Bleach may have finished awhile back, but fans have done their best to keep its legacy going strong. Ever since Tite Kubo wrapped the manga, fans have kept up with the Soul Society through re-reads and epilogue novels. Now, they can add a series of new sketches to their post-series stockpile.
After all, Kubo did share a slew of sketches with fans on Twitter.
Taking to social media, the artist posted more than a dozen drawings of Bleach characters for fans. Kubo told followers the sketches were to make up for him being unable to attend an annual manga convention in Italy. So, as a way to appease fans, Kubo did sketches of everyone from Rukia to Gin.
As you can see in the slides below, the black-and-white sketches are pretty rough. Its heroes seem like they were drawn as they appeared in Bleach's final arc if they lived up to that point. Rukia's hair looks a bit different, Orihime seems to have aged, and Aizen looks almost suave with his quaffed hair.
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.
Are you still supporting Bleach even though it has ended? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!