‘Bleach’ Live-Action Film Reveals First Look At Gokon Tekko

Usually when an anime series is announced to get a live-action adaptation, fans are not particularly looking forward to the final release since they tend to get a bad rap. So far that does not seem to be the case for the live-action Bleach film.

Fans have appreciated the release of the film especially after the first full trailer launched, and showed off many specific series bits like a blink and you’ll miss it scene of Rukia’s use of the Gokon Tekko.

After Ichigo borrows Rukia’s Shinigami powers during the Substitute Shinigami arc, she’s forced to stay behind in the living world since he takes too much of her power. In order to make up for the lack of a Shinigami, Ichigo is forced to take her place. But in order for him to use his Shinigami powers, Rukia needs to remove his soul from his body with the Gokon Tekko.

The Gokon Tekko is a special glove (branded with a skull covered in flame) developed by the Shinigami Research and Development Institute that forcibly removes a person’s soul from their body. This is the only way for Ichigo to get access to his Shinigami powers, and it’s great to see it look exactly the same way it does in the original source.

But the question is, whether or not Kon will be adapted from the original source as well. In Bleach, Kon is a soul (kept within a stuffed lion doll) that takes over Ichigo’s body when he becomes a Shinigami. So if the Gokon Tekko made the jump to live-action, maybe Kon will make the transition as well.

The live-action Bleach adaptation releases July 20 in Japan, and has just released its first full trailer. The film will adapt the first arc of the series, the “Substitute Shinigami” arc. The current cast includes Sota Fukushi as Ichigo Kurosaki and Hana Sugisaki as Rukia Kuchiki is MIYAVI, who will play Byakuya Kuchiki Ryou Yoshizawa, as Uryuu Ishida, and Taichi Saotome as Renji Abarai.

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.