Bleach Animator Recalls Creator Tite Kubo's First Animation Gig
When it comes to Bleach, fans are willing to revisit the series however possible. Time and again, [...]
When it comes to Bleach, fans are willing to revisit the series however possible. Time and again, fans have asked for the anime to kick back up and finish its final arc. At the very least, they want to see Ichigo's story come to a proper end, but they settle for whatever stories they can get in the meantime. And thanks to one animator, Bleach fans got a chance to relive one of creator Tite Kubo's best moments.
Over on Twitter, animator-director Masashi Kudo brought the story to the forefront. It turns out Kudo did some of his own animation cells on the anime, and he commented on one which a fan shared on social media.
"Nostalgic," Kudo shared about the cell. "This is the first [animated] pencil drawing done by Kubo-sensei."
懐かしい
— 工藤昌史🚩(土)西れ56a (@Kudo_M_) November 16, 2019
1枚目は久保先生が描いた鉛筆画で「この絵から始まってこのタッチでどうにか動かして最後にセルになる感じでよろしく！」とプロデューサーにムチャブリされたやつで、2枚目から先は私の絵ですね https://t.co/vtddQySjVK
As you can see above, the cell is a fairly simple one. It sees Ichigo in full Soul Reaper mode preparing to unleash a Bankai. Reaching for the sword on his back, Ichigo looks determined in this fight, and Kubo did an impressive job on the cell given it was his first.
As Kudo notes, the cell was done by the creator of Bleach who did not have as much familiarity with animation. After this key cell was done, Kubo went on to do a few different cells for future episodes, and fans can only hope the artist will get the chance to do more in the future.
Do you think Kubo nailed this key frame...? 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. It has been adapted into English thanks to VIZ Media, and has sold over 900 million copies in Japan.