Bleach Creator Breaks Silence on The Biggest Challenge in Anime’s Final Season

August 30, 2026, 4:00pm

More than 22 years since the original anime’s premiere, Bleach is all set for its finale, and it’s way better than fans expected. The original anime premiered in 2004 and stopped airing in 2012, leaving fans waiting for the final season for a decade. The anime finally returned in 2022 to conclude the story in four cours, adapting the final arc. The final cour premiered in July as part of the Summer 2026 anime lineup, and Bleach is closer to its ending than ever. Following the controversial manga finale in 2016, creator Tite Kubo has been actively involved in the anime production. From creating storyboards to original character designs, the creator has consistently been a part of the anime team.

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Compared to the original long-running anime season, the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc has gathered countless praises from fans for the spectacular adaptation and the stunning animation. The final cour, especially, has been in the limelight thanks to the changes from the main story. In a recent interview, Kubo opened up about the process of the anime production and the four-year-long journey that’s soon about to end.

Bleach Creator Discussed Drawing Storyboards For The Anime

In an interview shared by the official YouTube channel of the anime, Kubo shared, “I initially try to write things out, but it’s difficult to understand that way, and there ends up being a lot of text. I found that drawing it as a rough storyboard was easier to understand, and it was easier for me as well, so I started doing that.”

He continued, “When I first started, I wondered if I shouldn’t do it because it might feel like I was taking away from the anime team’s storyboard work. But after I drew one and they were really happy with it, I thought, ‘Ah, I guess it’s okay for me to do this,’ and I’ve been doing it fairly often ever since.”

While the process of creating storyboards itself wasn’t difficult for Kubo, he did worry about taking away the responsibility of the anime team. Storyboards are specifically created by animators, and they often add their personal touch to how the story is perceived. Not to mention that initially he wasn’t sure if certain things were okay for him to do so. While the creator has been involved with the anime even in the original season, it wasn’t anywhere near this level. Regardless of his initial worries, everything turned out well, and Bleach is more loved now than it was when the manga ended.

Bleach Will Have Different Finale Than The Manga

While the main conclusion won’t be that different, it was already confirmed that the finale will have a few changes. The manga had a highly controversial ending, and fans were complaining about it for years. Whether it was the rushed finale or the sudden time-skip before explaining a lot of the plot holes, the overall ending wasn’t all that well-received. During the time, Kubo also suffered from several health issues since years of weekly serialization had taken a toll on his health.

This is all the more reason he is so invested in ensuring that the anime gets a better ending than the manga. After the latest couple of episodes and Orihime’s contribution in the final battle, it’s evident that the story has significantly diverged from the manga. More changes will be noticeable by the time the story wraps up, but all of it can be considered canon since they are written by Kubo.