'Bleach' Artist Gives Rukia an Icy Makeover

Masashi Kudo once worked on the Bleach anime series as character designer, and he's been sharing [...]

By Nick Valdez

Masashi Kudo once worked on the Bleach anime series as character designer, and he's been sharing some amazing sketches of the series' characters with fans. But his latest sketch is definitely the most impressive.

Kudo's latest sketch is of Rukia in her full Bankai transformation, Hakka no Togame, seen in the final arc of the series and it will definitely make you wish the final arc would be adapted into an anime.

Kudo has been sharing a lot of awesome artwork with fans lately. He recently shared a new look at Captain Hitsugaya, and even ventured outside the world of anime by sketching up famous DC Comics villains Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in his signature style. Fans agree it's been great to see so much fabulous art from Kudo, but they agree even more so that Rukia's full Bankai form should get an anime adaptation someday.

Bleach fans have a lot more to look forward to this year as the live action Bleach adaptation releases July 20 in Japan as well. The live-action film has just released its first full trailer, and 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.

Early reactions to the film have been positive overall, with there talk of even being a new trilogy of films adapting more of Bleach's material. If this is successful, then a sequel film with the Soul Society is definitely on the horizon.

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.

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