Bleach Creator Explains How the Anime’s Cancellation Changed the Manga

The story of Bleach followed a young delinquent named Ichigo Kurosaki who found himself dragged into a world of Shinigami and Hollows, with the series, unfortunately, coming to an end years ago with its manga and anime. This fall, Bleach is set to return to the small screen with the Thousand Year Blood War Arc, and creator Tite Kubo has revealed the original end of the television series had a big effect on the final storyline of the manga series.       

As Kubo explains in the video, it seems that the end of the television series certainly had an effect on his approach to the original ending of the series:

“I think I started drawing the Thousand Year Blood War around the time it was decided that the original anime series would end. While the series was airing on television, I was drawing the manga with television guidelines and restrictions in mind, so I didn’t go all-out for various things like the battle scenes. I drew Thousand Year Blood War without having to worry about any of that. Instead, I was worried the scenes might be too heavy if it was ever animated and I didn’t want them to be cut from the anime but I;m pretty confident that this arc will be animated faithfully without those heavier scenes being cut. I am pretty excited about that.”

You can watch the full video from Viz Media below, with creator Tite Kubo diving into more questions from fans of Bleach:

While Bleach’s original series ended years ago, Kubo recently returned via a new special chapter that revisited the Soul Society years following the Blood War Arc, though the mangaka has yet to confirm whether his series will make a full return to the pages of Shonen Jump. Bleach was originally thought of as one of the “top three” of Shonen Jump, joining alongside One Piece and Naruto and it will be interesting to see if it is able to once again hit these same heights. 

What do you think of this darker arc set to bring back Bleach to the airwaves? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Soul Society.