Anime spawning live-action adaptations is becoming more common in recent years, with animated series such as One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Avatar: The Last Airbender seeing serious success. While movies and television might be the biggest places for these live-action anime stories, the stage has its fair share of anime adaptations. Bleach has recently started a new live-action stage play that not only gives anime fans a new take on the Soul Society but also adds a musical element to the supernatural shonen series which creator Tite Kubo approves of.
Rather than starting from the beginning of the Bleach franchise, the new live-action musical instead takes the opportunity to focus on the Arrancar. Appearing as the big antagonists of the franchise following Ichigo and his allies rescuing Rukia from the Shinigami, the new villains had an amazing twist. The Arrancar were originally Hollows that were able to gain sentience, giving them a power that would often put them on the same level as the Soul Society, if not stronger. While Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends would win the fight against the Arrancar, the two sides would form a shaky truce thanks to the arrival of the Wandenrech in the Thousand-Year Blood War.
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Tite Kubo Joins The Live-Action Soul Society
Kubo might not be working on new chapters of Bleach’s manga, but he has had a big hand in creating the latest anime season of Bleach in the Thousand-Year Blood War. Working with Studio Pierrot on Ichigo’s latest anime adventures, Tite has helped to create new scenes that didn’t originally premiere in the manga. Luckily, Pierrot and Kubo are bringing back the Soul Society this year as the third cours of the recent anime season is set to make landfall.
Kubo might not have new chapters of Bleach coming out regularly but the mangaka did create a new chapter that potentially set the stage for the shonen series’ future. Bleach: No Breaths From Hell took place after the Blood War, seeing Ichigo and many of his friends as adults. Dealing with a familiar threat that came straight from the underworld, the manga has the potential to create a wild storyline should Tite Kubo want to jump back into the Soul Society.
Do you want to see the latest Bleach musical make its way to North America? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on the Soul Society.
