‘Bleach’ Creator Breaks Silence On Spin-Off’s End

Bleach might have ended some time ago, but the story has lived on through other means. Not only did Ichigo Kurosaki go live-action last year in a movie, but Shueisha has been overseeing a spin-off all about the Soul Society for some time. Now, the series is coming to an end, and the creator of Bleach has something to say.

Recently, an afterword for Bleach: Can’t Brave Your Own World was published, and it was there Tite Kubo shared his thoughts on the series. The artist admits he was happy to give Shuhei Hisagi the spotlight for awhile, and he is impressed with the hero he’s become.

Thanks to fan-translators, a slew of Kubo’s comments have been turned around in English. Over on Reddit, user scheneizel posted their summary notes, and Kubo spent plenty of time thanking writer Ryohgo Narita for their hard work.

“‘Shuhei really has a ‘main-character’ feel to him, huh…’ This was the discovery I made when we decided on him being the main character in this story,” the artist said.

“Although he is shy and gets teased a lot, he is, in reality, a very adorable person. He was a crybaby as a child, but then continued down the same path as the person who saved his life. Later, he met his mentor, who helped him face his fear. He was then forced to fight against his mentor because he had walked down the wrong path. That was my Shuhei Hisagi.”

Continuing, Kubo stressed it was only because of Narita that the Soul Reaper was able to become a lead hero.

“But it was only when Narita-sensei proposed we make Shuhei the main character, did I realize that Shuhei had a ‘hero-like’ aspect to him.”

So, do you want this spin-off series to get an English translation down the line? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Bleach was first created by Tite Kubo for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, running from 2001 to 2016. The series follows the young delinquent Ichigo Kurosaki, who has 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.