite Kubo’s second title. Kubo made his debut with ZOMBIEPOWDER., a four-volume series for Weekly Shonen Jump. To date, Bleach has been translated into numerous languages and has also inspired an animated TV series that began airing in Japan in 2004. Beginning its serialization in 2001, Bleach is still a mainstay in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump. In 2005, Bleach was awarded the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award in the shonen (boys) category.