‘Bleach’ Designer Shares Updated Toshiro Sketch

Fans of Tite Kubo’s Bleach are gearing up to have a great year as the series is getting its first live-action film later this Summer, but they still feel the sting of the series’ original cancellation.

What does make this tougher, however, is seeing new sketches of the series’ characters from folks involved with the original anime. Still, it’s just great to see new art of series favorites like Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya.

Masashi Kudo, who served as character designer for Studio Pierrot during Bleach‘s anime adaptation, shared a new sketch of Hitsugaya which fans are absolutely in love with. This sketch shares a lot of similarities with Kubo’s art itself, as the sketchiness helps emphasize how slick Kubo’s original character design is.

Although the final arc of the series, which includes more Toshiro, has never been officially adapted, fans have taken it on themselves to adapt the Thousand Year Blood War as many fan projects have proven the height of fan dedication.

At least Bleach fans have a lot more to look forward to this year as 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.