New ‘Bleach’ Interview Addresses One of the Series’ Most Controversial Moments

Bleach fans have been wondering for years whether or not Byakuya was really supposed to die during the battle with As Nodt in the Thousand Year Blood War arc. Rumor was that series creator Tite Kubo kept him alive due to fan outcry on social media, but he never spoke on it.

But with a new interview in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump as part of their 50th Anniversary celebration, Kubo finally addressed the influence social media may have had on his work.

The pervasive rumor for years among fans has been that Byakuya was set up to die in the fight with As Nodt because fans point out the amount of attention Kubo pays to setting up Byakuya death flags. Not only is he defeated by his own Bankai, Byakuya begs Ichigo to save Soul Society because he failed to and even apologizes to Rukia and Renji for his “failure.”

This fully bring his character arc to a close, as he’s been seeing Ichigo as inferior since the beginning of the series, and his death almost seemed certain when his zanpakuto vanishes. But the rumor further goes on to say that angry fans on social media eventually got Kubo to keep Byakuya alive, with it being revealed he was in a coma at the end of the series rather than die.

This new interview (as translated by Twitter user @JaymesHanson) where Kubo warns new manga artists to avoid social media because it’s “persuasive” doesn’t quite confirm the rumor one way or the other, but it does seem like fans did have an effect on him at least subconsciously when writing out the final battles of the series.

The live action Bleach adaptation is currently scheduled for a July 20 release in Japan. The live-action film has just released its first full trailer, along with two brand new ones released at the same time. The movie will adapt the first arc of the series, the “Substitute Shinigami” arc. Early reactions to the film have been positive overall, with there talk of even being a new trilogy of filmsadapting 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.