Custom Funko Brings Bleach’s Vizard Ichigo to Shelves

Although there’s little to no sign that Tite Kubo’s Bleach would be getting a continuation of some sort like its fellow Shonen Jump compatriots that went on to have sequels of their own, the series has been kept alive long after its original truncated end for the manga and anime. The spirit of the series has been burning brightly thanks to dedicated fans who continue to create new projects and art inspired by the franchise. This can range from adapting the Thousand-Year Blood War arc to anime to creating custom Funko Pop figures that aren’t part of the small collection.

Artist @vinyl.alchemist (who you can find on Instagram here) crafted a slick custom Funko for Ichigo’s Vizard masked form — based off a concept from artist @tesseractdigital (who you can find on Instagram here) — that’s just begging to become an official release. Check it out below:

@vinyl.alchemist has previously crafted some great custom Funko Pop! figures such as cool variations on Boruto: Naruto Next Generations‘ Sasuke and Naruto, One Piece‘s Zoro and Trafalgar Law, and Escanor from The Seven Deadly Sins, and their latest take on Bleach is definitely among the coolest. Although there are a few Bleach figures already a part of Funko’s official line of collectibles, it’s probably going to be a while before this version of Ichigo makes the cut considering all of the potential characters still on the table.

Ichigo’s Vizard status started to shift the series in a new direction, and it was from here on out that fans of the series started to become divided over its eventual turns. The power scaling on the series kind of went out of whack the more it began to introduce newer factions to the conflict, and the final arc of the series is a far cry from everything that’s come before. But on the other hand, Ichigo’s Vizard form is just too cool to pass up.

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. The series was later 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. You can currently find the series now streaming on Hulu. There’s also a live-action adaptation on Netflix, and you can find ComicBook.com’s review of the film here.